May 2012

  • Reform falters in Europe after 53 deaths from E. coli O104 in sprouts

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 8:50pm by Doug Powell

    In May, 2011, the delayed reporting of cases between agencies due to a decentralized government and its agencies was a contributing factor in the Germany-based E. coli O104 outbreak that led to 53 deaths and over 4,000 sick people. The E. coli strain responsible for the outbreak was unusually virulent, with high mortality and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) rates observed in healthy adults.

    A year later, Marian Turner writes in Nature that governments have made little progress towards improving the monitoring and reporting systems that allowed the crisis to drag on for weeks.

    Although the panic has sparked some proposed policy changes, these have become mired in political debate at both German and European levels.

    Under Germany’s current system, it can take up to 18 days for local and state health departments to relay case reports to the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German federal agency for disease surveillance. Legislators have proposed a law to bring the country’s disease-reporting schedule into line with the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations. The law would require local health authorities to report cases of notifiable diseases to state authorities on the next working day; the states would then have another day to relay the information to the RKI. “We’ve been waiting almost a decade for this,” says Alexander Kekulé, a microbiologist at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Halle, Germany.

    The draft law has been passed by Germany’s federal parliament but is stuck in negotiations at the legislative council that represents Germany’s 16 states. For scientists, though, this change would still not be enough. “What really delayed the detection of this outbreak was the irregularity with which patients were referred for microbiological follow-up,” says Gérard Krause, an epidemiologist at the RKI. Like many European countries, Germany does not require that a patient with bloody diarrhoea or haemolytic uraemic syndrome (a life-threatening complication of some E. coli infections) be tested for the causative bacterial strain. The same is true of the United States.

    After the outbreak, German diagnostic laboratories were provided with kits to test samples for genes belonging to certain pathogenic strains of bacteria, such as those expressing particular toxins, or proteins involved in adhesion or invasion.

    But physicians are responsible for requesting the tests, and the cost is not covered by German health-insurance companies. “The problem is mostly getting the money to use these kits,” says Angelika Fruth, a microbiologist at the RKI, “and that situation is just the same as before the outbreak.”

    In the wake of the outbreak, the European Food Safety Authority concluded that sprouted seeds pose a particular food-safety concern, and recommended that a standardized test for sprouts be developed and adopted across the European Union (EU). But EU member countries are still discussing the proposal, and scientists have yet to develop reliable methods to isolate pathogenic bacteria from seeds or sprouts.

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  • Is your hamburger done? Color is a lousy indicator; K-State’s Hunt honored by American Meat Science Association

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 8:12pm by Doug Powell

    The American Meat Science Association has announced that Melvin C. Hunt of Kansas State University is the recipient of the 2012 American Meat Science Association R. C. Pollock Award. He will be honored at the AMSA 65th Reciprocal Meat Conference on June 19 in Fargo, N.D.

    Sponsored by the AMSA Educational Foundation, the award honors an AMSA member whose work through teaching, extension, research, or service represents an extraordinary and lasting contribution to the meat industry.

    “Dr. Hunt’s reputation as a preeminent meat color researcher is well-known throughout the world,” said Thomas Powell, executive director of AMSA. “His service to the meat industry and the meat science discipline spans two decades of teaching, mentoring and research.”

    Hunt, or ‘Hunter’ as he is known, began his career as a research chemist for Tennessee Eastman Company working on new applications of antioxidants, surfactants and meat packaging systems. He also developed a proprietary base for functional dietary fibers suitable for sequestering bile acids and lowering serum cholesterol and as a replacement for nitrite in cured meats.

    He has been a part of the animal science faculty at Kansas State University since 1975, where his research focused on postmortem meat quality with particular interest in factors affecting meat color and myoglobin chemistry. He served as chair of the Food Science and Industry Undergraduate Program for 19 years.

    Hunt is internationally recognized for his expertise in meat color measurement and was the primary author of the Guidelines for Meat Color Measurement published by AMSA. The guide is the only comprehensive document on meat color measurement available to meat scientists.

    He has published widely on meat pigment chemistry, meat color and packaging systems. In the last six years, he has authored or co-authored 51 refereed journal articles and he has been a speaker at national and international conferences to discuss his research. He has received research funding from national and commodity sources and from more than 50 major packaging and ingredient companies to address pigment chemistry, shelf life, color life, cold chain management, product palatability and microbiology.

    Hunt is considered to be among the top five meat color experts in the world. His former graduate students hold prominent positions in government, industry and academia. He has been recognized by several organizations for contributions to research, teaching and advising.

    And he’s a nice guy. Gracious when I spoke at the local Rotary a couple of years ago, and always willing to help with questions. Here’s Hunter speaking with me while tailgating before a Kansas State football game four years ago. And some key references.

    Hunt, M.C., O. Sørheim, E. Slinde. Color and Heat Denaturation of Myoglobin Forms in Ground Beef. Journal of Food Science Volume 64 Issue 5 Page 847-851, September 1999.
    http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1999.tb15925.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29

    Ryan, Suzanne M., Mark Seyfert, Melvin C. Hunt, Richard A. Mancini. Influence of Cooking Rate, Endpoint Temperature, Post-cook Hold Time, and Myoglobin Redox State on Internal Color Development of Cooked Ground Beef Patties. Journal of Food Science. Volume 71 Issue 3 Page C216-C221, April 2006
    http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2006.tb15620.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29

    Seyfert, M., R.A. Mancini, M.C. Hunt. Internal Premature Browning in Cooked Ground Beef Patties from High-Oxygen Modified-Atmosphere Packaging. Journal of Food Science. Volume 69 Issue 9 Page C721-C725, December 2004
    http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2004.tb09923.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29 

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  • Role de la contamination croisée dans une épidémie ; 88 cas à Salmonella Paratyphi B liés à du tempeh non pasteurisé

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 3:45pm by Ben Chapman

    Author: 
    Ben Chapman

    Translated by Albert Amgar.

    Le tempeh est un produit à base de soja fermenté.

    Pour faire du tempeh, les graines de soja sont cuites et écrasées. Du vinaigre et un ferment contenant des levures sont ajoutés à la pâte de soja. La fermentation se fait pendant 2-3 jours (et consomme le vinaigre). Salmonella et d’autres pathogènes peuvent croître pendant ce processus, cela signifie que le tempeh non pasteurisé devrait être étiqueté en tant que tel et manipulé comme de la viande crue.

    Une épidémie à Salmonella Paratyphi B a rendu plus de 80 personnes malades en Caroline du Nord depuis mars 2012. La maladie est liée à la consommation de tempeh, un produit fermenté à base de soja, servi dans des restaurants. Les enquêteurs ont alors lié cela à la présence de Salmonella dans le ferment utilisé par le fabricant de tempeh, Smiling Harah d’Asheville, Caroline du Nord.

    L’épidémie a entraîné des rappels par Smiling Hara ainsi que par le fournisseur du ferment, IndonesianFoodMart.com. Comme la source initiale de Salmonella était le ferment, les autorités de santé ont mis en avant le rôle de la contamination croisée dans les cuisines comme facteur conduisant à la maladie. Les préparateurs d’aliments ont rapporté avoir coupé du tempeh non pasteurisé et des végétaux frais avec les mêmes couteaux et les mêmes planches à découper. Salmonella présent dans des restes de tempeh a pu se propager aux convives via ces ustensiles.

    A moins d’être noté sur l’emballage, traitez le tempeh comme un aliment cru ; les couteaux, les planches à découper et les autres surfaces en contact avec les aliments doivent être nettoyés et désinfectés entre deux préparations et l’utilisation d’aliments prêts à être consommés.

    Savoir-Faire en Sécurité des Aliments

    - Lavez-vous les mains après avoir manipulé tout aliment ou emballage potentiellement contaminé (particulièrement ceux qui ont des fuites).

    - Nettoyez et désinfectez les surfaces en contact avec les aliments après la préparation de tout aliment cru ou potentiellement contaminé.

    Click here to download the food safety infosheet.

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  • 18 sickened; Reading College fined after liver pate causes food poisoning

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 2:26pm by Doug Powell

    Do students at the thousands of culinary and catering programs learn any food safety?

    BBC News reports Reading College has been fined £7,000 after admitting students breached food regulations by serving liver pate which had not been cooked to the required temperature and made a bunch of old folks sick.

    It was ordered to pay a further £8,000 costs at the town's magistrates' court.

    The problems were traced to liver pate prepared by students who were training for catering careers and were overseen by a chef.

    Trainees had been given the wrong cooking temperature, which was too low to kill Campylobacter in the raw materials.

    Edna Shepherd of the Pine Cones Retirement Club, whose members had eaten at the college restaurant as part of a group outing, said: "Some of the ladies living on their own were in a shocking state."

    Principal Lesley Donoghue said the college "deeply regretted" causing food poisoning in 18 people in May 2011, adding, "We obviously recognize some of the problems that were caused and deeply regret any illness which was caused to people. Clearly we've taken a lot of remedial action - new premises, new facilities, a new start."

    Based on this story, Reading College still don’t get it.

    New facilities aren’t going to make food safe, unless they bought a bunch of tip-sensitive digital thermometers, and students were instructed on how to temp food – and no fingering.

    Perhaps it’s difficult to train students in the U.K. with a government-sanctioned culture to cook things until they are piping hot.

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  • Dog food Salmonella outbreak grows; family of infant files lawsuit

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 6:01am by Doug Powell

    When I talk about toddlers learning to crawl and heading for the dog dish, I’m not thinking of 8-week-olds.

    A federal lawsuit in New Jersey alleging an infant was sickened by salmonella-contaminated dog food may be the first in the nation to hit the courts in the wake of a recent pet food recall.

    The New Jersey Law Journal reports at least 15 people in nine states and Canada have reportedly fallen ill as a result of contact with pet food made by Diamond Pet Foods, which announced the recall on April 6 and has since expanded it to additional brands.

    Eisenberg v. Diamond Pet Food Processors, 12-cv- 3127, filed May 25 in federal court in Trenton, alleges that a two-month-old child became sick with diarrhea, fever and loss of appetite on April 11. A day later, his pediatrician sent him to St. Peter's University Hospital, where he spent three days and was diagnosed with salmonella. A stool sample later tested positive for the same strain of salmonella that spurred the recall, salmonella infantis.

    The child's father, Nevin Eisenberg of Marlboro, alleges he bought a bag of a Diamond brand — Kirkland Signature Super Premium Healthy Weight Dog Food with chicken and vegetables — at the Costco Wholesale Corporation store in Morganville.

    The complaint does not specify how the child, identified as C.A.E., became exposed to salmonella.

    But, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned yesterday the multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Infantis infections continues to grow.

    FDA became involved in early April when the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported detecting Salmonella from an intact package of Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Formula for Adult Dogs, collected during retail surveillance sampling. Diamond Pet Food was notified of the sampling results, and agreed to voluntarily recall this product on April 6, 2012.

    At that time, there were no known dog illnesses reported.

    An additional finding of Salmonella in a sample taken by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, from an opened bag of Diamond Brand Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Adult Light Formula dry dog food collected from the home of an ill person, and an unopened bag of the product collected from a retail store led to a recall of that product on April 26, 2012

    A sample of Diamond Puppy Formula dry dog food collected by FDA during an inspection at the South Carolina production facility also yielded Salmonella Infantis, which led to a recall of that product on April 30, 2012.

    Public health officials used DNA fingerprints of Salmonella bacteria obtained through diagnostic testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE, to investigate cases of human illness. CDC reports that this outbreak strain (Infantis) is rare, and typically only 0 to 3 cases are reported per month to PulseNet.

    Through interviews by state public health officials, FDA’s review of consumer complaints, and from a comparison of pet products from human exposure, some brands of dry pet food produced by Diamond Pets Foods at a single manufacturing facility in South Carolina have now been linked to human Salmonella infections.

    FDA, CDC, and state investigations are ongoing in an effort to determine if other brands of dry dog food produced at the South Carolina facility may be linked to confirmed human illnesses. FDA will provide updates on the investigation as new information becomes available.

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  • 316 sickened with Salmonella over 8 years from mail-order chicks ducks

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 5:15am by Doug Powell

    baby_chicks2_1.jpg

    Parents should think carefully about any pet, particularly small turtles, reptiles, and chicks or ducks, that can carry human disease. Young children are much more vulnerable to things like Salmonella.

    And U.S. federal agencies continue to have a going public problem, and should develop public guidelines for when, or when not, to name a business or farm in a disease outbreak, and apply those guidelines consistently

    That’s what I conclude from reports that health types have cracked an 8-year-old Salmonella outbreak linked to live, mail-order poultry.

    JoNel Aleccia of msnbc.com writes, between 2004 and 2011, at least 316 people in 43 states were sickened by a strain of salmonella Montevideo that had stumped staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 5,000 additional cases likely went unreported, officials say.

    Only through careful analysis of the genetic fingerprint of the bug and cooperation with human and animal health officials and poultry experts did the CDC crew link the cases to “Hatchery C,” a supplier of 4 million birds a year identified only as being in the western U.S.

    “It was definitely an interesting outbreak,” said Casey Barton Behravesh, one of a team of CDC researchers who reported on their investigation in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

    Because the hatchery was cooperative and because the threat of this particular infection appears to be over -- with only one case of the outbreak strain reported so far this year -- CDC officials declined to name the source of live young poultry popular as Easter presents or with urban backyard chicken farmers.

    Since 1990, there have been 35 outbreaks of salmonella tied to contact with shipments of live, young poultry. CDC officials are investigating two separate outbreaks now, strains of salmonella Altona and salmonella Johannesburg, which together have sickened nearly 100 people in 24 states.

    It was the salmonella Montevideo outbreak, though, that sent CDC officials scrambling to find out the source of infections whose victims were mostly children under the age of 5.

    
In the end, about 80 percent of the illnesses were traced back to Hatchery C, which can ship as many as 250,000 birds a week in the spring, the peak season, according to the report. Even after the hatchery took steps to curtail salmonella transmission, the infections dropped, but did not stop.

    Even when state agriculture officials have forced hatcheries to get rid of their birds, clean up the sites and start over, salmonella outbreaks have erupted again.

    “Shutting down the hatcheries is not necessarily the answer here,” Behravesh said.

    There are some 20 hatcheries in the U.S. that ship an estimated 50 million live poultry by mail-order every year, generating between $50 million and $70 million a year, said CDC officials, citing unpublished data.

    In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service shipped some 237,778 boxes or 1.7 million pounds of live poultry, spokeswoman Sue Brennan told msnbc.com.

    Many of those birds go to agricultural feed stores, where they may be sold as Easter pets. Others are shipped directly to urban farmers, including many who have adopted the recent trend of raising backyard flocks of chickens.

    In this outbreak, the number of illnesses peaked in May of 2006, forcing interventions at Hatchery C, the paper reported.

    Those included beefing up biosecurity and rodent control, decontaminating feed, replacing and updating old equipment, changing airflow, improving testing and giving vaccines to adult birds.

    Such steps may be recommended, but not required, by the National Poultry Improvement Plan, a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. All compliance is voluntary, Behravesh noted.

    Still, even after that effort, the salmonella infections didn’t cease completely, Behravesh said.

    The CDC researchers called for more targeted efforts to raise awareness about the danger of salmonella infections from live poultry. Only about 21 percent of patients interviewed said they knew that poultry could transmit salmonella and only 7 percent said they were warned about the risk at the time of purchase.

    Part of the problem is that people regard the young poultry as pets, often buying chicks dyed neon colors as holiday favors.

    New England Journal of Medicine, 366;22

    Nicholas H. Gaffga, M.D., M.P.H., Casey Barton Behravesh, D.V.M., Dr.P.H., Paul J. Ettestad, D.V.M., Chad B. Smelser, M.D., Andrew R. Rhorer, M.S., Alicia B. Cronquist, R.N., M.P.H., Nicole A. Comstock, M.S.P.H., Sally A. Bidol, M.P.H., Nehal J. Patel, M.P.H., Peter Gerner-Smidt, M.D., D.Med.Sci., William E. Keene, Ph.D., M.P.H., Thomas M. Gomez, D.V.M., Brett A. Hopkins, D.V.M., Ph.D., Mark J. Sotir, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Frederick J. Angulo, D.V.M., Ph.D.

    http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1111818

    Abstract

    Background

    Outbreaks of human salmonella infections are increasingly associated with contact with live poultry, but effective control measures are elusive. In 2005, a cluster of human salmonella Montevideo infections with a rare pattern on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (the outbreak strain) was identified by PulseNet, a national subtyping network.

    Methods

    In cooperation with public health and animal health agencies, we conducted multistate investigations involving patient interviews, trace-back investigations, and environmental testing at a mail-order hatchery linked to the outbreak in order to identify the source of infections and prevent additional illnesses. A case was defined as an infection with the outbreak strain between 2004 and 2011.

    Results

    From 2004 through 2011, we identified 316 cases in 43 states. The median age of the patient was 4 years. Interviews were completed with 156 patients (or their caretakers) (49%), and 36 of these patients (23%) were hospitalized. Among the 145 patients for whom information was available, 80 (55%) had bloody diarrhea. Information on contact with live young poultry was available for 159 patients, and 122 of these patients (77%) reported having such contact. A mail-order hatchery in the western United States was identified in 81% of the trace-back investigations, and the outbreak strain was isolated from samples collected at the hatchery. After intervention at the hatchery, the number of human infections declined, but transmission continued.

    Conclusions

    We identified a prolonged multistate outbreak of salmonellosis, predominantly affecting young children and associated with contact with live young poultry from a mail-order hatchery. Interventions performed at the hatchery reduced, but did not eliminate, associated human infections, demonstrating the difficulty of eliminating salmonella transmission from live poultry.

    And, in a new and separate outbreak, CDC 93 additional people have been sickened. The complete CDC report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-05-12/index.html. Highlights below.

    A total of 93 persons infected with outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, and Salmonella Lille have been reported from 23 states.

    18 ill persons have been hospitalized, and one death possibly related to this outbreak is under investigation.

    37% of ill persons are children 10 years of age or younger.

    Collaborative investigative efforts of local, state, and federal public health and agriculture officials linked this outbreak of human Salmonella infections to exposure to chicks and ducklings from a single mail-order hatchery in Ohio.

    Findings of multiple traceback investigations of live chicks and ducklings from homes of ill persons have identified a single mail-order hatchery in Ohio as the source of these chicks and ducklings. This is the same mail-order hatchery that was associated with the 2011 outbreak of Salmonella Altona and Salmonella Johannesburg infections. In May 2012, veterinarians from the Ohio Department of Agriculture inspected the mail-order hatchery and made recommendations for improvement.

    Mail-order hatcheries, agricultural feed stores, and others that sell or display chicks, ducklings, and other live poultry should provide health-related information to owners and potential purchasers of these birds prior to the point of purchase. This should include information about the risk of acquiring a Salmonella infection from contact with live poultry.

    Mail-order hatcheries, agricultural feed stores, and others who sell or display chicks, ducklings and other live poultry should provide health-related information to owners and potential purchasers of these birds prior to the point of purchase. This should include information about the risk of acquiring a Salmonella infection from contact with live poultry.

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  • 7 sick from fiddleheads in Toronto

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 4:01am by Doug Powell

    I never understood the appeal of fiddleheads, a harbinger of spring in Canada.

    They look and taste like green turds.

    The Toronto Star reports seven cases of illness associated with eating fiddleheads have been reported by residents to Toronto Public Health since the beginning of May, spokeswoman Kris Scheuer said. One case involved a family of four.

    Raw or undercooked fiddleheads have been known to sporadically cause unpleasant symptoms of food poisoning since 1994, according to Health Canada.

    The growing season for the ostrich fern sprouts is short, lasting from about the end of April till mid-June. The ferns grow in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes and are typically picked from the wild.

    It’s not known why the spiralled veggies, nicknamed after their violinlike appearance, can make people ill. Scientists haven’t been able to trace any particular toxin to fiddleheads, according to Health Canada, so it’s up to chefs to cook them properly.

    Health Canada recommends washing fiddleheads several times in cold water and removing as much of the papery, brown husk as possible. Then, steam them for 10 to 12 minutes, or boil for 15.

    Get rid of the water afterward.

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  • Boston-area boy dies from apparent E. coli

    Posted: May 31st, 2012 - 3:32am by Doug Powell

    A 6-year-old boy has died from hemolytic uremic syndrome in Millbury, Mass., near Boston, and state health officials are investigating the possibility of foodborne illness.

    “The symptoms reported may be indicative of a foodborne illness, and is currently under epidemiologic investigation,” according to an e-mail Wednesday evening from Anne Roach, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

    The Boston Globe reports the death certificate for the boy lists his name as Owen Carrignan. He died around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, according to Derek Brindisi, director of Worcester’s Public Health Department.

    “All the signs pointed to E. coli,” said Shawn Carrignan, 37, Owen’s father, late Wednesday night. “Basically, he went over to a friend’s house Saturday night, we don’t know what he ate, but the next day he had a stomachache.”

    Carrignan said Owen became continuously worse before he died on Saturday.

    A wake for the boy was held in Millbury on Wednesday night, he said.

    “He was the best at every sport,” Carrignan said. “You couldn’t slow him down. I’d play with him eight, nine hours and you couldn’t wear him down. He was my youngest. It was always about me and him. He was incredible.”

    “The whole family has been devastated,” said Bob Carrignan, 69, Owen’s grandfather, Wednesday night. “It’s heartbreaking. He had everything going. He wasn’t just about sports. He was just a wonderful kid.”

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  • Best Western goes high-tech to clean

    Posted: May 30th, 2012 - 8:55pm by Doug Powell

    When I think Best Western, I think free wi-fi.

    Maybe I should be thinking, cleaner rooms.

    There’s a certain snobbery about hotel rooms similar to restaurants: dives are dirty, fancy ones are clean.

    Decades of restaurant inspection data show bacteria and other bugs don’t discriminate; they’re equal-opportunity contaminants. Data from hotels is starting to show the same (don’t let the bed bugs bite).

    The best thing about Best Western is they’re marketing cleanliness. Just like food providers should be doing.

    USA Today reports Best Western Hotels, in response to what it says is travelers' insistence on cleanliness, is equipping its housekeeping crews with black lights to detect biological matter otherwise unseen by the human eye, and ultraviolet light wands to zap it.

    For possibly the dirtiest object in your room — the TV remote control — there will be disposable wraps.

    Best Western says it's taking the steps partly because research from Booz & Company shows that travelers desire a hotel's cleanliness over customer service, style and design.

    But it's also reacting to the times, in which hotels and supermarkets place hand sanitizer in visible places for germ-obsessed customers (Australia, you paying attention yet?).

    People also have become more skeptical about cleanliness because of headlines about E. coli, norovirus and bird flu, says Ron Pohl, a Best Western vice president.

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  • Contaminación cruzada fue uno de los factores causantes del brote – tempeh crudo causa 88 casos de Salmonella Paratyphi B

    Posted: May 30th, 2012 - 3:41pm by Doug Powell

     Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

    Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:

    - Al no ser que esté indicado en el paquete, trate todo tempeh como si estuviera crudo.
    - Cuchillos, tablas de cortar, y otras superficies que puedan entrar en contacto con alimentos deben ser limpiadas y desinfectadas entre preparaciones.
    - Salmonella y otros patógenos pueden crecer durante el proceso de producción de tempeh.
    - Lávese las manos luego de manipular cualquier alimento, o paquete,
    que puedan estar contaminados (especialmente aquellos que chorrean).

    Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

    Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
    @benjaminchapman y @barfblog.

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  • Creating a positive food safety culture at farmers' markets; training materials available for download

    Posted: May 30th, 2012 - 11:46am by Ben Chapman

    Author: 
    Ben Chapman

    Small or large businesses are not inherently good or bad when it comes to microbial food safety. Nor are those who sell into a distribution chain any more or less safe than those who direct market their wares. A small producer, growing tomatoes, leafy greens and herbs can reduce risks just as effectively as a large producer with $10 million annually in sales. 

    What matters more than size or market is whether the producer recognizes hazards and puts steps in place to reduce the risk of contamination. Every business and organization fits somewhere on a continuum between positive and negative food safety culture. The quick tests for where they lie are: can everyone in the business recognize risks they are responsible for limiting, have all the tools to do so, and actually do it. 

    In 2010 Allison Smathers showed up in my office and we chatted about farmers' markets in North Carolina - that the sector was growing and was providing economic impacts to communities. And that a poor food safety culture could derail things for a manager and vendor. 

    Over the next two years, with resources from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund, Allison tackled the situation and came up with a workshop and materials designed to move markets and vendors towards a more positive food safety culture.

    We wanted to come up with some material to provide to farmers' markets on how to protect public health and their business but there wasn't much data on what was happening in the markets when it came to practices. Hard to know what to focus on without knowing the reality.  Allison trained and led a group of secret shoppers who posed as consumers to collect that data and it was presented at IFT last year. That information became the foundation of the training curriculum - which can all be found at ncgoodfarmersmarketpractices.com. The development and materials are all there for public use. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Agents

    Here's NC State's press release on the material and project:

    Food-safety researchers at North Carolina State University are unveiling a website that offers guidance to farmer’s markets on how to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. The program is the first to rely on observational study of farmer’s markets to establish best management practices for food safety.

    “This is an important issue for public health, and for farmer’s markets themselves,” says Dr. Ben Chapman, an assistant professor of family and consumer sciences at NC State and co-author of the curriculum. For example, an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in 2011 was linked to strawberries sold in farmer’s markets in Oregon. The outbreak led to 16 illnesses and a health advisory that severely curtailed sales at regional farmer’s markets.

    “An outbreak of foodborne illness can have significant financial consequences in addition to the human cost,” Chapman says. “NC State created this curriculum in partnership with farmer’s market managers and vendors to safeguard public health and protect this growing sector of the agricultural economy.”

    The training, which can be found at ncgoodfarmersmarketpractices.com, addresses food safety issues for products ranging from fruits and vegetables to dairy products. For example, it discusses how to safely offer food samples to customers (hint: use ice) and the importance of hand-washing facilities for vendors.

    The guidance is the first of its kind that is based on observational research into current practices at farmer’s markets. The research was conducted at farmer’s markets throughout North Carolina. “By seeing what markets are already doing, we were able to focus on behaviors and facilities that need improvement,” Allison Smathers, MS candidate and lead curriculum developer. “It also gives us a baseline that we can use to evaluate progress in implementing these safety practices.”

    The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission supported the development and implementation of the program, which is officially titled the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Good Farmer’s Market Practices Program. County extension agents are in the process of holding workshops across North Carolina to familiarize farmer’s market managers and vendors with the guide. To date, agents have conducted more than 20 workshops, reaching more than 250 market managers and vendors.

     

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  • California restaurants decry 'Yelp extortion'

    Posted: May 29th, 2012 - 11:05pm by Doug Powell

    Continuing with the gangster theme, mobster hacks are using the Internet to collect points.

    The Sacramento Bee reported a few days ago that restaurant owner Sonny Mayugba was given an offer he almost could not refuse two weeks ago.

    Not by a local gangster, but by a user of a popular online review site, Yelp.com.

    Mayugba said the user threatened to blast the Red Rabbit Kitchen and Bar at 2718 J St., which Mayugba co-owns, on Yelp because he believed he and his party got food poisoning from their meals.

    Mayugba said it was impossible to prove whether the man got food poisoning from the restaurant but offered to give him a $60 gift card to a restaurant of his choice. The man said he deserved $100. If the restaurant did not pay up, he said he would write a bad Yelp review and report him to health authorities.

    Is what happened to the Red Rabbit Kitchen an isolated case? Or has the growth in popularity of restaurant review websites – which allow anyone to write and rate restaurants from one to five stars – created a new way for some people to get preferential treatment.

    Restaurant owners say online websites have changed consumer behavior as many people rely more on citizen reviews than on reviews of professional critics or advertisements. Yelp had a monthly average of more than 71 million unique visitors and 27 million reviews worldwide this year from January to the end of March, the company said.

    In the end, Mayugba said, he refused to give the man anything and is not sure if the man posted a review on Yelp. But he said the experience made him rethink the value of Yelp and websites like it, which he said he loves.

    "I was so upset," Mayugba said. "He was taking something that was inherently good to use it as a tool to extort a restaurant. It was just so wrong."

    Kristen Whisenand, public relations manager for Yelp, said in an email that the website allows for users and business owners to flag reviews that violate the website's terms of service. If it is determined the review is fake, biased or malicious, it will be taken down.

    "More people trust citizen reviews these days," said Mayugba, who started a social networking website for the restaurant industry in 2007.

    "Social media is a wonderful thing for the world, but when its integrity is compromised, what is it worth?

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  • Sleeps with the fishes: illicit shellfish trade risking UK health

    Posted: May 29th, 2012 - 10:50pm by Doug Powell

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    The illicit and highly-lucrative trade in shellfish is putting the health of many thousands of people at risk with tonnes of potentially contaminated seafood feared to be entering the food chain.

    The Independent reports UK health officials and food watchdogs are concerned that a boom in the illegal harvesting of cockles, clams and oysters for sale to restaurants and wholesalers threatens outbreaks of serious food poisoning.

    The thriving seafood rustling industry, which sees unlicensed gangs of pickers target beaches and mudflats across the country to steal molluscs worth thousands of pounds at a time, has prompted a crackdown by the authorities.

    But with some pickers operating in organized gangs, fisheries protection bodies say they lack the resources to effectively tackle the problem.

    With an annual value of at least £250m, the legitimate shellfish industry is a major part of Britain’s food economy. Properly gathered molluscs are subject to strict purification treatments, including ultra-violet light and filtering, to ensure they are fit for human consumption.

    But shellfish taken from prohibited or unclassified fishing grounds, or sold before being properly treated, put the public at risk of serious illness caused by E. coli, norovirus, and salmonella, which can all be found in contaminated molluscs.

    An investigation by The Ecologist and The Independent has been told that in the event of a major health scare, the illegal trade would make it difficult for officials to verify the origin of some shellfish despite strict documentation procedures which are supposed to ensure traceability of all consignments of shellfish moved or sold on a commercial basis.

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it received “regular” reports of illegal shellfish harvesting and warned of the risks it poses to consumers.

    Highly-organised gangs, some believed to be operating directly on behalf of fish merchants, others run by gangmasters, are known to have targeted shellfish stocks in Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria and Teeside, amongst other areas, in recent years. Parts of north Wales and Scotland have also been affected. 

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  • RIP Doc Watson

    Posted: May 29th, 2012 - 9:47pm by Doug Powell

    Daughter Madelynn, the eldest, turns 25 in a few days. I used to sing this song to her while changing her diapers. RIP, Doc Watson. 

     

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  • ’We’re awaiting rectal swab results’ 239 sickened in Philippines outbreaks

    Posted: May 29th, 2012 - 9:16pm by Doug Powell

    Health types are investigating separate outbreaks of food poisoning and diarrhea in Limay, Bataan and Balanga City last week.

    The Manila Times cited Dr. Rosanna Buccahan, acting Provincial Health Officer, as saying they are waiting for the results of rectal swab to be known in two weeks and stool culture in one week to determine the cause or causes that affected the victims.

    “We are waiting for results of the random rectal swab and stool culture from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila after the PHO in coordination with the Regional Epidemiology Research Center and the Department of Health conducted the tests,” she said.

    Buccahan said that 117 inmates of the Bataan District Jail in Balanga City suffered from diarrhea Tuesday last week while 25 people were victimized by food poisoning after eating egg rolls (lumpia) during a funeral in Limay last Thursday. Ninety-seven, mostly children, were downed by food poisoning after eating dirty ice cream in Barangay Cabog-Cabog in Balanga last Wednesday.

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  • Testing the masses; increased food surveillance ramped up in advance of Democratic National Convention

    Posted: May 29th, 2012 - 5:07pm by Ben Chapman

    Author: 
    Ben Chapman

    In September, Charlotte is hosting the U.S. Democratic National Convention. In preparation for thousands of political folks showing up and eating (including President Obama, Vice President Biden and crew) the food protection community is ramping up inspections and vetting caterers. And they are going to collect a whole bunch of surveillance data that could be useful for food safety types if published.

    According to WCNC:

    Inspectors have gone beyond the standard food inspections, taking samples of commonly-served foods for testing, said Lynn Lathan, environmental supervisor for the Food and Facilities Sanitation Program through the Mecklenburg County Health Department. Normally, they don’t take food samples.
    Samples were sent earlier this month to several labs across the country to test for contamination, including substances that might be used by terrorists, Lathan said.

    “This is surveillance only,” Lathan said. The sampling, which Lathan said was financed by the FDA, took place over three days earlier this month, and the restaurants were selected based on their proximity to the convention site uptown.

    Lathan said for safety reasons, she could not give a list of restaurants that were sampled. “We don’t want them getting negative attention, and we don’t want them advertising that they’re doing parties for the DNC. If someone were to come out and say, ‘I’m feeding the president tomorrow at noon,’ that’s not smart and it makes you a target,” she said.

    Restaurants have the right to turn inspectors down, but so far, no one has, Lathan said.

    “We’re collecting large quantities, and we’ve picked things from representative food groups. We may be asking for four pounds of lettuce and there’s no means for us to reimburse them. If they’re running on a shoestring, I could see where someone would have a hard time with it,” Lathan said.

    The sampling strategy (foods, number of samples and pathogens screened for) probably won't be released publicly for security reasons but with all this extra testing I hope the public health folks share the results and are typing samples to see where they fit in to the world of all the other ongoing routine surveillance. This data can help risk assessors figure out exposure probabilities and risk managers make better evidence-based decisions.

     

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  • New Food Safety Infosheet: Cross-contamination factor in outbreak; 88 Salmonella Paratyphi B illnesses linked to unpasteurized tempeh

    Posted: May 29th, 2012 - 3:26pm by Ben Chapman

    Author: 
    Ben Chapman

    A few weeks ago when reports of patrons becoming ill with Salmonella Paratyphi B after eating at Asheville, NC restaurants started appearing on the internet, I didn't know a whole lot about tempeh production. When epidemiology linked the illnesses to restaurants where Smiling Hara tempeh was handled and prepared, I did a bunch of digging (with the help of some processing colleagues) to learn quick.

    To make tempeh, soybeans are cooked and mashed. Vinegar and a fungal starter are added to the soybean paste and the fungus is allowed to grow for 2-3 days (and it consumes the vinegar). Salmonella and other pathogens can grow during this process - meaning unpasteurized tempeh should be labeled as such, and handled like raw meat.

    While the prime source of the Salmonella in this outbreak has been linked to the fungal starter, things seemed to get a lot worse for those affected when food handlers prepared ready-to-eat dishes (like salads and garnishes) after cutting up tempeh like it was cheese (which the product kind of looks like).

    The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food businesses, is now available here.

    Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:
    - Unless noted on packaging, treat tempeh as a raw food.
    - Knives, cutting boards and other food contact surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized between preparation and use with ready-to-eat foods.
    - Salmonella and other pathogens can grow during the tempeh production process.
    - Wash hands after handling any potentially contaminated food or packaging (especially those that are leaking).

    Food safety infosheets are created weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman atbenjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

    You can follow food safety infosheets stories and barfblog on twitter @benjaminchapman and @barfblog.
     

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  • What’s on those cloths used to wipe tables at restaurants?

    Posted: May 28th, 2012 - 10:30pm by Doug Powell

    There’s a reason silverware is often delivered on or in a napkin at a restaurant: to prevent contact with the gunk on the table.

    All proper-mannered people will unwrap the knife and fork and spoon and tuck the napkin into their shirt collar.

    Food comes on a plate. Silverware hits the table. What’s on the table?

    One of my favorite questions when dining out is, what was the table wiped with, as a server finishes cleaning up from the previous diners.

    Stuff.

    Sanitizing stuff.

    Lisa Gibson of Access Atlanta notes that various restaurants, from the upscale ones to the deli type and wings spots, face food safety citations related to wiping cloths and sanitizing solution.

    When restaurants fall short in this area, inspectors advise the managers on proper procedures. Also, Georgia’s food safety guidelines are clear on this subject:

    Cloths in-use for wiping food spills from tableware and carry-out containers that occur as food is being served shall be maintained dry and used for no other purpose.

    Cloths in-use for wiping counters and other equipment surfaces shall be held between uses in a chemical sanitizer solution at a concentration specified. …

    Cloths in-use for wiping surfaces in contact with raw animal foods shall be kept
    separate from cloths used for other purposes.

    Dry wiping cloths and the chemical sanitizing solutions in which wet wiping cloths are held between uses shall be free of food debris and visible soil.

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  • Throw It Out the Window: China’s endless food safety scares

    Posted: May 28th, 2012 - 9:24pm by Doug Powell

    Calum MacLeod of USA Today reports China's authoritarian government struggles to reassure citizens than it can deliver the safe food they rank as a top priority.

    In the city of Guangzhou, whose Cantonese cuisine is celebrated worldwide, more than 46% of residents are dissatisfied with food safety, and over 37% said they had suffered recent food safety problems, according to a survey released this month by the Guangzhou Public Opinion Research Center.

    "There are two Chinas on the tip of the tongue," says Shanghai student Wu Heng, a fan of the series. "There's the China shown on TV, with its traditional food culture and long history. Then there's another China shown on my website, the current environment in which black-hearted enterprises make black-hearted foodstuffs and have a large market."

    Wu, 26, became active in the food safety cause because of his favorite dish of braised beef and rice. Startled by a news report on fake beef, he was inspired to create an online food safety database that allows visitors to add the latest problems nationwide, often involving the illegal use of additives.

    With his website, "Throw It Out the Window," Wu hopes more public awareness and pressure will produce bold steps to tackle China's food safety crisis. His site's popularity is soaring at a million-plus views a day, Wu says.

    Food safety has already taken a turn for the better, says Wu Yongning, chief food safety scientist at the Ministry of Health in Beijing, who insists there are less serious incidents today than four or five years ago.

    "There is greater media supervision now which exposes problems and makes the government play the role it should," he says.

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  • E. coli in Hong Kong toddler

    Posted: May 28th, 2012 - 9:00pm by Doug Powell

    A 20-month-old girl in Hong Kong has been stricken with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).

    The Centre for Health Protection notes that since June 2011, the CHP has expanded the criterion for notification to include all STECs, in addition to E. coli O157:H7.

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