Food Poisoning, Foodborne Illness Information and Research : International Food Safety Network : BarfBlog

At least four more people who ate food sold last week at a fundraiser at a Conway church have been hospitalized as of today, said Jim Beasley, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

A total of 11 people have been hospitalized, and DHEC officials believe there are about 125 people who sought physician care for gastro-intestinal illness symptoms in the area, Beasley said.

Conway Medical Center performed tests on three samples from patients and it appears that salmonella is expected, Beasley said.

People started becoming ill with symptoms such as abdominal cramping, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, after buying and eating food sold at the Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Conway to raise money to benefit the family of an ill child, said Dr. Covia L. Stanley, director of DHEC's Region 6 public health office, which serves Horry, Georgetown and Williamsburg counties, said in a news release Tuesday.

The meals, which included barbecue pork, baked sweet potatoes, cole slaw and rolls, were prepared at a local hunting club, Stanley said.

DHEC officials are asking that anyone who purchased any of the roughly 1,450 plates of food sold at the fundraiser to throw leftovers away and to contact their private healthcare physician if they are experiencing any symptoms.

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One of the first things I did after officially joining Kansas State University in 2006 was try and figure out some novel research. Chapman flew in from Guelph, we had a beer with Phebus at a local bar and sketched out a proposal on the back of a napkin, to observe people cooking chicken.

Sarah Wilson, my composed colleague from the Guelph days, drafted the proposal and it got funded by the American Meat Institute.

The observational research was conducted in 2007 and the results were published this week by the British Food Journal.

Chapman created a novel video capture system to observe the food preparation practices of 41 consumers and the press summary is below, as is the abstract.
 
A Kansas State University study has shown that when preparing frozen foods, adolescents are less likely than adults to wash their hands and are more susceptible to cross-contaminating raw foods while cooking.

"While half of the adults we observed washed their hands after touching raw chicken, none of the adolescents did," said Casey Jacob, a food safety research assistant at K-State. "The non-existent hand washing rate, combined with certain age-specific behaviors like hair flipping and scratching in a variety of areas, could lead directly to instances of cross-contamination compared to the adults."

Food safety isn't simple, and instructions for safe handling of frozen chicken entrees or strips are rarely followed by consumers despite their best intentions, said Doug Powell, K-State associate professor of food safety who led the study.

As the number and type of convenience meal solutions increases — check out the frozen food section of a local supermarket — the researchers found a need to understand how both adults and adolescents are preparing these products and what can be done to enhance the safety of frozen foods.

In 2007, K-State researchers developed a novel video capture system to observe the food preparation practices of 41 consumers – 21 primary meal preparers and 20 adolescents – in a mock domestic kitchen using frozen, uncooked, commercially available breaded chicken products. The researchers wanted to determine actual food handling behavior of these two groups in relation to safe food handling practices and instructions provided on product labels. Self-report surveys were used to determine whether differences exist between consumers' reported food handling practices and observed behavior.

The research appeared in the November 2009 issue of the British Food Journal. In addition to Jacob and Powell, the authors were: Sarah DeDonder, K-State doctoral student in pathobiology; Brae Surgeoner, Powell's former graduate student; Benjamin Chapman, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University and Powell's former graduate student; and Randall Phebus, K-State professor of animal science and industry.

Beyond the discrepancy between adult and adolescent food safety practices, the researchers also found that even when provided with instructions, food preparers don't follow them. They may not have even seen them or they assume they know what to do.

"Our results suggest that while labels might contain correct risk-reduction steps, food manufacturers have to make that information as compelling as possible or it will be ignored,” Chapman said.

They also found that observational research using discreet video recording is far more accurate than self-reported surveys. For example, while almost all of the primary meal preparers reported washing hands after every instance in which they touched raw poultry, only half were observed washing hands correctly after handling chicken products in the study.

Powell said that future work will examine the effectiveness of different food safety labels, messages and delivery mechanisms on consumer behavior in their home kitchens.

Self-reported and observed behavior of primary meal preparers and adolescents during preparation of frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products
01.nov.09
British Food Journal, Vol 111, Issue 9, p 915-929
Sarah DeDonder, Casey J. Jacob, Brae V. Surgeoner, Benjamin Chapman, Randall Phebus, Douglas A. Powell
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=6146E6AFABCC349C376B7E55A3866D4A?contentType=Article&contentId=1811820
Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of the present study was to observe the preparation practices of both adult and young consumers using frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products, which were previously involved in outbreaks linked to consumer mishandling. The study also sought to observe behaviors of adolescents as home food preparers. Finally, the study aimed to compare food handler behaviors with those prescribed on product labels.
Design/methodology/approach – The study sought, through video observation and self-report surveys, to determine if differences exist between consumers' intent and actual behavior.
Findings – A survey study of consumer reactions to safe food-handling labels on raw meat and poultry products suggested that instructions for safe handling found on labels had only limited influence on consumer practices. The labels studied by these researchers were found on the packaging of chicken products examined in the current study alongside step-by-step cooking instructions. Observational techniques, as mentioned above, provide a different perception of consumer behaviors.
Originality/value – This paper finds areas that have not been studied in previous observational research and is an excellent addition to existing literature.
 

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Ruby Chinese Restaurant, the beleaguered eatery at the source of a Salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 22 people and possibly contributed to the death of another, will close for good.

The Toronto Star reports that word is spreading in north Scarborough's Chinese community that the immensely popular restaurant will not reopen after a recent salmonella outbreak.

At an emergency meeting on Sunday, according to a source, the restaurant's three owners are said to have decided to file for bankruptcy on Monday, and have hired an accountant to prepare for auctioning off furniture and equipment.

The 17-year-old restaurant was closed by Toronto Public Health in early October. It failed another inspection two days later, with health officials citing cockroaches and a very dirty floor.

The owners were told by a pest control firm that ending the cockroach problem would require treating the entire single-storey strip mall at 1571 Sandhurst Circle, near Finch Ave. E. and McCowan Rd. As well, customers were cancelling the multi-course banquets that made up the bulk of its business.

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On Friday, Raley's Family of Fine Stores posted a message regarding a recall of fresh cantaloupes due to potential Salmonella contamination (triggered by routine sampling). There wasn't any pick up of the recall story until this morning when the California Department of Public Health issued a warning (which I can't actually find anywhere). CDPH is telling consumers not to eat Del Monte whole cantaloupe sold between Oct. 5 and 16 at Northern California and Nevada Raley's, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods and Food Sources stores. No illnesses have been linked to these products to date.

Risk in cantaloupes is largely due to growing conditions, contaminated wash water and the potential for cantaloupe flesh to support the growth of bacteria.  Prevention of surface contamination is an important factor for folks from farm-to-fork to address and control as research has shown a potential for bacteria to be pushed into the meat of the cantaloupe during slicing. Due to the roughness of the rind, it is very difficult to wash away much of the bacteria, suggesting that risk-reduction emphasis needs to be placed before the someone home uses them for a prosciutto-wrapped appetizer. 

California Department of Public Health warns consumers not to eat Del Monte cantaloupe -- great -- how would someone in their home know whether their cantaloupe was Del Monte? Are they labeled (I know some here in North Carolina are, some aren't) and if they are, what does that label look like? That's useful information.

I suspect since the scope of this recall has been limited to a specific shipment or lot of cantaloupes that the distributor has at least a rudimentary traceability system. Maybe the system is handwritten notes in a book of sales, maybe they possess a an electronic system incorporating barcodes and shipping documents. I've seen both. And both can work.

Throughout the summer, with help from my trusty assistant Michelle, we have been investigating some of the current traceability systems employed by fresh produce growers/packers/shippers in North Carolina.  While labeling of units (that's what the industry calls something like an individual cantaloupe or tomato) is part of the traceability story, what we've found is that there are multiple ways the on-farm/packing folks are trying to differentiate, collect, record and transfer food safety information with their products.

But there are gaps, like the labeling one illustrated here. One of our conclusions is that while many producers might be awake and trying to navigate vague national and international suggestions, what happens to that information (maybe stored in a lot code) once it leaves the packhouse sometimes isn't really known. The distribution folks may or may not record something like a lot code, and the producers may or may not tell their buyers why it's important that they do. That's a GAP gap.

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Dumb things to say when 37 people are sick and 1 dead, from the same restaurant: "I eat here regularly and I have never gotten sick. Everyone in the community eats there. It has a very good reputation."

Apparently the Globe and Mail newspaper thinks so too, and published an awesome online review of Ruby, the Chinese restaurant at the center of a Salmonella outbreak. Or it was available, according to a food writer at the rival National Post newspaper, until the restaurant was closed: “review now deleted.”

Howard Shapiro, Toronto's associate medical officer of health, said,

Despite having almost two days to clean the restaurant, the restaurant failed to "meet the requirements needed to be met to re-open.” The restaurant will remain closed until the next inspection takes place sometime this weekend.

The restaurant was shut down on Wednesday, after two health inspectors found that foods were not protected from contamination, raw meat wasn't kept at the correct temperature, and utensils and cooking surfaces were inadequately cleaned. There was also a cockroach infestation and Shapiro said the floor was "dirtier than we would find acceptable."
 

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Sorenne eating breakfast with dad, Oct. 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m.

Saute fresh rosemary, garlic, red pepper and garden-fresh tomato (the nighttime temperatures are cooler, but not quite freezing yet, when what’s left of the herbs and tomatoes will move inside). Add scrambled eggs, salt and pepper, cooking the salmonella out of the eggs. Serve with whole grain toast.

That’s toast. I like … toast.

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CBC and CTV are both reporting that Toronto Public Health is investigating an outbreak of Salmonella linked to a Chinese restaurant in Scarborough. The outbreak is reportedly linked to the Ruby Chinese restaurant near McCowan Road and Finch Avenue West in Scarborough. At least 19 diners have tested positive for Salmonella after eating there  between Sept. 12 and Sept. 30.

One elderly man who died ate in the restaurant during the affected time frame, but officials are still waiting for tests to confirm whether he did in fact have salmonella poisoning.

Inspectors had been called in on September 29 after complaints but found everything up to code. When they returned Wednesday they found infractions and shut the place down.

The City of Toronto's online restaurant inspection database shows that the restaurant had passed inspections without conditions eight times before.
 

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 Vet school doesn’t leave much time for extracurricular activities (especially during second year classes), but I try my best to stay relatively well rounded throughout these four years of academic boot camp. One of my favorite weekend activities is Cat town, a tailgating area near the football stadium here at K-State. (Doug talked about it yesterday)  Each home football game has a different Vet med-associated club volunteer to help serve food at Cat town, and yesterday’s game against Tennessee Tech was CVMF’s day (Christian Veterinary Medical Fellowship).  As a CVMF member, I helped to set up and serve lunch to the tailgaters. In typical vet student fashion, some brought their pets to the event. One of my classmates has two beautiful black-capped caiques that are always a big hit at Vet med events, and we had them strategically placed at the t-shirt selling booth to attract people to support the second year class.

Now to defend myself, when serving I wore my food-serving plastic gloves in aseptic fashion. I didn’t touch my face with my fingers or sneeze into my hands. I wish there would’ve been hand sanitizer available before I put my gloves on, because serving food hygienically involves a combination of good hand washing and regular glove changes.  We only had one server touching food directly (handing out burger buns) and everyone else used a utensil such as a spoon, knife or tongs to serve food along with gloves. During the slower parts of the afternoon, I would take breaks to chat with people and often drift over to see the birds, Monty and Apple (right). They are very charming little creatures, so I took full advantage of holding them and kissing them (glove-free).  

Lo and behold, who shows up to Cat town but my food-safety boss Doug Powell. He eyes my classmate and I suspiciously as we hold the birds on our fingers and give them kisses on the beak, all while enjoying burgers and cake (pretty much doing everything the CDC recommends avoiding).  Amy and Sorenne got an especially close look at the birds. In the background Doug said, “Keep that Salmonella factory away from my baby.” There’s the Doug I know, always thinking about the potential pathogens.

Later in the afternoon I chatted with my classmate about her food safety practices with the birds. She goes on to tell me that she frequently consumes food around her birds, and has never had any sickness in the past that could be related to the birds. While feeding the birds potatoes salad from her own fork, she tells me that she may have gotten Salmonella from them in the past, but she’s been around them so much that her body may have developed a tolerance to the bacterium. She has never has them tested to see if they carry Salmonella in their feces, though most birds do.

I’m thankful that my classmate has never had any sickness related to her birds, but that may not be the case for the rest of the nation. The young, elderly and other immunocompromised individuals are most likely to contract a zoonotic disease when handling pets. Practicing good food safety habits such as washing your hands thoroughly and cooking your meat to the proper temperature can help reduce the risk of food borne disease. Also, don’t kiss animals to allow them to lick your face, especially not in front of your boss.

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The BBC reports that 47 people who visited a cafe in Portsmouth have been confirmed as suffering from salmonella infection.

NHS Portsmouth, the Health Protection Agency and Portsmouth City Council are investigating the cases associated with the Tenth Hole Tea Rooms in Southsea.

All became ill in August and four went needed hospital care, but there have been no new cases since 1 September.

The tea rooms have co-operated with the probe and implemented preventative measures, the city council said.

Paul Edmondson-Jones, director of public health for both NHS Portsmouth and the city council, said,

"While an initial investigation was begun by the council on 25 August, it was stepped up to other agencies on 1 September when the scale of the incident became apparent. It was only in the last couple of days that we have been able to accurately confirm the Tenth Hole as the source of the outbreak, which is now over."
 

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I’ve had pawpaw when in Australia. It’s yummy. And like other fresh produce, can be an excellent source of Salmonella.

The West Australian Department of Health issued a statement on Tuesday saying seven cases of salmonella poisoning linked to the tropical fruit had been uncovered over the past six weeks.

WA environmental health director Jim Dodds said,

"Wash all pawpaws with running tap water immediately before eating, this includes pawpaw that has been cut prior to purchasing. After cutting pawpaw at home thoroughly wash hands, cutting boards and knives."

That's nice. And prevent Salmonella from gettiing on the pawpaw on the farm.
 

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U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in her Sept. 11 address to the United Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Public Policy Conference that FDA’s intent is to keep unsafe foods from reaching the market and part of that new push will be accomplished by expanding outreach.

Guess it didn’t reach all the lettuce growers. Or the consuming public.

That’s because The Oregonian reports today that federal and state health authorities are investigating a salmonella outbreak that peaked in Oregon in August.

This is the middle of September. This is not prevention. Or good news.

The good news is that it is over, said William Keene, senior epidemiologist at the Public Health Division in Oregon.

He said the first cases surfaced nationwide in mid-July and trailed off a month later.

At least 124 were sickened across the country, with a clustering of cases in the West.

Two people got so sick they had to be hospitalized, and one had severe symptoms, Keene said. They have now been released from the hospital. He said no one died in Oregon or elsewhere in connection with the outbreak.

Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration still do not know exactly what poisoned people, though shredded lettuce is a leading suspect, Keene said.

The silence of the Salmonella. It would help, as with the Salmonella in produce outbreak last summer, or the listeria in Canadian cold cuts last fall, if public health types would clearly articulate, when they go public and why. And let everyone see those guidelines.
 

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I don’t know what it is with parents in the U.K. letting pet snakes hang out with their babies.

For the third time in recent memory, a 4-month-old baby fell seriously ill with salmonella she caught from the family’s pet snake.

The baby girl was admitted to intensive care at St Thomas Hospital with a fever and high heart rate in August, where hospital tests revealed she was suffering from a strain known as salmonella Arizona, which is commonly associated with snakes.

She has recovered since then and an investigation by environmental health officers at Sutton Council identified the most likely source to be the family’s two royal python snakes, which can carry the infection in their gut and spread it through their droppings.

The council has now issued a hygiene warning to owners of exotic reptiles, saying it is essential for them to wash hands thoroughly after handling a reptile and keep the animal away from anywhere food is prepared.

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Going through the food safety press releases of Canadian bureaucracies for inconsistencies is like fishing with dynamite.

So many little tips that a bunch of $50-150K per year salaries sweated over.

Yesterday, the Public Health Agency of Canada said it was “working with provincial and local health authorities, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to investigate a small outbreak of Salmonella Cubana.”

I have no idea how the public health types distinguish a small from a large outbreak, but I bet it doesn’t feel very small to the 14 identified people who have been barfing from raw sprouts.

And I’m sure it’s comforting to those barfing that,

“For most people, the risk posed by Salmonella infections is low.  Salmonella is the most frequently reported cause of food-related outbreaks of stomach illness worldwide.”

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ConAgra CEO thingy Gary Rodkin is on a quest

A quest to find what he calls "the big, singular insight that will drive behavior change." If he can do that, he can boost the bottom line (which was $978 million on revenue of $12.7 billion in the fiscal year ended May 31). Rodkin is using theories about buying habits--backed by $399 million a year in advertising, marketing and in-store promotions--to convince grocery stores to provide ample shelves for its 45 consumer brands, which include Chef Boyardee, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Wesson and Swiss Miss.

I have a suggestion. Don’t make people barf, with your Banquet pot pies and your peanut butter. Seriously, $399 million in advertising, and you can’t promise people they won’t barf?

And the best guest speaker you can get is me naked in New Zealand (cost to ConAgra bottom line – nothing).

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This isn’t a Chevy Chase-John Candy (right) kind of vacation.

The widow of an elderly British tourist who died after falling ill with salmonella poisoning at a luxury Italian hotel has called for better safety standards at holiday resorts.

The Birmingham Post reports that Jean Appleyard and her husband, Geoffrey, aged 71, were staying at the four-star Grand Hotel in the Gardone resort on the shores of Lake Garda last year when both began to suffer from fever and stomach pains.

An inquest at South Worcestershire Coroners’ Court yesterday recorded a verdict of misadventure after hearing evidence that the salmonella poisoning Mr Appleyard contracted contributed to his death.

Coroner Geraint Williams said:

“Although the hotel seemed very picturesque, there was a very dark side in the kitchen and cellars where there was a virulent contamination of salmonella in the foodstuffs. This was served to the guests and, as a consequence, a large number became ill. Mr Appleyard died because he was not able to withstand this infection.”

The Italian authorities confirmed that salmonella was detected at the hotel.

Mrs Appleyard said, 

“We went to the Grand Hotel for a luxury holiday. It is simply appalling that we fell ill and Geoffrey contracted something as serious as salmonella at a hotel like that. Tour operators have to ensure they are doing everything they possibly can to make sure holidaymakers are protected from outbreaks like this.”

Meanwhile, The Independent reports that 50-year-old Julian Hurley from South Yorkshire, U.K., said he was delighted today after being awarded nearly £300,000 compensation from tour operator First Choice following his diagnosis of shigella after eating "poor-standard" food at an all-inclusive hotel in Venezuela in August 2004.

Mr Hurley said.

"When we went to the hotel restaurant I tried a variety of different dishes, which included cooked meats. The food was of an extremely poor standard, a lot of the dishes were undercooked and some of them were almost cold. The impact that this hellish holiday has had on our lives has been devastating. I now struggle to walk long distances and find myself getting tired easily. I am still suffering from symptoms to this day and will do for the rest of my life, which has been very difficult to come to terms with.”

 

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The last time the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a press release, “There are no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products,” 22 Canadians died and 53 were sickened with listeria. A cursory glance at CFIA press releases shows that when there are no sick people, CFIA will say, “there are no reported illnesses.”

So when CFIA announced a few minutes ago that it and Sunsprout Natural Foods are warning the public not to consume certain varieties of Sprouts Alive and Sun Sprout brands that contain onion sprouts because they may be contaminated with Salmonella and that, “There are no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products,” expect the sick to surface.

As best as I can tell, “no confirmed illnesses” means there is epidemiological evidence linking these sprouts and sick people, but CFIA doesn’t really believe in epidemiology, so they wait for the stagecoaches to go to the lab in Winnipeg and back with test results, before worrying people about some silly Salmonella. Or at least that’s what came out of the various listeria outbreak reports.

The Sunsprout Natural Foods involved in this recall is based in my hometown of Brantford, Ontario. I wonder if they have any relationship with SunSprout Enterprises Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska, that recalled Salmonella-contaminated sprouts in the U.S. Midwest in March 2009 after the sprouts made about 80 people barf.

The products in the current recall were distributed in Ontario and the Maritimes, and may have been sold in Quebec.

All Best Before codes up to and including August 27, 2009 of the following products are affected:
Brand
Product
Size
UPC
Sprouts Alive
Baby Onion Sprouts
70 g (2.5 oz)
0 69022 00032 0
sun sprout
Alfalfa & Onion Sprouts
135g (4.76 oz)
0 57621 13506 2f

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Amy, Sorenne and I are hanging out in Venice, Florida, and I do most of the cooking. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies from the neighborly Publix supermarket, and I even bought a digital, tip-sensitive meat thermometer from Target because I just feel naked cooking without one.

Others aren’t so fortunate, I guess.

A group called HolidayTravelWatch, somewhere in the European Union, has just published its top-20 appalling holiday complaints and problems. Included in this year’s list:

1. Family holiday to Egypt where a child was struck down by severe food poisoning, hospitalization and subsequent scalding in the hotel restaurant.

2. Family holiday to Turkey found that most of their group were ill, they were diagnosed as suffering with Salmonella and Cryptosporidium.

12. One family reported that they had returned from Turkey and their daughter had been diagnosed with Salmonella - they report that many people were ill at the hotel.

15. Holidaymakers to one hotel in Egypt reported sewage smells on the complex, gardens irrigated by stagnant water, food lukewarm, drinks served through a hatch and not via sealed bottles - they suffered severe gastric illness which still continues.

17. One family to Egypt suffered with food undercooked, poor chef hygiene practices (one chef was seen to handle bloody meat then touch other food), flies on the food in the pool bar, sewage smells in bathroom, cracks on the balcony and they are suspected as suffering with Cryptosporidium.

20, One couple’s trip to Egypt was marred by building work, diarrhoea on the public toilet walls, diarrhoea in the restaurant. They both suffered severe illness and weight loss - they are still ill.

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AP is reporting the second Texas based Salmonella-linked cilantro recall in a week. Fresh herbs are on the FDA produce hit list along with tomatoes, leafy greens, cantaloupe and sprouts. FDA provides technical assistance to these industries to complete commodity-specific guidance documents. David Acheson, ex-food safety Czar said in May that fresh herbs were next on the list.

Frontera Produce of Edinburg, Texas, is recalling one lot of cilantro. No illness has been reported. The recalled cilantro was available at select store chains in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana and New Mexico between July 20 and July 27. Details: by phone at 877-381-5701.

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Years ago - before we moved here and put a dog inside - the shed out back was a chicken coop. These were the original backyard chickens. A resurgence of small-flock rearing has led many to wonder (and make assumptions) about the safety of free-range eggs.

Joel Keehn wrote on Consumer Reports' Health blog this weekend that,

"About a year ago I took my 11-year-old daughter to the emergency room with what turned out to be salmonella poisoning. My first thought when I heard the diagnosis: Did she pick up the infection from our flock of chickens? But the public-health outreach worker at the local department of health said that was unlikely.

"While eggs are indeed a leading cause of salmonella poisoning, the bacteria that causes the infection may be more likely to breed in the cramped confines of factory farms than in free-range, backyard chicken runs like ours."

Oh? That's an interesting assumption. And Keehn doesn't provide anything to support it.

As far as I can tell, salmonella contamination of eggs from various farming methods has not been well-researched...save for one study rumored in January 2008 to have been conducted by the UK government that "showed that 23.4 per cent of farms with caged [egg-laying] hens tested positive for salmonella compared to 4.4 per cent in organic flocks and 6.5 per cent in free-range flocks."

The closest thing I could find was a report by the UK Food Standards Agency in March 2004 of testing results of 4,753 containers of six eggs each (with 16.9% from free-range production systems) that found "no statistically significant difference...between the prevalence of salmonella contamination in samples from different egg production types."

Keehn's blog post concluded by saying,

"By the way, the health department official who called me up said the most likely source of my daughter’s salmonella poisoning was our pet turtle. That critter is now gone. But I’m picking up four new hens from my neighbor down the road later this week."

I have no reason to believe their eggs will be any safer than those of caged hens. Keehn's reason is not good enough.

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Look kids, the snails are back.

And with the rain in Kansas this year, they haven’t really left.

Amy took this picture of our cilantro yesterday afternoon in between thunderstorms. And snails can carry any number of diseases and pathogens.

That’s probably not what’s going on with the cilantro distributed by Sweet Superior Fruit LTD of McAllen, Texas, that was recalled on the weekend after U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing found Salmonella in cilantro sold from July 13 to 16 in 15-pound black plastic crates.

Initially announced Saturday night, company types weren’t answering the phone on Monday.

The Monitor reports that while the source of the cilantro has not been disclosed, the produce was most likely grown in Mexico. A sign above the company‘s facility advertises Mexican-grown products.

Just where the 104 15-pound crates of cilantro ended up remains unclear. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it could not provide a list of what restaurants or retailers might have bought the leafy green because most of the purchases at Sweet Superior Fruit LTD. were made with cash. It also did not say how much of the produce had been sold.
 

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Ho Chi Minh City destroyed nearly 1.5 tons of goat penis, imported from Australia and contaminated with bacteria.

Nguyen Thi Thu Nga, chief inspector of the HCMC Animal Health Agency, said the products were contaminated with bacteria, including Salmonella and E.coli, and also failed to meet other food safety criteria.

However, inspectors said 47 of the 72 boxes imported had been sold as food. The inspectors issued fines against the company for trading animal products contaminated with bacteria.

In addition to a reproductive organ and Asian meat, GoatPenis is also a heavy metal band from Brazil formed in 1991 and performing under the Satanic Skinhead label. Sounds as bad as Journey.
 

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NBC 29 reports that a group of central Virginia guests have Salmonellosis that appears to be linked to frozen lasagna from a popular pasta shop. In a classic blame game maneuver and "wha happened?" defense, the owner of Mona Lisa (the pasta shop) says that if his food is the source of the outbreak, it was likely customer error.

The owner of Mona Lisa pasta says his kitchen is not to blame for six central Virginia dinner guests coming down with salmonella. While he says he sold the frozen lasagna, it was not his kitchen that was responsible for cooking it to code.

Chef Jim Winecoff has been creating Italian dishes at his Mona Lisa Pasta Shop on Preston Avenue in Charlottesville for years. Winecoff said, “We’ve been here for eight years now providing lasagna, fresh pastas, sausage, ravioli, through the company.”

Winecoff is confident his kitchen is not to blame. Winecoff stated, “We’ve had no trouble whatsoever with our food in the past and I hope this is not a problem with our food. The customer has written instructions as to how to prepare the food, to bake at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time, and that's a food-safe temperature.”

It's early on in the investigation and not much information is available but the "we've been doing things this way for a while and never had a problem" optimistic attitude doesn't do much to build trust.

Especially in an outbreak situation.

An operator with a good food safety culture knows about the microbial risks associated with their products and who might screw up, whether it is suppliers, staff or customers. Blaming the customers is never a good thing, especially if you happened to sell them something with a pathogen in it. Ask the ConAgra pot pie folks. Or the Nebraska Beef ground beef folks.

Telling a customer the time of baking and at what temperature misses the measurable risk reduction step -- endpoint temperature. Food businesses selling this-needs-to-be-cooked items should be stating what temperature the dish needs to be cooked to and how the temperature needs to be measured.

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Wegmans has removed fresh Anaheim peppers from its Produce departments due to the possibility of salmonella contamination.  The FDA is currently investigating the situation.

If you still have Anaheim peppers, please throw them away.  Do not return them to the store.  You may go to the service desk for information on receiving a refund.

For more information, please call Wegmans Consumer Affairs at 1-800-934-6267, x-4760, Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm.
 

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A recent spike in Salmonella cases in the Vancouver, B.C. area has lead the B.C. Centre for Disease Control to release the following, reports News1130:

Over 56 cases of infection are being blamed on the same strain of Salmonella.

While the BCCDC says they have not identified a common source associated with the infections, they advise that the two most important risk factors for Salmonella are the consumption of eggs and chicken. Salmonella can contaminate meat, eggs and raw fruits and vegetables. Symptoms of Salmonella infection may include fever, headache, diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and sometimes vomiting.

The BCCDC reminds people that the possibility of becoming ill from Salmonella can be eliminated almost completely with proper food handling and cooking practices.

Yes, eggs and chicken can harbor Salmonella, and proper hygiene and food handling can prevent cross contamination in the home; however, several outbreaks of Salmonella have not been preventable at the consumer level. Peanut butter, cantaloupe, ice cream and pistachios aren’t commonly cooked prior to consumption. 

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July 1^st is Canada Day, so being in New Zealand and feeling patriotic I decided to make butter tarts, a Canadian baked dessert (pictured right). While making the filling-- which consists of brown sugar, eggs and cream -- my flatmate had a spoonful of the unbaked filling. I warned her about the raw eggs, but she shrugged and tasted it anyways, saying it was delicious.

Since being in New Zealand I’ve noticed a difference in egg handling than in North America. Eggs are not found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, rather just on store shelves, and many consumers do not refrigerate eggs at home. Doug says it’s because the country just got electricity 10 years ago, and beer is the primary occupant of the fridge; however, a more scientific explanation follows:

A 2007 survey of retail eggs for Salmonella found,

The results of this survey are consistent with two previous studies in indicating an absence of internal contamination of New Zealand eggs and enumeration tests have shown that the number of Salmonella present on the surface of contaminated eggs is low.

The pilot study suggests that, in New Zealand, the risk to consumers from Salmonella in eggs is low. Food handling practices that minimise the possibility of cross contamination from shells will further reduce the risk.

I still keep eggs in the fridge, and will avoid the temptation of eating raw cookie dough.

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Yesterday on Days of Our Lives, Kate tried to poison Daniel and Chloe with an undetectable substance that she put on a tray of deviled eggs. When she caught her son, Lucas, trying to snatch an egg, she freaked out.

As recounted by Prevuze:

Lucas opens his mouth (something he's very experienced at) and prepares to snack on the delectable poison egg. Kate walks into the kitchen and sees him about to commit eggicide. As predicted by thousands of viewers, Kate dives across the room and slaps the egg away from him. The egg goes one way, the tray goes another and the people in the room dive for cover to avoid the shower of garbage. Lucas has a total conniption, but Kate doesn't back off. She stomps on the offending egg and grinds it under her shoe. Daniel and Chloe walk in, all properly zipped up.

Lucas explodes, "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, HUH? WHAT? WAS IT POISONED OR SOMETHING?"

Finally Kate comes up with an excuse:

"I poisoned the eggs. I did it without thinking. I put mayonnaise in them and they sat under the hot TV lights."
Lucas echoes what all of us are thinking, "This is lame, Mom."

Lame for sure. As Doug has explained, the danger of leaving deviled eggs out in the heat is not from the mayonnaise which, if bought from the supermarket, should have pasteurized ingredients. If you’re making mayonnaise from scratch, however, it does contain raw egg. Whether it’s temperature abused or not, raw egg can contain Salmonella. Somehow I doubt that Kate or Aunt Maggie make their own homemade mayo.
 

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Twenty-four people have been poisoned with salmonella in the south-eastern city of Przemysl following consumption of ice cream; three have been hospitalized.

Adam Sidor from the Sanitary Inspectorate in Przemysl, said,

“The shop which sold poisoned ice-cream has been closed and the staff is under observation.”

 

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Last year, with Amy’s guidance, was the first year I really started cooking with fresh herbs. Basil and tomato (and formerly cheese, right), fresh pesto, bruschetta, it’s all good.

Except for the bird poop.

Here are a couple of our basil leaves with some semi-fresh bird plops – similar to the ones I washed off the car earlier today. When preparing dishes with fresh herbs, wash thoroughly (which can be difficult) or cook the poop out. Or both.

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This is my fridge. This is my fridge on Salmonella and Campylobacter. This is how cross-contamination occurs. This is why it is important to lower pathogen loads before foods enter the home or a food service kitchen. Because foods can be a mess.

I bought a whole, fresh chicken a couple of days ago, but got some cheap lamb in the discount bin (the best time to go to Dillion’s grocery in Manhattan, Kansas, is between 10 and 11 a.m., lotsa foods discounted) so it sat in the back of my fridge for two days.

After two days in the back of my fridge I noticed fresh chicken blood had dripped into both the produce and fresh fruit crispers. Who designs fridges, engineers? Those drawers should be on top.

That red spot in the picture, that’s Salmonella- and Campylobacter-laden blood; it was also throughout the crispers. Those apples are in the pie we’re having tonight – whole wheat pie crust, love it. The rest has been cooked or tossed, and a full cleansing took place.

But food safety’s so simple; sure, without the chicken blood everywhere.

And this is my pie.

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L&M Companies, Inc. of Raleigh, NC is recalling one lot of whole cantaloupes because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported to date, and we are working with the FDA to inform consumers of this recall.

The whole cantaloupes were sold between May 10-15, 2009 in Walmart Supercenter Stores in North Carolina and South Carolina, and in the Walmart Supercenter Store located at 315 Furr Street in South Hill, Virginia. Consumers who have purchased whole cantaloupes from these Walmart stores during this time period should not consume them, and should destroy the product.

The recall comes after a cantaloupe at a small farm from which L&M Companies sources product tested positive for Salmonella. L&M Companies has ceased shipments from this farm, and the grower continues to investigate the cause of the problem.

A table of U.S. outbreaks related to the consumption of cantaloupe is available at: http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/1183/cantaloupe_outbreaks_.pdf

With cantaloupe, the most important risk reduction strategy for consumers is to minimize the chances of contaminating the interior of the fruit.  This is done by preventing the rind from contaminating the inside of the cantaloupe, either by direct contact or by cross contamination.  There are different methods used for preparing a cantaloupe, but there is disagreement over which is the most effective technique.

References:

“Reducing Salmonella on cantaloupes and honeydew melons using wash practices applicable to postharvest handling, foodservice, and consumer preparation”. Tracy L. Parnell, Linda J. Harris, Trevor V. Suslow.  University of California.  International Journal of Food Microbiology 99 (2005) 59-70.

“Effect of Sanitizer Treatments on Salmonella Stanley Attached to the Surface of Cantaloupe and Cell Transfer to Fresh-Cut Tissues during Cutting Practices”. Dike O. Ukuku and Gerald M. Sapers.  U.S. Department of Agriculture. Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 64, No. 9, 2001.

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Health officials say a mixer used to make pudding was the source of salmonella that sickened over 50 children at the Stone Environmental Camp in Madison, N.H., this month.

The food for the campers is prepared by Purity Springs, where the camp is located. Officials said the mixer is sanitized after each use, but a possible defect may have allowed bacteria to get to an area where it couldn't be cleaned out.
 

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Maybe the folks at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are busy with swine flu, but the timing of the latest raw sprouts advisory is a bit wonky.

Oh, and I’m to stress that it is only alfalfa sprouts making people barf, or at least that’s what industry told the FDA during a conference call yesterday afternoon. Not sure why it took FDA over 24 additional hours to warn consumers but …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today recommended that consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts, including sprout blends containing alfalfa sprouts, until further notice because the product has been linked to Salmonella serotype Saintpaul contamination.

Other types of sprouts have not been implicated at this time.
  
The investigation indicates that the problem may be linked to contamination of seeds for alfalfa sprouts. Because suspect lots of seeds may be sold around the country and may account for a large proportion of the alfalfa seeds currently being used by sprout growers, and cases of illness are spread across multiple states, FDA and CDC are issuing this general advisory.



FDA will work with the alfalfa sprout industry to help identify which seeds and alfalfa sprouts are not connected with this contamination, so that this advisory can be changed as quickly as possible.

CDC, FDA and six State and local authorities have associated this outbreak with eating raw alfalfa sprouts. Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia have reported 31 cases of illness with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul to CDC. Most of those who became ill reported eating raw alfalfa sprouts.  Some reported eating raw sprouts at restaurants; others reported purchasing the raw sprouts at the retail level.

The CDC and FDA recommend at all times that persons at high risk for complications, such as the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems, not eat raw sprouts because of the risk of contamination with Salmonella or other bacteria.

Chapman updated our chart of sprout-related outbreaks. It’s available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=2&c=6&sc=36&id=865
 

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One of the few pleasures in watching the movie, Baby Mama, is Steve Martin’s turn as Barry, the narcissistic, new-age genius who runs a Whole Foods-like organic supermarket chain, seen here transferring his success to v.p. and mama-to-be Tina Fey.

Stores like Whole Foods are easy to poke fun at because of their earnest idiocracy. But when a lifestyle choice crosses into public health outcomes, I stop snickering.

A buyer for one of these new-age stores sent the following to a supplier:

“I'm still not too crazy about pasteurized just as I'm not too crazy about ultra pasteurized dairy products in general. All one has to do is look at movement in our region regarding raw products, raw milk, and one quickly learns that our customers are for the less processed the better. In my 25+ years in the grocery business I don't recall ever having eggs returned to the stores because they were bad. I haven't refrigerated an egg in over 20 years myself personally, so although "salmonella" is currently getting a lot of press I'm not convinced that it really applies to eggs. When I worked at (another store) for nearly 13 years, we didn't have one incident that I was aware of regarding "bad eggs," and we NEVER refrigerated them until the law passed making refrigeration mandatory. We must have sold a billion eggs in those 13 years.”

I wouldn’t want this guy purchasing eggs for me, and not just because of his annoying use of air quotes – what Jon Stewart calls dick fingers. Salmonella is getting more than a lot of press; it makes a lot of people barf. And eggs are a source.
 

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Authorities are investigating what made more than 70 people attending a Passover event in Franconia, N.H., ill after eating at a potluck event.

State health officials said 150 people were attending the event when the illness broke out Saturday night, WMUR-TV of Manchester, N.H., reported Monday.

The New Hampshire Health and Human Services Public Health Lab was conducting tests to determine if the illness was salmonella, the report said.
 

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As a follow-up to the Spicy Salmonella post, EDS Wrap and Roll Foods LLC has recalled chicken egg rolls for potential Salmonella contamination, according to the USDA news release.

The egg rolls, sold to restaurants throughout California, contain spice recalled by Union International Food Co.  

[The company] is recalling approximately 12,460 pounds of frozen chicken egg roll products because they contain black pepper spice products that may be linked to a multi-state outbreak of salmonellosis, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Just another example of the importance of knowing your supplier.
 

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Every time the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues a public advisory about some food product, the armchair critics pounce.

This time it’s pistachios. On March 30, FDA issued a blanket warning for folks not to eat pistachios or products containing pistachios until further details emerged. The nut industry went … nuts. Perishable Pundit Jim Prevor did his bit about how regulators and others could be sure the contamination went back to the pistachio plant. Several journalists asked me about the economic burden of such a recall, especially since there were no confirmed illnesses. I told CBS Radio that if industry wanted an economically prudent plan, industry should keep Salmonella out of pistachios.

The other aspect is that, given the public and government scrutiny of FDA, there is probably something going on – something is not quite right at the farm or processing plant or wherever – for FDA to issue a blanket warning. FDA just doesn’t have all the details yet.

Here are some details:

Elizabeth Weise of USA Today is reporting this morning that Setton Pistachio, the company that recalled 2 million pounds of pistachios on Monday, had been receiving positive salmonella tests for as long as five months.

David Acheson, FDA associate commissioner, said,

"The question is, 'Did Setton Farms have an ongoing problem, and what did they do about it?' "

The FDA believes batches of pistachios that tested positive for salmonella were destroyed, not distributed. Setton Pistachio spokeswoman Fabia D'Arienzo could not confirm that.

Almond Princess Linda Harris, an expert on salmonella in nuts at the University of California-Davis, said,

"If I'm getting a positive (result) and a couple of months later another positive, and then another, I would think the appropriate response would be to say, 'This is not right. I've got to figure this out.' "

Kraft spokeswoman Susan Davison said Kraft sent an internal food-safety auditing team to Setton Farms’ Terra Bella plant on March 23 and,

"They saw the potential for cross-contamination" between raw and processed pistachios. “For example, often in companies different colored gloves are used for the raw area and the roasted area." However at the Setton plant, the same colored gloves were used in both areas.
 

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Union International Food Co. is recalling some of it’s Lian How and Uncle Chen’s brand spices due to potential Salmonella contamination. According to the FDA press release,

Officials investigating a multi-state Salmonella outbreak isolated Salmonella from an open container of Lian How White Pepper, which was found at a restaurant where some outbreak victims ate.  Union International Food Co. is making every possible effort to protect our customers and the consuming public.

Spices have been recalled due to Salmonella contamination in the past. Like peanuts, spices can become contaminated with Salmonella if they are exposed to feces from birds, rats, mice and other animals. Steps must be taken from harvest, through storage, packing and shipping to prevent contamination.

The full press release, including a list of recalled products is available here.
 

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Back to Nature Foods Co., a Wisconsin firm owned by Kraft Foods Inc., issued a nationwide recall Wednesday on its Nantucket Blend trail mix because some of the pistachio nuts tested positive for Salmonella.

And the pistachios came from a supplier to the Georgia Nut Company, which found the Salmonella through its own testing.

The press release from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said,

This possible contamination is not connected with the recent outbreak associated with peanuts or peanut butter and no cases of Salmonellosis have been reported in connection with the recall.

Back to Nature Foods products are sold in Chicago area Dominick’s, Jewel, Target, Wal-mart, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Hy-Vee, Kroger, Meijer and Woodman’s stores, as well as at military commissaries.

Casey did a quick search and found there have been no Salmonella outbreaks or reported positives associated with pistachios, although 2006 Good Agricultural Practice documents suggest limiting exposure of pistachios to irrigation water and carefully handling on-farm manure because of the possibility of microbial contaminants. It appears there's a widespread belief that the hull protects the edible parts, and drying and roasting further mitigate risks of contamination, although the GAP document and research on other nuts has concluded such assumptions remain unverified.
 

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Kellogg CEO David Mackay is planning to grunt out a giant turd in Washington tomorrow.

To see how his assertions would be, uh, swallowed, Mackay’s comments were leaked to an uncritical press this afternoon, just like in the financial meltdown. Both AP and Reuters proclaimed that Kellogg’s “is urging lawmakers to overhaul the nation's food safety system.”

Mackay (right, exactly as shown) wants food safety placed under a new leader in the Health and Human Services department. He also called for new requirements that all food companies have written safety plans, annual federal inspections of facilities that make high-risk foods, and other reforms.

Mackay whined that Kellogg's had to recall more than 7 million cases of crackers and cookies, at a cost of $65 million to $70 million, and that "Audit findings reported no concerns that the facility may have had any pathogen-related issues or any potential contamination.”

Kellogg’s is a multi-billion dollar company asking for a government handout to do what Kellogg’s should be doing – selling a safe product. Kellogg’s helped create the paper albatross that is third-party audits instead of having its own people at plants that supply product which Kellogg’s resells at a substantial profit. And now this crapmeister is going to tell Washington how to strengthen food safety when he can’t keep shit out of his own company’s peanut cracker thingies. Must be a day of dicks.

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KGAN reports that the outbreak linked to SunSprout Enterprises is now at 76 confirmed cases in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas (Missouri is missing from the list -- although has been mentioned by other sources).

Health officials have confirmed at least 76 cases of salmonella in four states as part of an outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts.

Cases of salmonella in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota have been tied to SunSprout Enterprises' sprouts that were distributed to grocery stores and restaurants.

The Omaha company voluntarily recalled its products. Shipments were resumed after an inspection found no cause of salmonella.

Nebraska health officials say at least 45 cases of Salmonella saintpaul have been confirmed near Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney.

Iowa officials confirmed 21 cases. South Dakota and Kansas officials have both confirmed at least five cases in their states.

A selection of past sprouts-related outbreaks can be found here.

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Dlisted reports that Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson were on Germany's Wetten Dass... to promote that movie about a dead dog when they had to eat a doggy biscuit after losing a bet.

People magazine says that the bet was that a woman claimed she could correctly identity her team of Husky dogs just from listening to them drink soup. Jennifer and Owen and the host all indulged. People magazine even asked readers, “Have you ever tried your pet’s food?”

This is a bad idea. Salmonella has been routinely found in dried dog food and doggy treats. People worried about barfing should wash their hands after handling either – dog food or treats, Jennifer or Owen.
 

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The National Peanut Board is joining Jif and Peter Pan in attempting to save American newspapers by investing in advertizing to woo back skeptical consumers.

In a press release and full-page letter in USA Today on Wednesday (thanks, Margaret – dp) peanut producer pooh-bahs announced they will set up shop in Vanderbilt Hall in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal March 4 and 5 to meet consumers, answer questions and give away samples of peanuts, peanut butter and other peanut items. The event kicks off the farmers’ efforts nationally to rebuild consumer confidence in products made with the crops they grow.

Roger Neitsch, Texas peanut farmer and chairman of the National Peanut Board — the research and promotion board funded by peanut growers, said,

“No one is more deeply disturbed by the recent salmonella crisis than the thousands of USA peanut farmers and their families. We may be peanut farmers, but we also are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters — and consumers. So we understand and share the concerns being experienced these days by families across America.”

But is recruiting celebrity chefs and athletes, while portraying farmers as producers of all things safe, really enough?

Noted science-and-society type, Dorothy Nelkin, noted in 1995 that, efforts to convince the public about the safety and benefits of new or existing technologies -- or in this case the safety of the food supply -- rather than enhancing public confidence, may actually amplify anxieties and mistrust by denying the legitimacy of fundamental social concerns. The public expresses a much broader notion of risk, one concerned with, among other characteristics, accountability, economics, values and trust.

As I’ve said before, the best food producers, processors, retailers and restaurants should go above and beyond minimal government and auditor standards and sell food safety solutions directly to the public. The best organizations will use their own people to demand ingredients from the best suppliers; use a mixture of encouragement and enforcement to foster a food safety culture; and use technology to be transparent -- whether it's live webcams in the facility or real-time test results on the website -- to help restore the shattered trust with the buying public.

The makers of Jif and Peter Pan have already gone on record saying they will not disclose their own food safety test results.

Nelkin, D. 1995. Forms of intrusion: comparing resistance to information technology and biotechnology in the USA in Resistance to New Technology ed. by M. Bauer. Cambridge University Press, New York. pp. 379-390.

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The Independent reports that Tesco, Waitrose and well-known health food shops have withdrawn tens of thousands of packets of edible seeds in one of the biggest product recalls in a decade after a survey found "unacceptable" levels of salmonella and E. coli.

One-in-50 packs of ready-to-eat seeds such as sesame and sunflower was found to be contaminated.

The study's authors pointed out that although there was no direct link to the contaminated seeds, 137 people in England and Wales fell ill from six sub-types of salmonella found in the seeds during the six-month study. Many more ill people are likely to have not reported their symptoms to GPs. The Health Protection Agency and the local authority group Lacors, which conducted the study, warned food manufacturers and retailers to improve hygiene during harvesting and drying of seeds.

The study was carried out because seeds – a popular snack among health-conscious shoppers wishing to avoid high-calorie chocolate and sweets – have become associated with at least seven outbreaks of salmonella in countries such as Germany, Norway, Sweden and Australia since 2000.

To gauge levels of contamination here, environmental health officers from 317 local authorities collected 3,735 packets of ready-to-eat seeds from 3,390 supermarkets, health food shops, convenience stores and market stalls between October 2007 and March 2008. They were analysed in 32 food laboratories.
 

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Farmer John’s Herbs are warning the public not to consume Farmer John’s Herbs brand Organic Basil Leaf because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

All lots of Farmer John’s Herbs brand Organic Basil Leaf, sold in 6 gram packages, bearing UPC 7 73353 50002 1 are affected by this recall.

This product was distributed in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

There has been no reported illness associated with the consumption of this product.

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Founded on the belief that "health should not be expensive," Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage grinds its own peanut butter in-store using only domestic, U.S.D.A. certified organic peanuts.

In a statement addressing Natural Grocers' connection to the outbreak of salmonella in Peanut Corp. of America peanuts, Executive Vice President and Co-Owner of Vitamin Cottage Heather Isely says,

"We are a relatively small, family-owned company that only sells carefully screened natural and organic products, and we work hard to source our products domestically because we believe in the quality controls in place in this country. We – among others – have been hurt by this one unscrupulous supplier..."

The company may have learned the hard way that natural and organic products are not invincible to foodborne pathogens.

Elsewhere in the statement, Isely says,

"[W]e trusted our government and industry food inspection process, which usually works extraordinarily well."

Since January 30, the fresh ground peanut butter made in Vitamin Cottage stores has contained peanuts from a new supplier, Hampton Farms.

"To further reassure our customers," Isely states, "we are now testing each lot of the new peanut butter stock for salmonella. We are working to find even more ways of keeping our customers safe."

Way to be proactive... now that you have to.

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SunHerald.com is reporting an outbreak of Salmonella at a maximum security prison in Jackson County, Mississippi:

The state Health Department is currently trying to determine what food could’ve caused a salmonella outbreak at the maximum-security jail this week.
The outbreak sent five inmates to the hospital, though only one remains hospitalized, officials said.
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said the inmates started getting sick, suffering mostly from diarrhea and abdominal cramps, on Monday, with two the inmates experiencing a low-grade fever. The sheriff said the jail gets its food from an international food services company.

He said the ingestion of peanuts or peanut butter has been ruled out as the possible cause of the illness. He said, so far, officials believe the potentially life-threatening bacterial infection could’ve been caused by some lettuce that the food services company provided and the inmates ingested.
The Sun Herald updates this story in Thursday’s edition.

Lettuce and leafy greens have most often been associated with pathogenic E. coli in outbreaks, but food handlers have been known to shed Salmonella without showing symptoms.

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The folks that run Canada’s largest grocery store chain – Loblaw Companies --are apparently just learning about pest control. They are also learning that consumers can take pictures with their cell phones and can actually use those phones to call local health types.

The Calgary Herald reports that public complaints prompted health inspectors to visit the Westwinds location of the Real Canadian Superstore 17 times in just over a year before it was ordered closed Tuesday after the discovery of live mice, rodent feces and gnawed packaging.

Rick Holley, a microbiology professor in the University of Manitoba's department of food science, believes shoppers have every reason to be squeamish at the thought of mice scampering over produce or gnawing on potato chip bags.

"Mice are vectors for salmonella. They carry it and shed it not unlike chicken, cattle or hogs.”

Doug Powell, an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University, said,

"People might think, 'What's the big deal about a little mouse poop?' But it's an indicator there could be a whole lot else going on.”

The incident comes weeks after a Loblaws store in Toronto -- part of the same company as the Superstore chain -- was shut down after a "heavy infestation"of mice and rats, including droppings on sandwich counters, was found.

Company spokeswoman Inge van den Berg said the two occurrences have prompted the store to revamp its pest control procedures.

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I love Valentine's Day. It’s not that I’m a romantic, but that most years it was an excuse to get drunk, and last year a dude even ran through my Calculus class in nothing but a diaper and wings. Valentine's Day is always a hoot.

This year I’ve spent time in candy aisles rather than calculus lectures, scanning for recalled Valentine's chocolate linked to the current Salmonella outbreak. As I wrote in bites,

    With over 600 ill and 9 deaths linked to peanut paste produced by the Peanut Corp. of America, consumers may opt to give flowers rather than sweets on February 14. Of the 2000 peanut products recalled, over 670 contain chocolate. The popular peanut-chocolate combination is found in chocolate trays, bars, snack mixes, cookies, pies, and more, all examples of recalled products, and all popular Valentine's gifts. 

The Walgreens pharmacy and Wal-Mart superstore in Manhattan, Kansas, both featured prominent Valentine’s Day displays during the past week. Aisle after aisle was stocked with pink and red packaged peanut-chocolate treats, but nowhere was there mention to the safety of these items. A concerned consumer wishing to purchase these must either scan the 68 pages of chocolate products recalled on the FDA website, or trust that potentially contaminated products have been removed from store shelves. But with the recall list growing daily, consumers may find it difficult to assume the chocolate-covered peanuts that are safe today won’t be added to the recall list tomorrow. 

Keith Warriner, a food microbiologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, explained last week via email, the concerns associated with Salmonella in chocolate products. “Because chocolate is high in fat it protects Salmonella from environmental stress and stomach acid,” said Dr. Warriner. “So in effect, if chocolate does become contaminated, Salmonella survives longer and only needs to be present in low numbers to survive passage through the stomach.”

Chocolate is a not uncommon vector for Salmonella. In 2006 both Cadbury and Hershey brand chocolate products were associated with separate Salmonella contamination. Cadbury recalled over 1 million chocolate bars in the UK after more than 40 consumers were sickened, and 3 were hospitalized due to Salmonella contamination from poor plant sanitation. A few months later, Hershey Canada recalled candy products due to possible Salmonella contamination, and though there were no reported illnesses, some of this recalled Hershey product re-entered the marketplace two years later.

Though I didn’t see any of the recalled products while shopping, it’s hard to be certain none were missed with over 670 products being recalled. I also didn’t see any signs informing consumers about the safety of the sweets in these aisles. If a store is confident recalled peanut-products have been removed from shelves, a way to help out consumers is putting up some signs in the aisles. 
 

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There’s no ice hockey in Manhattan (Kansas) but we do get the NHL channel, and a hockey game can make some fine background while editing.

Saturday nights around 6:45 pm (CST), if I remember, it’s off to Hockey Night in Canada for seven minutes of Don Cherry, the 75-year-old former coach and commentator know for his “outspoken manner, flamboyant dress, and staunch patriotism.”

Cherry also lended his trademark staccato yelling to the Quiznos sandwich chain in Canadian ads, and the “Toasted tastes better” tagline.

So I thought of Don today, as I pined for hockey and read that Quiznos has adopted a new animal-welfare policy regarding its purchases of eggs, pork and turkey, developed in conjunction with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

That’s sweet. I wonder if Quiznos modified its buying patterns after tomatoes on its sandwiches in Rochester, Minnesota, sickened at least 10 people with Salmonella in 2007. Maybe Quiznos modified its policies on raw sewage on the floor in its restaurants after a Chicago outlet was closed in 2008. And maybe Quiznos has instituted sensitivity training for its managers after a Toronto spokesthingy said in response to the Canadian listeria outbreak in deli meats which killed 20 last year that, “People are hypochondriacs.”

This video is aptly titled, Don Cherry is crazy.
 

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While Peanut Corp., the state of Georgia, and the federal government come under fire for letting salmonella get into roasted peanuts and those peanuts get into hundreds of products, a debate is stirring on the value of revealing the results of microbial testing.

Doug and Ben want manufacturers to show their results to the public, but Georgia's Senate Agriculture Committee just wants them to tell the state.

The Associated Press reported two days ago that the Senate Agriculture Committee was discussing a bill that would "require food makers to alert state inspectors within a day if internal tests show a contaminant in a plant."

According to a New York Times article that day,

Dr. Steven M. Solomon, an official in [FDA's] Office of Regulatory Affairs, said the agency has viewed such disclosures as a “double-edged sword” that might inhibit some companies from testing in the first place.

An AP report yesterday said the committee's chairman, Sen. John Bulloch, "delayed a vote on the measure until later this week as he waits for more industry response."

Meanwhile, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin urged Congress to adopt similar requirements. He told members of a House food safety panel,

"We could have a strong law in Georgia, but if it's not followed by Congress, we could find ourselves in a position of driving out business."

History shows that companies caught without a culture of food safety don't stay in business, anyway. Smart companies know food safety is good business and should be happy to brag about it.

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"It is clear that Peanut Corp. of America is not a producer that companies could — or can — rely on for a safe product.”

That’s what Seattle lawyer Bill Marler said after private lab tests show there may have been salmonella at a second plant operated by PCA in Plainview, Texas.

The Texas Department of Health said in a statement the plant temporarily closed Monday night at the request of health officials after the tests found "the possible presence of salmonella" in some of its products.

The Texas closing comes a day after the FBI raided the company's plant in Georgia, hauling off boxes and other material. Agents executed search warrants at both the plant and at Peanut Corp.'s headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., according to a senior congressional aide with knowledge of the raids.

Also today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control upped the sick form Salmonella numbers to 600 in 44 states, along with at least eight deaths.
 

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The news this morning is full of features and editorials seeking to explain the shit storm of Salmonella produced by Peanut Corporation of America.

Chapman and I tried to take it a step further and focus on effective, long-term steps to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness from farm-to-fork. At this point in time, promoting food safety culture coupled with marketing and a series of carrots and sticks is the best we can come up with.

In 1204 in Montpellier, France, a butcher selling a substitute meat in place of the advertized beast was required by statute to reimburse the customer twice the amount paid. In Narbonne, regulations dictated a whipping “with sheep tripe” in front of the food stall for unscrupulous sellers. China routinely executes its biggest food frauds.

During a hearing before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee looking into a salmonella outbreak linked to a Georgia peanut processing plant, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Thursday that food producers responsible for widespread, deadly outbreaks of disease should face jail time, not just fines, to get food makers to take food safety seriously.

Sixteen years after E. coli O157:H7 killed four and sickened hundreds who ate hamburgers at the Jack-in-the-Box chain, the challenge remains: how to get people to take food safety seriously?
Lots of companies do take food safety seriously and the bulk of American meals are microbiologically safe. But recent food safety failures have been so extravagant, so insidious and so continual that consumers must feel betrayed.

The politicos in Washington are focused on legislative fixes, maybe creating a single-food inspection agency, maybe increasing inspections, insisting microbiological test results be submitted to government, maybe mandating jail time for the most audacious executives. Such moves may send a signal of hope and change, but will do little to reduce the carnage contaminated food and water wreak on the American public each year – 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths.

Industry – the folks that process peanuts and all those companies that make some of the 1,550 different peanut butter crackers, ice cream, energy bars and dog treats that have been recalled – is equally void of ideas. The system to ensure safe food relies largely on so-called third-party audits of suppliers, a system that glowingly approved Peanut Corporation of America and its leaky roof, filthy floors and rat-infested storage areas.

Other peanut butter manufacturers like Unilever and ConAgra Foods say they have “stringent food safety and quality control standards.” But neither will say what it is they do better than PCA; neither will say how often the plants test their finished product for foodborne illnesses or other contamination. Maple Leaf Foods in Canada, whose deli meats killed at least 20 Canadians last fall, says it has done 42,000 tests for listeria across 24 packaged meat plants in the past three months, but will not make the results publicly available for scrutiny.

Even Whole Foods, where consumers pay a hefty premium for basic foodstuffs, said the company carefully checks the paperwork for all the products it sells, but can do no better than the minimal standard of government.  “For the thousands of products we sell, that’s the extent we can go to. The rest of it is up to the F.D.A. and to the manufacturer.”

Like a fiscal house of cards, the Ponzi scheme of inspection and verification for food safety is collapsing with merely the mention of consumer scrutiny. Sort of like an eighth grade party with chaperones -- just pop and chips. But when the inspector or auditors leaves, the party turns exciting (read all about it on Facebook).

A cultural shift is required for everyone, from the farm through to the fork, to take food safety seriously. Frank Yiannas, the vice-president of food safety at Wal-Mart has taken an initial stab in his new book, Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behavior-based Food Safety Management System.

Yiannas says that an organization’s food safety systems need to be an integral part of its culture. At Peanut Corporation of America, former employees are now coming forward to tell of filthy conditions in the Blakely, Georgia, processing plant. A company with a strong food safety culture would have encouraged those employees to speak up while they were employed, not because the manager or auditor or inspector was watching, but because it was the right thing to do.

The best food producers, processors, retailers and restaurants should go above and beyond minimal government and auditor standards and sell food safety solutions directly to the public. The best organizations will use their own people to demand ingredients from the best suppliers; use a mixture of encouragement and enforcement to foster a food safety culture; and use technology to be transparent -- whether it's live webcams in the facility or real-time test results on the website -- to help restore the shattered trust with the buying public.

Here’s what consumers can do: at the local market, the stop-n-shop or the supermarket, ask someone, how do I know this food won’t make me barf? While such talk may be socially frowned upon, it’s time to put aside the niceties and bureau-speak and talk directly about safe food.

The more customers ask, the more food providers will be encouraged to market their food safety efforts.

Just like in 13th century France.

Doug Powell is an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University and the publisher of barfblog.com. Ben Chapman is a food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University.

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Shelly Awl, a clerk at a gas station on Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution yesterday,

“It’s so confusing. I wish they would communicate better what is safe and what is not.”

At a gas station in North Fulton, Karan Singh eyed with suspicion a pile of energy bars, cookies and snacks that had been laid at the check-out counter for purchase, telling a customer,

“I don’t think I should sell these to you. These might not be good.”

While many stores — particularly major supermarkets — appear to be keeping up with the recalls, smaller stores seem to be less consistent, according to some spot checks by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The salmonella outbreak linked to a South Georgia peanut-processing plant has spawned one of the largest product recalls in American history. The list of products that are off-limits has risen to 1,550, with new names coming out daily.

However, at Publix stores, spokeswoman Brenda Reid said recall alerts from suppliers and the FDA are immediately e-mailed to stores, which then have three hours to respond that they have removed the recalled item from the shelf. If it’s not accomplished, company managers continue to contact the store and will even send a representative there. District managers also check during their visits, she said.

The recalled item is also logged into the store’s computer, so if a customer finds one, the cashier will be alerted and will not be able to ring it up, Reid said.

Kroger stores are alerting customers who have a Kroger Plus Card of any recalled purchases through automated phone calls.

And in a feature tomorrow, the Journal-Constitution reports federal food regulators describe the 2007 Peter Pan peanut butter salmonella outbreak traced to a Georgia plant in 2007 as “a wake-up call.” But that realization did not lead officials to scrutinize at least one other peanut processor: the Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely.

They didn’t even know the plant made peanut butter.

The FDA first learned of possible salmonella contamination at ConAgra four years ago — two years before officials traced hundreds of illnesses to Peter Pan.

In early 2005, an anonymous tipster told the FDA that ConAgra’s internal testing had detected salmonella in a batch of peanut butter the previous October, agency records show. Company executives confirmed the test results to an FDA inspector but refused to turn over lab reports unless the agency requested them in writing. The inspector left the plant, records show, and never again requested the reports.

Congressional investigators later learned that FDA policy discouraged written document requests. Federal courts, the FDA said, had ruled that if manufacturers turned over material in response to a formal request from the government, those documents could not be used as evidence in a criminal prosecution against them.

But in the vast majority of cases, investigator David Nelson told a House subcommittee in 2007, the FDA pursues neither documents nor criminal charges. Nelson termed the agency’s actions “nonsensical.”

The FDA cited no violations following the 2005 inspection in Sylvester, said Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for ConAgra, which is based in Omaha, Neb. Long before the inspector arrived, Childs said, the plant had destroyed the contaminated peanut butter.

This is why when companies claim they test for Salmonella, like in this ad for Jif (upper left, thanks Barb) that ran today, it’s sorta meaningless without some sort of public disclosure or oversight.
 

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With at least eight dead, 575 sick and 1,200 products recalled because of Salmonella in peanut thingies, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee began hearings yesterday to figure out the peanut butter solution.

Some want jail time for company execs; more inspectors; public oversight of microbial test results; a single food inspection agency; better auditors, and so on.

Maybe the 1985 movie, The Peanut Butter Solution, had it right. Or late 1960s psychedelic band, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Or the B-side to the Jimmy Buffett tearjerker, He Went to Paris, from the 1973 album, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, "Peanut Butter Conspiracy."
 

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CNN reports that emergency food packages distributed by FEMA in ice-hit Kentucky may contain recalled peanut butter products.

FEMA's written statement included:

Commercial meals kits manufactured by Red Cloud Food Services Inc., under the Standing Rock label, have been provided to disaster survivors in impacted communities, and these kits may contain peanut butter which is part of the precautionary national recall underway in accordance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

People who have received commercial meal kits are asked to inspect the kits in their possession and immediately dispose of any peanut butter packets.

A written statement might not be the best way to get this info out to the 200,000+ who are still without power in Kentucky.

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As the number of recalled products topped 800, U.S. President Barack Obama said this morning he is ordering a “complete review” of the Food and Drug Administration after it failed to detect shipments of salmonella-contaminated peanut products.

In an interview taped Sunday and aired this morning on the television gabfest, Today, Obama said the agency’s failure to recognize and intercept the products was only the latest of numerous “instances over the last several years” in which “the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch.”

“At bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter.”

USA Today today reported that the recall, one of the largest ever, started with bulk peanut butter, spread to crackers and cookies and has engulfed products as diverse as kettle corn, pad Thai and trail mix, with over 800 recalls and many more expected this week.

Robert Brackett, senior vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said anecdotal evidence indicates that sales of all peanut-related products, even unaffected peanut butters, are slipping, adding,

"All it takes is a little company, and it has a huge ripple effect.”

The GMA says Peanut Corporation of America supplied less than 1% of peanut products sold in the U.S. Still, the FDA says the company has more than 300 customers, many of whom used PCA's products as an ingredient.

Brackett fears consumers will tire of checking recall lists and begin shunning anything with peanuts. Past food scares have shown that to be true.

When asked by CBC Radio in Sudbury, Ontario this morning, “what’s a consumer to do,” I said,

“Avoid the stuff for now. It may not be fair, but the recall list is growing so fast, it’s prudent. And now folks have an idea what people with peanut allergies have to go through.”
 

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Watching the number of recalls continue to grow in the Salmonella in peanut butter debacle, I’m wondering why is it taking some of these companies so long to issue a recall? Today it was Jenny Craig and dozens others. My guess is these distributors have no idea what’s in the products they are hawking and it takes weeks to track down such info. If a food processor really knows its suppliers, it should take hours or minutes to figure out if the suspect ingredient is in some kid’s peanut cracker snacks or Kirstie Alley’s Jenny Craig bar (she’s not with the program anymore? Oh).

And sure, everyone’s calling for better government oversight, but what about the third-party auditors? If Peanut Corporation of America was supplying paste and industrial tubs of peanut butter to all these processors and distributers, they must have had third-party auditors through the peanut processing plant in Blakely, Georgia. What problems did the auditors uncover? And what was done about such problems?
 

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The New York Times is reporting the peanut processing plant at the center of a salmonella outbreak that has killed seven and sickened over 500 in 43 American States and Canada had “a history of sanitation lapses and was cited repeatedly in 2006 and 2007 for having dirty surfaces and walls and grease residue and dirt build-up throughout the plant, according to state health inspection reports.” ...

The inspection reports were provided by Georgia officials in response to a request made by The New York Times under the state’s open records act. State officials said they could not release two recent inspection reports from 2008 because of the ongoing investigation into the plant. ...

Inspections of the plant in Blakely, Ga., by the state agriculture department found areas of rust that could flake into food, gaps in warehouse doors large enough for rodents to get through, unmarked spray bottles and containers, and numerous violations of other practices designed to prevent food contamination. The plant, owned by Peanut Corporation of America of Lynchburg, Va., has been shut down.

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I always wanted a pet turtle. When I was 10, I was really into comics (nerd alert). There was a comic book store in between my school and house, that I used to spend lots of time at, and all of my allowance. Right around that time, an underground comic book from creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird made its debut: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What a ridiculous concept, but the coolest thing to this 10-year-old comic nerd. This was before the really cheesy cartoon, and even cheesier movies. When the Ninja Turtles were cool.

I made nunchaku and a bo staff out of broomsticks and chains from the hardware store.  I was a 10-year-old blonde-haired Canadian Napoleon Dynamite.

All of this background to set this up: I also begged my parents for a pet turtle. I was going to keep him in my room, and call him Leonardo. My parents refused and got me a cat instead.

I know it had little to do with pathogen concerns, and lots to do with the potential smell.  However, I'm grateful they shielded me from Salmonellosis.

This week's food safety infosheet is all about reptile-related food safety concerns.

Download the infosheet here.

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One of the journalism classes I am taking this semester is "Convergence Reporting". I am excited to learn the basics of video editing and voice recording, but I am mostly looking forward to developing interactive animations. It's a cool way to tell news.

The Sacramento Bee published an interactive map reporting numbers on Salmonella infections in California, including those from the recent outbreak (special thanks to Skyler for sharing).

The CDC website has a map displaying numbers of Salmonella infections by state, but it's not interactive. It was updated last Wednesday so it doesn't include the 7th death related to the outbreak reported this morning.

Surfing on the web I found a pretty cool "Global Disease Alert" map. If anyone out there has something interesting, please post here.

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When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned on Saturday that Americans should "postpone" eating cookies, crackers, candy and ice cream that contain peanut butter or peanut paste, they didn’t mention anything about America’s pets.

They should have.

Yesterday, PetSmart Inc, the largest U.S. pet-products and services retailer, recalled seven of its Grreat Choice Dog Biscuit products as a precaution against possible salmonella contamination because the peanut paste was produced by the Peanut Corp of America (PCA).

I told Georgia’s Gainesville Times this morning that the latest outbreak shows that food companies need to look closer at the operations of their suppliers.

"It’s where you get your food from. Whether you get it from around the corner or around the globe, you’ve got to know your suppliers. And it seems they supplied to a lot."

As of Jan. 20, 2009, 485 people were sick with Salmonella Typhimurium in 43 states.
 

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In another example of, know thy suppliers, whether it’s around the corner or around the globe, Kellogg’s has announced its peanut butter cracker thingies – which are sorta gross -- are on hold, including all Keebler and Austin brand crackers, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced that 453 are sick and at least five, possibly six are dead from Salmonella in peanut butter.

Yesterday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it notified anywhere from 30-85 companies that bought peanut butter or peanut paste from a Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) processing facility in Blakely, Georgia to test their products.

Stephen Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety center, said,

“This is a very active investigation, but we don’t yet have the data to provide consumers with specifics about what brands or products they should avoid.”

Laboratory tests by the Georgia Department of Agriculture have confirmed Salmonella contamination in some peanut butter manufactured by the PCA plant in Blakey, as have tests by health officials in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. said,

“This is the first unopened tub of King Nut peanut butter found in the country that is definitively identified as being tainted with salmonella. My office just received the results from the Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory confirming the presence of Salmonella Type B in an unopened tub.  This provides further evidence that some lots of King Nut brand peanut butter delivered to food service accounts are responsible for a recent outbreak of salmonella infections in consumers.”
 

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King Nut is evidently done talking about peanut butter.

Following a comprehensive recall by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) of 21 lots of its peanut butter—including the King Nut product found by the Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture to contain a strain of Salmonella genetically identical to that found in over 425 sick people across the nation—King Nut deferred all further questions about the outbreak to PCA.

Clamming up is not good risk communication.



However, after a couple unfounded claims, it may be wiser that King Nut stop talking.

King Nut’s last statement to the press was a letter from President and CEO Martin Kanan refuting the suggestion that contaminated King Nut peanut butter could have caused people in 43 different states to become sick.

Kanan argued, in bold font,

“We only distribute in seven states and therefore King Nut peanut butter could not possibly be the source of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella. (King Nut peanut butter is distributed to food service companies in Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Arizona, Idaho and New Hampshire.)”

Really? It couldn’t possibly? How do you know?

Do you track the consumption of all the peanut butter you distribute? Many states with sick people share borders with those seven states, don’t they? Maybe it’s not probable that all 425 people were sickened by King Nut peanut butter, but it’s still possible.

It’s a better idea to talk intelligently about those small possibilities than to make big claims that can’t really be proven.



Another silly claim I noticed was found upon closer inspection of the January 10 press release. There, I realized Kanan did say “sorry” once. But he also said,

“All other King Nut products are safe and not included in this voluntary recall.”

Really? They’re all safe? How do you know?

Do you have data? The pinky promise (i.e. certificate of safety) PCA gave you didn’t seem to hold up, so why should we believe you?

Talking about the possible risks—however minute—is the only way to gain the trust of an intelligent public. Pushing unfounded beliefs or assumptions onto society is just one effective way to create chaos.

Just ask the South Koreans.
 

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As Doug posted earlier, it looks as though peanut butter has been implicated in the current 400+ person outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium.  Earlier tonight AP cited CDC sources as saying that the Salmonella also may have contributed to three deaths. AP reports that it looks like Minnesota Dept of Health has yet again cracked the case and recovered the outbreak strain from an opened jar of King Nut brand peanut butter, and has epidemiolgy to back it up:

"The commonality among all of our patients was that they ate peanut butter," said Doug Schultz, a spokesman with the Minnesota Department of Health. While the brand of peanut butter couldn't be confirmed in every case, the majority of patients consumed the same brand, he said Monday.

Here's a food safety infosheet that focuses on the outbreak. You can download it here.

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I don’t like peanut butter. Never have. Hate’s a strong word, but I hate peanut butter. Just another food I don’t like – like sprouts and green onions -- that will reduce my risk of contracting foodborne illness.

And if I was institutionalized, the last thing I would want is peanut butter. Unless I was really old or pregnant, then I wouldn’t want deli meats either (that listeria thing).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which is apparently getting a new boss, reported Friday that 399 persons have become infected with the same outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium in 42 states. And, as the startribune.com of Minnesota reports, Minnesota disease investigators once again may have solved the riddle of a nation-wide salmonella outbreak. This time the culprit is peanut butter.

Kirk Smith, supervisor of foodborne diseases at the state health department, said that the clue in this outbreak was that many of the Minnesotans who became ill had eaten in institutional settings. That included nursing homes, schools, and colleges, he said.

"What they had in common was this brand of peanut butter," he said. "That was enough."

Officials from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) issued a product advisory after MDA’s preliminary laboratory testing indicated the presence of Salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound container of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter.

I want to say I work for King Nut. Or the other way around. But until that link is firmed up, here’s an op-ed from the last peanut butter outbreak two years ago, involving ConAgra’s Peter Pan brand peanut butter, which was eventually linked to at least 625 salmonella cases in 47 states. I hate peanut butter as much as jazz (see video below).

PB & J, the new spinach
Feb. 16/07

Contrary to the protestations of Shaquille O'Neal during a game of Scattergories on Curb Your Enthusiasm, peanut butter is not often thought of as a dairy product (peanut BUT-TER he winks at Larry David).

Peanut butter is also not often thought of as a source of salmonella.

As Katie Kuba, 23, said yesterday while shopping in Dorchester, MA, "It’s alarming that it’s something like peanut butter. You wouldn’t think peanut butter, it’s mostly spinach."

As Americans sort through their pantries to see if Peter Pan or Great Value is amongst the three-or-four half-empty jars of peanut butter most families maintain, many, including the almost 300 confirmed sick, may be wondering, how does salmonella get into peanut butter?

Salmonella commonly originates in the feces of birds and animals, and could be introduced at numerous points in the peanut butter-making process, but are normally killed during the peanut roasting process, and again with heat during the production of peanut butter.

But it has happened before.

Beginning in April 1996, some 500 people across Australia were stricken with Salmonella that had made its way into peanut butter.

At first, investigators focused on chicken; that chickens carry Salmonella has been worn into the public's food safety conscious for decades. But as cases of Salmonella increased across the country and after questioning the sick and the vomiting, an unlikely food source emerged: peanut butter.

In the 1996 Australia outbreak, researchers first found the same genetic stain of Salmonella in peanut butter from the homes of some of the sick (unlike fresh produce, the long shelf-life of peanut butter provides an advantage for disease detectives). Because the manufacturer retained samples for shelf-life tests, the peanut butter was found to contain the same strain of Salmonella, as did the roasted peanuts from a single supplier.

After six months of investigation, Australian researchers came up with a theory: the roasting company had moved and separated the roasted peanuts with an auger, a drill-like machine with a spiraling blade that could lift piles of peanuts, that had been contaminated with mouse feces.

Peter Wood, senior lecturer in microbiology at Queensland, University of Technology, Brisbane, was quoted as telling the American Society of Microbiology in 1999 that, "The auger was only used four times because it proved not to be as time-saving as first thought," and the machine had been kept in the company tool yard. During that time, eastern Australia was in the throes of a plague of mice. The rodents nested everywhere, including the tool yard, where their droppings contaminated the auger. When the auger was brought in to the plant, it was washed down but Wood said it was not sanitized before it was used on Jan. 10, 1996. Salmonella from the auger mixed with the peanuts, and contaminated the system.

Salmonella is commonly associated with the feces of birds and animals, has been found to survive in soil in almond orchards, and could be introduced at a multitude of stages in the peanut butter-making process. Although processing normally eliminates contamination, several studies following the 1996 Australian outbreak have revealed that the high fat content of peanut butter can actually protect individual bacteria during the heating process.

Similarly, in 2006, Cadbury in the U.K. recalled 1 million candy bars after tentative links with Salmonella cases stretching over 6 months. A leaky pipe in the production facility may have been the cause. Maintenance and sanitation, two departments integral in food safety system success, appear to have failed in both outbreaks.

An estimated 974 million pounds of peanut butter is sold each year and a jar of peanut butter is sold every second in the U.S. From carrot juice to spinach to tomatoes, the sources of foodborne illness continue to surprise. The best prevention is constant vigilance.

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Elizabeth Weise of USA Today reports today that a single strain of Salmonella Typhimurium has sickened 336 people in 34 states, sending some to the hospital, over the past three months, but no one knows the source.

The outbreak led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to activate its emergency network this week, pulling in staff from other areas to work on the situation, says Frederick Angulo, deputy chief of enteric diseases.

"The lead hypothesis is chicken, but it's hard thing to prove. Everybody eats chicken," Angulo says.
 

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I sorta figured out how to cook with fresh herbs this year. Fresh basil on tomatoes, loads of sage on poultry, rosemary and garlic in everything.

But fresh herbs are, like other fresh things, fresh, and therein lies the risk – anything that comes into contact has the potential to contaminate. And Amy and I watched squirrels and snails drawn to our fresh herbs, with their squirrel and snail shit.

The UK Telegraph reports today that basil grown in Israel is thought to have been the cause of 32 cases of salmonella in people in England and Wales last year, government scientists said.

The Health Protection Agency and the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services sampled 3,760 packets of fresh ready to eat herbs between May and October last year and found a small proportion were contaminated with unsafe levels of Salmonella Senftenberg which can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and fever.

Jim McLauchlin, Director of the Health Protection Agency's Food, Water & Environmental Microbiology Services, said,

"Our survey found six herb types to be contaminated with ten different types of salmonella. The basil samples that were found to be contaminated with S. Senftenberg were all grown in Israel. Investigations undertaken at the time of these samples testing positive identified thirty-two human cases of S. Senftenberg in individuals throughout England and Wales, and it is likely that these cases were linked to consumption of fresh basil.”
 

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It’s a good thing Hugh Jackman and his trainer work out at Sydney’s Bondi Beach (right, from a couple of days ago) rather than the city’s Northern Beaches, which have again been closed due to Salmonella.

In May, 2008, children's playgrounds were closed on Sydney's Northern Beaches after a rare form of salmonella, paratyphi B var java, normally linked to tropical fish, made dozens of toddlers seriously ill.

The sand was replaced at a cost of $140,000 but recent testing has confirmed the same Salmonella has returned.

Today, the Daily Telegraph reports that Hitchcock Park at Avalon and Winnererremy Bay at Mona Vale on the Northern Beaches have been fenced off for the second time this year, while a third South Avalon playground has not re-opened since May.
 

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The PBS news video is a couple of months old, but is a decent instructional tool for what various government agencies did during the Great Salmonella Outbreak of 2008.

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At least 15 children have been hospitalized and nearly 30 children and adults as part of a Salmonella outbreak at several preschools in the San Fernando Valley and East Los Angeles.

The outbreak was traced to a North Hollywood kitchen that supplies food to the 29 preschools operated by the Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles, a faith-based nonprofit organization, said David Dassey of the L.A. Co. Public Health Department.

County public health officials inspected the kitchen, which voluntarily closed at the end of last week and reopened Tuesday. Letters were sent home to parents informing them of the situation and urging frequent hand-washing and other healthy practices.

All 29 facilities report at least one person coming down with salmonella-type symptoms, including fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
 

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That’s what a frustrated Kirk Smith, head of the foodborne disease unit of the Minnesota Department of Health, suggested to USA Today today as he described how people are still getting sick with Salmonella by microwaving raw, frozen, breaded chicken, despite the lack of microwave instructions.

"We wish the labels would be even more emphatic. … Maybe if on the front of the package there were 3-inch letters — RAW — who knows?"

Minnesota health officials met with producers of chicken products and were told that precooking wasn't an option because it has an effect on the texture and appearance of the chicken.

A table of the relevant outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=1245

and below.

Smith was also lead author on a paper describing previous outbreaks in the October issue of the Journal of Food Protection. It’s below.

Outbreaks of Salmonellosis in Minnesota (1998 through 2006) associated with frozen, microwaveable, breaded, stuffed chicken products
01.oct.08
Journal of Food Protection, Vol 71, No 10, pp. 2153-2160(8)
Smith, Kirk E.; Medus, Carlota; Meyer, Stephanie D.; Boxrud, David J.; Leano, Fe; Hedberg, Craig W.; Elfering, Kevin; Braymen, C

From 1998 through 2006, four outbreaks of salmonellosis associated with raw, frozen, microwaveable, breaded, prebrowned, stuffed chicken products were identified in Minnesota. In 1998, 33 Salmonella Typhimurium cases were associated with a single brand of Chicken Kiev. In 2005, four Salmonella Heidelberg cases were associated with a different brand and variety (Chicken Broccoli and Cheese). From 2005 to 2006, 27 Salmonella Enteritidis cases were associated with multiple varieties of product, predominately of the same brand involved in the 1998 outbreak. In 2006, three Salmonella Typhimurium cases were associated with the same brand of product involved in the 2005 Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak. The outbreak serotype and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis subtype of Salmonella were isolated from product in each outbreak. In these outbreaks, most individuals affected thought that the product was precooked due to its breaded and prebrowned nature, most used a microwave oven, most did not follow package cooking instructions, and none took the internal temperature of the cooked product. Similar to previous salmonellosis outbreaks associated with raw, breaded chicken nuggets or strips in Canada and Australia, inadequate labeling, consumer responses to labeling, and microwave cooking were the key factors in the occurrence of these outbreaks. Modification of labels, verification of cooking instructions by the manufacturer, and notifications to alert the public that these products contain raw poultry, implemented because of the first two outbreaks, did not prevent the other outbreaks. Microwave cooking is not recommended as a preparation method for these types of products, unless they are precooked or irradiated prior to sale.

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Syrup sorta goes with pancakes. But not when it’s the source of Salmonella that led to three separate outbreaks at the same IHOP restaurant.

KFDA -- NewsChannel10 – reports that health officials have identified a warm water basin used to keep syrup containers hot was the source of salmonella in the restaurant. The outside of the containers became contaminated and the salmonella was spread whenever someone touched the syrup containers.

The restaurant has been told to stop using the warm water basin system.  It remains closed this evening until they can ensure the restaurant has been sanitized completely.
 

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An outbreak of salmonella in raw, frozen, breaded stuffed chicken has sickened 32 people in 12 states. As the number of frozen, meal solutions increase – chicken kiev, cordon blue, strips, nuggets and others – a Kansas State professor is warning consumers to be careful with that entrée.

“Some of these frozen meals are fully cooked and just need to be reheated, and some are raw,” says Dr. Doug Powell, associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University. “It doesn’t seem fair, but consumers really have to read the labels. Raw product should always be cooked in an oven, not a microwave, and needs to be checked with a digital, tip-sensitive thermometer to make sure the food has reached a safe temperature of 165F.”

Investigators from the Minnesota Department of Health notes that this is the sixth outbreak of salmonellosis in Minnesota linked to these types of products since 1998. The findings prompted the officials to urge consumers to make sure that all raw poultry products are handled carefully and cooked thoroughly, and to avoid cooking raw chicken products in the microwave because of the risk of undercooking.

A table of the relevant outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=1245

and below.

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The Minnesota folks are really good at focusing on raw, frozen, chicken thingies during outbreaks of foodborne illness.

And once again, they’ve cracked the case.

(these aren't the products implicated, below, right, but an example of the raw and fully cooked products available at retail)

State health and agriculture officials said today that recent cases of salmonellosis in Minnesota have been linked to raw, frozen, breaded and pre-browned, stuffed chicken entrees. The implicated product is Milford Valley Farms Chicken Cordon Bleu and Chicken Kiev. This product is sold at many different grocery store chains.

This is the sixth outbreak of salmonellosis in Minnesota linked to these types of products since 1998. The findings prompted the officials to urge consumers to make sure that all raw poultry products are handled carefully and cooked thoroughly, and to avoid cooking raw chicken products in the microwave because of the risk of undercooking.

Investigators from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) determined that 14 cases of Salmonella infection since July 2008 were due to the same strain of Salmonella. The illnesses occurred in both children and adults; six of the cases were hospitalized but have since recovered. …

These types of products previously were marketed as microwaveable. Because of the inherent variability of microwave cooking, using this method to prepare raw frozen product can frequently result in undercooking of the product. Brands of product most commonly available in Minnesota are no longer being marketed as microwaveable. State officials are concerned, however, that consumers are still using microwave ovens for this product, out of habit.

We’ve done some research on this that is making its way through the peer-review process. But this is what was presented at the International Association for Food Protection annual meeting in Aug. 2008.


Abstract

Purpose – This study used a novel video capture system to observe the
food preparation practices of 41 consumers – 21 primary meal preparers
and 20 adolescents – in a mock domestic kitchen using uncooked, frozen,
breaded chicken products, and to determine if differences exist between
consumers’ reported safe food handling practices and actual food
handling behavior as prescribed on current product labels.

Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample was utilized and all
participants were video-recorded preparing food in one-of-two model
kitchens at Kansas State University. Participants were asked to complete
a survey reporting food handling behaviors that would be typical of
their own home kitchen.

Findings – Differences between self-reported and observed food safety
behaviors were seen across both groups of consumers. Many participants
reported owning a food thermometer (73 per cent) and indicated using one
when cooking raw, breaded chicken entrées (19.5 per cent); however, only
five participants were observed measuring the final internal temperature
with a food thermometer despite instructions on the product packaging to
do so; only three used the thermometer correctly.

Significance – Data collected through direct observation more accurately
reflects consumer food handling behaviors than data collected through
self-reported surveys, and label instructions are rarely followed.

Originality/value – This study contributes to the overall understanding
of consumer behaviors associated with consumers’ intentions and actual
behaviors while preparing meat and poultry products, such as frozen,
uncooked, breaded chicken products.

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Not deliberately dumb, or deliberately daft, but deliberate with intent for death – or at least dysentery.

Sweden’s security service Säpo is investigating possible sabotage following an incident which left 140 people at the headquarters of Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) suffering from dysentery.

The victims, which included employees of the association, its members, and other guests, all suffered from the illness caused by the Shigella dysenteriae bacteria after eating in the office’s cafeteria several weeks ago, reports the Veckans Affärer magazine.

According to the Metro newspaper, the group claiming responsibility for the attack is a left-leaning, internet-based forum which had previously staged demonstrations outside of the association’s headquarters.

In Texas, an IHOP restaurant has been closed three times in the past five months for repeated occurrences of what health investigators call a rare Salmonella, type C; over 10 people have been sickened.

Group C is a strain that researchers and health officials hardly ever see and it's so powerful it clings to surfaces and is more resistant to disinfection.

Police have been called in to help with the investigation.
 

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Growing up in late-1960s suburbia, my parents thought dogs should run on farms like their dogs had, and cats were a nuisance.

So I had a turtle.

Turtles were inexpensive, popular, and low maintenance, with an array of groovy pre-molded plastic housing designs to choose from. Invariably they would escape, only to be found days later behind the couch along with the skeleton of the class bunny my younger sister brought home from kindergarten one weekend.

But eventually, replacement turtles became harder to come by. Reports started surfacing that people with pet turtles were getting sick. In 1975, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned commercial distribution of turtles less than 4 inches in length, and it has been estimated that the FDA ban prevents some 100,000 cases of salmonellosis among children each year.

Maybe I got sick from my turtle.

Maybe I picked up my turtle, rolled around on the carpet with it, pet it a bit, and then stuck my finger in my mouth. Maybe in my emotionally vacant adolescence I kissed my turtle. Who can remember?

Last week the U.K. noted an increase in reptile-related Salmonella cases. Today, media outlets are reporting,

A multi-state salmonella outbreak among people handling turtles, that includes California and Los Angeles County, was announced Tuesday by officials at the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Veterinary Public Health.

Over 100 people, mostly children were infected by the same strain and 24 of them had to be hospitalized officials at the Center for Disease Control reported.

Eleven cases of the infection were reported in Southern California that included eight cases in Los Angeles County, officials at L.A. county Public Health reported.

Many human exposures were indirect. One baby became ill after being bathed in a sink where turtle feces had been discarded. Two girls fell ill after swimming in an un-chlorinated pool where turtles had been swimming.
 

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The UK Health Protection Agency reports that cases of Salmonella Arizonae have been on the increase and can be particularly harmful to infants.

The Telegraph reports that Dr Tansy Peters told the HPA's annual conference,

"Although it is comparatively rare in humans, a study of samples submitted to our laboratory for testing from January 1998 to December 2007 shows that there has been a significant increase in both numerical and percentage terms.

"That may be a reflection of the increased popularity of reptiles as pets.

"This is a very worrying trend and infants and young children with their immature immune systems and weaker gastric acids are disproportionately affected. We even find cases in breast and formula-fed infants and it is unlikely that they acquired their infection from a source other than indirectly, via the parents, from the family's pet reptile. Reptiles shed salmonella in their faeces and carry it on their skin and the public health implications of this inside the home should not be underestimated."

And if you have them in the home, don't kiss them.
 

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The British Mirror reports that hundreds of tourist may have been struck down with salmonella food poisoning and some have already been diagnosed after returning from a hotel complex in Turkey.

The tourists affected were staying at the Holiday Village Turkey in the resort of Sarigerme.

Andrew Morton, of the Manchester law firm Pannone, who is taking action against First Choice Travel on behalf of more than 100 clients, said,

"From all reports coming out of the resort, we expect the number of cases to rise significantly over the next few days. Estimates put the figure of those affected at well over 1,000. Anyone returning to the UK from Sarigerme who has been ill should see their doctor immediately."

Last night, a spokeswoman for First Choice said "a very small proportion" of guests at the resort reported being ill and were being treated for an "airborne virus.”
 

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A press release from the Food Micro 2008 conference in Aberdeen says that research being presented tomorrow will describe how Salmonella use flagella to attach themselves to produce.

"The new research, led by Professor Gadi Frankel from Imperial College London and carried out with Dr Rob Shaw and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, has uncovered the mechanism used by one particular form of Salmonella called Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg, to infect salad leaves, causing a health risk to people who eat them. …

"Professor Frankel and his colleagues at the University of Birmingham found that Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg bacteria have a secondary use for their flagella - the long stringy 'propellers' they use to move around. The flagella flatten out beneath the bacteria and cling onto salad leaves and vegetables like long thin fingers. To test this observation the scientists genetically engineered salmonella without flagella in the lab and found that they could not attach themselves to the leaves, and the salad remained uncontaminated."

Professor Frankel was further quoted as saying, "In their efforts to eat healthily, people are eating more salad products, choosing to buy organic brands, and preferring the ease of 'pre-washed' bagged salads from supermarkets, then ever before. All of these factors, together with the globalisation of the food market, mean that cases of Salmonella and E. coli poisoning caused by salads are likely to rise in the future. This is why it's important to get a head start with understanding how contamination occurs now.”

Maybe a mouse used its tail to allow its head to get into a bag of greens served in Malta, packed in the Netherlands and imported from Belgium. The supplier was fired.

No worries for Shawn Dell Joyce, a sustainable artist and activist living in a green home in New York's Mid-Hudson region, who writes that, "when you start asking questions, you begin to see the beauty of eating locally."

Joyce says that local produce is usually grown and harvested within 24 hours of being sold and that local producers tend to be more careful because it is often their own families, friends and neighbors who will eat the produce.

Maybe the Salmonella in that area don’t have flagella.

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A raw diet for pets is quite a controversial subject.  Processed pet foods are processed with heat, making vitamins and nutrients less available compared to raw diets.  Raw diets are also generally free from additives and preservatives found in traditional pet foods.

However, raw diets cost more money per day and require more time and labor in order to prepare the meal.  There is also a risk of contamination with bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli with raw pet food diets.  A study conducted by Joffe found that 30 percent of dogs on raw food diets had salmonella in their stool.  "Dogs eating raw chicken will secrete salmonella into the environment," explains Joffe. "It can cause everything from mild flu-like problems to life-threatening illnesses."

The most popular version of the raw diet is called the BARF diet, short for Bones And Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.  BARF diets are composed mainly of raw meat and vegetables.  Most veterinarians are not happy about these diets because there is no guarantee that the pet is receiving a properly balanced and nutritionally complete meal, and there is also the problem of bacterial contamination.

The Canadian Veterinarian Medical Association doesn't recommend feeding pets raw food, and neither does the American Veterinary Medial Association.

If pet owners are looking for an alternative to store bought pet food, the optimal word according to the CMVA is "cooked." Make sure to use recipes that call for cooked meats. A healthy recipe includes cooked meat, such as hamburger or chicken, with potato or rice and a mineral supplement.  Proper cooking practices, such as using a meat thermometer and handwashing, are also essential to ensure the safety of the meal.
 

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