New Hampshire restaurants take precautions as cyclospora outbreak continues
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
As health officials continue to track a cyclospora outbreak in other parts of the country, New Hampshire officials say there are no known connections to cases in the Granite State.
In the meantime, New Hampshire restaurants are taking precautions and focusing on food safety.
The Common Man, which owns the Airport Diner, has been in close contact with its vendors. The Common Man has not been connected to the outbreak, and company officials said salads are still heading out of the kitchens of its 18 locations across the state with confidence.
Culinary director Nicole White said the company’s teams are prepared to act immediately if a recall affects one of its vendors.
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“As soon as they know, they are able to send that information out digitally,” she said.
Alerts can come in several ways, including by text. White said she’s glad to have a good system in place amid the outbreak in other parts of the country.
“We’re able to pivot really quickly, which is important in these situations, because information is coming out sometimes multiple times a day,” she said.
The outbreak has also put health officials in New Hampshire on alert.
“We do not believe that any of our cases that we’ve reported so far this year – six right now – have linkage to the current outbreak that’s happening in the Midwest,” said Colleen Smith of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The state usually sees fewer than 10 cases per year, and officials said pinpointing where people became sick can take time. Doctors said people can never be too cautious.
“People should be doing exactly what they should be doing all the time,” said Dr. Brett Sweeney of Southern New Hampshire Health. “They should be washing their produce at home, making sure that they’re eating produce from a reputable source.”
Common Man said most of its lettuce is grown within the New England region.