How could sending your dirty plates to the fixed base operation (FBO) after a flight to have them washed in a dishwasher be lethal? All too easily, according to catering safety expert Paula Kraft, principal of Atlanta, Georgia-based Aviation Catering Consultants. If the ground handler services the lavatory, then takes his gloves off and brings your clean crockery back to the aircraft, he may, for example, unwittingly contaminate the fresh dishes with invisible fecal particles. Kraft spoke at EBACE on Wednesday May 16 on how to avoid such catastrophes.

Kraft is also the caterer representative on the NBAA’s Flight Attendant Committee and started her business when an FBO brought her in to train its staff after a trained chef sent over hot meals in Styrofoam containers that were allowed to sit in the aircraft on a sunny day. Everyone on board, including the pilots, ate the same food, and became violently ill. Kraft said, “Fortunately they had arrived at their destination, but that could have been fatal.” She now works with FBOs to establish safety management systems for the food-handling chain and would like to see airline-style industry standards in general/business aviation to prevent such scenarios from happening again.