barfblog

Salmonella in veggie protein – the Canadian angle

Doug Powell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:14:38 +0000

I’ve already given Kevin Allen enough attention – the dude who really enjoyed himself too much while bouncing hockey pucks off my head – but he’s polite enough to give credit and he took my risk analysis course back in 1998 when he was a fledgling graduate student.

The course devotes a lot of time to food safety risk communication and Kevin, being a bright guy, thought, CBC is about to call and ask me about Salmonella in hydrolyzed vegetable protein, I’ll check in with Doug for some tips.

Kevin called, I told him to figure out what his couple of key messages were and hammer them home, cause TV and radio are relentless in their quest for simplicity, and the result is in the first couple of minutes in the video available at

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Local_News/BC/ID=1435456122

Not bad, although his second soundbite may have had more Canadian credibility if he said, “as a father of two children and a hockey player (goon)” but who am I to quibble.

Canada, meet your newest food safety spokesthingy, from Belleville, Ontario, now plying at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Kevin Allen (above, right, exactly as shown).

Fake veterinarian worked for USDA?

Doug Powell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:17:24 +0000

I was out with the family picking up some Chinese and wine last night and a woman waiting for her take-out said, “Oh, I’m glad to know you eat here.”

“Not usually, but it’s Chinese so everything’s cooked.”

She then introduced herself as a veterinary student at Kansas State University who’d seen me lecture a few weeks ago. And then she asked me if I’d seen the story about the fake U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian.

I said, “Slipped my mind.”

I don’t see everything so if barfblogcom readers see anything of interest, please send along.

The student did, and it concerns a story that aired in Feb. 2010 in Atlanta.

WSB TV reported that a man used fraudulent credentials to land a job as a veterinarian with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he worked in Atlanta-based food safety and inspection service for the past four years.

I don’t know how much of this is true or why the story didn’t get much national play – so judge for yourselves.

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/22526579/

Nosestretcher alert: small farms produce safest food?

Doug Powell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:03:36 +0000

Are small farms incompatible with food safety rules?

Deborah Stockton, executive director of the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association (NICFA), said today,

"Small farms produce the safest food available, without regulation. … Just like family farms brought us out of the Great Depression, they can bring us out of the food safety problem and this recession, if they are allowed to thrive.”

Sounds like someone is compensating for inadequacy issues and responding with exaggeration, like a 50-year-old in a Miata rag-top.

The idea that food grown and consumed locally is somehow safer than other food, either because it contacts fewer hands or any outbreaks would be contained, is the product of wishful thinking. 

Maybe the majority of foodborne outbreaks come from large farms because the vast majority of food and meals is consumed from food produced on large farms. To accurately compare local and other food, a database would have to somehow be constructed so that a comparison of illnesses on a per capita meal or even ingredient basis could be made.

NICFA is gonna lobby Washington, D.C. types and then hold a local foods feast for Congress tomorrow night. I hope no one gets sick – faith-based food safety is a lousy approach.

Serving food and crack may not mix

Doug Powell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:43:22 +0000

More than 90 restaurants in Metro Vancouver were told to close their doors after they were found with rodent infestations, unsanitary conditions, or a failure to store food properly, according to an investigation of restaurant inspection histories for the past three years by CTV News.

And many more were repeatedly cited -- but not closed -- for other violations, the most common of which were leaving food out that should be refrigerated, failure to wash surfaces, and not providing hand washing stations to employees.

"We're looking for any signs that might lead us to believe there might be an outbreak of food poisoning," said Nick Losito, Vancouver Coastal Health's director of health protection.

One of those restaurants that was shut down was a Vancouver legend -- The Only Seafood Restaurant on Hastings Street.

Once a bustling destination for seafood since it opened the 1920s, The Only is now filled with rat feces and dead insects.

The health department closed The Only last year -- not just because inspectors said the food was a public health hazard, but because inspectors discovered it was a crack den as well.

CTV will be running a week-long series on food safety. Last night’s video is available here.

Antibiotic resistant microbes in soil

Rob Mancini — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:11:59 +0000

University tuition is not cheap and I, like many others, had to find employment throughout my university career to help pay for courses. Unfortunately, I ended up working in a hospital dealing with patients suffering from MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) and VRE (vancomycin resistant enterococcus), very disturbing and heartbreaking at the same time. A recent study in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology indicates that there is more evidence pointing towards microorganisms in the soil becoming more resistant to antibiotics, ultimately ending up in the food supply; not unlikely. For instance, the use of avoparcin in Europe, an antimicrobial drug used as a growth promoter in food producing animals was shown to be one important factor leading to VRE in animals and that foodborne VRE may cause human colonization¹.

The United Press International reports:

The researchers said that trend during the past 60 years continues despite more stringent rules on the use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, as well as improved sewage treatment technology that broadly improves water quality in surrounding environments.

David Graham of Britain's Newcastle University and his colleagues said scientists have known for years that resistance was increasing in clinical situations, but the new study is the first to quantify the same problem in the natural environment over long time-scales.

The scientists said they are concerned increased antibiotic resistance in soils could have broad consequences to public health through potential exposure from water and food supplies. They said their findings "imply there may be a progressively increasing chance of encountering organisms in nature that are resistant to antimicrobial therapy."

1. L. Clifford McDonald, Matthew J. Kuehnert, Fred C. Tenover, and William R. Jarvis. Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Outside the Health-Care Setting: Prevalence, Sources, and Public Health Implications. Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 3. No.3. July-September 1997. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.

Temperature measured with thermometer more important than times a burger flipped

Doug Powell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:32:53 +0000

There’s a website devoted to all things hamburglery that decided to tackle the question – is it better to only flip a hamburger once or several times on a grill?

Author J. Kenji Lopez-Alt purports to have tested the 1-flip-versus-multiple flip hamburger by preparing a dozen 1/2-pound burgers into equal-sized patties, seasoned them just before cooking with an equal amount of kosher salt and black pepper, then seared them in a steel skillet pre-heated to 450°F (which was temped with an infrared thermometer before adding the patties). The ambient air in the kitchen was at an unbearably hot 76°F. Each patty was cooked to an internal temperature of 125°F, and was then rested for five minutes at room temperature before being autopsied for examination.

The author then applied intact beef roast info to ground hamburger which is wrong and dangerous.

• 125°F (or 51.7°C) is the temperature at which beef is medium rare—that is, hot but still pink, cooked but still moist and able to retain its juices. Any higher than that, and muscle fibers start to rapidly shrink, forcing flavorful juices out of the meat, and into the bottom of the roasting pan.

Make my burgers a thermometer-verified 160F. They’re plenty juicy and won’t make your guest barf.

Quebec cheesemakers complain about inspection, want taxpayers to pay for it

Doug Powell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:27:38 +0000

Being married to someone who teaches French can be useful when I run across a story that has listeria and fromage in it, but can’t make out anything else. Amy thought it was of interest so assigned it to her translation class.

In fall 2008, there was a couple of outbreaks of listeria in cheese in Quebec that led to 38 hospitalizations, of which 13 were pregnant and gave birth prematurely. Two adults died and there were 13 perinatal deaths. 

The Quebec government cracked down, especially on makers of cheese from raw milk.

Last week, Le Soleil reported the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) is ready to take on the costs of analysis of all artisanal cheeses for one more year in order to ensure they contain no pathogens.

The screening and prevention project was put in place for one year in October 2008 at the end of the listeria crisis. Every month, MAPAQ inspectors visited cheesemakers in order to detect the Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphyloccocus aureus. The goal is to reassure consumers of the quality of Québécois cheeses and to guide cheesemakers towards self-testing. The bill was estimated at $1 million.

The artisanal cheesemakers have denounced the omnipresence of inspectors in their premises since the beginning of the listeria crisis, judging that inspectors don’t know their reality and are proving to be excessively zealous.

Anyone can prepare food and make people barf in North Dakota

Doug Powell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:19:45 +0000

For the past week, people in Kansas have been asking me, did you love the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey victory?

I say, just glad it was a good game, great for hockey.

And then I say, the women’s hockey team really rocked.

Most people look at me and say, women play hockey?

The Canadian women defeated the U.S. for Olympic gold, 2-0, and then showed the men how to party.

I coached girls’ hockey for a number of years while my kids were growing up. To coach little girls playing ice hockey in Canada requires 16 hours of training. To coach kids on a travel team requires an additional 24 hours of training.

It seems reasonable to have some minimal training for those who prepare food for public consumption.

Not so in North Dakota, where the State Health Department says it will not seek charges against a rural Washburn woman for operating an unlicensed catering business linked to sickening 180 people last summer.

Aggie Jennings catered three separate events in June -- two wedding receptions and a family reunion -- that resulted in 76 people seeking medical attention with 10 hospitalized for salmonella Montevideo food poisoning.

A subsequent report found a total of 180 people met the case definition for Salmonella Montevideo.

The Bismark Tribune explains enforcement of regulations governing caterers falls under the jurisdiction of local health units.

Lisa Clute, executive officer for the First District Health Unit, said that board met Feb. 18 and voted not to recommend charges against Jennings, which would be Class B misdemeanors.

The strain of salmonella is one commonly associated with baby chickens, which Jennings raised on her rural residence.

The health department issued an order to Jennings to stop catering June 17, three days prior to the McClusky event, the report said.

The report also found there were four dishes that tested positive for salmonella and all had some type of preparation, storage or handling at Jennings' residence.

It said several people assisting in food preparation at her home may have provided a source of cross contamination.

Clute said the First District Health Unit wants to be consistent in how it deals with such cases and in this instance, she thinks it has.

"We are confident she will never do this again. We stopped it quickly and efficiently and at this point there is no public health threat.”

These people wouldn’t be allowed to sit on the bench and open the door at a little girls’ hockey game. I don’t want them to make food either.

Bryant will play for Lakers while barfing

Doug Powell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:54:48 +0000

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has a stomach illness but is expected to play against the Orlando Magic.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said before Sunday's game that Bryant would likely play despite being a little late to the game because of the illness.

It was unclear how Bryant contracted the illness, although Jackson speculated that the All-Star likely ate something that didn't sit well.

Reasons not to buy seafood or cheese from a van down by the river

Doug Powell — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:37:13 +0000

U. S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped more than 100 pounds of soft Mexican cheese or queso fresco, hidden in false compartments of a vehicle trying to enter the United States across the Bridge of the Americas on Wednesday.

Associated Press notes federal officials permit travelers to import personal quantities of cheese — about 11 pounds per person.

CSPI says food safety is Russian roulette; I prefer faith-based

Doug Powell — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:48:57 +0000

Every time I’m interviewed about food safety stuff, the reporter will ask, “What can consumers do to protect themselves?”

Nothing?

It’s a lousy answer but often the truthiest one.

In that ConAgra Banquet Pot Pie outbreak that sickened 400 with Salmonella, Amy Reinert said she cooked the pot pie – at the time proclaiming ‘Ready in 4 minutes’ -- for her daughter for 7 minutes in the microwave, then 10 minutes in a conventional oven to make the crust crispy. Yet Isabelle still got sick.

Now, the company says, consumers need to use a meat thermometer to ensure their 50-cent pot pie won’t make them barf.

These stories and more are covered in a food safety feature in the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Nutrition Action publication this month. It’s a comprehensive retelling of some food safety lowlights of the past four years that ends, as usual, with a bunch of things consumers can do to protect themselves.

I said,

“Everyone in industry and government says consumers have to do more, which is just silly. Controlling these kinds of contamination shouldn’t be a consumer problem. Producers and industry need to do better.”

The story is soft on spinach and leafy green producers – why did it take 29 outbreaks before industry took microbial food safety issues seriously – and appropriately harsh on the Ponzi scheme of food safety audits.

Mansour Samadpour said,

“These third-party inspections have become an industry that churns out meaningless certificates. Companies pay somebody $1,200 to come in and look at this paper and that paper and then give the company a certificate that says they passed by 96 percent.”

Dubai inspectors close four restaurants

Doug Powell — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:09:12 +0000

Maybe this was because Chapman and all those food safety types were in town, but four restaurants in Dubai were shut down two weeks ago following tips from customers and employees.

Ahmed AbdulRahman al Ali, the head of the municipality’s food inspection section, said the offenders were also slapped with a fine of more than Dh30,000, adding,

  “The restaurants have been shut for a month. After finishing the penalty term, they have to convince us that the food being used is safe. They will also have to sign an agreement to not repeat the offence.”

Tom Colicchio needs to stick it in

Ben Chapman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:56:10 +0000

Top Chef host, producer and owner of the Craft series of restaurants Tom Colicchio talked to Anderson Cooper about food safety today on CNN. Tom gets some things right (temperature is really important for ground beef because of the surface area) but gets some stuff wrong (frozen burgers are worse than fresh because they are from big packers; go to a butcher for safe meat).

Regardless of source Tom, you need to stick it in. Measuring the temperature of your burger (160F, or 155F for 15 seconds) with a digitial tip-sensitive thermometer in multiple spots is the best risk-reduction practice.

Texas Sonic keeps burger buns in woman’s washroom, lousy handwashing

Doug Powell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:19:32 +0000

KLTV reports that foods held at unsafe temperatures, unsanitary conditions and even a "dying mouse" are just some of the violations found in the latest inspection period by health authorities.

Six Smith County restaurants were hit with the most serious violations in the latest inspection period by East Texas health departments, including Spring Creek Barbque at 5810 South Broadway in Tyler. Cooked brisket had to be thrown out, chipped plates and a cutting board needed replacing, gaining them a total of 18 demerits.

At Sonic #4963 at 102 North Northwest Loop 323 in Tyler packages of burger buns were found in women's restroom, there was improper handling of ready-to-eat food, no soap or towels were at the hand washing sink, utensils and a deep fryer had too much grease buildup, and duct tape was in the ice machine. Total demerits? 21.

The most shocking find was at Taqueria y Restaurant Morelos at 622 North Palace in Tyler. Mouse droppings were found - as well as a dying mouse on sticky trap, employees were seen violating hand washing rules, beef, rice, and cooked intestines were not properly cooled, raw chicken was above beef, raw beef was above cooked beans and no towels were found at the hand washing sink. Total demerits? 26.

Further case of E coli confirmed at UK Feltham Hill Infant and Nursery School

Doug Powell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:10:51 +0000

Your Local Guardian reports that 13 people from Feltham Hill Infant and Nursery School, in Bedfont Road, Feltham, have been confirmed to have E. coli O157, along with one pupil from nearby Feltham Hill Junior School.

Environmental health officers completed a “deep clean” of the site to eliminate traces of infection and only children who have had the all-clear from the Health Protection Agency are being allowed back into class.

Books, toys, plants and equipment were thrown out as part of the clean-up.

Market produce safety at retail so consumers can choose

Doug Powell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:54:20 +0000

I’m no fan of economic estimates of foodborne illness. The numbers are somewhat fantastical and the assumptions behind the numbers are usually oblique and obscured.

I’m also not a fan of whining.

In response to a study released earlier this week by the Pew Charitable Foundation's Produce Safety Project, which pegged the annual cost of foodborne illness at $152 billion and which Chapman has already taken to task, United Fresh Produce Association president Tom Stenzel said,

“It’s really a shame that, once again, advocates for food safety legislative reform are stoking unneeded anxiety about produce safety. This report inappropriately lumps together data from all foods and all food contamination events, including those at church picnics and cross-contamination after sale to the consumer. There’s no data on illnesses actually related to contamination from the farm, which is a much smaller subset cause of foodborne illness. … The fresh produce industry is working tirelessly to grow and market the safest possible products. We strongly support national government oversight of produce safety standards to ensure a science-based, commodity-specific approach no matter where a product is grown. What’s harmful about tactics like this is that advocates are actually scaring consumers away from the very products they need to be consuming more of for better health.”

Dude, you need a better writer. And an editor.

Rather than complain, why not advertize and market all the outstanding food safety efforts your members are undertaking, at retail, so concerned consumers, who have heard a thing or two about produce-related outbreaks over the past 20 years, can make their buying decisions based on evidence rather than faith? Make your testing data public. And stop whining.

Alchol-based hand sanitzers aren't really effective against noro, but here's the rub

Ben Chapman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:52:50 +0000

Winter is the hottest time for hospitals, retirement residences, cruise ships and restaurants when it comes to norovirus outbreaks. Here in North Carolina, the Department of Public Health distributed a press release referencing recent outbreaks that has made the rounds on local TV and in small town papers.

With as little as just a few virus particles needed for infection and a high rate of secondary illnesses, a noro problem can escalate quickly (just ask Heston Blumenthal).

And everyone is looking for quick solutions to replace handwashing with soap and water, including the ever-present alcohol-based hand sanitizer. They just don’t exist.

Recent research, the first to evaluate alcohol-based hand sanitizers against a human strain of norovirus, shows that the squirtable and ubiquitous-in-public liquid isn’t a magic bullet. A report in the January Applied and Environmental Microbiology (76:394-399) by Liu et al demonstrates that commonly available alcohol-based sanitizers are less-than ideal against noro (despite many of the sanitizer producers proclaiming magic with Tom-Cruise-on-Oprah’s-couch-like exuberance).

As David C. Holzman of the American Society for Microbiology's Microbe says:

Moe, Liu, and their collaborators (including my friend Lee-Ann Jaykus) compared the effectiveness of liquid soap and alcohol hand sanitizers in removing or killing viruses on finger pads, following methods developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

After finger pads were inoculated with norovirus and then washed, the researchers used quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR to measure viruses that remained. In another set of tests, sodium hypochlorite (bleach) eliminated virus, while ethanol, regardless of concentration, did little to reduce virus titer. In vivo rinsing either with water or with antibacterial, triclosan-containing soap proved about equally effective in reducing viruses on finger pads.

These results suggest that protection comes from mechanically removing the virus from the hands, rather than from inactivating the virus, says Stuart Levy of Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Here’s the rub (no pun intended): sanitizer alone isn’t even close to being effective as handwashing on noro but what happens in systems (like kitchens) where handwashing compliance is consistently shown to be less than 20 per cent (and other pathogens also exist). In a study we completed, to be published soon, we report that handwashing attempts can be close to zero at busy times. Best practice, until a better option is found is, soap and water but, as barfblog-favorite Don Schaffner has suggested, there might be a public health benefit by providing sanitizer in low-handwashing compliance situations as replacements for handwashing.

Brazil quarantines cruise ship over 'some kind of food poisoning'

Doug Powell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:37:32 +0000

My parents are set to return today from their latest cruise out of Florida.

Hopefully their experience was better than that of the 1,987 passengers and 765 crew members aboard the Vision of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International, who were ordered by health officials in Brazil to remain aboard after some 310 people suffered "some kind of food poisoning.”

The ship was allowed to leave Buzios Thursday afternoon and was expected to arrive in Santos around midnight. An agency spokeswoman said passengers who showed no symptoms would be free to leave. Those still ill would be taken to hospitals for treatment, with expenses paid by Royal Caribbean.

Chicago-area Subway shop shut after link to Shigella cases

Doug Powell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:57:18 +0000

At least eight people are sick with Shigella and the common source appears to be a Subway restaurant in Lombard which has now been closed by the DuPage County Health Department.

Maryann O'Neill, principal of nearby Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, told the Chicago Tribune two students called in sick Wednesday with what she said was diagnosed as food poisoning, and it was her understanding they had eaten at Subway. One of the students was taken to a hospital emergency room.

Dozens barf after eating raw Oregon oysters covered in norovirus

Doug Powell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:15:34 +0000

The Oregonian – what else to all a publication from Oregon – reports Oregon scientists have confirmed that three people who ate raw oysters harvested from Yaquina Bay were sickened by norovirus.

The positive lab results follow reports of 16 people in Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts who got sick after eating the oysters, said Meredith Vandermeer, epidemiologist with the Public Health Division.

Dawn Smith, food safety specialist with the Department of Agriculture, said that all of the suspect oysters in the U.S. have been pulled off the marketplace.