It has been almost three months now that my diet has been more or less dairy free. Shortly after Sorenne turned two months old, she became plagued with eczema. Her pediatrician never recommended I change my diet, as he was satisfied that she continued to gain weight, but I couldn’t stand watching her turn red and try to scratch herself with little hands that she could barely control. A friend of mine, and many articles I read, suggested cutting dairy. My first reaction was – that will be the end of nursing. I am a cheese addict, I love butter, and really, dairy is one of my main sources of protein. Soy is fine – but giving up cheese? How cruel can life be?

I eventually decided that cutting dairy for a couple of days would not kill me, and Sorenne did seem to get a little better. But Doug and I were really not sure if it was the dairy or any number of other variables in our daily life that could be affecting her. I had changed detergents and soaps and made sure she wore only 100% cotton material in the meantime.

The first two weeks of avoiding dairy were very difficult. Giving up cheesecake was almost painful, but I eventually found substitutes and cheated a little here and there when necessary. Sorenne had flare ups that I attributed to a dairy allergy, but we really have no way of knowing for sure. Sorenne doesn’t complain – neither does Doug – and I brought this challenge entirely on myself. After I discovered tofutti cream cheese and (yes it’s gross) veggie cheddar, quitting milk no longer seemed like such a big deal. I noticed I’m generally less gassy (pleasant for everyone around me) and Sorenne vomits significantly less.

For the past week Sorenne’s skin has been almost entirely clear. Today, while contemplating the dairy-free brownies I was about to make, I realized that living dairy free is a challenge I enjoy. I still salivate thinking about Roquefort, but I lived without most of my favorite cheese throughout my pregnancy due to the risk of listeria. (At least now I can eat pâté without much worry.) Finding substitutes has been somewhat enjoyable with some pleasant side effects. For those who cannot enjoy dairy due to serious allergies or lactose intolerance, the diet may feel more like a burden. Worse yet, it’s scary to not know if an allergen has contaminated your food when you’ve been careful to protect yourself or your child. I’m fortunate to have a choice and a knowledgeable partner tolerant of my neurotic parenting.
 

U.S. President Obama went to another burger shop in Washington for lunch today, ordering up a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, jalapeno peppers, and mustard – not the fancy Dijon mustard.

He also ordered a cheeseburger for Brian Williams, anchor for NBC. The network was filming a day-in-the-life program at the White House.

The media accounts and video do not indicate how the burger was ordered – I always order well-done. Hopefully someone is sticking in a tip-sensitive thermometer to ensure the burger is cooked to 160F.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Americans should use a thermometer. Shouldn’t that apply to the President as well (photo below from AP)
 

It’s been just over a week since I landed in Wellington, New Zealand. The Kiwis have been friendly, and I’ve gotten better at understanding the accent (for the most part).

As part of my induction into the food safety group on this side of the world, we journeyed up to Palmerston North, about 2 hours from Wellington. A lunch break Tuesday at Cafe Esplanade was my first sighting of restaurant inspection grades in New Zealand: a bright green A (pictured right) displayed next to the cafe’s cash register. I snapped a few photos, and one of my colleagues commented about me being an obvious tourist.

In keeping with the storyline of idiots who think 911 is their babysitter, a  man who called 911 to complain that McDonald's left a juice box out of his drive-through order was arrested on Monday, Portland television station KPTV reported.

Raibin Osman appeared before a Washington County judge Tuesday on a charge of misusing emergency services. He said he called emergency dispatchers after the drive-through employee wouldn't come back to the window to give him a juice box.
 

When to go public remains a difficult question for public health types, but us mere mortals were offered a glimpse yesterday.

"To wait until one has evidence beyond doubt . . . is often too late to protect the public," McKeown said.

In front of a parliamentary subcommittee Wednesday, the medical health officers for Ontario and the City of Toronto chastised the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for its handling of last summer's listeriosis outbreak.

"This was a national outbreak, but it wasn't clear that the national public health dofficer had a mandate for leadership at the federal level," Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, told the committee.

Williams, along with Dr. David McKeown, Toronto Public Health medical officer, testified at a special parliamentary probing the state of food safety in Canada.

The committee was called after people consumed contaminated meat last summer from a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto, resulting in the death of 22 Canadians.

That death toll was exacerbated by "a lack of effective communication" among health agencies, Williams said, along with what the health officers suggest are differences in reporting procedures between the federal health authorities, and their local and provincial counterparts.

Public health officials should act when there are "reasonable and probable grounds to believe food products poses a health hazard," McKeown explained, adding this "standard" is included in Ontario's public health legislation. But the CFIA generally waited for "conclusive evidence" a specific product is responsible for documented human illness before taking action, he said.

So, all these people died, the president of Maple Leaf thinks he's a food safety hero cause he's learned so much about listeria, and the food safety types at various levels are still talking bullshit.

The locals were left hanging by the omnipotence of the single food inspection agency.
 

I miss hockey. The closest ice is two hours away. I used to play 4-5 times a week, coached a whole bunch of girls teams, and now I’m in Kansas, watching TV, and I’m fat.

Maybe my friend Steve will guilt me into getting back into shape. But Steve doesn’t have a six-month-old, and Ben does, and he understands the laziness.

Amy spent 6 years doing her PhD at the University of Michigan so figures she’s a Detroit Red Wings fan. Last year, she watched more of the Detroit- Pittsburgh final than I did while we were in Quebec. Detroit just eliminated Chicago in overtime, and I’m still crushed that Carolina lost in 4 games.

If I’m going to work on fitness, it won’t be the triathalon.

More than 100 athletes who swam in the Oklahoma River during a triathlon earlier this month have returned health questionnaires from state officials investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness among participants in the event.

Laurence Burnsed of the Oklahoma Health Department says several athletes who were sickened have also provided stool samples to aid the investigation.

The Boathouse International Triathlon, including a 1.5 kilometer swim in the downtown river, was held May 16-17. The cause of the illness remains under investigation.

BTW, those old farts in the pic, upper right, haven't won the faculty tournament since I left in 2005.
 

According to the Bakersfield (CA) Californian, a producer concerned with foodborne illness risks is suing a sheepherding couple (right, not exactly as shown) for crop losses after a flock of sheep were allowed to graze in a carrot field.

Grimmway Enterprises Inc. is suing Fernando and Yvonne Iturriria for $230,059.34 in damages, plus attorneys fees.

The carrot giant alleges the Iturririas allowed an "unknown number" of sheep to graze on 1.9 acres of carrots at the outset of harvest season, after which the sheep defecated on the crops, the lawsuit says.

The original 1.9 acres of carrots and the adjoining 73.567 acres were destroyed to prevent food poisoning, according to the lawsuit.

"It is a legitimate concern," said Michele Jay-Russell of UC Davis' Western Institute for Food Safety and Security. "I'd be especially worried about direct defecation on a food that could be consumed raw."

Sheep poop has been linked to risks in fresh produce, a 1981 Listeria monocytogenes outbreak in Canada was linked to cabbage fertilized with composted and raw sheep manure. Mud mixed with sheep poop was also linked to a Campylobacter outbreak last summer at a Welsh mountain bike race.

The newly anointed leaders of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration say in a scientific journal this week that,

“… one of the greatest challenges facing any public health agency is that of risk communication.”

Lots of public health types say that. If only there were better communication, everyone would get along.

Life is messier than that.

Communication is one of those cop-out words that people and bureaucrats routinely use but really don’t want to use; the complications are far too messy.

Because communication would involve the actual transmission of feelings, and the hurt, pain, joy and angst of whatever anyone went through.

So when Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., and Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D., the commissioner, and the principal deputy commissioner, of the Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday that,

“We all accept small risks in our daily lives, from the risk of falling in the shower and sustaining a head injury to the risk of having a car accident on the way to the grocery store. One reason we are rarely fearful of these risks is our perception that we have control over them. When it comes to food and drugs, even small risks can cause considerable fear and anxiety, especially when they seem to be out of our control. Yet all pharmaceuticals have some potential adverse effects, and many raw foods may harbor natural pathogens.”

I fell asleep.

The author’s continued,

“Transparency is a potent element of a successful strategy to enhance the work of the FDA and its credibility with the public. Whenever possible, the FDA should provide the data on which it bases its regulatory decisions and other guidance and explain its decision-making process to the public.”

Right. So please provide public, transparent guidelines for going public about outbreaks of foodborne illness.

Sheila Weatherill, Independent Investigator, Listeriosis Investigation, Ottawa, Ont., who apparently has an affinity for upper case, writes in the Times & Transcript this morning,

“Help us to help you! Give me your views on listeriosis.”

Oh, OK. I’m still Canadian, so my views are below the italicized questions asked by Weatherill.

Last summer Canadians began asking themselves whether their food was safe. Even though few had heard of it before, the term "listeriosis" became a household word.

Canadians began asking whether their food was safe a long time ago. Like after E. coli O157:H7 killed 19 residents in a London, Ontario, nursing home in 1985. But I understand history is not your strong suit. Or using Google. Listeriosis has been around a long time too.

I believe that ensuring the safety of our food supply is a priority for all of us. As the independent investigator, I feel a strong obligation to find out the facts and make recommendations to protect the health of Canadians.

I believe that with ready-to-eat meat products, the responsibility lies with the processor, not the consumer. Unless Canadians are supposed to start frying their smoked turkey breast.

I am interested in learning:
* How you first learned about the outbreak (e.g. TV, newspaper, radio, word of mouth)?

I first learned from a BS press release from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that contained the weasel words, “There have been no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.” ??????Usually, CFIA press releases say there have been no illnesses associated with the product in question, if that is indeed the case. The “confirmed illness” was a wiggle phrase that Canadian media dutifully reported and then went back to sleep.
 
* How well do you think the crisis was managed? What else do you think should have been done?
Please let me know what you think. You can go to the "Listening to Canadians" link on the investigation website at www.listeriosis-listeriose. investigation-enquete.gc.ca or send an e-mail to contacts@li.listeriosisenquete.gc.ca.
My role as investigator ends on July 20, 2009. I hope to hear from you soon. Your opinions do count!
All of us have a duty to help ensure that such a tragedy doesn't happen again.

The crisis was handled poorly. No one –government, Maple Leaf – has provided a full accounting of who knew what when. And Weatherill, your questions suck. Why were nursing homes serving unheated deli meats, a known risk factor for listeriosis – which you may have recently discovered but lots of food science types or readers of newspapers heard about at least 10 years ago. And why are pregnant woman not more explicitly informed of the risks associated with listeriosis and consumption of ready-to-eat foods?