People who write with exclamation marks or IN ALL CAPS are yelling. And trying to disguise their inability to write clear, compelling sentences.

So when Green Valley Food Corp. announced it was recalling 650 cases of “Let’s Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts 5 oz. containers and proclaimed, “Till this present day there has been no related illnesses CONFIRMED because of this recall” I wondered, why are they yelling, and what does CONFIRMED mean.

And who says, till this present day? In Texas?

The company also wrote the Let’s Grow Healthy Together! sprouts were recalled “because the results showed to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.”

The results weren’t contaminated; the sprouts were contaminated with salmonella.

A table of sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.

“Let’s Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts 5 oz. containers were distributed in Texas via truck deliveries to all customers in Texas. All customers were retail chains and food distribution centers. If you are a customer affected by this recall you will be receiving a letter asking for the quantities you were shipped and their whereabouts. Please, respond as soon as possible.

A letter? Who uses the post office in a recall situation involving fresh and perishable produce?

The product is in a plastic container that measures 4-inch by 4-inch container that has a lid. The containers UPC number is 714722228818. The label has blue lettering that states “Let’s Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts 5 oz. containers. The code date on the shipping box is an orange tag that will state the number,”3440210”. The “Let’s Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts 5 oz. containers will have a white tag on the upper right hand side of the label with the date of 1/1/2012.

“The stars are in our corners” and “Food service beyond expectation since 1960,” are the slogans of catering firm, Triple A Services Inc.

If listeria is a star and beyond expectation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that a Chicago-area company has agreed to stop making its ready-to-eat sandwiches and produce after FDA investigators repeatedly found unsanitary conditions and bacterial contamination in the facility.

The company, Triple A Services Inc., and its owners and operators, Thomas J. Whennen, Scott C. Whennen and David A. Frisco, have agreed to stop producing and distributing the sandwiches and produce as part of a consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.

The terms of the decree would also require Triple A to hire a sanitation expert to help establish an effective sanitation program, to comply with FDA regulations and to eliminate Listeria contamination from company facilities.

The government's complaint, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on December 22, 2011, describes Triple A's history of operating under unsanitary conditions and Listeria monocytogenes contamination in the processing facility.

It also outlines Triple A's failure to comply with Current Good Manufacturing Practice and seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point regulations.

"FDA took these aggressive actions because Triple A Services continued to violate current good manufacturing practice regulations and allow for conditions that could affect the health of consumers," said Dara Corrigan, the FDA's associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.

No illnesses have been reported to date from Triple A Services' products.

Crain’s New York reports that when a health-department inspector visited XES Lounge in Chelsea last month, he gave general manager Tony Juliano a ticket for having unwrapped straws on the bar. Those straws have been there for nearly eight years, but this time it was deemed a $400 violation.

A few months earlier, inspectors cited the business for a missing “No smoking” sign in the back of the bar, which has 11 employees. “We've been open since 2004 and were never cited for that,” said Mr. Juliano.

His frustrations echo that of many small business owners in the city, who view fines for minor offenses as punitive and feel the process for paying and contesting violations is burdensome.

In mid-October, Marisol Chino, the owner of Tepeyac Deli & Grocery on Irving Avenue in Brooklyn, was cited for having a metal food stand outside, instead of a wooden one. “They've been inspecting me for seven years and never told me that,” she said. “They gave me the option to pay a $200 fine or fight it, but if I lose, the fine goes to $1,000.”

A few months earlier, Ms. Chino, who is the store's only employee, received a ticket for not having the store's refund policy posted, even though she claims it was in the front window. When she brought that sign to the attention of the inspector, she said, he refused to change the citation.

The city's public advocate, Bill de Blasio, is now getting involved after hearing from chambers of commerce, business improvement districts and small businesses at a series of roundtables he hosted earlier this year. Mr. de Blasio said businesses repeatedly mentioned the fines as among the most infuriating and time-consuming obstacles they face. His office submitted a legislative request to the City Council, the first step to introducing a bill that would allow violations from city agencies like Consumer Affairs to be contested and paid online, by mail or by phone. Fines would be differentiated more fairly between severe and low-risk violations, especially for those that don't originate from a consumer complaint. And the bill would allow business owners with first-time, low-level citations to be given a chance to correct them before being fined.

 Australia still has an egg problem.

Two weeks after raw egg in mayonnaise made at least 22 people sick with salmonella after eating at the Silo bakery in Canberra, owners Leanne Gray and Graham Hudson say they have stopped making mayonnaise for counter sandwiches, but still make mayonnaise for dishes where it can be kept in the fridge. Silo has also changed its egg supplier.

This will not prevent salmonella.

And without generalizing, Australia still has an egg problem.

Last week, four of the affected people were considering taking legal action, to claim expenses, loss of wages, and pain and suffering. State practice group leader for Slater and Gordon Gerard Rees was awaiting instructions from the four and for the final report from ACT Health, before determining whether a claim of negligence could be taken, on the basis that Silo knew or ought to have known of the likely salmonella outcome from eating raw egg.

''Silo is a very good cafe, as a general position it is a very popular cafe,'' Rees said. ''This is the first time I've heard of a complaint of any kind involving them, so it's not something against Silo - it's just something that has occurred ... If someone goes into a restaurant or cafe they're entitled to have food that's of an accepted standard and if they do suffer injury as a result, they're entitled to make a claim.'' Slater and Gordon would run the case on a no-win, no-fee basis.

It isn’t something that just occurred. It’s salmonella, it’s in raw eggs.

Hundreds of people have been sickened in Australia in the past five years from consuming undercooked eggs or dishes containing raw eggs.

A couple of new reports from Food Standards Australia New Zealand also raise the egg issue.
Microbiological surveys of raw egg-based products in Sydney and Western Australia cafes found no salmonella, but did find many instances of poor temperature and hygiene.

In Sydney, a total 107 samples of raw egg products were collected from 46 premises:

- 13 samples were classified unsatisfactory due to high standard plate counts and/or moderate levels of Bacillus cereus
- one sample of Caesar dressing was classified potentially hazardous due to a high level of B. cereus (31,000 cfu/g)
- Salmonella was not detected in any samples tested.

Information on food handling, product preparation, cleaning and sanitation and egg quality was obtained from 44 premises via on-site observation and questionnaire. The results show that:

- 10% of sauces were stored at ambient temperatures.
- 71% of samples had a temperature greater than 5°C (and less than 60°C)—constant movement of product in and out of refrigeration may be responsible for an elevated product temperature.
- 74% of products sampled were not date coded and 41% of products did not have a known shelf life policy at the time of inspection
- most premises who separated eggs did so by hand; four used gloved hands and 24 used bare hands. Six premises separated eggs using the shells. In general hand washing after handling eggs was not considered as important as washing hands after handling raw chicken or meat.
- 23% of premises had cracked or dirty eggs in storage and there seemed to be a distinct lack of knowledge about the quality of the egg, the risks associated with using cracked and dirty eggs, and the egg supplier.
- Only 52% of the food businesses stored whole eggs under 5°C.

Most businesses surveyed required improvement in:

- temperature control of raw egg products during and in between use
- date coding of raw egg products
- egg separation technique during processing to prevent cross contamination.

Chef Christian Hauberg told the Canberra Times that when a restaurant with the reputation of Silo is named as the source of a salmonella outbreak, Canberra's restaurateurs take a keen interest.

''It sent shivers up my spine, to be honest. It's the worst nightmare that people get sick from your food. But unfortunately with food-borne illnesses, you've got no idea if the product is contaminated when it comes in - you can't tell by looking at it.''

Hauberg, from Pulp Kitchen, uses caged eggs in mayonnaise because he believes it reduces the risk of salmonella. ''I assume they're safer,'' he says, partly because free-range eggs might not be collected and refrigerated as quickly. He uses free-range eggs in cooked dishes.

Australian National University professor of infectious diseases and microbiology Peter Collignon says sanitizing the shell would presumably substantially lower the risk, since most contamination comes from the outside of the egg, but it wouldn't deal with cases where salmonella is inside. There is no way of telling whether a chicken is carrying salmonella, and not enough data to indicate whether caged, free-range or organic chickens are more or less likely to have it, he says, advising not to eat raw or runny-yolk eggs. When he eats mayonnaise, it comes in a jar from the supermarket. When he fries an egg, he flips it to cook both sides. He believes restaurants should warn people when food is made from raw eggs.

''Any egg, whether it's commercial or free range, can be an issue. 'My view is whatever egg I get from whatever source, it's too hard to know, so I cook it.''

Like lots of foodborne illness, the risk may be low, but if it can be easily prevented, why not. And as the professor says, consumers really have no way of knowing.

Silo co-owner Leanne Gray says officials have since advised buying commercial mayonnaise or using pasteurized eggs. Her response: “That's the foulest thing you've ever seen, so I said no, I won't.''

Bring on the lawyers.

The UK Food Standards Agency reports that Natco Foods is recalling certain batches of its ground cumin because some are contaminated with salmonella.

The affected batches have a ‘best before’ date of September 2013 or October 2013. If you have bought the product don’t use it.

The product being recalled is:
Natco Ground Cumin, 100g jar, 100g pack, 400g pack, 1kg pack, 5kg pack
Best before: September 2013, October 2013

Natco has recalled the affected products from consumers and stockists. Customer notices have been displayed in stores, explaining why the product has been recalled.

If you have bought the affected product, don’t use it. You can return it to the store for a full refund.

No other Natco products are known to be affected.

Translated by Albert Amgar

Salmonella retrouvé dans de la pâte précuite  et des torchons ont été contrôlés positifs
75 personnes ont été atteintes de salmonellose après avoir mangé au Tenth Hole Tea Rooms à Southsea (Royaume-Uni)
Une enquête dans une épidémie de 2009 à Salmonella Enteriditis PT8 dans un restaurant britannique a retrouvé que des mauvaises pratiques d’hygiène étaient la cause de maladies.
Des salades préparées sur place étaient probablement la cause de l’épidémie.
Les enquêteurs ont retrouvé que Tenth Hole Tea Rooms avait récemment changé de fournisseur de laitues (remplaçant un produit découpé par des salades entières qui devaient être lavées) et le personnel a lavé les ingrédients de la salade dans un évier qui était aussi utilisé pour laver le poulet. L’évier était correctement lavé et désinfecté entre les activités.
Les enquêteurs ont également retrouvé que du personnel qui travaillait était malade avec une salmonellose et une rotation des employés à temps partiel au niveau des postes a augmenté le risque de contamination croisée.
Que pouvez-vous faire :
- Ne lavez pas la viande crue. Lors du lavage, Salmonella et d’autres microbes peuvent être répandus jusqu’à 1 mètre aux alentours.
- Nettoyez et désinfectez tout équipement ou surface où des viandes crues ont été coupées ou manipulées ; des pathogènes peuvent persister et contaminer des aliments prêts à être consommés.
- Le personnel malade doit rester à la maison. Des vomissements ou de la diarrhée sont souvent des symptômes de maladies d’origine alimentaire qui peuvent être transmises aux clients par du personnel malade.
Pour plus d’informations, contactez Ben Chapman, benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu ou Doug Powell, dpowell@ksu.edu

The last thing people need from any agency is another list of tips to protect consumers from foodborne illness.

Salmonella in jalapeno’s, E. coli in leafy greens and strawberries, listeria in cantaloupes. These are not consumer issues. The only thing consumers can do is to avoid such products. But with no marketing of food safety at retail, shoppers really can’t choose until long after defective foodstuffs are publicized and recalled.

Faith-based food safety.

So when U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is reduced to reciting meaningless clichés to describe food safety achievements in the Obama administration -- “We have the safest food supply in the world, but we can always do more to protect consumer” -- they’ve thrown in the towel.

The feds are also going to refocus on consumer education, whatever that means.

As some smart policy wonk (not an oxymoron, in this specific case) told me 25 years ago, when politicians talk about educating people, things have really gone off the rails.

As part of clear consumer education and communication, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today issued a progress report highlighting the accomplishments and strategies of President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) combined with useful information for consumers on safe food handling.

Who said the information was useful? Was the information evaluated? Were consumers asked if they thought the information was useful? Did anyone test to see if this useful information translated into food safety behavioral change? Or is useful just some characterization thrown in by a PR flunky.

“As families across the country share in this holiday season, it is important to reiterate our commitment to protecting the food supply and our desire to remain vigilant to protect the American people,” said Secretary Vilsack. “We have taken a number of steps to improve the safety of America’s meat and poultry supply in recent years and the President’s Food Safety Working Group has proven to be a vital component to our work.”

Yes, the full report highlights a number of accomplishments. Most of these are good. But when the “FSWG also plans to continue its efforts to improve food safety by collaborating more with state and local health and agriculture agencies, and food producers, as well as providing education to consumers” in the absence of any science or data to support such information provision, they’ve thrown in the towel.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to consume the jalapeno peppers described below because they may be contaminated with salmonella.

The affected fresh jalapeno peppers, imported from the U.S., were sold as follows:

1. Unlabelled from bulk at Safeway stores and various independent grocery stores in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Yukon, between December 3 and 20, 2011, inclusively.

2. Unlabelled from bulk or in 4.5 kg Cal Fresco brand cases at Loblaws banners (Extra Foods, No Frills, Real Canadian Wholesale Club, Shop Easy, SuperValu, Real Canadian Superstore, Lucky Dollar and Your Independent Grocer) in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, between December 3 and 20, 2011, inclusively.

Consumers who have purchased bulk, unlabelled jalapeno peppers are advised to check with their place of purchase to determine if they have the affected product.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these peppers.

Sandra Bullock wouldn’t stand a chance against the AQIS beagles.

Australia has an impressive quarantine and inspection service for folks arriving to the island. So do lots of countries. The reason is that people want their nostaligic food, but have no concept of the consequences of disease introduction; think foot and mouth disease in the UK, which was ultimately linked to some overseas food eventually fed to pigs.

People magazine, for those who can’t get enough of celebrities, artists and athletes who should focus on their craft instead of speaking, reports that Sandra Bullock's Christmas dinner involves illegally importing sausages from Germany to continue a meal tradition started by the actress's mother.

"Since my mother passed, we break the law, because we have to manage to smuggle German sausages into the country, and apparently bringing meats across the waters is against the law," Bullock, 47, told Jay Leno during an appearance on The Tonight Show. "You fry 'em up with some sauerkraut and potato salad, but they have to be the right ones."

Bullock said her family sends out an "SOS" to a handful of loved ones overseas to send the meats over to the U.S.

"We just have to break the law a little bit, but eventually someone's package gets through," she told Leno.

When pressed about the method, Bullock said with a smirk: "I'm not at liberty to divulge how we smuggle the sausage."