Real-Life Communication
As a food inspector, you deal with clients at every point of the
food production continuum. Whether you're discussing weeding methods
with a farmer or food storage temperatures with a grocer, it's your job
to advise clients on food safety regulations.
Ivor Wright is a regional
coordinator with a food inspection agency. "They have to explain the regulations
clearly, so that people understand what it is that they're required to
do," he says.
Today, you've been advised to pay a visit to Roy's
Rutabagas, one of the city's most esteemed and reliable producers of
fine rutabagas. Lately, several grocers have reported that their rutabagas
are showing surface injuries to their lower halves. You've seen this
before and know that it can mean only one thing: worms.
Worm injury
is caused by the cabbage root maggot, the larva of a fly slightly smaller
than a housefly. When the adult lays its eggs in the soil next to the rutabaga,
the egg hatches and the larva feeds off the root under the soil.
You
arrive at the farm on schedule. Roy Thompson, the proprietor, is expecting
you and he greets you from the field with a smile and a wave. Though you've
never met him before, he seems like a nice enough guy. You tell him you're
here to do a routine inspection and that, if he doesn't mind, you'll
simply get to it.
While inspecting the rutabagas, you keep in mind
that rutabagas are considered defective due to worm injury if:
- The larva is present.
- The tunnels or discoloration penetrate into the root more than an inch
in the aggregate.
- There is surface injury to the lower half of the root.
After inspecting both the rutabagas and the surrounding soil in a
significant sample site, you find no evidence of maggots on the premises.
However, you've got to keep your eyes on this site in the future. For
now, you must explain the situation to Mr. Thompson in full detail and advise
him of regulations surrounding worm defects in rutabagas.
If he takes
this the wrong way, he could fly off the handle. His reputation is at stake
and he may think he's been wrongly accused. Call on your communication
skills to come up with a tactful yet informative way to discuss the grocers'
complaints and how to detect worm injury.