Latest news with #PathSpot
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hotel Tech-in: The hand-scanning system fighting foodborne illness
This story was originally published on Hotel Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Hotel Dive newsletter. Hotel Tech-in is our regular feature that takes a closer look at emerging technology in the hospitality industry. There's no excuse for hotels to be wishy-washy on kitchen cleanliness. Now, technology makes it simple to ensure employees wash their hands. PathSpot Technologies offers real-time, digital kitchen hygiene management with a 'handwashing validation system' for hospitality players looking to protect against the threat and spread of foodborne illness. The New York-based company launched in 2017 but just last month partnered with Marriott International, which is integrating PathSpot technology across its global portfolio of more than 9,300 properties. With foodborne illness being a major threat to health and safety, PathSpot has clients across industries. But for hotels, the system ensures travelers have a relaxing and enjoyable stay, not a sick getaway. The tech also drives operational efficiency at Marriott properties, helping save employees time, according to Christine Schindler, PathSpot's CEO and co-founder. Marriott properties are integrating PathSpot technology, including its HandScanner and SafetySuite, in back-of-house kitchen spaces as the hotel company 'focuses on the health and safety of the millions of guests that our properties serve each day,' Stephen Toevs, vice president of culinary operations for Marriott, said in a statement. Foodborne illness impacts 48 million Americans and results in thousands of deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. PathSpot's HandScanner uses fluorescent spectral imaging to identify invisible contaminants that lead to common foodborne illnesses like norovirus, E. coli and salmonella, Schindler explained. Employees place their hands under the scanner and receive results within two seconds — a green checkmark if clean or a red 'X' if contamination is detected — which prompts workers to re-wash their hands before returning to work, she said. The scanner also displays food safety tips and trainings during the process, maximizing employees' handwashing time, Schindler added. According to PathSpot data, 75% of employees fail a handwashing scan in their first week of using the tech. After consistent training and monitored washes, 95% of handwashes scanned by PathSpot result in a noncontaminated reading, per Schindler. In addition to the HandScanner, Marriott hotels have implemented PathSpot's SafetySuite, a set of interconnected hardware and software tools that log scanning data. The tech also provides services like temperature recording in refrigerators and freezers, with alerts of any temperature-related issues that may impact food quality. Data from PathSpot's SafetySuite is automatically uploaded to the tech company's cloud infrastructure, according to Schindler. This gives Marriott employees real-time access to analytics via a centralized dashboard, email reports, API integration or text alerts. The system also tracks handwashing compliance rates and contamination trends, Schindler shared. This data 'empowers managers to identify their largest sources of risk and areas for improvement as a catalyst for corrective action and audit readiness,' she said. The SafetySuite Hub provides complete visibility into compliance rates by employee, shift or location, 'making it easy for management to identify usage patterns and address issues promptly.' The function is intended to ensure employees are actually utilizing the tech and complying with its safety recommendations. 'When employees understand that the technology protects their health, customer health and business reputation, they embrace it as an essential tool rather than an inconvenient mandate,' Schindler said. PathSpot's tech can not only keep hotel guests and employees safe from illness, but it can also create significant operational efficiencies on-property, according to Schindler. 'We support operators with significant improvements in labor optimization, audit-readiness, improved employee satisfaction and reduced food waste,' she said. PathSpot clients across the board report an average 25% decrease in employee sick days, Schindler shared. So, the tech helps 'ensure team members stay healthy while further optimizing labor efficiency,' she added. 'By digitizing traditionally manual processes like logbooks, temperature monitoring and expiration date labeling, we help businesses streamline their back-of-house operations during a time when our industry faces labor shortages and economic challenges,' Schindler said. For Marriott specifically, hotels using PathSpot reported saving two to eight hours daily on back-of-house digital monitoring and logging activities, the company shared in a release. According to Schindler, this 'frees up associates for guest-facing and culinary tasks while creating efficiencies in maintenance and engineering costs.' While Marriott is using PathSpot solely for its food and beverage operations, the HandScanner tech could be applied to other areas of a hotel's business, including housekeeping, Schindler noted. Sign in to access your portfolio
Trade Arabia
31-03-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
Marriott, PathSpot partnered on kitchen hygiene
Marriott International has partnered with PathSpot Technologies to develop a real-time hygiene management and digital kitchen system. The system, which includes a handwashing validation system and equipment monitoring technology, will be available to Marriott's portfolio of over 9,300 properties across the US, Canada, Caribbean and Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. Marriott's partnership aims to enhance the hospitality industry's innovation. 'As the world's leading global hospitality company with over 10,000 food and beverage operations, $7 billion in sales, and 53 Michelin stars across more than 30 leading brands globally, Marriott is focused on the health and safety of the millions of guests that our properties serve each day,' said Stephen Toevs, Vice President of Culinary Operations for Marriott International. 'Our collaboration with PathSpot allows Marriott to offer properties cost-effective technology that monitors food safety procedures more efficiently and effectively while empowering associates to better meet the needs of customers." Using a network of sensors plus visible, audible, and electronic cues, PathSpot's technology is engineered to immediately notify associates utilising the scanners when invisible contamination is detected, and additional handwashing is needed. By utilising PathSpot's Hand Scanner technology and logging system, Marriott properties have the ability to more efficiently adhere to strict operating procedures while streamlining handwashing record-keeping and monitoring. All Marriott properties that have installed PathSpot hand scanner technology have also implemented the PathSpot SafetySuite. The interconnected hardware and software tools are helping properties modernise, digitise, and elevate back-of-house operations to create improvements in health and safety standards, like PathSpot's real time temperature monitoring, which consistently records temperatures in refrigerators and freezers and alerts associates of any temperature-related issues that may impact food quality. Implementation of PathSpot's Hand Scanners and SafetySuite have helped properties save an estimated two to eight hours per day in back-of-house monitoring and logging, freeing up associates to focus on guest-facing efforts and allowing the properties to create efficiencies in maintenance and engineering costs as well as to reduce food waste and energy consumption. "Marriott is an industry leader in its dedication to health and safety across its portfolio,' said Christine Schindler, CEO and Co-Founder of PathSpot. 'By offering PathSpot's cost-effective food safety and operations technology to its properties, Marriott is promoting consistency, quality, efficiency, in their food and beverage operations while focusing on sustainability. We are grateful to work alongside Marriott as they take another proactive step to strengthen their rigorous safety standards. Our contamination-detection technology helps prevent foodborne illness before it can spread, ensuring a higher level of food safety for everyone they serve.'
Fox News
24-03-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Cooking up food in the office microwave? New study reveals shocking amount of bacteria
A study about office microwaves may have some people rethinking their leftovers for lunch. Researchers examined the differences in bacteria present in domestic spaces such as a home; in shared-domestic spaces such as an office; and in laboratories. The study, conducted by researchers in Valencia, Spain, and published in Frontiers in Microbiology, discovered over 100 species of bacteria exist within these spaces – with most of the bacteria being the types found on human skin. Some of these bacteria can cause foodborne illnesses. Fox News Digital spoke with Christine Schindler, the New York City-based CEO and co-founder of PathSpot, a health and safety operating system for restaurants and businesses that prepare and serve food, about the difference between at-home and in-office appliances. "The setting of a microwave fundamentally changes its contamination profile," she told Fox News Digital. "People rush through lunch breaks, sometimes skipping proper hand hygiene, touching communal surfaces like refrigerator handles before accessing the microwave," she added. In shared environments like this, microwaves can become bacterial transfer points, she said. These different bacteria can come from human skin, food splatter and moisture build-up. Microwaves can become bacterial transfer points. The presence of bacteria can cause stomach problems such as nausea and vomiting – and the risk increases through the "food-handling sequence," according to Schindler. "Bacterial risk isn't just about what grows in the microwave – it's about how bacteria move between hands, surfaces and food in a continuous cycle," Schindler said. Something else the researchers sought to understand is whether microwave radiation has a sterilizing effect on food or if exposure to a wide variety of food and humans had more impact on cleanliness. "Microwaves kill bacteria in food through heat, not the actual microwaves themselves," Schindler clarified. "However, this heating doesn't clean the microwave itself or address the bacteria on handles and buttons from unwashed hands," she said. "This creates a shared responsibility in food safety – you need both properly cooked food and clean microwave surfaces to break the contamination cycle." The researchers said that what they found "suggests the importance of regular cleaning practices to mitigate potential health risks, as frequent and adequate cleaning with appropriate disinfectants helps to prevent the presence of pathogens associated with these domestic environments." At home, you're typically dealing with a known group of users and established cleaning routines, something Schindler said makes the difference in maintaining a hygienic environment. "Office break rooms create more opportunities for bacterial spread," she said. "More users means more hand-to-surface contamination, often less personal accountability for cleaning and greater diversity of foods being heated." There are some simple ways to keep microwaves clean, even in the office. Schindler said to wipe down these high-touch areas regularly with food-safe disinfectants, especially in shared kitchens where many people use the same appliance. For those with more time to spare, she said, heating a bowl of water with lemon juice can loosen up any gunk inside the microwave, making removal easier.
Fox News
24-03-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Office microwaves could be cooking up more than just leftovers, study suggests
A study about office microwaves may have some people rethinking their leftovers for lunch. Researchers examined the differences in bacteria present in domestic spaces such as a home; in shared-domestic spaces such as an office; and in laboratories. The study, conducted by researchers in Valencia, Spain, and published in Frontiers in Microbiology, discovered over 100 species of bacteria exist within these spaces – with most of the bacteria being the types found on human skin. Some of these bacteria can cause foodborne illnesses. Fox News Digital spoke with Christine Schindler, the New York City-based CEO and co-founder of PathSpot, a health and safety operating system for restaurants and businesses that prepare and serve food, about the difference between at-home and in-office appliances. "The setting of a microwave fundamentally changes its contamination profile," she told Fox News Digital. "People rush through lunch breaks, sometimes skipping proper hand hygiene, touching communal surfaces like refrigerator handles before accessing the microwave," she added. In shared environments like this, microwaves can become bacterial transfer points, she said. These different bacteria can come from human skin, food splatter and moisture build-up. Microwaves can become bacterial transfer points. The presence of bacteria can cause stomach problems such as nausea and vomiting – and the risk increases through the "food-handling sequence," according to Schindler. "Bacterial risk isn't just about what grows in the microwave – it's about how bacteria move between hands, surfaces and food in a continuous cycle," Schindler said. Something else the researchers sought to understand is whether microwave radiation has a sterilizing effect on food or if exposure to a wide variety of food and humans had more impact on cleanliness. "Microwaves kill bacteria in food through heat, not the actual microwaves themselves," Schindler clarified. "However, this heating doesn't clean the microwave itself or address the bacteria on handles and buttons from unwashed hands," she said. "This creates a shared responsibility in food safety – you need both properly cooked food and clean microwave surfaces to break the contamination cycle." The researchers said that what they found "suggests the importance of regular cleaning practices to mitigate potential health risks, as frequent and adequate cleaning with appropriate disinfectants helps to prevent the presence of pathogens associated with these domestic environments." At home, you're typically dealing with a known group of users and established cleaning routines, something Schindler said makes the difference in maintaining a hygienic environment. "Office break rooms create more opportunities for bacterial spread," she said. "More users means more hand-to-surface contamination, often less personal accountability for cleaning and greater diversity of foods being heated." There are some simple ways to keep microwaves clean, even in the office. Schindler said to wipe down these high-touch areas regularly with food-safe disinfectants, especially in shared kitchens where many people use the same appliance. For those with more time to spare, she said, heating a bowl of water with lemon juice can loosen up any gunk inside the microwave, making removal easier.
Fox News
12-02-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Pizza left out on the counter: Is it safe to eat? Here's what to know
Did you order pizza, chicken wings or some other grab-and-go selection and forget to put away the leftovers last night? You're probably not alone. But are these foods still safe to eat, even if they've been left inside at room temperature? A food safety expert got to the bottom of a common predicament. "Even in a controlled indoor environment, you should avoid eating any foods – including pizza and dips – that have been sitting out at room temperature for more than two hours," Christine Schindler told Fox News Digital. Schindler is CEO and co-founder of PathSpot, a food safety system that detects pathogens on the hands of restaurant employees. The company is based in New York. In a restaurant setting, systems like PathSpot are able to monitor the conditions of food, she said. But at home, "you'll want to keep an eye on both time and temperature yourself." All leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours of being cooked or served, Schindler said. They should be stored in shallow containers, which enable the food to cool quicker. "Keep hot foods above 140 degrees Fahrenheit and cold foods below 40 degrees – standards that modern monitoring systems track digitally," she said. Schindler continued, "The golden rule is simple: If food has been sitting out longer than two hours, it's safer to discard it." For more Lifestyle articles, visit This means that "it's not safe to eat pizza that's been left out overnight," she said. Schindler said she follows what she called "science-based guidelines" for food safety at her own home. "Never keep leftovers in the refrigerator longer than three or four days, always reheat them to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and if there's any doubt about whether food is safe — throw it out," she said. "These standards have been developed through extensive research and real-world data collection, making them reliable even if they sometimes seem overly cautious."
