Investigation leads to ‘zero-tolerance’ policy at Burger King Corp.

After an investigation into what health officials called a
“disturbing trend” of undercooked meat, Burger King
Corporation has put franchise owners across Washington
state on a strict timeline to revamp food safety practices
and instituted a “zero-tolerance” ultimatum should health
violations occur in the future, sources say.

In September 2011, 97.3 KIRO FM revealed a pattern of serious violations at
Burger
King franchises statewide, which had previously
prompted state health officials to demand that Burger King
take immediate action.

“We are deeply concerned about reports relating to
undercooking hamburgers at many Burger Kings in our
state,” read a letter state health officials sent Burger
King Corp. last year, days before our report.

The problem was attributed to the “Duke Flamebroiler,” a
piece of cooking equipment meant to give Burger King
hamburgers their signature flame broil. Products coming
off the broiler were sometimes undercooked as “broken
ceramic tiles” inside the units reduced the cooking
temperatures and allowed insulation to fall onto the food.

A local franchise owner, who spoke on a condition of
anonymity, told 97.3 KIRO FM Tuesday that Burger King has
now begun to retrofit the grills to prevent undercooking.
The source said changes made to the grills have led to
“excellent results” that “eliminate any potential of
having a problem ever exist.”

The State Health Department said the fix is meant to
ensure that the equipment “is more thorough on temperature
control.”

“We understand that many of the (grills) have been done,
but the work is continuing,” said Donn Moyer with the
health department. He said members of the department’s
food safety team have had frequent meetings with Burger
King corporate staff, as recent as three weeks ago.

Moyer said franchise owners were told by Burger King
executives that they would be subject to a “zero-tolerance
policy to make sure that undercooking hamburger never
happens again.” The policy would mean that franchises
could be closed down in the event of further violations.

The franchise owner, along with another source close to
Burger King’s operations, said all owners in Washington
state were required to participate in a conference call
with top Burger King executives last fall, immediately
following the 97.3 KIRO FM investigation.

Owners were told that further violations “would not be
acceptable,” the source said.

“They wanted to make sure we were all on the same page,”
the franchise owner said of the call, in which executives
outlined findings by health officials and “reaffirmed
proper cooking procedures.”

“I would say that this hit us on many different levels,”
the source said of the investigation. “But I can assure
you that there was never anything anyone could have gotten
sick on in the Burger Kings in that period.”

But at the time, food safety experts disagreed.

Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety attorney, said the
issues at Burger King had the potential to cause a
serious, deadly outbreak of foodborne illness if not
addressed immediately.

“If they’re not doing something about it and you’ve got an
outbreak that occurs, I wouldn’t want to be Burger King,”
he told 97.3 KIRO FM in September.

He likened a potential outbreak to that of the 1993 Jack
in the Box E. Coli outbreak, which sickened more than 700
people, most of those in Washington state. Four people
were killed in the ordeal, which was the direct result of
undercooked hamburgers.

“What Burger King doesn’t want to see happen is another
Jack in the Box case and that certainly could happen,”
Marler had said.

Donn Moyer said there was a time when Burger King
executives doubted the health
department’s findings and
were hesitant to believe that the issue was systemic, but
said the company has made significant progress.

“All of the things they tell us they are doing, we believe
they are doing,” Moyer said. “They have worked hard to
make the changes that are necessary.”

Burger King Corp. issued the following statement via email
Tuesday:

“Last year, Burger King Corp. (BKC) took swift action to
address concerns over reported variable cooking
temperatures at some Washington State restaurants. The
company sent food safety, equipment and training experts
to Washington State to investigate the matter.”

A spokesperson for the company said they have reinforced
food safety practices nationwide, but declined to say if
similar violations had occurred with frequency outside of
Washington state. In an email, the spokesperson said they
would not “publicly share” specific information regarding
those matters.