Maybe I'm missing some privacy thing, but an individual with a small video camera initiated the largest meat recall in U.S. history.

So why isn't the U.S. Department of Agriculture making use of the same technology?

Public watering holes are jumping on the bandwagon.

The New York Times reports that bar Webcams are a growing phenomenon in cities like Boston, Denver, Chicago, San Diego, Minneapolis, and even tourist spots like Key West.

The idea is: with a Webcam installed in a bar or restaurant, potential customers can call up the live video stream online or by mobile phone so they can survey the crowd before venturing out.

People who want a quiet night can scout for a bar with a mellow scene, and those who want a lively night can look for the crowds. (Webcam bar promoters say it's typically a 50-50 split between the two camps.)

For the promoters, the online traffic equals money. Relatively new services like Barmigo and Barseenlive sell flat-rate subscriptions to the bars for licensing the Webcams and promoting their sites, and other upstarts like Baroptic.com are seeking to sell advertisements to liquor companies like Coors and Bacardi to run against those video streams.

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The Irish Hospital Consultants Association plans to protest to the HSE about its current advertising campaign asking patients to ask health professionals whether they have washed their hands.

Irish Health reports that the campaign has met with a mixed reaction from the public, judging by the latest irishhealth.com viewers' poll results. One viewer says she has even complained to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission about the advertising campaign. (To view the full results and comments click on...http://www.irishhealth.com/poll.html?pollid=423 )

HSE Assistant National Director for Health Protection Dr Kevin Kelleher said evidence shows that hand hygiene is the single most effective defence against the spread of MRSA.

Donal Duffy, Assistant Secretary General of the IHCA, told irishhealth.com,

"They (consultants) find it gratuitously insulting, given that the campaign effectively accuses consultants of not washing their hands."

Janette Byrne of the Patients Together organization, said,

"If you are feeling very sick it would be difficult to have the worry of asking staff about their hand hygiene. We  feel that the full responsibility for this should be placed on hospital staff, and it is not fair to put this burden on the patient. … Many people would struggle to confront a doctor or nurse on this issue and we feel the campaign is very much a case of the HSE passing the buck."

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The Kansas Department of Agriculture is warning consumers in the Garden City area not to eat soft white cheese sold in unmarked packages because it came from an unapproved source and may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Food safety inspectors found the cheese being sold last week at Panaderia Real, 107 North Jennie Barker Road, in Garden City.  The cheese was destroyed after testing confirmed that it was made from unpasteurized milk and that it was contaminated with Salmonella.

An investigation into the cheese’s origin revealed that it was being made in the home of Guadalupe Valadez, who is not licensed to manufacture food. To be licensed, Valadez would need to use a commercial kitchen to make the cheese and to undergo routine food safety inspections.

Valadez was selling the cheese to neighbors, to coworkers at Tyson Foods and to two stores, Panaderia Real on Jennie Barker Road and at Panaderia Alexis at 146 Stevens Avenue.  She reports she had been making and selling the cheese for about a month.

The illegal cheese was identified during a two-month pilot project to monitor the safety of imported and domestically produced foods offered for sale in Kansas.  It was launched by the Kansas Department of Agriculture late last month.  '

Inspectors are collecting up to 10 products from each facility they visit as part of the project.  Products are tested for Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli, the most common causes of foodborne illness.

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Chinese-language media was cited as reporting yesterday that a diner was seriously upset when he saw a rat scurrying about one of Taipei 101's stylish Japanese restaurants.

The man, surnamed Chai, was cited as saying that he and his foreign guest hadn't finished dinning yet on Feb. 2, when a small rat scrambled quickly from the shopping mall into Minhan 101, and then towards the kitchen, adding,

"That was disgusting. The Taipei 101 is a national landmark visited by numerous foreigners."

Wang Yen-chi, spokesperson for Taipei 101, said that rat-eradication campaigns on the fourth floor will be increased, up from two disinfections per moths.

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I spend several hours each day editing news, writing, tapping away at the computer. I do most of this on my living room couch, usually with some sort of TV on in the background. Earlier today, there was a semi-decent movie on, which then went straight into 1985's Commando, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I glanced up now and then, just cause it was so terrible.

Today, Commando, now California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer,

"We urge swift investigation and action so that the public confidence in our food supply is not lost and a message is sent that mistreatment of animals will not be tolerated by anyone. … (The case) represents one of the worst violations of food safety laws in the country and one of the most egregious cases of animal cruelty I've ever seen. Because the State of California has no jurisdiction in this matter, my administration stands ready to assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture in this investigation in any way possible. … If these allegations are proven to be true and an isolated case, we expect full criminal prosecution. If this is a willful and broad-based corporate practice, we urge you to shut the plant down and pursue full prosecution of those involved."

Animal welfare shouldn't be a downer.

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As part of our L.A. getaway, Amy and I spent Sunday walking in the Sunset Beach area, soaking up some sun and eventually stopped by an ocean-view café for a drink.

The Sunday brunch crowd was coming and going, and two separate groups of people brought their dogs onto the patio. I asked our server about doggy dining in Orange County and she said she didn't know but that the health inspectors didn't complain and the servers had doggy biscuits for polite pooches. But she also volunteered that if it's crowded, or the dog appears aggressive, she has no problem telling the owner to tie the dog up on the outside of the patio. Sounds good to us.

In other regions, the Tennessee Senate State and Local Government Committee is set to vote Tuesday on a bill that would allow cities with a population of more than 100,000 -- no idea why the population limit -- can enact local ordinances to permit doggy dining under certain circumstances.

A restaurant would have to apply for a local permit to let a "companion dog" on its premises, but only in outdoor seating areas.

The bill would also require:

• accidents involving companion dog waste shall be cleaned immediately;
• a kit with the appropriate materials for such (cleaning) use shall be kept near the designated outdoor area" where dogs are permitted;
• all public food service establishment employees shall wash their hands promptly after touching, petting or otherwise handling a companion dog; and,
• companion dogs shall not be allowed on chairs, tables or other furnishings.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville, Florida, City Council held a public hearing last week on whether dogs should be allowed at restaurants with outdoor seating.

Jim Provoncios, who supports dogs dining at area restaurant, said,

"I do think that's OK, as long as there's a provision like a water bowl or keeping dogs close to their owners, and as long as they can't walk around."

An opponent of the proposal was quoted as telling the meeting,

"You've passed laws that say you don’t want to tolerate smoke when you're eating in a restaurant, but I don’t want a dog to poop on my shoe while I'm eating, either. I don’t want to encounter fleas while eating."

Another man was quoted as saying,

"I think it's fine. As long as the dogs leave 15 percent, then it's fine."

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In 1184, city leaders in Toulouse, France, introduced some of the first documented measures to oversee the sale of meat: profit for butchers was limited to eight per cent; the partnership between two butchers was forbidden; and, selling the meat of sick animals was forbidden unless the buyer was warned.

By 1394, the Toulouse charter on butchering contained 60 articles, 19 of which were devoted to health and safety.

As outlined by Madeleine Ferrières, a professor of social history at the University of Avignon, in her 2002 book, Sacred Cow, Mad Cow: A History of Food Fears, the goal of regulations at butcher shops -- the forerunners of today's slaughterhouse -- was to safeguard consumers and increase tax revenues. Animals from the surrounding countryside were consolidated at a single spot -- the evolving slaughterhouse, originally inside city walls -- so taxes could be more easily gathered, and so animals could be physically examined for signs of disease.

It's no different today: slaughterhouses are common collection points to examine animals for signs of disease and to collect various levies. And like medieval times, one of the most basic rules is animals that cannot walk are forbidden from entering (the slaughterhouse or city).

So when Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., a Chino, Calif., establishment that is (was) the second-largest provider of beef to the U.S. school lunch program was caught breaking the rules, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday announced the firm was voluntarily recalling two-years worth of production, or approximately 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products. USDA had determined the meat to be unfit for human food because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection.

But it wasn't the inspectors and veterinarians who work for USDA, those who are paid to be present in the slaughterhouse to inspect and verify compliance, who busted the case. It was an undercover employee of the Humane Society of the United States who obtained footage which prompted USDA to act (the original video is available at:
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/CA_2008_investigation?qp_source=gaba89).

The slaughterhouse was found using a variety of distasteful techniques such as electric prods, nudging with a forklift and waterboarding, to get non-ambulatory animals to walk one last time, and just in time for the USDA-type to notice.

A non-ambulatory animal is also called a downer.

Federal regulations forbid downed cattle from entering the food supply because they may have higher levels of E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease.

A 2004 review of meat inspection in Canada found that cattle become non-ambulatory at all ages and for a variety of reasons, and that banning these animals from the food chain could encourage illegal slaughter and the sale of uninspected meat processed under unhygienic conditions.

"However," the report stated, "most downer animals are dairy cows that are at the end of their productive lives and are being sent for slaughter to salvage what little value remains. The quality of their meat is low and although it cannot be said that this meat is unsafe, there is a heightened risk."
That's why they're supposed to be kept out of the food supply.

In the Middle Ages, violation of regulations ranged from fines to flogging to banishment.
Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. will be flogged in the media and the two-year recall should effectively banish the company.

But unlike 12th century France, USDA has access to the same video technology that a single undercover worker was able to use to bring down a large corporation. Producers and processors who say their food is safe should be able to prove it. Producers and processors who say they treat animals humanely should be able to prove it.

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Doug and I are in L.A. for a few days and I’ve appreciated the prominent handwashing signs in public and private lavatories. This one comes from the outdoor Public Restroom off the beach at the famous Gladstone’s of Malibu seafood restaurant. I read the sign when I walked into the bathroom, but when I tried to wash my hands, the water came out of the faucet in a tiny trickle. The water pressure in their indoor/private facility was slightly better but still conservative. It’s impressive to have signage that indicates all the different times when one should wash her hands, but if the facilities are lacking, there isn’t much point.

The second sign, found today at a beach café in Long Beach, CA was also interesting because the Spanish appears larger than the English part. I also like the idea that I’m breaking state law if I do not wash my damn hands before returning to work.

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The Tasmanian Director of Public Health, Dr Roscoe Taylor, said consumers should be aware that eggs are a safe and excellent source of nutrition when handled and prepared correctly but in recent years there had been several outbreaks of Salmonella gastroenteritis linked to the consumption of raw or undercooked egg products, including the most recent outbreak in the Hobart area.

"All the evidence we have collected so far indicates that there is no single ‘magic bullet’ solution to preventing further outbreaks of salmonella gastroenteritis. Things can go wrong at each step of the way from farm to fork, and so multiple control points and strategies are required – in just the same way as we recommend that drinking water authorities use a 'catchment-to-tap' approach to drinking water management.

The Public and Environmental Health Service has previously issued several warnings to both the food industry and the public outlining the hazards associated with raw egg products and cautioning against their continued use. …  I say this because OzFoodNet - the Australian national surveillance system for foodborne diseases has reported that the number of egg-related Salmonella outbreaks across Australia increased in 2006 and 2007 when compared to previous years. Eggs were responsible for approximately 14% of the 115 foodborne disease outbreaks occurring in 2006 and 12% of the138 outbreaks in 2007.”

Dr Taylor said that given the national increase, and the local experience of salmonella outbreaks associated with eggs, we propose to introduce new measures to control the safety of raw egg products in Tasmania as a matter of urgency. 

Under the new requirements all food businesses choosing to make raw egg products must document the method of manufacture and follow strict and auditable procedures governing egg receipt, product preparation, storage and handling.

The shelf life of each batch of raw egg product will also be limited to no more than 24 hours under refrigeration, after which the product must be discarded.

Dr Taylor said the new egg safety measures will be legally enforceable by local government environmental health officers, as part food business licensing and inspection procedures.

“The new requirements will not apply to businesses using commercially processed egg-based sauces and dressings, or to businesses that use pasteurised products such as egg pulp in lieu of raw eggs.

 “I would also urge patrons when dining out to ask whether raw eggs have been used to prepare mayonnaise, aioli and tartare sauces, so that they can make an informed choice."

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