August 2007

  • Stars and mice alike into the Pinkberry ice

    Posted: August 20th, 2007 - 2:46pm by Brae Surgeoner

    In June, WABC New York, reported that mice had invaded a trendy yogurt shop, Pinkberry, at 82nd Street and Second Avenue -- and they had exclusive video of the mice running around on the shop floor.

    At the time, one passerby told news reporters, "I was in the restaurant industry so there were mice everywhere so I'm kinda used to it." Yuck!

    Today, the Nation's Restaurant News reports on Dane Morrissey's, area director for 4sunkids inc., Pinkberry’s New York franchisee, 'no mouse in the house' strategy to keeping the little critters out. Morrissey was quoted as saying, "You can be spotless, but if you don’t remove the access points, they can still come in. We opened every cabinet and pulled out everything from the wall. Every outlet was checked. Every pipe was sealed. Gaps around the doors were filled with weather stripping.”

    Morrissey was also cited as saying, the mice incident did not bite into business at the super-busy chain.
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  • Brewing coffee from cat poop

    Posted: August 20th, 2007 - 1:20pm by Andrew Reece

    I noticed an interesting article today about how some people in Indonesia are using seeds picked from cat droppings to brew their morning cup of Joe.
    According to ITN and Yahoo! News:
    "Makers claim they gather undigested seeds from ripe coffee cherries, that have passed through the stomachs of civet cats and use them to make the drink.
    It has been suggested enzymes in the animal's stomach break down the proteins in the seeds and give them a bitter taste that enhances the flavour."
    They may be right about the poop seeds affecting the flavor, but the safety risk of this practice is high. The filth that these seeds come from could contain E. coli or other fecal coliforms that can lead to health issues. We'll keep an eye on this practice, but I wouldn't be surprised if we hear about a few people getting sick off of this practice. Read the full article here.

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  • Jittering jingoism

    Posted: August 20th, 2007 - 6:33am by Doug Powell

    First it was the Brits, now the Kiwis are jumping into the jingoism wars.

    AgResearch New Zealand senior microbiologist Guill le Roux was quoted as telling the Waikato Times, "Eat it (meat) and enjoy it; we have the safest meat in the world. But for goodness sake, prepare and cook it properly."

    le Roux was further quoted as saying,

    "In general, we are better than most other places in the world. In the States, for instance, they use largely untrained Mexican labour, so there's a language problem for a start. They have about 80 per cent staff turnover annually. And they work with very dirty animals, which are kept on feed lots where there's mud and manure, which increases the possibility of disease. … We are lucky here, there is very little risk, even in hamburgers which are notorious overseas. But we can't get complacent, because the goal posts are moving all the time especially in export markets."

    The story notes that le Roux gained a certain profile a few years ago when he was reported as saying that New Zealand had the worst incidence of campylobacter in the world, adding, "We were at a conference and everyone else was saying the same thing, but the media focused on me."

    He is quick to point out the statement needs clarification. "These bacteria can be found in water and in many food products such as chicken, fruit and vegetables. However, the high reported incidence in New Zealand is probably due to our good reporting systems as much as anything else."

    Any country that claims to have the safest food in the world is probably wrong. Only one can be correct. Some data would bolster a claim of safety.
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  • Careful with that camel, Eugene

    Posted: August 19th, 2007 - 7:59pm by Doug Powell

    Before investing in a camel share for your raw camel milk, there are some things about camels that, well, I didn't know.

    Associated Press is citing police as saying that an Australian woman was killed by a pet camel given to her as a 60th birthday present after the animal apparently tried to have sex with her.

    Detective Senior Constable Craig Gregory was cited as saying the 10-month-old male camel – weighing about 150 kilograms – knocked the woman to the ground, lay on top of her, then exhibited what police suspect was mating behaviour.
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  • Food porn alert: My church is a farm

    Posted: August 19th, 2007 - 7:05pm by Doug Powell

    Kim Severson writes in the New York Times today that the connection between what she puts in her body, the land around her and the miracle of things that grow makes her feel as if she's part of something bigger.

    Fair enough. Severson explains that local has become the new organic, helped in large part by a growing concern over the environmental impact of transporting food thousands of miles.

    But when it comes to food safety, Severson fails like so many other food pornographers.

    "Mix a little mad cow disease, bags of spinach infected with E. coli and an obesity epidemic and people begin to question what is happening to the food supply. A bunch of kale from Hepworth Farms in Milton, N.Y., may not solve those problems, but it is one sure, small step toward a healthier family dinner table."

    Why is it a step toward anything safer unless the grower can prove she is following good agricultural practices and some minimal microbial food safety testing to provide an indication that controls are working the way they should (such as water quality).

    Talk is nice. Show me, or any other consumer, the data.
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  • Who, what, where, when, why?

    Posted: August 18th, 2007 - 12:05pm by Doug Powell

    Journalism basics, something I'll be teaching at Kansas State beginning next week and something the ever-evasive Canadian Food Inspection Agency dances around.

    This time it's a warning that Los Angeles Salad Company Baby Carrots may be contaminated with Shigella.

    The release says there have been four reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

    No other details, except that the affected product, Los Angeles Salad Company Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots, is labelled as product of Mexico and imported by Los Angeles Salad Company. It is sold in 672 g/1.5 lb plastic bags bearing ITM 50325, UPC 8 31129 00137 7 and Sell By dates up to and including 8 /13 /07.

    This product was sold in Costco stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.

    These bureaucrats still aren't that into you.

    In 2005, contaminated carrots served over three days on flights out of Honolulu were the likely cause of 45 cases of shigella poisoning across 22 states, Japan, Australia and American Samoa.
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  • Really, it's all about the pictures

    Posted: August 18th, 2007 - 11:35am by Doug Powell

    The Chicago Tribune reports that legislation signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich allows the city to make legal what waiters from Lincoln Park to the West Loop have allowed with a wink and a nod. A proposed ordinance to allow dogs to accompany their owners while dining is expected to be reviewed by an aldermanic committee this month.

    Chicago Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th), a co-sponsor, was quoted as saying Friday, "We're a world-class city and people have been doing this for a long time, so why not allow them to do this in a regulated way so it's safe and clean?".

    The proposed ordinance would prohibit dogs from sitting on a seat, table or countertop; forbid employees from handling the dogs; mandate cleaning up all spilled food among customers; and provide disposable towels and liquid hand sanitizer at every table that permits dogs.

    The state law signed Friday states that no pet dog can be inside any restaurant or in any area where food is prepared. Also, a restaurant will have the right to refuse to serve a dog's owner who fails to "exercise reasonable control" over his four-legged friend and a restaurant can refuse service if a dog threatens the health or safety of anyone at the eatery.

    The proposal sounds reasonable and is similar to what has been implemented in Florida and what we've advocated.
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  • Stop pooping in the water

    Posted: August 18th, 2007 - 11:14am by Doug Powell

    Local health departments in Utah report that more than 150 cases of cryptosporidium have been, um, reported.

    The Utah Department of Health warns that the number of people reporting cases of severe diarrhea continues to rise, and exposure will likely not decline until people who are sick - or who have recently been sick - avoid pools and recreational waters

    For more information about cryptosporidium, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Utah Department of Health's Web site.
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  • Roll over, Louis

    Posted: August 17th, 2007 - 3:46pm by Doug Powell

    In a press release that would leave Pasteur guffawing, Autumn Valley Farm of Worcester, N.Y. has declared that it will be resuming sales of raw milk.

    Co-owner Lori McGrath was quoted as saying,

    "… everyone understands that the state has to be pacified because the Agriculture Department is deathly afraid that any kind of an outbreak will hurt the commercial milk industry."

    Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is bankrolling many of the state initiatives to promote raw milk was quoted as saying,

    “Raw milk from small family-run farms is immediately refrigerated after milking and is typically sold within a day or two – the freshest milk you can find. I’m hoping that these unnecessary contamination alerts will stop with a little education at the state level.”

    A call for education usually means propaganda.  Louis Pasteur would be entertained to learn that dangerous microorganisms have political affiliations and avoid small family-run farms. As Brae and I have noted, outbreaks, usually involving children consuming raw milk, continue unabated.
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  • Wash your hands ... and don't serve poop

    Posted: August 17th, 2007 - 5:37am by Doug Powell

    Researchers from the University of Michigan report in the Sept. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases that washing hands with an antibacterial soap was no more effective at reducing bacterial levels or preventing illness than washing with ordinary soap, and that those soaps containing the antimicrobial triclosan, produced worrisome antibiotic cross-resistance among different species of bacteria.

    So wash your hands, and don't eat -- or serve -- poop.
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  • I really just do this to post pics of my dogs

    Posted: August 17th, 2007 - 5:33am by Doug Powell

    Ed Murrieta writes about the doggie hospitality in the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington.

    As for the health department regulations that prohibit dogs in taverns and restaurants? The owner of the Shamrock Tavern on Pacific Avenue was quoted as saying, "Well, they came in once and told us to keep him out or they’d fine us."

    Mike Davis, a food safety supervisor for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said his department doesn’t go looking for dogs, but “we cite them when we see them. They have their pet sitting in the corner. The code says ‘no.’”

    Murrieta then lists the local spots that are doggie friendly. It may be better to lay out some rules so everyone is playing on the same field.
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  • I really hope they have proper handwashing stations

    Posted: August 16th, 2007 - 5:41pm by Doug Powell

    The Ontario Farm Animal Council and the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) today announced that they are challenging members of the media to be farmers for a day.

    Ron Douglas, CNE Farm Superintendent and farmer, was quoted as saying,

    "We are challenging the media to milk a cow, feed chickens, shear sheep and plant crops at this years’ CNE. We are also inviting them to bring their children along so that they can be one step closer to understanding what life on the farm is like in this day and age."

    Great idea. But in addition to proper facilities, I really hope the organizers encourage and insist on proper sanitation and explain why. This from the U.S. CDC should help.
    www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5605a1.htm
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  • All we are saying ...

    Posted: August 16th, 2007 - 11:51am by Doug Powell

    … is give LOX a chance.

    That's low oxygen meat packaging, a system which preserves the quality, bolsters the safety, maintains the color and extends the shelf life of fresh meat products.

    Dr. Randy Huffman, vice president of scientific affairs for the American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF), writes to South Dakota's Yankton Daily to explain the technology and outline how the opposing PR campaign is funded by a company that stands to lose with the adoption of LOX. It's a familiar tale, especially in the world of genetic engineering and natural-organics-local.

    "Kalsec, a Michigan-based company that makes a competing technology using a chemical extracted from rosemary, stands to lose market share if LOX continues to gain momentum. As a result, they've launched a media campaign that made its way into this paper recently to alarm consumers and attempt to deep-six LOX altogether. In fact, according to a recent Federal Election Commission report, they've spent more than $300,000 in the last six months alone on lobbyists who have succeeded in convincing certain congressmen and senators from Michigan to sponsor bills attacking LOX. And if this beneficial technology is outlawed, the biggest loser of all will be the consumer."
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  • The devil wears Prada?

    Posted: August 16th, 2007 - 11:16am by Doug Powell

    Food safety lawsuits continue to pile up, at home and abroad.

    In Jordan, the family of a man who died after falling ill from eating a shawarma in a restaurant in Jordan has filed lawsuits against the restaurant’s owner and a hospital doctor who dealt with him before his death.

    Bilal Jarwan, 23, was one of hundred of people struck down with salmonella poisoning after eating chicken shawarmas from a restaurant in the Baqaa refugee camp near Amman.

    Father Abu Ramzi was quoted as telling newspaper The Jordan Times,

    "The Jordanian judicial system is known for its integrity and we trust it will hold to account whoever was responsible for the death of my son."

    Over two hundred cases of food poisoning were reported in the salmonella outbreak, leading the Jordanian government to ban shawarmas across the kingdom. The restaurant from where the outbreak originated, located around 27 kilometres northwest of Jordan’s capital, has now been closed and its owner and staff arrested. The owner is facing up to three years in prison and a fine.
    Hospital response

    In Chicago, Joel Parker is suing Pars Cove Persian Cuisine after his 16-year-old son ate hummus alleged to be contaminated with salmonella at the Taste of Chicago event.

    According to the Chicago Health Department, as of last week, 790 people claimed they got salmonella after consuming food bought from the Pars Cove booth. Following laboratory testing, 182 of those cases were confirmed. In the latest news release from the health department, 38 people are known to have been hospitalized.

    Love them or hate them, lawsuits seem to be a tool to hold food producers, marketers and retailers accountable, and keeps food safety stories in the news, perhaps raising the overall level of awareness and contributing to a culture that values microbiologically safe food.
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  • "Stinky Hands" is the quote of the week

    Posted: August 16th, 2007 - 7:24am by

    Rebecca J. Gray Causey, a regional food safety and defense coordinator for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, as mentioned in one of Doug's previous posts , labeled a food handler with a reportedly itchy ass, "Stinky Hands".

    The name provided the inspiration for this week's infosheet. We've got to figure out how to incorporate it in the next iFSN T-shirt printing.


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  • Just cook the burgers and no one will get sick ...

    Posted: August 15th, 2007 - 8:35pm by Doug Powell

    Andrew Wadge is the chief scientist for the U.K. Food Standards Agency; Andy has a blog.

    On Aug. 2, 2007, a Judith Hilton posted on Andy's blog that,

    "UK Government advice about cooking burgers is more stringent than in the US and we were asked to consider whether our advice was still appropriate, bearing in mind claims the cooking times and temperatures recommended in the UK may lead to overcooking and deterioration in the quality of some products.

    "Mindful of this, but also of the fact that undercooked burgers can harbour harmful food bugs such as E. coli O157, which can cause food poisoning and kidney failure, and that the advice had not been expertly reviewed since 1998, we asked the ACMSF to review what we were saying, which is that burgers should be cooked to 70°C for 2 minutes or equivalent. In other words, until burgers are piping hot throughout, there are no pink bits and the juices run clear."

    On Aug. 2, 2007, I posted a comment, asking,

    Why is the U.K. advice considered more stringent that the U.S.? Especially when the U.K. makes no mention of using meat thermometers and instead relies on the tremendously misleading, cook until the juices run clear?

    On Aug. 7, 2007, Ms. Hilton responded that,

    "The stringency relates to the time-temperature combinations whereby US guidance allows combinations that will provide a lower log reduction that 70 degrees for two minutes.
    The reason we don't mention temperature probes during cooking is that they're not commonly used in the home over here. … Sorry you don't find the reference to juices running clear helpful. It's there as an additional safety check, alongside cooker manufacturer' instructions. These instructions are designed to achieve a minimum temperature of 70 degrees C for two minutes or equivalent."

    Without getting into the inadequacies on cooking instructions (and we don't just blather about it, we're doing research on it, rightt now -- dp)  I responded,

    "Thanks for your comments. But they seem incomplete, especially when you are claiming that U.K. standards are more stringent than U.S. (and I'm Canadian so find the jingoism peculiar).

    "The U.S. Department of Agriculture seems to have covered much of the basics in this oldie but goodie release. And while use of thermometers may be low in the U.K. and elsewhere, isn't it the responsibility of government agencies to produce evidence-based material, and even promote best practices? Like using meat thermometers? It's a research challenge we will be undertaking."
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  • Dr. Doyle speaks

    Posted: August 15th, 2007 - 5:02pm by Doug Powell

    Michael Doyle (pictured), director of the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety told Georgia's Lakefront Hartwell that the food safety problem isn't where the food comes from, but how it's grown or processed before it reaches American soil.

    "The centuries-old tradition of using human excreta on farmland is widespread in East Asia, especially in China and Vietnam. And unsanitary polluted water is used in production and processing. The result of these practices is contamination by harmful microbes such as Salmonella."

    "The food industry, whether it be growers, manufacturers or distributors, is responsible for providing safe foods. And regulatory agencies need more rapid and robust sampling and detection methods to verify that foods, especially those that are imported, are safe from harmful microbes and chemicals."

    Love the gloves.
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  • Salmonella in pet turtles in Korea

    Posted: August 15th, 2007 - 1:58pm by Doug Powell

    The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) reports that salmonella has been found in 13 percent of pet turtles that have been sold at aquariums, retail outlets and Internet shopping malls.

    The story says that according to statistics from the Korea Customs Service (KCS), nearly 200,000 pet turtles were imported last year. However, there is no regulation on their sales.

    Recently the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported on the death of a 3-week-old Florida infant who, along with 21 other small children across the U.S., were sickened by a strain of Salmonella Pomona associated with small pet turtles over an 8-month period from 2006 to 2007.

    I've reported on my own experiences with pet turtles.

    And in Nov. 2006, Pam Anderson apparently filmed a movie, co-starring Denise Richards, and her pet turtle wouldn't stop farting.

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  • Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: You remember Leonard Skinner. He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner

    Posted: August 15th, 2007 - 11:04am by

    Bill Marler's most recent post got me thinking about summer camp food safety again. 

    Marler's post mentions that kids and parents at a church camp in North
    Carolina ate Castleberry's chili that had been recalled nearly one month
    earlier.  While Marler appears to lay the blame on Castleberry's, I think
    camp officials are at least partly responsible.  In my experience summer
    camp officials don't always make good food safety decisions.

    I still remember the summer my oldest son worked at a nearby camp.  He
    explained all his important duties, one of which was making sure that the
    refrigerator temperature logs were filled in with the "correct" temperatures
    when the health inspector was due for a visit.

    Another example of camp making bad decisions happened earlier this summer
    when a norovirus outbreak hit a scout camp in Pensylvannia.  As the
    link explains, the first week the camp had "several" norovirus cases in
    camp.  They cleaned up and brought in the next weeks campers, and were hit
    even harder, with at least 55 ill... so they decided to send all 500 campers
    home! 

    What the story doesn't explain (as I learned from a colleague whose son was
    one of the 500 sent home the second week) is that parents were not told of
    the first outbreak when they dropped their kids off for the second week.
    Certainly a bit of honest communication with parents about the outbreak the
    first week might have made for fewer irate parents the second week.

    Don Schaffner is an Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers
    University.  In is spare time he likes to go camping and backpacking with
    the Boy Scouts.
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  • Sorry, Scottish bureaucrats aren't that into you either

    Posted: August 15th, 2007 - 10:20am by Doug Powell

    As the latest E. coli O157 outbreak ravages Scotland, including one death and seven ill linked to cold cuts, Professor Hugh Pennington today said there was no excuse for allowing contaminated cold meat to be sold, after lessons were learned from a major outbreak in Lanarkshire 10 years ago.

    "We had hoped we'd seen the last of outbreaks associated with butchers. I think there really is no excuse for it. We know how to prevent it. … There is no excuse for putting your customers at risk. Undoubtedly this outbreak will be down to human error - either someone doing something they shouldn't or not doing something they should."

    Meanwhile, an editorial in The Herald has questioned why there appears to have been a delay of several days before information regarding the outbreak was made public, echoing my comments about Canadian officials,

    "There is always a danger that premature announcements provoke unnecessary panic. However, public protection must outweigh the danger of spreading unwarranted alarm. Vulnerable people and their carers have a right to expect the enforcement of basic hygiene in the handling of food and a right to know promptly when things go wrong."
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