Robert's American Gourmet has been notified by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 51 cases of Salmonella across 17 states, associated or related to the consumption of the Veggie Booty, predominately in children of three years of age or younger. Based on the information provided by the CDC and FDA Robert's American Gourmet has decided to conduct this recall as a precautionary measure, even though there are no confirmed positive results in the finished product yet.

Veggie Booty is a delicious snack that you and your family will love, made from the finest ingredients, and contains a blend of spinach, kale, cabbage, carrots and broccoli. The company says, " This is a life-changing snack that will help you eat healthier."

Others say, "Veggie Booty is basically crack for babies. Which is exactly why parents buy it. … It smells funkier than poop, has questionable nutritional value and leaves a trail of bright green powder in its wake."

And in 2002, the Good Housekeeping Institute suggested the Booty was junk food in disguise.

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According to a new study appearing in the June issue of the Journal of Environmental Health, important barriers related to hand-washing in the restaurant environment include time pressure, inadequate facilities and supplies, lack of accountability, lack of involvement of managers and coworkers, and organizations that are not supportive of hand-washing - ouch!
The researchers used two focus groups (a total of 18 participants, although recruitment calls were made to 150 establishments) to interview food handlers currently employed in restaurants in two Oregon counties.
The advantage of using focus groups is to derive substantive content of verbally expressed views, opinions, experiences and attitudes that are not as easily accessed using means such as surveys. For instance, a food handler in the current study who expressed a desire for additional education and training about FBI's that result from not washing hands during food preparation, was quoted as saying: "I am very curious. I know germs exist and they are out there. We hear about Salmonella and all that stuff. But I'm curious as to if we don't wash our hands, what is the result? I think we should be educated because I don't really know what happens. I mean yeah, you get sick. But what does Salmonella do to a person?" But, after having worked in the foodservice industry for several years prior to joining iFSN, one of my favorite quotes from the study regarding lack of accountability for hand-washing (because I don’t doubt that it's a common fear in the industry) has to be: "I don't think I could tell anyone I work with that they need to wash their hands. I'd get some swear words back in my face."
As a result of the focus group sessions, the researchers recommended that future educational and training programs include: a hands on training program that orients new employees to correct hand-washing practices and more advanced education about FBI's; involvement of both managers and coworkers in the training; easily accessible hand-washing facilities stocked with necessary supplies; continued hand-washing training and support involving the food service industry, managers, and coworkers; and finally, involvement of health departments and inspectors in providing managers and food workers with advice and consultation on improvement of hand-washing practice.
For more pictures of hand-washing signs and miscellaneous food safety related notices that we've captured in our travels, check out our blog, Hygiene Aficionado.

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The Hamilton Spectator today reports that an alert principal intercepted 1,500 Hershey Peanut Butter Cups potentially contaminated by salmonella which flooded a Hamilton high school Tuesday.
The story says that the bars -- identified as Hershey products recalled in November and believed stolen from a recycler -- were brought to Mountain Secondary School by students who found them in a dumpster behind a closed variety store nearby.
Principal Virginia McCulloch said she and vice-principal Patrick Elliott noticed the bars appearing in the halls 20 minutes before classes ended on the last day before exams.
Eric Matthews, manager of Hamilton's health protection branch, praised McCulloch's quick thinking and the students' willingness to turn in the candy.
There is no evidence anyone was selling the bars at the school, he said.




Note: Back in November fears of salmonella contamination drove chocolate-maker Hershey to recall a wide variety of its chocolate bars and candies made at its Smiths Falls, Ont. plant. The company identified soy lecithin as the contaminant, though both it and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency received heat from the media for refusing to reveal the suppliers identity. For more, read: How the chocolate got spilled will not be told,  The sweet taste of truth archived at iFSN. More of the recalled chocolate bars were discovered last week in a Lindsay, Ont. convenience store. For the complete story, see: Potentially dangerous  chocolate found in  Lindsay  corner store.

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The N.Y. Times is reporting this morning that, citing health concerns, the two companies, Lactalis and the Isigny Sainte-Mère cooperative, which together made 90 percent of the traditional raw milk Camembert in Normandy, began earlier this year to treat the milk used for most of those cheeses.

In doing so, they were forced to sacrifice their Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée  or, A.O.C., status, the first time in French history that Camembert producers voluntarily did so. But they also have asked the French governmental food board to grant that status to their new Camemberts, arguing that the processing they use — either filtering or gently heating the milk — does not sacrifice the traditional taste and character of the cheese.

Mr. Durand and his supporters beg to differ, claiming that the move is a ploy by the dairy giants to make more cheese and profits while destroying a crucial part of French heritage. If the companies’ petition is granted, they argue, raw milk cheese would be threatened.

Is Camembert in jeopardy? This week my French "maman" went to the market and verified that Lepetit, one of the brands affected by the Isigny/Lactilis decision to quit using raw milk in their Camembert, is indeed, no longer putting lait cru cheese on the shelves.  What's interesting, though, is that they still have the "moulé à la louche" or ladle-formed indication on the box. This is one of the traditional Camembert making methods that was said to be in jeopardy (see "Cheese Culture"). 

In fact, if Mr. Durand, as described in today's N.Y. Times article, is the only one left in Normandy who makes traditional Camembert … does that mean the French don’t really care as much about the traditional cheesemaking process as having inexpensive and easily accessible cheese?

Evidence suggests “cheese culture” (or if H. prefers, the cultural approach to cheese) is changing in France.  Our neighbor Jean-Claude in Maubuisson, France, apologized profusely to us as he set out his cheese plate after the main course, saying that he should have provided a better combination of soft and hard cheeses, cow and sheep’s milk, etc. When we reciprocated dinner and put out our cheese platter, he commented on how well chosen our cheese variety was – even though I managed to forget a hard cheese for the selection. These details used to be an essential part of dining etiquette in France, but today they are only traditional suggestions. Jean-Claude said his mother always told him that it was good to take only three cheeses, not more. He’s nearly 60 now, and remembers the lessons he learned, but he does not honor them like the religion they once were.

If companies want to mass produce their cheese, and market it in countries like the U.S. with its strict cheese rules (and where we don’t really have a cultural approach to cheese unless we live in Wisconsin or Vermont), then these companies do need to think about the safety of consumers. Whether safety is a byproduct of mass marketing or if it is influenced by a culture that is less tolerant of losing small children to lait cru Camembert doesn’t really seem to be the issue. The fact is, the change has been made. The impact will be felt, and other large cheese companies will have to decide if they will follow suit.

Mr. Durand will likely continue providing to his niche markets, and if he wants to practice good marketing, he may come grow his client base due to these changes.

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A story today in the National Post reports that Canadian farmers have filed four class-action suits  seeking compensation for losses of more than $9-billion since 2003 due primarily to government mismanagement of BSE. 

C'mon food industry, the government isn't your mom.  You should not continually rely on regulators to protect you from everything, and expect them to know the risk associated with your business better than you do.  The government is there to support public health and create an infrastructure to produce safe food and control disease.

Cameron Pallett, the lawyer representing the cattle farmers was quoted today as saying that the Canadian government lost track of cattle imported from the UK in the 1980s and 90s and that "the government released a report in 2006 that said the likely cause of Canada's BSE crisis was one of these cows -- whoops."  Mr. Pallett also goes on to say it took 18 months for Canada to act on a World Health Organization recommendation in 1996 to ban feed containing cattle or sheep remnants. 

So why didn't the cattle industry force a defacto feed ban by requiring that their input suppliers not use risky products? That could have been done without the government's help -- farmers, not the government, actually bought the feed.

Even if Pallet and his clients are correct about the mismanagement, how many other cows with the BSE were not counted or couldn't be counted?  We still know little about BSE appearance and transmission.  How well has the industry been implementing feed restrictions? The Edmonton Journal suggested not very well in 2005 (CFIA found mislabeled or problem feed during inspections) -- but went on to also blame the government.

It's garbage to suggest that the economic impact of BSE in Canada can be blamed primarily on one player.  Like many food safety issues everyone from farm to fork had a role to play. 


It's expected that farmers, processors, distributors, retailers and food service operators know the risks that come with their raw ingredients, processes and final products and how to manage them. If there are problems, it's industry's job to fix them. And if they can't, they face the repercussions.

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Restaurant staff at an Apleebee's in California accidentally gave Kim Mayorga's 2-year-old a margarita instead of apple juice. He grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.

Randy Tei, vice president for Apple Bay East Inc., which owns the franchise restaurant and nine other Applebee's in the San Francisco Bay areaa, was cited as saying the apple juice and margarita mix were stored in identical plastic bottles, and the manager mistakenly grabbed the margarita container to pour the boy's drink.

Tei was further cited as saying the Mayorgas will be reimbursed for their medical bills, and the franchise group's restaurants will no longer serve apple juice and margaritas in similar containers, adding, "We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake."

Mayorga was further cited as saying her son is now doing fine and that the company has been very apologetic and offered free meals, but added, "If they think I'm going back there, they're ridiculous."

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The FDA announced yesterday that it will begin a multi-year Tomato Safety Initiative to reduce the incidence of tomato-related foodborne illness in the United States. 

FDA investigators in coordination with their respective state counterparts will visit tomato farms and packing facilities in Florida and Virginia to assess food safety practices and use of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).

It's clear that the FDA thinks, as do I, that  the produce industry must do more to ensure that everyone from farm-to-fork recognizes food safety risks and take concrete actions to reduce the risks of dangerous microorganisms. And in the absence of verification from within, government is stepping in.

Regulators and the industry in the past have have released food safety guidelines for tomatoes, but there is a lack of verification; it is unclear if all growers are actually following the guidelines. The FDA announcement is a good step, but the industry should have been able to do this themselves.

Guidelines are a first step, but we need more creative ways to compel everyone, from the person harvesting to the person distributing, to take food safety seriously, even in the absence of an outbreak.

A list of North American tomato outbreaks can be found here.

Check out our papers below:


Luedtke, A., Chapman, B. and Powell, D.A. 2003. Implementation and analysis of an on-farm food safety program for the production of greenhouse vegetables. Journal of Food Protection. 66:485-489.

Powell, D.A., Bobadilla-Ruiz, M., Whitfield, A. Griffiths, M.G.. and Luedtke, A. 2002. Development, implementation and analysis of an on-farm food safety program for the production of greenhouse vegetables in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Food Protection. 65: 918- 923.

We also published a book chapter entitled Implementing On-Farm Food Safety Programs in Fruit and Vegetable Cultivation, in the recently published, Improving the Safety of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

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The Irish Independent is reporting that in a study by two environmental officers of 19 salad bars, primarily in supermarkets, all but one kept food at the recommended 5°C.









The story lists the five sins at salad bars:

• Spilling food

• Dipping fingers into salad dressings for a sample

• Eating from plates while waiting in the serving line

• Ducking heads underneath the sneeze guard (clear plastic roof) for better access

• Refilling soiled plates — bringing back harmful germs

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The Florida Times Union reports that a lemonade stand run by a group of cheerleaders has been tied to an outbreak of stomach flu among at least 48 people who attended May's Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach.










Kim Geib, director of disease control and prevention services at the Nassau County Health Department said the department determined lemonade caused the illnesses after interviewing 30 of the people who reported falling ill in the days after the May 3-6 festival.

Though the drink was served in several spots around the festival, the health
department investigation found the lemonade that caused the illness was
served May 5 at the Fernandina Beach High School Cheerleaders' booth, Geib
said.

As I've written before, 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. Shouldn't we expect all those who prepare food or beverages, even at temporary events, have some basic food safety training?

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