At first monitoring of food was largely done by sight and smell but between 1997 and 2000 the USDA began testing meat and poultry for listeria, salmonella, and e coli, amongst
other food borne illnesses.
These risks and uncertainties include
food safety and
food -
borne illness concerns; litigation; unfavorable publicity; federal, state and local regulation of our business including health care reform, labor and insurance costs; technology failures; failure to execute a business continuity plan following a disaster; health concerns including virus outbreaks; the intensely competitive nature of the restaurant industry; factors impacting our ability to drive sales growth; the impact of indebtedness we incurred in the RARE acquisition; our plans to expand our newer brands like Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52; our ability to successfully integrate Eddie V's restaurant operations; a lack of suitable new restaurant locations; higher - than - anticipated costs to open, close or remodel restaurants; increased advertising and marketing costs; a failure to develop and recruit effective leaders; the price and availability of key
food products and utilities; shortages or interruptions in the delivery of
food and
other products; volatility in the market value of derivatives; general macroeconomic factors, including unemployment and interest rates; disruptions in the financial markets; risk of doing business with franchisees and vendors in foreign markets; failure to protect our service marks or
other intellectual property; a possible impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or
other intangible assets; a failure of our internal controls over financial reporting or changes in accounting standards; and
other factors and uncertainties discussed from time to time in reports filed by Darden with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Many MN businesses share common risks but
others have concerns that are unique to a particular type of company or industry, such as hazardous materials handling, or the potential for
food borne illness.