Protect your employees, your customers,
and your brand with
‍Zero Hour Health

A healthy workforce boosts productivity, lowers absenteeism, fosters a positive work environment, and most importantly, lowers the risk to your company's brand and reputation.

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Trusted by the top names in business + hospitality

Health Crisis Prevention + Management
For Modern Businesses

Whether you have a growing hospitality group or a major nationwide concept, it’s imperative that you protect your reputation and brand loyalty from illness, outbreaks, and other health crises.

Zero Hour Health’s team of advisors will help you prevent and manage your risk so your team can focus on growing the business.

Advisory from the most knowledgeable industry experts, 24/7/365.

Whether it’s navigating a foodborne illness outbreak, receiving guidance on best practices with your local health department, or general questions about your employees’ health, we’re here to keep you, your staff, and your business safe.
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Detecting and preventing illnesses, before they go public.

The best way to stop a crisis is to prevent it from becoming one in the first place. We’ll help you create a culture of safe working, detect problematic illnesses before they spread, and, most importantly, keep your business out of the news.
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Protecting the most important asset in your businesses: your brand.

An outbreak is one of the few crises that can permanently damage a brand. From local news, to the nightly news, to the trading floors, your reputation is the foundation of your business and its value. Protecting that asset is a top priority.
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Screening and assisting the hiring process for at-risk positions.

Whether you need to do physical examinations to ensure a prospective employee can do the job, or your industry regulations call for a battery of exams, we streamline this process and handle it for every step of the way. Save time, hire quicker, and protect yourself against workers' comp claims.
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A suite of services to support every aspect of your operations.

This is just a core breakdown of the main services we provide to our clients. We build highly customized solutions to support any need you have.

ZHH Pro

ZHH Pro is our industry-best advisory service. We tailor our support to solve your most pressing needs, whether you've got 6 locations or 600 locations. We can provide 24/7/365, high-level clinical support to keep your business running.
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Wellness Checks

The single best way to prevent illness in the workplace is to prevent sick employees from showing up in the first place. ZHH Wellness Checks are the best solution to identify and assess potentially sick employees.
Learn More >>

Vaccination Programs

From Flu to Hep A, vaccinations are a vital part of keeping your workforce healthy. We help businesses identify employee immunization history, track their records, and facilitate vaccinations both on-site and off.
Learn More >>

Exams & Regulatory Testing

Ensure that potential employees are fit to perform their roles safely and effectively using our industry-best pre-employment programs. We help employers maintain compliance with stringent industry standards and regulations without adding friction to the hiring process.
Learn More >>
Inbox
December 19, 2025
🎅 Not on the nice list: flu

Note: This is our last Executive Briefing newsletter of 2025! We’ll be back in the New Year, and as always will push alerts for any major health news stories in the meantime. ☃️Happy Holidays!

Norovirus and Flu News:

  • A Kansas school started winter break early after a “tremendous amount of sickness” including flu and norovirus symptoms among students and staff. (NBC)

  • Europe is seeing an “early and intense” rise in flu driven by the new H3N2 subclade K strain. (WHO)

  • 35 schools in Minnesota reported flu outbreaks this week. (Star Tribune)

  • Norovirus samples in Los Angeles County wastewater increased more than 250% over the previous 3 weeks. (ABC)

Recalls:

  • 4-packs of tamales from Primavera Nueva Inc. are being recalled due to potential Listeria contamination ahead of the holidays, which are a popular time for tamales. (FDA)

  • The FDA sent out an urgent (and unusual) industry-wide communication relaying serious concerns with compliance of recalls after they found 176 retailers in 36 states still selling baby formula recalled for botulism. (FDA)

  • Meanwhile, Hidden Valley Ranch recalled over 3,500 cases due to potential plastic contamination. (NBC)

Health News:

  • Whooping cough cases continue to soar, with over 26,000 cases and plummeting DTaP vaccination rates. (NBC)

  • Measles continues to spread in South Carolina, Utah, and Arizona, with at least one person visiting Virginia and North Carolina while infectious. (Washington Post)

  • Hundreds of snow geese were found dead at a PA quarry, likely from avian flu. (CBS News)
  • Businesses are facing the largest increase in healthcare costs in 15 years, and 24 million Americans face a cost hike when subsidies expire on Jan. 1. (Washington Post)

  • Two genetically unrelated Listeria outbreaks were tied to packaged salads from two different companies. Both persisted for years, showing an increased need for surveillance. (CIDRAP)

  • ICE raids continue to force some undocumented immigrants to avoid healthcare. (KFF Health News)

  • NEJM and CIDRAP launched their own Public Health Alerts this week, with reports on clade II mpox in California and flu in military populations. (CIDRAP)

  • Blamed for the 2025 measles outbreak, some West Texas Mennonites have grown even more skeptical of mainstream medicine. (Texas Tribune)

  • Kitchen items, from pans and utensils to food wrappers, are leaching plastics into our bodies with limited oversight. (Washington Post)

  • Workplace exposures are tied to a higher risk of long COVID, possibly due to limited use of masks, close contact, and use of public transportation to commute. (CIDRAP)

‍

Best Question:

What should we expect over the holidays for flu, noro, and other viruses?

It’s shaping up to be a tough year for flu.

Flu is really starting to take off, and if other countries are any indication, we’re in for a rough ride because of this new variant. Combine that with low flu shot uptake, and we expect to see more folks sick with flu over the next 4-6 weeks than we have in a long time.

Keep an eye out for norovirus outbreaks.

While national wastewater stats are mixed, we’re seeing hotspots and large community outbreaks that are disrupting businesses and schools. If you hear about noro in your community, step up handwashing and double down on your sick call policies to make sure folks aren’t coming to work sick OR for two days after their stomach bug symptoms end.

The “normal” winter bugs aren’t your only issues.

We’re seeing a massive increase in whooping cough cases, especially in Arkansas, Washington, Louisiana, and Texas. We still have ongoing measles outbreaks at the Utah-Arizona border and in South Carolina. An employee with either one could spell a visit from your local health department.

Staff up.

Mid-January has been the peak of illness over the past few winters, and January is almost always the month with the highest number of sick calls among ZHH’s clients. Consider staffing up for the last few weeks of December and the first few of January, knowing that you’ll likely have some employees who come home from holiday gatherings with the unwelcome gift of a nasty virus.

Sources: FluView, CIDRAP, NBC

‍

Best Read:

We keep hearing that it is already shaping up to be a terrible flu season.  The NY Times does an excellent job of explaining why experts are so concerned and what you can to to protect yourself and your family; especially if you’re traveling for the holidays:

New Variant Raises Concerns of Another Bad Flu Season - New York Times (Gift Article)

‍

The Executive Briefing
The best health and risk newsletter in the foodservice and hospitality industry. The Briefing is trusted by many of the industry's top executives and decision-makers.
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"Partnering with ZHH was a game changer. The transparency, visibility, technology, consistency, and time spent on supporting our business, it's as if all the stars aligned and it just made sense. We are big fans."
Natalya Harvey, Director of Risk Management, Cooper's Hawk Winery
“Zero Hour Health helps ensure the wellness of our team members and guests. The trusted service helps with industry relationships and is integral to our investment in food safety across the organization. “
Kerry Bridges, Vice President, Food Safety, Chipotle Mexican Grill
"When any potential health crisis arises, we turn to Zero Hour Health to help coordinate the clinical resources necessary- testing, confirming diagnoses and vaccinating employees.  Their relationships with health departments have proven critical to Texas Roadhouse.  ZHH is an invaluable partner to our brand and we can't imagine operating without them."
Patrick Sterling, Vice President of Legendary People, Texas Roadhouse

Let’s talk about how ZHH can protect your business!

Schedule a time with our team to discuss your unique challenges and how we can help!

Every organization has factors that make their health crisis prevention team different, but Zero Hour Health works with your team to tailor a program that solves all of your pain points.

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