barfblog

  • Kathie Lee pees in the shower?

    Posted: August 15th, 2012 - 2:14am by Doug Powell

    Following U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Locte’s admission that he pees in the pool, the train wreck that is Kathie Lee and Hoda on NBC decided to share their thoughts on the issue – 10 days later.

    Lochte had originally said, "There's something about getting into chlorine water that you just automatically go."

    Wannabe microbiologist Kathie Lee chimed in this morning that, "chlorine doesn't take care of ALL the germs.”

    "Don't you pee in the shower?" asked Hoda.

    KLG admits that she does, but only because she's concerned about the earth, and doing so saves a flush.

     
     
     
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  • 40 sickened; Folklorama, site of 2010 E. coli outbreak, sued

    Posted: August 14th, 2012 - 3:29pm by Doug Powell

    One of the individuals hospitalized following an E. coli outbreak at Folklorama two years ago is suing the organization and the Russian Pavilion.

    Trudy Andrew, 52, of Oakbank, is seeking damages for lost wages and pain and suffering she endured after eating contaminated food at the Russian Pavilion.

    "If I hadn't gone to the hospital when I did, I wouldn't have made it," Andrew told the Winnipeg Free Press. "I ended up seriously ill and in hospital."

    Andrew is suing Folklorama Inc., the Folk Arts Council of Winnipeg Inc., the umbrella organization that oversees the popular two-week Folklorama festival and the Russian Pavilion, which health authorities identified as the source of the outbreak.

    There were 40 reported cases of E. coli between Aug. 9 and Aug. 30, 2010; 34 of those cases were individuals who ate at the pavilion, and three others were children at a daycare who were infected by a person who visited the pavilion and spread the germ.

    Seventeen people went to emergency and five individuals were hospitalized, including a two-year-old boy who suffered acute renal failure and was put on dialysis in pediatric intensive care.

    The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority concluded a locally made juice, known as kompot, was the source of the outbreak, speculating the juice had somehow come into contact with contaminated ground beef.

    Health inspectors had found deficiencies in the pavilion's kitchen on Aug. 1, the first day the venue opened, including improperly stored raw hamburger meat and a fridge with an operating temperature that was deemed too high.

    Sofia Barklon, co-ordinator of the Russian Pavilion, maintains the pavilion was not the source of the outbreak -- the position it took two years ago, despite the findings of the WRHA.

    Debra Zoerb, executive director of Folklorama, said she would not comment on the legal action but said it was the only one stemming from the E. Coli outbreak two years ago.

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    E. coli  |  Comments
  • 7 kids sick with E. coli after swimming at Illinois beaches

    Posted: August 14th, 2012 - 4:11am by Doug Powell

    The Will County Health Department in Illinois is investigating a cluster of E. coli cases reported from beaches in the Wilmington-Essex area during the last two weeks of July -- including seven involving children.

    The stories do not say what strain of E. coli was involved.

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  • 19 sick; Salmonella outbreak in Nebraska care facility

    Posted: August 13th, 2012 - 11:05pm by Doug Powell

    South Heartland District Health Department along with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is investigating an outbreak of salmonellosis associated with the Blue Hill Care Center in Webster County. To date there have been 17 confirmed cases and 2 probable or suspected cases reported in residents, staff or visitors. Four residents were temporarily hospitalized after showing symptoms. A visitor is still hospitalized. Blue Hill Care Center is cooperating fully with the investigation to help identify the source and eradicate the issue.

    Anyone experiencing symptoms consistent with Salmonella should contact their doctor for recommendations on testing and treatment. For further information or to report suspected cases, contact South Heartland District Health Department toll free at 1-877-238-7595.

     

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  • UK girl, eight, dies from E. coli O157

    Posted: August 13th, 2012 - 7:47pm by Doug Powell

    An eight-year-old girl has died after contracting an E. coli infection but health officials have stressed it is not part of an outbreak.

    The Daily Mail reports the child was from East Ayrshire in Scotland and had contracted the E. coli O157 strain.

    She was treated in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow but sadly died.

    NHS Ayrshire and Arran said it has not identified the source of the infection but it does not believe the case is part of an outbreak.

    Dr Jane Cooper, consultant in public health medicine said: 'Our thoughts are with the family during this very difficult time. “

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  • Drunk Australian arrested after eating someone else's pie

    Posted: August 13th, 2012 - 2:26pm by Doug Powell

    That’s my pie.

    The Southland Times reports a drunk Australian man was arrested for disorderly behavior after he went into a Queenstown bakery and ate another customer's pie.

    The man, 33, who refused to give police his details, was taken to the police station, where he vomited on arrival.

    Sergeant Mark Gill said considering the amount of tourists that came through Queenstown at this time of the year, the number of drunk-related incidents sounded a bit worse than it was.

    Gill said there was always going to be these sorts of problems, but Australians "as a rule" were generally no worse than New Zealanders or anyone else.

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  • Do fines even matter? NYC councilor drafting bill to change restaurant inspection fine structure

    Posted: August 13th, 2012 - 12:44pm by Ben Chapman

    Author: 
    Ben Chapman

    A colleague at the vet college shared a story with me about restaurant grades a couple of months ago. He and his son went into a local sushi place and it was dead - they had no problem getting a seat during the usually busy lunch rush. He asked the manager what was up and she said that business had been down since they had been given a low score during a routine inspection.

    That made him pause a bit, they ordered lunch and ate, but hadn't been back. I guess some folks do make choices based on posted restaurant grades.

    In New York, inspections and grade postings have been a hot topic for the past few months - and as Doug wrote a few weeks ago, the requisite whining from both sides is a bit tiring.

    In attempt to take the clean doesn't mean safe statement to a more pragmatic level, NYC councilor Christine Quinn is (I think) trying to make the health department to refocus their fine structure away from clean infractions and focus on safety (but it's billed by the New York Daily News as "shrinking penalties for citations that don’t involve food").

    In my ideal regulatory environment fines would be based on risk to public health - and so would disclosure grades.

    “They are definitely working on the bill,” said Robert Bookman, counsel to the New York City Hospitality Alliance, an influential new restaurant group. “There’s a universal feeling among the City Council that something must be done to rein in the Health Department.”

    The likely legislative changes include shrinking penalties for citations that don’t involve food — problems like broken tiles and dented food cans, sources said. The legislation is also expected to waive fines for eateries that score an A after appealing a lower grade.

    If, as expected, the bill clears the Council, it would need a thumbs up from Mayor Bloomberg, who hasn’t shown much of an appetite for overhauling the controversial system.

    City Hall expects to bank a record $48 million in restaurant fines this fiscal year — a 50% increase from the $32 million collected in 2009, budget records show.

    While the fine rhetoric is captivating, the biggest penalty to a restaurant might be a poor risk-based inspection grade.

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    Food Safety Culture  |  Comments
  • Sushi Land closed after signs of foodborne illness reported

    Posted: August 11th, 2012 - 11:54pm by Doug Powell

    The Bella Bottega Sushi Land in Washington State, part of a chain of restaurants that serve sushi on conveyor belts in Oregon and Washington, was closed Thursday and it was apparently worse than the malfunctioning refrigerator, as originally reported.

    Katie Ross, a spokesperson from the King County Department of Health told the Redmond Patch the investigation into the conveyor-belt style sushi restaurant was prompted by complaints of foodborne illness that were reported by parties not affiliated with Sushi Land.

    “As a result our environmental health divison did an investigation...and the refrigerator was not the only issue,” Ross said. For example, she said, an employee was observed not washing his hands properly.

     

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    Raw Food  |  Comments
  • 3 sick; raw oysters linked to outbreak of Vibrio in Calif

    Posted: August 11th, 2012 - 11:07pm by Doug Powell

    Oysters from the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. in Marin County, California, have been linked to an outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus that has sickened at least three people.

    KTVU reports the company is conducting a voluntary recall of the affected oysters, which include shucked oysters in 9 ounce, 1 pint, 1 quart and half-gallon jars and tubs, lot Nos. 363 through 421.

    Affected in-shell oysters are sold individually or in bags sized from 1 dozen to 10 dozen, and marked with harvest tags between July 17 and Aug. 8.

    Anyone in possession of the affected oysters should throw them away immediately, health department officials said.

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  • Cilantro recalled because of Salmonella risk

    Posted: August 11th, 2012 - 10:28pm by Doug Powell

    In the long-running series of fresh herbs as vectors for dangerous microorganisms, Fresco Green Farms Inc. of Winchester, Calif. is recalling 1,643 cases of cilantro harvested from July 18th 2012 to July 27th 2012, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

    The cilantro was on store shelves in California and Minnesota beginning July 19, 2012 and likely sold or removed from sale before August 6, 2012. There have been no illnesses reported. The cilantro is bunched and tied together with a brown rubber band. Each bunch has the following dimensions; 10 inches of length and 1 ¼ width. The individual bunches have no identifying labels or lot numbers. They were distributed in shipping cases labeled “Fresco Green Farms Inc., Hemet, CA. Produce of USA cilantro 2.5dz “ Consumers who may have purchased the cilantro should contact the store where hey purchased it to determine whether the cilantro was included in the recall.

    The recall was as the result of a routine sampling program by the USDA, which revealed that the cilantro harvested from July 18th to July 27th has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

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