Space Age technology to protect food for Vancouver Winter Games athletes

By Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
January 5, 2010

The Thermor remote temperature sensor system will be installed in the
Vancouver and Whistler Athlete's Villages prior to the opening of the
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.


VANCOUVER - Food served at the Vancouver and Whistler Athletes Villages
during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be protected by a remote
temperature monitoring system pioneered for use in outer space.

NASA first used a so-called "critical control points" monitoring system
to ensure that food sent into space with astronauts would not spoil,
because in space no one can hear you call for pizza.

Food for Olympic athletes will be protected by the same level of
scrutiny.

Several members of the U.S. Olympic team were sickened by food-borne
illness in China just days before they were due to compete in the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games. The Americans had shipped meat for their athletes
to China as a precaution, but purchased many items locally.

Service areas and refrigeration units in the Whistler Athlete's Village
have been outfitted with a set of remote sensors that feed data with a
radio signal to a central receiver every 15 minutes. Data is sent
securely to a computer spreadsheet that can be parsed at a glance to
reveal health standards violations, faulty equipment or bad food
handling practices. 

Technicians from Ontario-based Thermor will be in Vancouver later this
month to complete the installation on the Vancouver Athlete's Village.

"This system very quickly reveals the secret life of refrigerators,"
said Thermor sales director Tim Osland. "We liken this to a kitchen
nanny, it saves people walking around, taking temperatures, recording
them and maybe making mistakes."

"Rather than getting a reading in the morning and reading at night, this
system is always watching the temperature," he said.

Foods stored above 4 C are a risk for contamination by salmonella,
listeria, E. coli and other food-borne pathogens.

At least four Olympic venues will be outfitted with the remote sensor
system, Osland said. Each receiver can simultaneously monitor 30
sensors. Sensors are also outfitted with flashing lights and audible
alarms that are triggered if the temperature rises to an unsafe level.

The system will certainly detect common bad practices, such as walk-in
refrigerator doors that are blocked open to receive large food
deliveries, Osland said. But it will also root out problems that are
harder to detect such as bad seals, failing compressors and faulty
thermometers.

Olympic food service contractor Sodexo will monitor and maintain the
data for review by Vancouver Coastal Health.

VCH is determined to show Vancouver at its best when athletes and
tourists arrive in the coming weeks.

The health authority has worked with the Vancouver Olympic Organizing
committee for two years to create a food safety plan that will be
followed by all Olympic vendors, said regional health protection officer
Nick Losito.

VCH will employ 75 field officers equipped with WiFi electronic tablets
during the Games to provide 18-hour-a-day testing of food service
facilities. Two intensive sweeps are planned, one for the week prior to
the Games opening and another partway through.

Stepped up enforcement for non-Games restaurants have been underway for
seven months, he said.

rshore@vancouversun.com


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