The Toronto Sun reports that a KFC in Maple, Ontario, is being probed by health officials after a Richmond Hill man said he found a roach embedded in the bottom of a sandwich he ordered Friday night.

Appropriately enough the sandwich was the Big Crunch.

Michael McNamara, 28, its unlucky recipient, was big-time bugged by the nasty find.

“I didn’t see on the underside that there’s a cockroach mashed into the bun. Basically I ordered the food and once I saw it I immediately yelled at my buddy, ‘don’t eat here, stop what you’re doing!’”

York Region Community and Health Services spokesman Monica Bryce confirmed a health inspector had paid a visit to the KFC restaurant Saturday after McNamara’s complaint.

“We didn’t find any evidence that warranted closing the restaurant, but we did find one infraction,” Bryce said, adding inspectors found one pest-control trap with a dead roach in it.

A couple of ag journalism types from Nebraska and Ohio State have the right idea -- although I’m not sure it’s completely executed -- in a new paper examining the role of YouTube videos in food safety.

Emily Rhoades and Jason D. Ellis write in the Journal of Food Safety that food safety in restaurants is an increasing concern among consumers. A primary population segment working in foodservice is receiving food safety information through new media channels such as video social network websites. This research used content analysis to examine the purpose and messages of food safety-related videos posted to YouTube. A usable sample of 76 videos was identified using “food safety” in the YouTube search function. Results indicate that videos must be artfully developed to attract YouTube users while conveying a credible and educational message. Communicators must also monitor new media for competing messages being viewed by target audiences and devise strategies to counter such messages. This one-time snapshot of how food safety was portrayed on YouTube suggests that the intended purpose of videos, whether educational or entertainment, is not as relevant as the perceived purpose and the message being received by viewers.

I have no idea what this means. There’s a lot of BS in the paper about where foodborne illness happens and how consumers are motivated and the authors seem hopelessly stuck in the educational framework. But at least they are looking at different media. Too bad the message sucks.

Marshall McLuhan had it right when he said that those who try to distinguish between entertainment and education don’t know the first thing about either.

Food fraud has been around a long time.

A new paper in the current issue of the British Food Journal by Peter Shears (abstract below) reinforces the notion that with all the scientific developments and analytical techniques that seem so mind-bendingly sophisticated, there remains the basic problem of a lack of resources and that without a considerable increase in the resources made available for the appliance of the science currently available and that being developed, the battle against food fraud will never be fully engaged, yet alone won.

As today's society grapples with how best to validate that food is indeed what it says it is -- and safe -- and as the huskers and buskers emerge with cure-alls, I turn to the words of Madeleine Ferrières a professor of social history at the University of Avignon, France, in Sacred Cow, Mad Cow: A History of Food Fears, first published in French in 2002, but translated into English in 2006:

"All human beings before us questioned the contents of their plates. … And we are often too blinded by this amnesia to view our present food situation clearly. This amnesia is very convenient. It allows us to reinvent the past and construct a complaisant, retrospective mythology."

Ferrières provides extensive documentation of the rules, regulations and penalties that emerged in the Mediterranean between the 12th and 16th centuries. Shears reviews current efforts in his new paper. But rules are only as good as the enforcement that backs them up.

Food fraud – a current issue but an old problem

30.jan.10

British Food Journal, Year 2010, Volume 112, Issue 2, Page 198 - 213

Peter Shears

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=9912FEB61D0FDD96E3A0E8D64EA89F2A?contentType=Article&contentId=1838362

Abstract:

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the topic of food fraud which has been so widely and variously reported over recent months and years. Its purposes are to set current experience into an historical context and to illustrate the tension between the science of deception and the science of detection.

Design/methodology/approach – This is a desk study of published literature and historical documentation, together with interviews with those professionally concerned with detection and enforcement.

Findings – The piece concludes that with all the scientific developments and analytical techniques that seem so mind-bendingly sophisticated, there remains the basic problem of a lack of resources.

Practical implications – It is asserted that more is owed to the memories and the reputations of those who pioneered the effort to combat food fraud. Without a considerable increase in the resources made available for the appliance of the science currently available and that being developed, the battle will never be fully engaged, yet alone won.

Originality/value – This review is unique in that it seeks to take a long view of current concern, and even scandal, showing that the situation is not new and lessons should have been learned from past experience.

Four years ago, Brae Surgeoner and Ben Chapman wrote in the Wisconsin State Journal that health inspectors should oversee any commercial potluck or community function to make sure that everyone follows the rules.

Umpires and inspectors alike are not there to control the game, just to ensure it is being played right.

The Patriot-News in Pennsylvania reports that even though the state capital cafeteria was closed because it was such a dump, legislators, led by Sen. Elder Vogel, R-Beaver, got around to introducing legislation to bring what he calls common sense into the state's food safety laws.

His bill, Senate Bill 828, would allow nonprofit groups, including church groups, Boy Scouts and youth sports teams, to sell homemade baked goods provided they put the consumer on notice that the food was made in an unlicensed, uninspected kitchen.

The Rev. Michael Greb, the pastor at St. Cecilia's in Rochester, said he was pleased that something was being done "to take out the controversy over eating dessert" at future Friday fish fries, a fundraising tradition that the 3,000-member parish has held for decades to help keep its doors open.

Greb said he understands the food safety inspectors' concern, but "these are our own people making these desserts out of their love for community. They weren't out to hurt anybody. ... The [desserts] people bring in notoriously are clean and good, and to imply anything other than that is just ridiculous."

I’ll be ridiculous. Faith aside – and the vast majority of food transactions are based on faith – as a parishoner I would have no idea of the sanitation, handwashing or food safety of the good folks preparing the food. I would want someone – or the threat of someone – to oversee food prep for commercial sale.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports that the Governor's Food Safety Council voted Wednesday to oppose any efforts to loosen regs on local sales.

Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse, said, "The bottom line is I think I should be able to buy good wholesome food from my neighbor without the government interfering."

People know their neighbors and know what they are buying, she said. It also was absurd to regulate non-hazardous breads, jams and pies sold at bake sales and charitable events, she said.

"You're 19 times more likely to get sick from mass-produced-and-processed food," she added. "I think I have a constitutional right to buy what I want and to feed my family fresh, healthy food."

There is no basis for that statement.

And as Chapman and Surgeoner wrote, Food safety isn't a game, but having the health umpires around to make sure things are running smoothly isn't a bad thing.

 

The Irish Times reports that the number of “verotoxigenic” E.coli cases reported in Ireland is more than five times the EU average and has almost doubled in the space of a year, according to the report compiled by the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa).

Verotoxigenic E.coli affects the digestive system. Some 225 cases were reported in 2008, of which 213 were confirmed. Ireland’s average of 4.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 3.3 in the next highest country, Sweden, and 1.9 in the UK. Irish cases have increased more than threefold in four years.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said the increase may be due to the contamination of private wells by heavy rainfall during the summer of 2008.

Maybe the Irish are paying more attention than the rest of Europe.
 

In a move to apparently counteract the negative associations with swine flu, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner told a gathering of business people at a meeting at the presidential palace that eating pork is at least as effective as popping a Viagra pill to spice up your sex life, stating,

"Pork consumption improves sexual activity. This is not a small detail. Besides, some nicely grilled pork is much more gratifying than taking Viagra."

Kirchner said she ate some roasted pork over the weekend with her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, at the couple's retreat in Argentina's bucolic southern Patagonia region, with "impressive" results.
"We were in high spirits the whole weekend," she said, smiling.

The head of the association of pork producers, Juan Uccelli, on Thursday said people in Denmark and Japan, where pork consumption is high, "have much more harmonious sexual lives than us Argentines have."
 

The Independent reports that the U.K. Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says British consumers each year throw out 370,000 tonnes of food that has passed its "best before" date, and a further 220,000 tonnes that is close to, but still within, its "use by" date.

Yet last week, Approved Foods, announced that its sales for the final week of December were up a staggering 500 per cent year on year. At sites such as Approved Foods and Bargainfoods.co.uk, you can pick up four tins of pinto beans for £1, or a can of tuna for 59p. Or how about four Toblerones for 99p? There's nothing wrong with the foods. They're just coming up to their "use-by" dates or have gone beyond their "best before" dates.

Last year, Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, called on food manufacturers to consign to the dustbin date labels such as "sell by" and "display until", retaining only the crucial "use by" date.

A recent FSA study revealed a rise in the potentially deadly disease listeriosis due to people consuming chilled ready-to-eat foods -- products such as pre-packed sandwiches, salads, cooked sliced meats, smoked salmon, soft cheeses and pates -- that have been in their fridges too long. The findings highlight the potential risks involved in both our ignorance and our habits of going on gut instinct.
 

Reuters reports that Novak Djokovic was lamenting a case of gastroenteritis after he lost his Australian Open quarter-final to France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Serb had just won the third set to take a 2-1 lead and Tsonga looked deflated before Djokovic left Rod Laver Arena after he told chair umpire John Blom he needed to vomit.

While he managed to return, his game melted away and Tsonga ran out a 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 victor to set up a semi-final against Roger Federer, after the Swiss came from a set down to defeat Russian Nikolay Davydenko in four sets.

"I don't want to find excuses for my loss, but, you know, I went to vomit and I had diarrhoea before the match. After two games (of the fourth set) I had to go to the toilet. I couldn't hold on. There was no way, otherwise I would throw up on the court... just a terrible feeling."

Djokovic said he was unsure as to what had caused the sickness, as he had not eaten anything out of the ordinary.

The victorious Tsonga said Djokovic's illness was just part of the game.

"Sometimes it happens. … He had problems with his stomach... bad luck for him and good for luck for me."
 

Running a restaurant is hard enough without dealing with rats and wackos.

The Post-Crescent reports that a woman who attempted to extort money from an upscale restaurant by putting a rat in her lunch entered no-contest pleas Tuesday to two criminal charges.

Judge Dee Dyer found Debbie R. Miller, 43, guilty after she entered the no-contest pleas to a felony extortion charge and a misdemeanor for obstructing police. She will be sentenced March 8 in Outagamie County Court.

Miller planted a rat in her lunch at The Seasons on April 17, 2008, and then demanded $500,000 from the owners. She threatened to alert the media if the money wasn’t paid.

Bob Doller, who owns The Seasons in Grand Chute with his wife, Jessica, said,

“This has been a long, drawn out battle and it has affected my business. We would hope that if anyone had any doubts that it was a true claim, they would know now that it was extortion. In April, it will be two years since this happened. If you compare 2007 to 2008 (the year of the incident), the loss was tens of thousands of dollars.”

The Dollers kept the rat after the extortion attempt. Insurance investigators sent it for testing and determined that it not only wasn’t a wild rat, but rather a domestic, white rat that had been cooked in a microwave. The restaurant doesn’t use microwaves.
 

In May 2008, a couple of Canadian researchers at the University of Regina put out a report that ostensibly attempted to rank 17 industrialized countries based on their food safety performance.

And who doesn’t love a completely meaningless top-17 list, that placed Canada fifth, the U.S. seventh and the United Kingdom first. Make mine piping hot.

Dr. Richard Holley of the University of Manitoba takes a different approach in the current Canadian Medical Association Journal, asserting that Canada's food safety system is reactive, lags behind other countries, and investment is needed to ensure it can adequately protect Canadians.

I’ll go with Holley.

Foodborne illness surveillance is needed to ensure safety from gastrointestinal infections caused by bacteria such as toxigenic E.coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria. As there is no national foodborne illness surveillance program in Canada, the estimated 11 million cases of foodborne illness every year are based on surveys of self-reported gastrointestinal illness. More accurate data are needed to execute meaningful intervention.

European Union countries, the US and Australia have surveillance systems that allow them to collect information on food vehicles and organisms that cause foodborne illness, something Canada cannot currently do. Canada's multi-government system with national, provincial and local governments that share responsibility for health, as well as monitor the safety and quality of food are key reasons that we have a fragmented system with poor focus. The US suffers from the same problem, yet does a better (though not perfect) job.

Steps to food safety in Canada:

1. Government must go beyond interagency memoranda of understanding to develop permanent systems that promote cooperation and sharing of information on surveillance of foodborne illness and investigations of outbreaks.

2. Investment is needed to develop a surveillance program on foodborne illness that will characterize risks related to food and food pathogens in Canada.

3. Data from surveillance must be used to develop inspection policy that is based on risk and is uniform across the coun- try. That policy’s main priority must be to validate that approved food safety systems are operated properly.
 

There are two universities in the Ontario, Canada, town of Waterloo – the University of Waterloo, from whence the Blackberry, and text searching and CCD toys and all sorts of things emerged – and the smaller, business-oriented uni across the street, Wilfrid Laurier, named after the dude on the Canadian $5 bill and former Prime Minister.

Two students and a staff member at Wilfrid Laurier University are recovering from E. coli poisoning after being treated in hospital, the region’s public health department has confirmed.

A fourth person, also a student at Laurier, was a “probable case” with symptoms, but no laboratory confirmation.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, associate medical officer of health for Waterloo Region, said health officials inspected all food preparation areas thoroughly on campus and, “We found no evidence of any potentially unsafe food handling practices.”

But did they source food from safe sources? Especially the stuff that was going to be served fresh?

I did not get lost in Las Vegas, Hangover-style, and couldn’t remember where I was for the past few days. Chapman didn’t go on an oyster-eating binge. Katie didn’t get lost on the beach in NZ.

Whenever someone talks about computers and says, “Oh, that’s easy, we’ll just change it over,” whether it’s a home printer or a blog that people expect to work, there will be issues.

barfblog.com has had a lot of issues.

There were lots of posts over the weekend that you probably never heard about. They mainly just involved me barfing and taking pictures in bathrooms.

We’re aware of the limitations and working our way through the issues. If you received this notification, then progress is being made.
 

You can’t name a girl Sorenne. That’s what my Danish friends and colleagues told me when I asked about potential names for our daughter. Soren is too masculine in the Scandinavian world.

The Danes also can’t trust French lettuce.

Fodevarestyrelsen reports that Futura Copenhagen A/S initiated a recall of Lollo Bionda lettuce produced in France in Jan. 2010 and sold to wholesalers, restaurants and consumers in Denmark.

“There is a suspicion that the lettuce is contaminated with norovirus (Roskilde virus) and thus may be the cause of more than 200 people the past 14 days has been ill with sickness Roskilde.”
 

The number of sick people has grown from 20 to 111 in a Salmonella outbreak linked to The Burger Bar in Albury, Australia.

The Border Mail reports that almost 20 of those have been confirmed as salmonellosis, up from seven last Friday, with the number expected to rise.

The NSW Food Authority yesterday revealed that home-made aioli -- a garlic mayonnaise that includes raw egg -- had tested positive for salmonella.

The Border Mail also reported The Burger Bar’s restaurant’s Facebook page has been flooded with community support and most people were sympathetic and have vowed to eat there again, with one writing,

“I have worked in the food industry for many years and no matter how clean your shop and kitchen are, and no matter how careful you are, sometimes there may (be) something slip through the safety net.”

Another described the restaurant as “one of the best eateries” in Albury.

While both comments may be true, it is absolutely dumb to use raw eggs in a condiment that is going to be served to hundreds if not thousands of customers. Further, Australia has had repeated, recent outbreaks of Salmonella linked to raw egg consumption.

See:
http://www.barfblog.com/node/138182
http://www.barfblog.com/node/138016
 

As the plane landed in Las Vegas, I barfed.

I’d been sent here to speak about food safety issues at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Mint Industry Research Council and, since their product is processed during harvest and the oil extracted by heat and then used primarily in toothpaste and chewing gum, I had little to offer.

Whether it was the turbulence throughout the flight into the record western U.S. rainfall – and we were at the back of the plane so we could get an extra seat for daughter Sorenne – or something else that upset my delicate constitution, there really is nothing quite like barfing into one of those paper bags provided in every seat jacket while a plane lands. In a rainstorm. In Las Vegas.

(The volume those bags can hold is amazing.)

Next it was off to one of those hotel-casinos where the meeting was to be held, just as news broke that a norovirus outbreak had sickened hundreds of guests and staff at Harrah's Cherokee Casino and Hotel in North Carolina.

Workers at Harrah's are cleaning slot machines every two hours with a solution of water and bleach in an effort to control the outbreak. Door knobs, escalator handrails and restrooms are being sanitized hourly.

The night was spent zoning-bordering-on-hallucinating. I didn’t sleep. A bottle of Gatorade later, I was ready, and spoke during lunch about the need for growers of anything to explain and articulate their practices in a consistent and compelling manner, or face the wrath of a public wary of unsubstantiated food safety claims.

I still really like hanging out with food -- including mint -- growers. Mint Industry Research Council executive director dude, Rocky Lundy (above, with me, left), explained to me there were about 550 growers in 7 states with total acreage close to 120,000. That’s a lot of mint. But the numbers have declined somewhat from foreign competition. It’s a familiar tale.

Feeling better the next day, we decided to take in Jimmy Buffet’s Magaritaville restaurant. Sure it’s touristy stuff, but who doesn’t like Jimmy? (Chapman). And while the establishment did feature the usual, “Employees must wash hands before returning to work” sign (above, right), at least it was under the apt words from Jimmy’s underappreciated 1978 song, Manana:

Women and water are in short supply

(The next line is, “Not enough dope for us all to get high.” The song also contains bits about Steve Martin asking if anyone wants to get small, and Jimmy hoping that Anita Bryant never ever does one of his songs. So many cultural touchstones for 1978 in one song. Oh, and usually when I take pictures in bathrooms I do it when no one else is there because people might think it was creepy, but traffic flow – I said flow – was constant so took the pic anyone with the dude at the urinal and another, properly, washing his hands.)

Las Vegas also features a prominent letter-grade restaurant inspection disclosure system as shown in this picture from a Vegas-strip Denny’s. Promote that A (above, left).

Today it’s family, football and food in Vegas before a hopefully less eventful return to Manhattan.

And this is Sorenne watching the Minnesota-New Orleans game this afternoon, with a bunch of Minnesotans in Las Vegas.

BBC News reports the U.S. government is planning to relax the ban on imported meats which prevents the sale of haggis, introduced in 1989 because of concerns about the safety of British meat during the BSE or mad cow disease debacle. Haggis contains offal ingredients such as sheep lungs.

Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said,

"I am greatly encouraged to hear that the US authorities are planning a review of the unfair ban on haggis imports. We are in regular contact with the industry on this issue and believe that reversing the ban would deliver a vote of confidence in Scottish producers, and allow American consumers to sample our world renowned national dish. It's time for the US authorities to deliver a Burns Night (Jan. 25) boost and recognise that Scottish haggis is outstanding quality produce."

Jo MacSween, co-director of Macsween Haggis, said it would come as good news to expats and tourists, and that sales of haggis were no longer confined to the Burns Night season in January -- the company has also diversified into products such as haggis nachos.
 

From the you’ve-gotta-go-when-you-gotta-go department, CantonRep.com reports that police arrested a Canton man accused of walking into a local Wal-Mart store about 1:30 a.m. Friday and urinating on the counter containing steaks.



Jail records said the man entered the store, walked to the steak counter and began urinating on the food, causing more than $600 in damage to the meat and surrounding counters.

 He remained in the jail later Friday, held in lieu of $25,000 bond, facing charges of felony vandalism and disorderly conduct.
 

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that they are currently investigating a national outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo. Illnesses have been seen in 38 states and DNA analysis on the pathogen is underway to confirm whether all of the illnesses are connected to a common source (nothing has been identified yet). Illnesses associated with this outbreak go back as far as July 2009 (with the most recent illness reported on January 1 of this year).

CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a multistate outbreak of Salmonella serotype Montevideo infections. Investigators are using DNA analysis of Salmonella bacteria obtained through diagnostic testing to identify cases of illness that may be part of this outbreak.

As of 12:00 pm EST on January 22, 2010, a total of 184 individuals infected with a matching strain of Salmonella Montevideo have been reported from 38 states since July 1, 2009.  The number of ill persons identified in each state with this strain is as follows:  AL (2), AZ (5), CA (30), CO (2), CT (4), DE (2), FL (2), GA (3), IA (1),  IL (11), IN (3), KS (3), LA (1), MA (12), MD (1), ME (1), MI (1), MN (4), NC (9), ND (1), NE (1), NH (1), NJ (7), NY (15), OH (9), OK (1), OR (8), PA (3),  RI (2), SC (1), SD (3), TN (3), TX (7), UT (7), VA (1), WA (14), WV (1), and WY (2). Because this is a commonly occurring strain, public health investigators may determine that some of the illnesses are not part of this outbreak.

Officials in Germany say eight teenagers were hospitalized after a test of courage in which they drank chili sauce more than 200 times hotter than normal. The Red Cross in the southern city of Augsburg says 10 boys, aged 13 and 14, year drank the sauce Wednesday morning, apparently in school.

The German news agency DAPD quoted the Red Cross as saying the boys complained of feeling sick, and eight were taken to a hospital. They were to be kept in overnight for observation.

The Red Cross said that on the Scoville scale, which measures the hotness of sauce, the sauce measured 535,000 – compared to 2,500 for normal Tabasco sauce.
 

Albury Public Health Unit was investigating a gastro-like illness in more than 30 people across the Border, more than 20 having presented at the Albury Base Hospital alone.

“Three persons have been confirmed as having salmonellosis. One suspected case has been hospitalised,” the advice said.

“All cases consumed food of a takeaway nature, purchased from a food outlet in Albury.

“A significant number of cases experienced bloody stools. Onset of the illness has been from Friday evening.”

The Border Mail reported the food outlet, located in Aubury, Australia, between Melbourne and Canberra, remained open pending the results of testing at the premises completed by health officers earlier this week.

Tests have also been done on food samples provided by the owners as health officers attempt to identify the cause of the outbreak.
 

The New York Times reports in almost 1,000 breathless words this morning that the most recent cross-disciplinary tool in a chef’s batterie de cuisine comes from the operating room: medical tweezers. In some of the country’s most ambitious restaurants, a pair of them allows a chef to put the final, seemingly impossible touches on a dish.

Grant Achatz, the chef at Alinea, in Chicago, said his restaurant bought 100 of them. “Now we give them to our cooks when they start, Most slip them into the pocket of their chef’s coat. They’re always there. They’re always used.”

How about thermometers for those chefs along with the tiny tweezers?
 

Here I was saying Calgary was a decent place the other day and someone decides to go and put needles or metal in bread or something.

Calgary Co-op Oakridge Centre on Southland Drive and 24th Street SW, Calgary, was the victim of a product tampering incident. As a result, Calgary Co-op has contacted the police and initiated a criminal investigation, and has notified the appropriate health authorities and is working closely with those authorities on the situation. Calgary Co-op has temporarily closed its Oakridge Centre as a precautionary measure and is conducting a complete inspection of its premises.
 
Further, Calgary Co-op is initiating a voluntary recall of its bulk bakery products, bulk food items and packaged cheeses, which may contain small metal objects. To the best of Calgary Co-op’s knowledge, these are the only products tampered with and Calgary Co-op will let the public know as soon as possible if it discovers any other concerns. Customers who may have purchased any of these items since Friday, January 15 at the Oakridge Centre are asked to return them to the Oakridge Calgary Co-op on Southland Drive and 24th Street SW for a full refund.
 

In an email alert from USDA's FSIS dated January 9, 2010, an attached news release said USDA and HHS were partnering with DHS to open a center devoted to ensuring safety of foods imported into the United States.  

The release quotes HHS Secretary Sebelius as saying ,"With so much food coming from abroad, we must do all we can to ensure that it conforms to the same safety standards as our own food safety systems."  Oops. Last I looked almost every outbreak from meat or poultry was a domestic product.

But here is what I consider the real news in this release. This new joint center was created simply on the recommendation of the White House Food Safety Working Group. If the WHFSWG is that powerful, that three agencies change their tactics almost overnight when the Group recommends something, then here are a few ideas for recommendations from the WHFSWG:

1. Recommend that USDA find an Undersecretary for Food Safety.
2. Recommend that she declare non-O157:H7 STEC to be an adulterant in ground beef.
3. Recommend that any beef product going into ground beef has a representative sample taken for E coli O157:H7 first.
4. Recommend that zero tolerance for Listeria in cheeses remain at zero tolerance, and enforce it so that cross contamination of deli meats that support growth will be reduced.
5. Recommend that USDA FSIS regulate ALL animals and their products, including fish, sea food, shell eggs and dairy, and that FDA regulate all canning operations.
6. Recommend that FSIS tell us what went wrong at National Steak and Poultry requiring four days worth of blade tenderized steaks to be recalled. If they are at fault.
7. Recommend that Chairwoman DeLauro be advised of this by the new Undersecretary so that a law that penalizes the whole industry is not passed.
8. Recommend that the Chairwoman be asked by the new Undersecretary to seek statutory change to allow proper legal actions when plants do sicken Americans through faulty practices.

Here’s former Kansas governor Sebelius on Colbert, and even though she’s an avid jazz fan, which I think is the music that plays in hell, we transplanted Kansans can agree on some things.
 

The past few weeks in Wellington have been windy and rainy, so to fight the black cloud blues my Canadian visitor and I traveled north to the Coromandel peninsula for some sun. The beaches were gorgeous and the skies cloudless.

While up north I decided to visit a petting zoo (animal farm). I know these activities are marketed towards families with children under 10, but I love animals and couldn’t resist. I paid the dollar for a bag of food, and as I proceeded to enter the zoo the lady at the counter told me to sign the waiver form. The form basically excused the zoo of any wrongdoing that happened to visitors, and instructed visitors not to feed the pigs. There was no mention of the potential illnesses that can be spread by being in contact with some of the animals, or the steps to prevent these illnesses (hand washing), although there were signs in the toilets (see right).

I cut my visit short after feeding a horse. I had a flashback to the North Carolina girl whose finger was bitten off by a zebra and decided to return to the beach instead – but not before I washed my hands.
 

Calgary, Alberta – that’s in Canada --  is a groovy town with an influx of new oil money meaning lots of new dining establishments.

But as reported by the Calgary Sun, Calgarians are questioning how safe it is to dine out after learning it took the province more than a decade to crack down on repeated health violations at a popular local restaurant chain.

Roxanne Taylor-King and her five Nellie’s outlets were ordered to pay $61,870 for Public Health Act violations by a provincial court judge on Friday.

The breaches, which occurred over a period of 12 years, included mouse droppings in food, storing food on floors and in customer areas, keeping eggs at room temperature and inadequate cleaning.

Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn issued a scathing report about food inspections last fall.

Dunn’s office found that inspection frequencies still weren’t meeting targets and food inspectors were also failing to follow up at food establishments with critical violations.

Calgarian Katie Hines said it’s disturbing it took the province 12 years to crack down on the popular, all-day breakfast chain.

“That’s a bit ridiculous,” she said.
 

My friend Ron Doering, a lawyer with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, and a former president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (and the only CFIA president anyone can remember) writes in this morning’s National Post that science is always politicized.

Couldn’t agree more, and Doering has the real world experience to know. The way to deal with such realities is to fully disclose sources of bias and assumptions so that others can have a look and see if they come to the same conclusion.

“Science, policy and politics are inextricably intertwined. What is surprising is how much our public discourse is still dominated by the quaint utopian view that science and policy can be strictly separated.

Scholars of science in policy have long ago shown that you can’t take policy out of science. Studies of scientific advising leave in tatters the notion that it is possible, in practice, to restrict the advisory practice to technical issues or that the subjective values of scientists are irrelevant to decision making. This is especially true in public policy issues such as climate change where much of the science is complex and uncertain.

How safe are genetically engineered foods? What is the best way to store long-term high-level nuclear waste? How safe is PBA in water bottles? Should phthalates be banned from plastic toys? These are some of the public policy questions with which I have been closely involved as a practitioner of the regulatory craft over the past 35 years. In all these cases science is relevant but not determinative. And yet in all these cases the parties argued that the basic question was one of science: If only we could get the science right, the public policy answer would follow. If only the world were that simple.

In practice, assumptions that have potential policy implications enter into risk assessment at virtually every stage of the process. The idea of a risk assessment that is free, or nearly free, of policy considerations is beyond the realm of possibility.

That scientists should dress up their science advice as pure neutral science is understandable. For those with scientific expertise, it makes perfect sense to wage political battles through science because it necessarily confers to scientists a privileged position in political debate. …

When I was president of Canada’s largest science-based regulator, I was regularly confronted by scientists who resented that senior officials and ministers would dare to weigh their policy advice with social, economic, ethical and political policy considerations. Often they were seemingly unaware how much their science advice was imbued with unstated policy considerations, even if steps had been taken to mitigate the influence of these factors. This fall I taught a law and policy course to a group of graduate students in science at a leading Canadian university. These students seemed genuinely unaware, uncomfortable even, with the idea that science-based health risk assessments were replete with policy considerations.”
 

There’s microbial food safety – the things that make 30 per cent of all people around the world barf every year – and then there’s all the other food stuff, the politics, the posing, the porn.

Me, I focus on the barfing. But the politics just seems to be so interesting to so many people – I’d rather just play hockey.

So Michael Taylor gets appointed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s deputy commissioner for foods.

Some have said Mr. Taylor, who once worked for Monsanto, is too close to big food companies. But Dr. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a frequent critic of the food industry and of lax government oversight, has said that Mr. Taylor is “extremely knowledgeable and public-health oriented.”

Taylor is a familiar figure at the FDA. He began his career as a staff attorney at the agency in 1976. Then he worked for a decade at King & Spaulding, which represented Monsanto Corp., the agribusiness giant that developed genetically engineered corn, soybeans and bovine growth hormone.

He returned to the FDA in 1991 as deputy commissioner for policy and pushed through requirements that producers of seafood and juices adopt measures to prevent bacterial contamination (that was later in the 1990s; this timeline sucks – dp). During the same period, the FDA approved Monsanto's bovine growth hormone, and Taylor was partly responsible for a controversial policy that said milk from BGH-treated cows did not have to be labeled as such.

In 1994, Taylor went to the U.S. Agriculture Department to run its food-safety program. He required meat and poultry producers to take measures to prevent bacterial contamination, despite strong opposition from those industries. Observers expect Taylor to impose those same kinds of preventive controls on all the foods regulated by the FDA.

Dr. David Acheson, who was until last year the F.D.A.’s top food official, said last year’s oyster reversal was the result of an alarming naïveté on Mr. Taylor’s part that seriously damaged the agency’s credibility. Dr. Acheson criticized Mr. Taylor for failing to live up to President Obama’s promise to increase significantly the safety of the nation’s food supply.

“We’re nearly a year into this new administration, and what have they done to move the ball forward? I think the answer is a big fat zero.”

My take is that Taylor seems to like the Washington stuff and he’s far better at it than any of his critics. I wouldn’t wish the job on anybody. And producers – small, large, organic, conventional – and everyone else in the farm-to-fork food safety system are responsible to provide safe food, verifiable microbiologically safe food, without the nanny government.
 

Whole Foods Market has terrible food safety advice, blames consumers for getting sick, sells raw milk in some stores, offers up fairytales about organic and natural foods, and their own CEO says they sell a bunch of junk.

This afternoon, the Whole Foods blog offers up, The Family Cow – Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a heartwarming tale of nostalgic and scientific BS about the alleged virtues of raw milk.

“The Family Cow’s fresh raw milk is not processed in any way, making it truly a whole food, alive with natural enzymes, immunity building probiotic bacteria and bursting with full-bodied flavor.”

Check it out for yourself.

Failure to document proper refrigeration, failure to keep fish species separate to avoid cross-contamination, failure to meet sanitation standards or keep records of compliance, and failure to verify that imported fish met FDA standards has led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to shut down Congressional Seafood of Jessup, Md.

Michael Chappell, acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs at FDA, said,

“On numerous occasions, FDA has warned the defendants, both orally and in writing, about their conduct and has emphasized the importance of their compliance with the (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic) Act.”

Under a consent decree filed Friday, to become compliant with food safety laws, Congressional Seafood must have its HACCP and sanitation plans submitted by an independent expert and approved by FDA.

The FDA complaint accompanying the decree notes that the production of fresh, frozen and ready-to-eat seafood products without adequate HACCP plans poses a significant public health risk because these products are well-known sources Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, Salmonella spp., and other pathogenic microorganisms. Humans who consume food containing these bacteria can suffer serious health consequences.

The Public Health Agency of Canada, which was created to streamline various public health duties like providing meaningful data on foodborne illness and provide leadership on public health issues (totally useless during the 2008 listeria in deli meats outbreak that killed 22) has gotten around to releasing so-called integrated surveillance data for selected enteric diseases in Canada.

This report focuses on the years 2000 to 2004. The pathogens described are Salmonella, Campylobacter, verotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Shigella. From 2000 to 2004, a general decline in reported rates of all four pathogens was observed in all except a few provinces. When looking at more long-term trends from 1995 to 2004, a similar decline was seen in nationally reported rates for all four pathogens. S. Typhimurium was the most frequently reported Salmonella serovar during the five-year period described, followed by S. Heidelberg and S. Enteritidis. C. jejuni remained the most prevalent Campylobacter species reported between 2000 and 2004. E. coli O157 comprised the majority of verotoxigenic E.coli isolates over these five years. Shigella sonnei was the most frequently reported Shigella species.

Hospitalizations, deaths, outbreaks and case clusters, as well as unusual isolation sites and travel-acquired infections are also explored in this report. Pathogenic E. coli was associated with the highest hospitalization rates over the five-year period, although Salmonella infections resulted in the largest number of deaths overall. Data on outbreaks and case clusters is limited to those reported to the National Enteric Surveillance Program (NESP) and the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML).

Which means, not much. The data is exceedingly limited, and why it took at least 5 years to report is baffling. Canadians can comfortably go back to sleep.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a summary report today on a Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Typhimurium Infections Associated with Aquatic Frogs --- United States, 2009.

During April--July 2009, the Utah Department of Health identified five cases of Salmonella Typhimurium infection with indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns, predominantly among children. In August, CDC began a multistate outbreak investigation to determine the source of the infections. This report summarizes the results of this ongoing investigation, which, as of December 30, had identified 85 S. Typhimurium human isolates with the outbreak strain from 31 states. In a multistate case-control study, exposure to frogs was found to be significantly associated with illness (63% of cases versus 3% of controls; matched odds ratio [mOR] = 24.4). Among 14 case-patients who knew the type of frog, all had exposure to an exclusively aquatic frog species, the African dwarf frog. Environmental samples from aquariums containing aquatic frogs in four homes of case-patients yielded S. Typhimurium isolates matching the outbreak strain. Preliminary traceback information has indicated these frogs likely came from the same breeder in California. Reptiles (e.g., turtles) and amphibians (e.g., frogs) have long been recognized as Salmonella carriers (1,2), and three multistate outbreaks of human Salmonella infections associated with turtle contact have occurred since 2006 (3,4). However, this is the first reported multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections associated with amphibians. Educational materials aimed at preventing salmonellosis from contact with reptiles should be expanded to include amphibians, such as aquatic frogs.

Reports from the ABC affiliate in Newark (NJ) are that Iberia, a popular local restaurant, is the source of an outbreak linked to Salmonella. To date there have been 35 illnesses reported with five culture-confirmed as Salmonella. All illnesses appear to be linked to Christmas parties on 5 different dates.  While many dishes are being investigated, 7 different homemade sauces have been sent to state laboratories for testing. All restaurant staff have also been tested.

Ramona Serra, one of the reported victims (but with some symptoms not too consistent with salmonellosis) was quoted as saying:

"We had a Christmas party there, and I got a headache around 10:30 and I didn't feel good the next day." Serra is among 13 people who got sick at their company Christmas party at the Iberia Peninsula Restaurant at 63 Ferry Street in Newark. Three of them were hospitalized.
"They had a stomach pains, belly ache pains, their whole body was aching them," Serra said. "They were really bad."

Isolated, that's what Iberia general manager George Loueira said about the outbreak, "This is an isolated incident. It's under investigation. We want to have everybody continue to patronize the business." I bet. An outbreak isn't the best advertisement and 5 different dates doesn't sound too isolated.

Since the investigation started on Dec. 28/09 the Newark Department of Health has placed an inspector in the kitchen to monitor food handling and handwashing.

 The aptly named Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU) reports that a survey of British farmers and countryside managers found 61% of respondents noticed a rising rat population already and 74% believed that climate change would exacerbate the problem.

The survey is corroborated by the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA), which found a 15% year-on-year increase in treatments in local authorities for rat infestations.

CRRU chairman, Dr Alan Buckle, said the UK rural rat population consumes an estimated 200t of food a day that would otherwise be destined for humans. One in every two farm fires, he adds, is believed to be started by rat damage causing electricity cables to short.

Even in Kansas, rats have twice sought shelter in our parked car’s engine and gnawed through the ignition wires.

And if those rats are frolicking and fornicating in the country, their numbers will only get worse in the city.

According to the CRRU:

• One rat produces about 40 faecal pellets and 15ml of urine each day, or 14,600 and five litres respectively per year.

• Salmonella, leptospira, toxoplasma, listeria, campylobacter and cryptosporidium are some of the highly pathogenic organisms carried by rats.

Maybe it’s the weather. The U.K. is in the midst of its biggest snowstorm in 40 years but at least it’s not -10F, like it’s going to be in Kansas this week.

Whatever the reason, Kansas City police want to know the identity of a woman who trashed a McDonald’s restaurant Dec. 27 because she hated her hamburger.

According to police, when the woman complained about her hamburger, employees offered to replace it. She demanded her money back. Employees declined.

So the woman threw a glass water dispenser over the counter, breaking it. She pushed three cash registers off the counter, smashing one touch screen. She cursed and fled.  The video is below.

In Toledo, Ohio, police say a woman punched through a McDonald's drive-through window, taking swipes at a couple of employees, because Chicken McNuggets weren't available -- at 6:20 a.m.. Police say 24-year-old Melodi Dushane was treated for injuries, and jailed.

The Toronto Globe and Mail used to be a decent newspaper. I was enamored with the paper and its journalists as a genetics undergrad, was thrilled when I started writing regularly for the paper in the 1990s, and then dismayed as the amount of crap published began to far outweigh the thoughtful stuf.

Once such sign of decline was the hiring of columnist Leah McLaren about a decade ago. Chapman was somewhat enamored with her self-indulgent depictions of young female life in hip Toronto; I thought it was bullshit.

Leah is still at the Globe as it continues its drawn-out decline, and wrote on Saturday that,

“This year for Christmas I poisoned the in-laws.

“They had flown all the way from Toronto to spend the holidays in London, dragging several extra bags of gifts across the Atlantic like a modern-day Santa and Mrs. Claus. In return, I had planned a feast for dinner.

"The centrepiece of the meal was a beautifully aged prime rib roast. I had purchased it, for nearly $100, from my local Notting Hill butcher, who specializes in organic, free-range, ethically farmed beef, lamb and poultry.

"I don't eat much meat these days, but everything about that shop made me feel safe, from the quaint striped awning to the well-heeled locals queuing up for their premium giblets to the butcher with his starched, white-linen apron making small talk as he trimmed the leg of lamb. Even the store's slogan ("Real meat naturally fed") was heartening. What could possibly be more healthy, comforting or downright trendy than a rib roast for Christmas? As I stepped out of the shop with my several pounds of Grade A flesh in hand, I was determined to follow the butcher's emphatic instructions: "Do not overcook."

"And I didn't. The prime rib was perfect - except for the 36 hours of stomach-churning misery it caused everyone who ate it."

Leah’s lesson from all this? Don’t eat red meat.

One Moses Shuldiner responded with a letter in the Globe today, stating that Leah’s “mistake was to not inform herself of proper food handling techniques as recommended by the Toronto Public Health Department, which can be downloaded from the City of Toronto's website. … After reading information from public health anyone can, for a nominal fee, write the test to become a certified food handler, ensuring mastery of the material.”

Shill. Mere mortals do not have to become certified food handlers to cook dinner for the in-laws, or anyone else. I cooked lamb on Christmas Eve and my 1-year-old ate it. No one barfed. Use a tip-sensitive digital meat thermometer. Next time, Leah, stick it in.

The Toronto Sun reports that 28-year-old Tommy Lam and his girlfriend stopped by the McDonald’s at Markham Rd. and Denison St., north of Toronto, around 11 a.m. last week to order four pita-wrapped sausage and egg burritos to eat on their way to work.

Soon after, they sat down to eat at his business, Jewellery Box, just around the corner at Steeles Ave. E. and Middlefield Rd., Lam claims they spotted dozens of ants inside and outside their burritos.

Fortunately, the little critters weren't crawling around. But that was of little consolation to Lam, who had already eaten the first of his two burritos.

Whether or not that first sandwich was also laced with dead ants, Lam is not sure.

When Lam returned to the store, Lam said the McDonald's manager, "didn't even offer an apology. … He offered to replace our burritos, that was it. I just said, 'No thanks!' and walked out."

Lam said he later tried to contact McDonald's head offices and his local public health department, but he wasn't able to reach anyone over the long weekend.

It might look good today, but by cleaning up is the Aramark-managed Capitol cafeteria the "safest restaurant in the city of Harrisburg"?

PennLive.com reports that after being closed by Pennsylvania officials on December 17th following an inspection that revealed rodent droppings, underheated dishwashing water and poor food handling procedures, Capitol is trying to clean up their image. Bruce Walton, vice president for operations of Aramark was cited as saying that prior to the closing, more than 1,500 customers ate at the Capitol cafeteria on busy weekdays and that rebuilding that steady clientele will take time.

After a thorough clean-up, a new pest control program with Ecolab and contracting with a company to provide surprise audits, Aramark district manager Andre Obendorfer was quoted as saying "This is the safest restaurant to eat in in the city of Harrisburg."

Ah, the safest food/safest restaurant comment; impossible to back-up with evidence and leaves everyone who eats there with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Walton, by not disclosing any firings or discipline, downplayed what might be the most important change -- personnel. He was quoted as saying that they "did make changes in our team." Rodent control and a cold dishwasher can lead to public health issues, but other violations found on December 17th including indirect cross-contamination (handling potentially contaminated equipment and then going to clean equipment, possibly leaving pathogens for the next person) and not having paper towels, demonstrate a lack of a food safety culture. A personnel and management issue.

Food safety culture is a set of values wherein food safety risks are openly identified, discussed, and addressed. What this means is that anyone who works there -- from manager to dishwasher -- knows that paper towels can reduce risks so they refill the dispenser. Food safety is supported from the organization but it's the front-line folks who hold the health of patrons in their hands. An organization like Aramark needs to be building the food safety culture capacity behind the scenes, not just touting how clean everything looks now.

To assure patrons of their commitment to food safety, the article reports that Aramark will have staff on site to answer questions, use guest chefs and in the most bizarre step, revamp cafeteria stations such as turning the pizza station into an "Italian zone." I guess visitors to the Capitol Complex have the perception that Italian food is safer than pizza?