Barf Blog Guest Blogger - BarfBlog

Casey Jacob, guest barfblogger: What to do with breast milk?

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:01:30 -0600

Hans Locher of the Storchen restaurant in Switzerland, experienced “excellent results” in creating novel dishes utilizing his wife’s surplus breast milk after the birth of their daughter 35 years ago. Recently, he noticed several new mothers in his neighborhood and told the Swissinfo website, “One evening I thought that they must have a lot of extra breast milk that I could do something with." His recipe for Chantarelle sauce with breast milk and cognac can be found here.

Moms willing to experiment have also found good use for breast milk in cream soup, once its been bottled up for baby, but sat in the fridge to long to be considered “sterile.” The pot of cream of carrot shown here was reportedly sweeter than recipes using other milks.

Last November, the Associated Press reported that a young mom donated much of her breast milk that was pumped and immediately frozen (since her infant daughter refused to drink from a bottle) to the University of Iowa’s Mother’s Milk Bank.

Several human milk banks exist in the US, and benefit newborns whose mothers are unable to produce enough safe breast milk to sufficiently feed them, as well as a few adults who seek it out as a prescribed cancer treatment.

The Iowa mom hit a snag, though, when 100 ounces of the milk pumped before her enrollment in the program was not accepted as a donation. Therefore, she took out a newspaper ad asking $200 (equivalent to $16 per 8 oz. baby bottle, or $2 per each ounce) for its sale, after confirming that the state of Iowa held no laws against the sale of breast milk. A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health was also not aware of any laws in Iowa restricting the sale of breast milk, but said that state health officials advised against it.

Mr. Loucher, who offered less than 50 cents per ounce, was threatened with lawsuits by his canton’s food regulatory body if he purchased human breast milk for his restaurant, because the product was not a registered or regulated food.

Of course, regulation does not ensure safety … but it might do more to encourage it.

Casey Jacob, guest barfblogger: Swiss restaurant barred from serving human breast milk

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:21:43 -0600

The Swiss restaurant hailed as the inspiration for PETA’s plea to Ben and Jerry’s to replace the cow’s milk in their ice cream with human breast milk is facing legal action if it continues with its plan to use breast milk purchased from new mothers in its soups and sauces.

The public was startled by Hans Loucher’s newspaper advertisements to new mothers to purchase their excess breast milk for $14.50/liter (or about $3.50 per 8oz. baby bottle) for use in his restaurant, the Storchen, whose name ironically refers to a stork in English.

“The mother’s milk is the most natural thing in the world – how can anyone be against it?” Mr. Loucher asked the Times Online. “I served the meals to my friends without telling them about the new ingredient and the feedback was excellent.”

Of course, being a “natural” food does not make it free of disease-causing microorganisms. It would be very difficult to regulate how the milk was handled before purchase by the restaurateur, and it is not likely he possesses the equipment necessary to pasteurize it before use.

Last week, as reported by the Times Online, the canton’s food regulatory body ruled that Mr. Locher would not be able to store the human milk properly nor guarantee that it was fresh and safe for consumption, since the product was not a registered or regulated food. Along with the Association of Swiss Milk Producers, Zurich’s food regulator has threatened lawsuits against Mr. Locher and anyone who provides human milk for his cause.

Casey Jacob, guest barfblogger: PETA wants human breast milk in Ben & Jerry's ice cream

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:39:19 -0600

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk used in their ice cream products with human breast milk.

"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a press release. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

Whatever floats your boat, I guess… as long as it’s pasteurized for the kiddos. And, yes, evidence suggests that Ben and Jerry are fans of pasteurization.

A blog post in The PETA Files explains the inspiration behind their request. “Storchen, a (very innovative) restaurant in Switzerland, has just announced that they will be unveiling a new menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent human breast milk,” blogged Carrie Ann Harris. “Some folks might think that drinking human breast milk is strange … but really, what's even stranger is that humans are the only species on the planet that drinks the milk of another species.”

Ben and Jerry’s responded by saying, “We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child.”

Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: Looking for ugly in the food industry

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:17:25 -0600

One of my favorite books of all time is "Out of Control" by Kevin Kelley. It's a non-fiction book that deals with understanding complex systems. Kelley is a bit of a polymath. He was a hippie, who edited the hippie bible, the whole earth catalog. He was there at the beginning of the internet with the creation of the Whole Earth 'Lectric Linkup. I've starting reading his blog recently, and he always has something interesting to say... like how to build foam robots.

Anyway, he recently blogged about "Looking For Ugly" where he writes "Preventing errors within extremely complicated technological systems is often elusive. The more complex the system, the more complex the pattern of error". He's writing generally, but I immediately thought about the food system.

Kelley goes on to write specifically about the airline industry, saying "The safety of aircraft is so essential it is regulated in hopes that regulation can decrease errors. Error prevention enforced by legal penalties presents a problem, though: severe penalties discourages disclosure of problems early
enough to be remedied. To counter that human tendency, the US FAA has generally allowed airlines to admit errors they find without punishing them."

Hmmm. "severe penalties discourages disclosure of problems early enough to be remedied". Sounds to me like he's talking about a "zero tolerance" vs. regulatory limit for Listeria.

Of course the counter argument (for the airline industry) also maps well to the food industry, as Kelley writes "The general agreement in the industry is that a policy of unpunished infractions encourages quicker repairs and reduces the chances of major failures. Of course not punishing companies for
safety violations rubs some people the wrong way."

Yup. He's nailed it. This idea dovetails nicely with Doug's call to "make all data of Listeria testing in plants public so others in the industry can improve and consumer confidence can be enhanced with data not just words."

Michele Samarya-Timm, guest barfblogger: Seattle has officially washed its hands of the five self-cleaning toilets

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:29:44 -0600

Oh, the news stories that catch the eye of one immersed in public health.

While we spend most of our time on this blog discussing issues that have to do with what comes after toilet use (handwashing, hopefully), the toilet facilities themselves occasionally come into the spotlight ….

The Seattle Times recently reported that Seattle has officially “washed its hands” of their self-cleaning public toilets. Which leaves visitors to that city without a convenient place to, uh, relieve themselves – as well as leaving them without a convenient place to wash their hands.

Too bad Seattle did not work toward finding a way to deal with any problems these public toilets may have caused.     Finland found they could reduce/eliminate illicit behavior in their roadside toilets by allowing one to unlock the door by text messaging with a mobile phone.   The toilets have been secured, and a sign outside explains that the user just sends the word "open" (in Finish) to a short code and the door will be unlocked remotely. The company managing the service will keep a short-term record of all users’ phone numbers, simply so that if the toilet is then damaged by criminals, they can be traced by the police.

And across the globe, even now, more than 600 cities have automatic public toilets -- Singapore alone has 750, London 678, and Athens 500.    And there are traditional facilities across the globe as well.

So what’s a tourist in Seattle – or elsewhere -- to do? Do you ask a stranger for directions? Advocate for conveniently located facilities?   Or map out toilet and handsink locations before you ever leave the comfort of home?   How about all three:

•    Visiting England? The Public Toilets-Gut Trust recently began a campaign, Can’t Wait, Won’t Wait: Public Toilet provision in the UK to educate stakeholders on need to retain or provide adequate public toilets:

•    How about those travels down under? Australia’s National Continence Management Strategy Project readily publishes locations of rest rooms on their searchable public toilet map:   www.toiletmap.gov.au

•    Traveling wherever the world will take you? The Bathroom Diaries www.thebathroomdiaries.com lists, describes and rates toilet facilities in cities throughout the world. Whether you stay close to home or are planning a trip, say, to China, Turkey or Florida, you can print out a list of public facilities in the cities you plan to visit. One can also enter search terms such as “soap” “changing table” or “don’t eat poop.”

•    Do you ever find yourself desperately looking for a clean toilet in the city? MizPee purports to find the closest, cleanest toilets in your area and sends the information to your cell phone. One can add and review rest rooms, and check their toilet paper ratings.

•    Then there’s Diaroggle which helps one locate public toilets from a mobile phone. In addition to location, the website includes user ratings for cleanliness, the rules of gaining entrance, and occasionally even pictures snapped by users to show how good or bad the porcelain sanctuary is. According to the site, this is “ for the discerning, on-the-go defecator who is brave enough to use a public bathroom, but still demands a hygienic and private bathroom experience.”

In Seattle or elsewhere, we all can map our comfort breaks along with our travel itineraries. What a wonderful resource for a discerning on-the-go handwasher.

Michéle Samarya-Timm is a Health Educator for the Franklin Township Health Department in New Jersey.

I feel naked without my thermometer -- when cooking

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:27:35 -0600

Me and Misti Crane, of The Columbus Dispatch, had a chat about all things food safety yesterday, as 18 people in Ohio and another 20 in Michigan have been stricken with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7, linked to hamburger from Nebraska Beef.

As Bill Marler pointed out last night, Nebraska Beef tried to downplay the seriousness of its recall of over 265 tons of ground beef and components when it said in a press release,

"The Company has processed over 10 billion pounds of product without a confirmed customer illness."

Not sure what confirmed means, but …

What I tried to explain with Misti was that it’s not nearly enough to expect people to just handle things safety because food safety is so simple; that pathogen loads – the sheer numbers of dangerous microorganisms on product like hamburger – need to be reduced from farm-to-fork.

If you’ve ever tried making hamburgers from scratch, you’ll know why.

The opportunities for cross-contamination -- a few of those E. coli O157:H7 moving from hamburger to hands or counters or utensils, and then somewhere else –are just overwhelming.

And if the burger does make it to the grill, it has to be cooked. As I said,

"I feel naked without a thermometer," and that brown meat is not necessarily cooked meat. "Color is just a terrible indicator. Over half of hamburger will turn brown before it's actually done.”

That’s why a risk reduction approach, beginning on the farm and right through to the fork, is essential. Especially with E. coli O157:H7.

Casey Jacob, guest barfblogger: The south central Kansas omnivore's dilemma

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:32:43 -0600

My husband and I just moved to south central Kansas after I graduated from Kansas State University’s food science program in May and we got married. I’ve talked him into taking me to see Pixar’s Wall-E tonight, but we need some dinner first.

We thought we might try Acapulco Restaurant, a Mexican franchise in town. That is, until I read on FSnet that the restaurant had just been named as the source of a 19-person salmonella outbreak. My new hubby was suddenly not too keen on going.

I, however, reasoned that after gaining some bad press and losing a bit of business, the restaurant’s management would be preaching food safety harder than they ever had before. The chances of an outbreak due to kitchen hygiene issues likely decreased dramatically.

In August 2007, Donna Garren, vice-president of health and safety regulatory affairs for the National Restaurant Association trade group, said outbreaks were leading restaurant chains to “[spend] additional resources outside of the typical food safety domain.”

Donna also admits, however, “There are costs associated with not knowing your suppliers.” If ingredients aren’t sourced from safe suppliers, even that assumedly sparkling-clean kitchen is no guarantee I’ll be served safe food.

Her quote was included in an article that claimed it was statistically safer to eat at fast-food chain restaurants than to cook for yourself at home.

While the title of Biggest Source of Foodborne Illness – home, restaurant, elsewhere -- is still hard to pin down, it can be safely said that both chain restaurants and the household kitchen are still in the running. So who knows where I’ll have dinner tonight… or if I’ll make it out without barfing.

As one Acapulco Restaurant patron confessed, “You compare all the bad to the good, sometimes it's worth the risks.”

Casey Jacob is the married version of former barfblogger Casey Wilkinson, and continues to work with her Kansas friends.

Michelle Mazur, guest barfblogger: Insect, the other white meat

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:12:09 -0600

Earlier this month Doug talked about entomophagy, the practice of eating insects as food. It’s no mystery that many cultures eat bugs for nutrition. However this is not the case for the cultures of the United States and Europe, where not only are bugs unappetizing, but there is an entire market devoted to their extermination.

Western culture has put a certain social taboo on insects in general. If a cockroach is found in a kitchen of a restaurant, health inspectors will shut the place down. But who can blame them? Most Americans are brought up to find bugs disgusting and dirty.

As part of an introductory entomology class in my undergraduate work, I had the chance to try cookies containing dried crickets and salsa containing live mealworms. I definitely was not excited about tasting either of them, but you would be surprised what some students would do for extra credit. After sampling the supposedly “tasty treats” I have to admit that they weren’t half bad; in fact they tasted completely normal.

Just as a cook might add tofu to a noodle dish, there is also the option of earthworms or grasshoppers for an extra dose of protein. And a large number of countries have a booming market for raising insects, just as there is a market here in Kansas for raising beef cattle.

Not only would there be a little more variety in food options, but also the option to “go green” in other ways than driving a hybrid. Multiple studies and articles have been written about how insects are much more efficient converters of energy compared to typical farm animals. Bryan Walsh of Time.com has a terrific article about how environmentally friendly insects can be used as a food source.

Now I’ve read the articles too, but the first large hurdle to jump over will be the cultural taboo. The food industry of Western culture will have a hard time changing “Waiter, waiter, there is a fly in my soup!” into “Waiter, waiter, I do not have enough flies in my soup!”

New iFSN Food Safety Infosheet: Raw egg dish linked to 18 Salmonella illnesses

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:05:02 -0600

Raw egg dishes have been linked to numerous Salmonella outbreaks (check out CSPI's outbreak database for a list of egg-related outbreaks since 1990).

Today's infosheet focuses on a couple of recent outbreaks where raw egg dishes were implicated on Guernsey Island and in Australia. Raw egg dishes including Caesar salad dressing, Hollandaise, mayonnaise, mousses, icings and homemade ice cream have been linked to Salmonella outbreaks.

Click here to download the infosheet.

Infosheets are created weekly by iFSN and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at bchapman@uoguelph.ca

Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: Biking for food security

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:35:11 -0600

As I've blogged before, I'm interested in the intersection of disparate ideas.

Today's intersection relates to the good folks at Barf Blog, and the cross-country adventures of a fellow food safety microbiologist.

Many professional food safety scientist readers of this blog may know Dr. Tom Montville. He's the coauthor of Food Microbiology: An Introduction and co-edited the first two editions of Food Microbiology: Fundamentals and Frontiers.

But the reasons for this post don't have too much to do with food safety, although they do have a lot to do with food, more specifically food security. And when I say food security, I don't mean defending the food supply against bioterrorism, although this is also one of Dr. Montville’s research interests. No, when I say food security, I mean it in the original sense, "availability of food and one's access to it".

Tom, you see, has managed to combine two of his passions: food, and riding his bicycle. He is currently riding his bicycle across the county (west coast to east coast) to raise funds for Elijah's Promise, which began as a small soup kitchen and has since become a multi-service agency that moves people out of poverty.

And (here’s the intersection) he's about to pass within 30 miles of Manhattan, Kansas!

I find his efforts very inspiring, and I hope you will too. Check out his blog to learn more.

Michelle Mazur, guest barfblogger: Gus, the World's Ugliest Dog

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:21:42 -0600

Gus the dog is anything but a beauty queen, but on Saturday he won a contest for his looks. The World’s Ugliest Dog of 2008 is a three-legged, one eyed, Chinese crested dog, named Gus. The Chinese crested dog is a popular breed in the contest; in fact eleven of the seventeen contestants for this year are of this breed. (See all there pictures here)

The World's Ugliest Dog contest has taken place each year in Petaluma, California since 1976, and each year many people gather to look at faces of dogs that only a mother could love. It’s kind of like a bad car wreck, these dogs are so disgustingly ugly, but you can’t look away.

There are numerous sites on the web that showcase photos of the cutest, cuddliest pets. So why do people care about the ugly ones? I suppose that just as beauty is celebrated throughout the media, it would be only fair to display the ugliness as well. Many magazines at the checkout line in the grocery stores have photos of celebrities on the red carpet in all their glory, and they also have photos of celebrities looking their worst, without any makeup or fancy clothes.

American culture will continue to celebrate the cutest of the cute pets, but there will always be a special place in our hearts for those truly ugly dogs.

Michelle Mazur, guest barfblogger: Risking your life for a meal?

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:37:50 -0600

Most would shy away from fugu, or puffer fish, but the Japanese love it. The internal organs and skin of the puffer fish contain a deadly poison called tetradotoxin, which causes paralysis of the diaphragm and death due to respiratory failure. It must be prepared by licensed cooks in order to remove the poisonous areas. Though it’s a dangerous meal, it’s been eaten for centuries.

It’s not just that one-in-one thousand fish are poisonous; each fish comes packed with a dose of death if not properly prepared. Statistics from the Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health indicate 20-44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in the entire country, leading to 34-64 hospitalizations and 0-6 deaths per year, for an average fatality rate of 6.8%

Not only is it deadly, but fugu is costly. Most people consider it to have a weak taste, but Japanese gourmets will disagree. Chefs spend 7 to 8 years training in order to be certified to serve this treat.

An outbreak of E.coli in spinach or Salmonella in tomatoes leads to national recalls and mass consumer aversion as products and produce become stigmatized. Yet a fish that is positively poisonous is still sought out in countries like Japan and Taiwan. There is some speculation as to how popular fugu would be if it was known to be completely safe. Would there be a sharp decrease in demand for the dish, or would it continue to be a special meal?

The acceptance of fugu in Japanese culture is completely opposite of the Japanese attitude towards beef with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) commonly known as mad cow disease. Any meat that is at risk for containing traces of BSE is immediately removed from the food supply. What is the difference between dying from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human variant of BSE, and being poisoned by fish?

Whether it’s the taste of the fish or the thrill of knowing it could be the last meal, I plan to stick to salmon instead.
--
Michelle Mazur is a first-year veterinary student at Kansas State University, hailing from Wichita, Kansas. She is an avid dog lover, a crafty seamstress, and a bit of a workaholic. She recently spent two weeks in Japan and took a lot of pictures of bathrooms.

Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: Perhaps it will help keep poop out of food?

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:08:22 -0600

When worlds collide.....

I've always found it interesting when disparate objects or ideas come together.

One such collision was the subject of an earlier barfblog contribution when I wrote about a norovirus at a boy scout camp, integrating my interest in food safety and the the volunteer work I do with the boy scouts.

It also happened twice this week. The first example has nothing to do with food safety, but hey, if Doug can write about Blacky the donkey, all's fair. I just can't resist plugging this amazing YouTube video, where the band Phish covers the Lou Reed classic "Sweet Jane". Hippy culture meets New York grit. Cool stuff.

Anyway, on with the food safety story, sort of. I need to explain: I'm a productivity pr0n addict. For more on this addiction look here. I think that one of the most entertaining and useful productivity gurus out there is Merlin Mann (yes, that's his real name), the editor and founder of productivity website 43Folders.com. Anyway, when Merlin is not blogging about productivity, talking at The Google or Macworld, he's scouring the interweb looking for cool stuff.

And... now we get to the point of this article... and the second collision, where productivity guru meets food safety: Bottom Toilet Tissue Aid Self-wipe Cleaning: Health & Personal Care. As Merlin quips, "Why is all the cool stuff for "disabled" people? I could totally use this". And maybe he right. This might be something we could all use, and as Amazon notes "After use the tissue is discarded by pressing an easy-to-use release button on the end of the handle.

This might be the solution to fecal cross contamination, and allow us all to avoid what O. Pete Snyder calls "toilet paper slips", helping us all to eat less poop.
--
Don Schaffner is an Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers University, the newly appointed director of the Center for Advanced Food Technology, and a self-confessed productivity pr0n addict.

Michele Samarya-Timm, guest barfblogger: Poop and pools do not mix

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:57:44 -0600

With Memorial Day on the horizon, people are gearing up for summer fun. As the weather warms, people are anxious to start partaking of warm weather activities, including jumping into the nearest swimming pool.

Before making that splash into swimming pool waters, we all need to be advocates for a splash of a different kind….the sudsing, scrub and splash of good handwashing…and we all need to make this an essential component of recreational water activities.

Outbreaks from recreational water are more common than we would like, and are especially more common than the average swimmer realizes.    Trace amounts of fecal bacteria can be carried into the pool by our hands as well as by our bottoms. Chlorine kills germs, but it doesn’t work right away – it takes time. In fact, without good hygiene practices, even the best-maintained pools can spread illness. Poop and pools do not mix.

Standard signage at public pools often includes the rule: “Shower before entering.” Shouldn’t we also include the rule: “Wash hands before entering pool?”    Good handwashing practices help prevent so many outbreaks, and we need to keep reinforcing the need to make handwashing as much a part of our daily lives as eating, sleeping, and –yes – having fun in our swimming pools.

Think healthy. Be healthy. Wash your hands!

May 19-25 is Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week 2008. You can find additional information at www.healthyswimming.org
--
Michéle Samarya-Timm is a Health Educator for the Franklin Township Health Department in New Jersey.

Roy Costa, guest barfblogger: The "Great Escapes Resort" can't escape scrutiny after viral outbreak

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:15:21 -0600

A Six Flags water park and resort complex in up-state New York known as "Great Escapes", is the focus of a large norovirus outbreak. Norovirus is transmitted from infected human carriers to food, water, and environmental surfaces. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize noroviruses (and related viral strains) as the leading cause of foodborne illness in the US. The gastrointestinal illness is highly communicable and easily spread by hand to hand contact and even through the air. Outbreaks occur in resorts and other facilities when ill persons contaminate the environment, food and water through vomit and feces. Rapid and effective measures well-known to the public health community are needed to stop transmission. Many of these measures are developed by the US Public Health Service. Cruise lines have experienced many norovirus outbreaks and therefor there is much known about the pathogen and how to address it.

Untimely Responses to the Problem
According to the local health department a case of norovirus at the Great Escapes is defined as a person with norovirus symptoms at the resort on or after March 7, 2008. The health department therefore belives the date of March 7 was the beginning of the outbreak, but did not for some unexplained reason begin an investigation for ten days. It is not known to this writer when the operator of the facility was first aware of that employees and patrons were becoming ill. We are also unaware of how or when the health department was officially notified of the problem. The official coordinated response to this outbreak began on March 17, a full 10 days after the outbreak apparently began. By March 21, there were already 200 cases. The number of reported cases eventually reached at least 435 as news of the incident spread.

Rapid tests using sophisticated molecular testing platforms are available to provide confirming results of norovirus infection in 24 hours, yet investigators over 1 week into the investigation still didn't have a confirming diagnosis from the state lab. The slow state lab results were an unnecessary delay, as approved private labs are available.

Early recognition of this problem is critical. Once it is known that norovirus is in the environment, investigators can implement timely and appropriate sanitation and safety precautions to combat transmission. One example of appropriate response was the closing of the food service. But this only occured after numerous employees of the kitchen reported symptoms of norovirus. The pools, food and lodging facilities are undoubtedly contaminated. Delay in the the implementation of this and other preventive measures at this public, regulated facility likely increased the potential for the exposure of large numbers of unsuspecting people to the pathogen over several days. The licensed operator's delay in recognizing and reporting a large number of ill patrons and staff to authorities, the response of the authorities once notified, and the timeliness and effectiveness of prevention measures taken are critical questions.

Lawsuit
Four members of a family sickened by the resort have filed a lawsuit. Key issues that must be scrutinized are the delay between the start of the outbreak and notification of the health authorities, the large number of food service staff ill and whether they worked while ill, the basis for the decision to close the kitchen, and the basis for management's decision to allow the rest of the facility to remain open..

Unanswered Questions
A detailed analysis of the cases and their relationships to the food service or other environmental exposures will be key to determining the causes of this large and serious outbreak and whether the operator responded in an effective and timely manner to protect both it's employees and guests.

Could the large number of cases of illness been reduced if more timely and effective prevention measures were implemented at Great Escapes?

To read more, select the links below.

Health Department official statement Norovirus at Great Escapes Water Park
1st article from the Post Star. March 21st, 200 cases reported
2nd article from the Post Star, March 16th, 435 cases reported
Channel 6 report. Lawsuits filed.

--
Mr. Costa is a professor at the Walt Disney World Center for Hospitality and the Culinary Arts at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida and is the founder and owner of the consulting firm Environ Health Associates, Inc. Mr. Costa is a registered professional sanitarian with 30 years of environmental heath practice in the academic, government and private sectors.

For our manual on Norovirus Contamination and Control send an email to rcosta1@cfl.rr.com

Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: Raw milk seminar series update

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:58:40 -0600

As many of you reading this blog may know, Rutgers University has sponsored a seminar series on the topic of raw milk. I am scheduled to present the fourth and final talk in the series on Monday. Today (April 3, 2008) I attended the third talk in the series: “Raw Milk, A Microbiology Primer” presented by Dr. Mark Gebhart, an MD with Wright State University.

Dr. Gebhart is a licensed physician and board certified medical specialist practicing in Ohio. Dr. Gebhart has worked in acute care medicine as a clinician, teacher, and researcher. Dr. Gebhart has taken special interest in raw milk obtained from grass fed cows and believes many of the gastrointestinal disorders affecting millions of Americans could be cured by consumption of this product.

Gebhart spent the first half of his time pointing out in great detail that raw milk contains multiple redundant systems of bioactive components that reduce or eliminate pathogens. He proceeded to show a series of slides listing more than twenty of these components (e.g. lactoperoxidase, medium chain fatty acids, B-lymphocytes, lysozyme, etc.).

Gebhart’s focus then shifted to the microbial risks in raw milk. He cited one study from a reputable journal (Applied and Environmental Microbiology) that showed that levels of the pathogens Campylobacter decline over time in raw milk. When questioned by one audience member – Dr. Tom Montville – about CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) statistics showing many foodborne disease cases linked to raw milk, Gebhart said the he believed the epidemiological links to raw milk were not conclusively proven.

Gebhart then shared some statistics from two different sources (American Journal of Public Health and the CDC) that show that there were only 1.9 cases of raw milk food poisoning per 100,000 people, vs. 4.7 cases of pasteurized milk food poisoning per people 100,000. Gebhart thought that these data made a compelling point in favor of raw milk, until another audience member – Dr. Mukund Karwe – pointed out that many more people consume pasteurized milk than raw milk. Gebhart then stated that he needed to double check his references.

Gebhart then shared a number of slides in quick succession on a variety of topics including information on the effect of pasteurization on human breast milk, the safety of milk from cows with access to pasture, and the ability of some pathogens (spore formers like B. cereus and C. botulinum) to survive pasteurization. Gebhart quickly wrapped up his talk as the debate between different audience members began to drown him out.

I can’t wait to see how things go on Monday.
--
Don Schaffner is an Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers
University.

Craig Hedberg, guest barfblogger: The most dangerous states for eating out-not!

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:31:23 -0600

On Friday March 14, 2008, Healthinspections.com published their ranking of the most dangerous states for eating out. The ranking was based on an analysis of 2006 foodborne outbreak surveillance data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The five most dangerous states for eating out, according to this analysis, were Florida, California, Minnesota, Ohio, and New York. Florida and California were cited as having the most dangerous restaurants for the third year in a row. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Florida, California, and New York are three of the four largest states in the nation. Ohio ranks 7th. More people mean more restaurants. More restaurants mean more outbreaks in restaurants. It really is that simple.

If you turn the number of outbreaks into a rate that compares outbreaks per million population, or outbreaks per 1,000 eating and drinking establishments (see table below) the rankings change.

As you can plainly see from this table, Minnesota is twice as dangerous for eating out as any of the other states, right? Wrong again.

Minnesota has the highest rate of reported outbreaks because it has the most aggressive and effective public health surveillance system for foodborne illnesses. This is an example of the tree falling in the woods problem. Falling trees generate sound waves, but if no one is there to hear them, they don’t generate any sound. In Minnesota, we may not actually have more falling trees, but we’re out there listening for them.

One important source for hearing about outbreaks in restaurants is from the restaurants themselves. Because many environmental health specialists in Minnesota view themselves as teachers rather than enforcers, they take the time to get to know the restaurant operators and listen to their problems. This, in turn, fosters a relationship of trust where restaurant operators actually report illness complaints to the local health department. Outbreaks are identified, problems are corrected, and we all learn a little bit more about the constantly changing challenges of making food safe.

In this ranking, being at the top of the list is a good thing.
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Craig Hedberg is a foodborne disease epidemiologist and Associate Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Michele Samarya-Timm, guest barfblogger: Hillary Clinton loves handwashing

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:32:14 -0600

On 60 Minutes this week, Hillary Clinton stated: My two secrets to staying healthy: wash your hands all the time. And, if you can't, use Purell or one of the sanitizers."

Great statement, but should handwashing be a health "secret?"

Wouldn't it be so beneficial to all Americans if our presidential hopefuls spent time concentrating on spreading a campaign message that would really matter - the importance of regular handwashing? After all, isn't handwashing universal healthcare at its most fundamental level?

And wouldn't it be wonderful if every political debate included statements on how a national handwashing campaign is needed for the protection of all Americans? And if funding of handwashing campaigns was a prime component in every politician's platform?

Hillary's handwashing admission is a start, but it's doubtful anyone will change their hand hygiene behaviors based on one statement by one politician. In the interim, we all need to keep on spreading our handwashing platform, until the message causes real change around us.

I'm glad America received a 5-second sound bite on handwashing. However, it is consistent handwashing actions and handwashing messages that speak volumes. When it comes to public health, I'll always vote for soap.
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Michéle Samarya-Timm is a Health Educator for the Franklin Township Health Department in New Jersey.

Guest barfblogger, Silvia Dominguez: Live from Rutgers raw milk seminar series

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:35:44 -0600

The sale of raw milk is currently illegal in the state of New Jersey, but local groups, such as Garden State Raw Milk, are campaigning towards legalization. The Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is hosting of a seminar series on raw milk to inform the public on this topic.
On February 6th, the seminar series started with a presentation by Mark McAfee, from the organic dairy farm Organic Pastures (California): “Raw Milk, mother nature’s inconvenient truth”. Mr. McAfee discussed the health benefits of raw milk consumption as well as the personal satisfaction and commercial advantages of organic farming.

Throughout the talk, emphasis was put on the safe history of raw milk consumption with respect to pathogen contamination and association with foodborne outbreaks, and on the seemingly overwhelming health benefits of the consumption of raw milk as opposed to FDA-approved pasteurized milk. According to Mr. McAfee, raw milk represents an inconvenient truth to big dairies, pharmaceutical companies, western medicine in general and long-distribution chains. Though all these entities may have a commercial interest in keeping raw milk illegal, the consumer would be the one to benefit from its commercialization. Cases were mentioned of raw milk consumers who recovered from diseases such as allergies, lactose intolerance, Crohn’s disease or asthma which were unable to be cured by western medicine. Western medicine was claimed to only treat the symptoms of disease, whereas exercise and the consumption of unprocessed foods, such as organic raw milk, help prevent disease. The ability of raw milk to enhance the immune system is the most generally claimed reason for its health benefits. According to Mr. McAfee, among the factors that contribute to organic raw milk’s beneficial effects are its high content of animal fat (from grass-fed, not grain-fed cows), enzymes, beneficial bacteria, as well as vitamins and minerals. All of these are of course important components of a healthy diet, which are minimized in the standard American diet (aka “S.A.D.”).

In particular, the example of pasteurized milk was used to describe the “harmful” effects of commercial processing. Apart from the destruction of enzymes and probiotic bacteria, it was implied that pasteurization covers for unsanitary processing practices, and that pasteurized product is an easy target for pathogens such as L. monocytogenes. Furthermore, the prevalence in recent times of immune system diseases was correlated with the consumption of processed food products. Unfortunately, scientific evidence is not abundant due to the limited number of research grants available and the implications of doing research against the interests of official agencies.

A number of benefits of organic farming were also mentioned, and from an economic point of view it was emphasized that a market exists for raw milk products, in which a consumer is willing to pay ~$5 per half gallon of organic raw milk.

My personal conclusion of this presentation is that although organic raw milk may represent a more wholesome alternative to pasteurized milk, and has traditionally been consumed raw for centuries, the current state of technology is able to produce microbiologically-safe, nutritious milk readily available to large, wide-spread populations in a cost-efficient manner. The presence of raw milk in the market may be a rightful and, if properly produced, safe alternative to consumers and farmers.
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Silvia is a Graduate Assistant at Rutgers University and is looking forward to the upcoming seminars! ("Raw Milk Wars, Government's Attempt to Dictate What Foods We Can Consume" on 2/20, and “Raw Milk, A Microbiology Primer” on 4/3).

Stephanie Maurer, guest barfblogger: See monkey? No touchy!

bchapman@uoguelph.ca (Barf Blog Guest Blogger) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:53:50 -0600

On Sunday, December 2nd, a woman was bitten in North Carolina when she reached out to touch a pet monkey, according to a story found at KCRA.com. “In the blink of an eye the monkey attacked, biting her cheek just below her right eye.
‘It bit the top of my eyelid and it just kind of latched onto my cheek,’ she said.”

This just goes to show that you should always ask the owner of animal if it is OK to pet the animal before you touch it. Also, it shows that people should leave their pet monkeys at home instead of taking them to a convenience store.

Stephanie is a soon to be graduate of Kansas State University, with a Bachelor's in Animal Science, a minor in French, and a Certificate in Equine Studies. She doesn't poke strange animals.