When I was in high school, nerding it up with some other high school kids at the obviously-exciting annual Ontario Model Parliament simulation, I met Hilary Weston. She was the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario (that's in Canada) and she and Galen, her husband, owned a bunch of huge food businesses including Weston Foods (Canada's largest bakery) and most of food retailer Loblaws.

When I met her I told her I liked her bread.

Hilary and Galen's son Galen Jr, who runs Loblaws now, has pissed some people off in the past couple of days with his (now retracted) comments that farmers' markets are going to kill people.

I want to buy food from someone who is worried about killing people - not someone who says we we've never had a problem. I figure that if they worry about the consequences, they might actually do something about it.

Over the past couple of years one of my graduate students, Allison Smathers, has been working with farmers' markets in North Carolina to develop and evaluate food safety workshops for market vendors and managers. Market managers, vendors and organizers have been part of the process from the start. But creating and delivering this training doesn't mean that practices are impacted. Recognizing the need to measure behavior change (and the limitations of relying on self-reported tests), Allison has enlisted the help of a group of secret shoppers who have collected data on current practices and facilities and provided insight into specific areas to focus on. Stuff the shoppers saw, like improper handwashing, cross-contaminating samples and not monitoring temperatures have been the big focus.

Right now Allison and I are in Lincolnton, NC delivering the material to a bunch of extension agents who will be training market folks soon.  The secret shoppers will be back out this summer looking again for food safety practices at markets where vendors and managers have been trained - something Allison can compare to what was seen in previous summers. 2010 data was presented at the 2011 IFT annual meeting (abstract below, poster here).

At the end of the project we'll be able to either show some changes - or not - regardless we'll know how well the training worked and what to work on in the next iteration. 

Seems like a much better approach than "trust us."

Smathers, A., Chapman, B and Phister, T.

Evaluation of facilities and food safety practices in the North Carolina farmers market sector.

IFT Annual Meeting (June 12, 2011)

The association between produce and ready-to-eat foods with foodborne illness prompts concern in the North Carolina farmers’ market sector. Since large amounts of produce are sold at farmers’ markets, there is an increased need to protect the farmers’ market sector from foodborne illness.  Considering this potential, we designed a method of assessment to measure the food safety culture and awareness of farmers’ market vendors.  The objective of this study was to observe the practices carried out at a farmers’ market in order to assess the need for food safety training and information directed specifically toward the promotion of good food safety practices at farmers’ markets. The study used 20 secret shoppers, trained to observe and collect quantitative and qualitative data through observational surveys.  During the 2010 market season, secret shoppers provided information that was neither incriminating nor praiseworthy from 37 farmers’ markets and 168 farmers’ market vendors, representing a large sample of North Carolina markets.  The information was provided through observational surveys and results were estimated through analysis of survey data.  The survey data was used to create trends and relationships to assess the food safety knowledge and practices carried out at a farmers’ market.  Our findings highlight the need for food safety improvement in areas such as cross-contamination, hygiene, sanitation, sampling, claims, and storage.  Results provide a need for enhancement of food safety at the farmers’ markets in order to protect the farmers’ market sector from being linked to foodborne illness outbreaks. The overall goal of supporting the growth and health of the North Carolina farmers’ markets will continue to be supported through further assessment and education development.

Like many folks, Dani and I used to get together with a bunch of friends each year to watch the Super Bowl. And the event rarely lived up to the hype. While it was fun to hang out and exchange snarky comments about the half-time show, I never really ended up watching the game. Now I prefer to stay home, quietly watch (which I remind Dani is the last football game for 6+ months) in my recliner and make snarky comments about the halftime show online.

On the menu at our house this year was baby back ribs, baked potatoes and jalapeno poppers. Unhealthy eating and the Super Bowl go hand-in-hand.

In an attempt to exploit every possible Super Bowl storyline, ESPN rehashed one of their favorite investigative journalism methods and ran a profile on food safety at Indianapolis host site Lucas Oil Stadium.

Outside the Lines'" The File recently acquired 2011 Marion County health department inspection records for the 181 food and beverage outlets inspected at Lucas Oil Stadium and found that 25, or 14 percent, of the locations had critical violations that showed up during routine inspections. A 2010 "Outside the Lines" piece that examined food safety at all professional sports stadiums showed that about 7 percent of the vendors at Lucas Oil Stadium had racked up critical violations -- problems that could lead to illness.
Among the violations found in the stadium were expired tomatoes and onions, a chef who didn't wash his hands, a microwave covered in gunk, gnats in an onion bin and hamburger patties toiling in a steamer at lukewarm temperatures -- a situation ripe for bacteria.
Expired tomatoes and onions? What does that mean?

Handwashing problems and not-so-hot-holding of cooked burgers are problems. Both actions have led to illnesses recently.
In a predictable turn, coverage went from the risky to yuck factor:
Lucas Oil Stadium first came under scrutiny over food practices in 2009, when a local TV station reported 42 critical food safety violations, including several that cited examples of dead mice or mice droppings near food and meal-preparation surfaces -- even in an oven -- and live mice running through a loge-level kitchen. The head of the county's food safety program at the time said there was a "widespread rodent problem."

Not to be left out of the discussion, International Business Times also ran a story about food safety - this one about an illness that MVP Eli Manning's had a couple of weeks ago. Although reported at the flu, a New York State MD, Dr. Gerald Deas thought that it was more likely that Eli was suffering from an E. coli infection.

The  quarterback may be getting ready to run his team's offense Sunday in the 2012 Super Bowl, but in the days running up to the Giants' 20-17 win in San Francisco on Jan. 23, he likely had E. Coli, according to Dr. Gerald W. Dean of New York.

The medical doctor wrote in a Feb. 1 column in Frost Illustrated, a local Indianapolis-area newspaper, that his professional opinion was that  was sick with E. Coli, despite the fact that it was reported that he had the flu.

"A few days prior to the battle of the Giants with the San Francisco 49ers, Eli Manning was struck in his gut with a bacteria known as E. coli. It was reported in the press thathe had had a bout with the flu, which I doubted," Dr. Dean wrote Feb. 1 in Frost Illustrated. "It was further reported that he missed practice for the big game due to running back and forth to relieve himself, which could have been diarrhea."
Dr. Dean goes on to say that as he examined press photographs and videos of Eli Manning in the days leading up to the NFC Championship "it was obvious that he was washed out and looked totally dehydrated, which diarrhea can cause."

"Personally, I think all superstars, whether they be man or animals should be carefully monitored for drugs, diet and drinking habits before championship games or races," Dr. Dean wrote. "Millions of dollars are being bet on the outcome of a particular event and something like a simple bacteria such as E. coli can change the outcome of a sporting event and its participants."

Uh, yeah, that's some nice detective work there. Could have been noro as well.
 

The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food businesses, is now available
Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:
- Norovirus outbreaks on the increase North Carolina
- Infected people can shed large amounts of norovirus in their vomit and diarrhea.
- Norovirus can persist on common kitchen surfaces for up to 6 weeks.
- Most hand sanitizers are not effective at reducing norovirus from hands.
Food safety infosheets are created weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.
You can follow food safety infosheets stories and barfblog on twitter @benjaminchapman and @barfblog.

Click hear to download the sheet.

When I was in my third year of undergrad I signed up to be a Residence Assistant (for the second time). The first time around I was a bit of a stickler for rules and felt like I was supposed to enforce the law. By my second experience, I mellowed and I learned that my job was to make sure that the students in my section didn't kill themselves or each other.

That second year, some of the more colorful students I lived with had an unhealthy love of hip-hop artist DMX's song  Party Up (Up in Here). I probably heard that song 500 times as I walked through the hall during those 8 months.

Totally unrelated to the overplaying of that song, according to TMZ, DMX was taken to a Charlotte NC area hospital after coming down with food poisoning after eating shellfish on a flight from Miami.

According to DMX, he had some "bad shrimp" at his baby mama's house in Miami before he got on a plane -- commercial -- and then spent most of the flight tossing his cookies in the lavatory.

X tells us ... as soon as he touched down he went to Gastonia Memorial Hospital outside of Charlotte ... by limousine. Puking, but still balling!!

X spent about four hours in the emergency room getting treated for food poisoning, and then headed home.



 

About once a month we take our kids to Chick-Fil-A and let them run wild in the play area. It's a treat that keeps Jack behaving relatively well for a few hours beforehand - and Dani and I like the food there. Our kids get exposed to lots of dirty places (child care at the gym; preschool; Marbles, a kids museum with lots of hands-on stuff) and we spend a lot of time washing hands. At Chick-Fil-A, we do a bunch of handwashing after visiting the play area and before jumping into our meals. The staff also disinfects the whole room using a bunch of different sanitizers every night. Not risk elimination, but definitely reduction.

A Toronto (that's in Canada) city councilor wants public health officers to inspect not just the kitchens and processes in food establishments, but add sanitation of playgrounds to the list as well.

The councilor, Paul Ainslie, cites an awesome example of some of the risks and challenges in an interview with the Toronto Sun.

The father of three said he’s had concerns about the cleanliness of those indoor playgrounds, often in fast-food restaurants, for a while.

“I’ve had concerns for a long time about the play tubes and kids going in and once and a while someone comes out and says a kid crapped his diaper and they go find the manager,” Ainslie said. “One time one of my kids came out with crap on his hands.
“I just became very concerned about the cleanliness of them and how they are being taken care of.”

The Ward 43, Scarborough East councillor stressed some restaurants do a great job keeping their play areas clean but not all of them.

Toronto Public Health officials said Thursday that currently there is “no legislation governing the disinfection of indoor playgrounds in eating establishments.”

The move would also have the medical officer of health to come up with a checklist for eating establishments who operate an indoor play area to ensure it is a health environment for kids.

Playgrounds, particularly outdoor ones (with sand or surface bark) have been linked to outbreaks in the past. Pathogens can stick around and persist in soil (especially something hardy like Salmonella) and on fomites like slides (norovirus).
 

I've only ever seen a mouse at a restaurant once. I was visiting Halifax (that's in Canada) and had dinner at a popular downtown eatery, Alfredo, Weinstien and Ho's (the ultimate Italian-Deli-Asian food experience - which has apparently closed). For about 10 minutes we saw a mouse dart in and out of view grabbing food from the floor. After flagging our server down and alerting him to the mouse, he and the manager discretely moved some furniture and the mouse fled the room. The manager came over, thanked us for not making a scene and comped all of our meals (but said we had to pay for our bar tab); not a bad deal.

While mice infestations and droppings elicit a yuck-factor response from TV personalities and guests, I'd prefer to know about how well the staff manages the recognized foodborne illness risk factors: improper cooking temps; improper storage/holding temps; handwashing and hygiene; cross-contamination and safe sources.

In an excellently-titled post, I’m Ralphin’ It of the Day, The Daily What has a video of a mouse problem at a Philly McDonald's. The video, taken by former employee Karruim Demaio shows a mouse running through a Big Mac bun bag. Pests (rodent and insect) are often a problem for food businesses. Warm, dark places with lots of food is a good spot for a mouse or flies to live. It's not surprising that there are mice in a storage room.

What is surprising is that Demaio says a manager told him to brush droppings off of the buns and serve them. He says the same manager was seen wiping off pest droppings in the past.

Who knows whether the brush-and-serve actually happened - but that's where the risk discussion lies. It's not really a problem until the food makes it to a patron. Identifying a pest problem and dealing with it (which might have happened) happens in a business with a good food safety culture; brush-and-serve doesn't. All the video shows is that a mouse was there.

Video Shows Mouse In Bag Of Big Mac Rolls: MyFoxPHILLY.com

All I know about Jersey I've learned from Don Schaffner, Michele Samarya-Timm, The Sopranos, Snooki and Jon Stewart. In that order. Following the lead of lots of other jurisdictions, the city of Vineland (that's in Jersey) is about to post its restaurant inspection result summaries online - and depending what citizens want, may see entire inspection sheets (that's how it's done in most of North Carolina). According to the Daily Journal, now everyone can see how Vinnie's Pizzeria did on their last visit from an Environmental Health Officer.

In response to public demand, the city’s health department is now posting restaurant inspection ratings online.
At least once a year, health department staffers conduct on-site inspections of the city’s more than 400 retail food establishments and review their food handling processes. Inspectors look at things such as the cleanliness of work surfaces, personal hygiene of workers and whether proper temperatures are used when heating, cooling and storing food, said Jeanne Garbarino, the city’s principal sanitary inspector.

These inspections result in a rating of satisfactory, conditional or unsatisfactory.
Each business is issued a certificate that by state law must be posted in a conspicuous place to alert patrons of the health rating.

Inspection reports are public documents, Garbarino said. The new online listing gives diners a central place to review all health ratings as well as the last date of an establishment’s inspection. The health department’s website is www.vldhealth.org.
This is just the first phase of giving the public more access to information, Garbarino said.
The next step, she said, is to assemble a focus group of about 15 people who will help determine what other information should be added to the health department’s website.

They will be asked, “What do you want us to show,” Garbarino said, noting one option is to post full inspection reports, which is already done in Virginia and Rhode Island.

A couple of restaurant operators who have nothing to hide, and seem to get promoting food safety culture, like the idea:

Saverio Brunetti of Dominick’s Pizza on South Lincoln Avenue welcomed it.

Safe food handling is a serious issue, Brunetti said, adding “You don’t want to give a customer a bad product.”
At Dominick’s Pizza, the health rating certificate is posted on the front wall among the establishment’s accolades so customers can see it.

“The satisfactory rating is not an achievement, it’s a standard we maintain,” Brunetti said.

The online rating information would not only be useful to him as a business manager, Brunetti said, he would use it as a diner.
And, Brunetti said, he might also be tempted to see how his competitors were faring.

“I don’t see a problem with it,” said Russell Swanson, owner of Bain’s Deli on Landis Avenue, noting customers can already see the satisfactory certificate at the deli.

Councilman Louis Cresci, the former director of the city’s health department, supported the online postings.

“The public part of this is supposed to be a motivational tool for these operators,” he said.
 

I like to write at Starbucks. There's something about the background activity and lattes, mixed with Neil Young on my iPod, that helps me focus. I hit up a somewhat new outlet in Raleigh today and needed a restroom break. After washing my hands I looked around the bathroom for paper towels and all I could find was an air dryer (right, exactly as shown). I wanted paper towels, because using them matters; drying friction helps remove pathogens.

I don't like blow dryers because the literature shows they accumulate microorganisms from toilet aerosols, and can cause contamination of hands as they are dried by the dryer (Coates et al., 1987; Knights, et al., 1993; Redway,et al., 1994). In 2010, Anna Snelling and colleagues at the University of Bradford (UK) also showed that drying with a blow dryer can recontaminate hands and rubbing with paper towel was the most effective method to reduce pathogens.

Handwashing and food service food safety guru Pete Snyder at the St. Paul-based Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management summarized key aspects of handwashing and drying . Pete says that after hands are washed and rinsed, they must be thoroughly dried and cites data that shows 1-2 log reduction of pathogens from drying. Water and soap loosen the attachment of pathogen to hands. A rinse step dilutes what has been loosened but drying (and the friction associated) is the next step that matters - and the bugs have to go somewhere; I'd rather that be a paper towel instead of being blown all over my pants.

Pete also notes that it is also apparent that many individuals do not dry their hands thoroughly when using a blow dryer; hence, moisture, which is conducive to microbial growth, remains on hands, or people dry their hands on their clothing.

Starbucks, proper handwashing requires guest access to the proper tools – and that means vigorously running water, soap and paper towel.

Coates, D., D. N. Hutchinson, and F. J. Bolton. 1987. Survival of thermophilic campylobacter on fingertips and their elimination by washing and disinfection. Epidem. Inf. 99:265-274.

Knights, B., C. Evans, S. Barrass, and B. McHardy. 1993. Hand drying - A survey of efficiency and hygiene. The Applied Ecology Research Group, University of Westminster. London, UK.

Redway, K., B. Knights, Z. Bozoky, A. Theobald, and S.Hardcastle. 1994. Hand drying: A study of bacterial types associated with different hand drying methods and with hot air dryers. Applied Ecology Research Group, University of Westminster. London, UK. 14. Brodie, J. 1965. Hand hygiene. Scot. Med. J. 10:1:115-125.
 

Outbreaks happen all the time. The majority are avoidable and can be linked to a few factors or bad decisions. While I'm a self-described outbreak junkie, it's not the gore of vomit and barf associated with tragic incidents that I'm interested in. While the stories are important, I'm not into embellishment to scare folks into behavior change. The philosophy I subscribe to is to present folks who make decisions, from the teenage produce stock boy to the CEO of a food company, with the risks and consequences of their actions. And let them make a decision. Hopefully they choose to avoid making people sick.
I'm an outbreak junkie because the sick and the dead are real people with families; individuals whose lives changed because they ate something. Something, for the most part, that wasn't supposed to make them ill.

And if nothing is learned from those illnesses, and changes made, food doesn't get any safer.

In an article in the Yuma Sun detailing produce farmer responses to upcoming Food Safety Modernization Act-related regulatory changes Kurt Nolte, executive director of Yuma County Cooperative Extension references a 2010 E. coli O145 outbreak linked to fresh produce. Investigators connected 33 cases (12 of which were hospitalized) with Arizona grown romaine lettuce.

“Data suggests the grower followed all guidelines,” Nolte said. An investigation traced the probable cause to a leaking septic tank in a vehicle park some distance away.

It's frustrating when food folks say that all the right guidelines were followed and illnesses still happened. When this happens food safety professionals aren't doing their jobs. Either the guidelines aren't as good as they thought or implementation faltered (or a combination of both).

What was left out is that the FDA environmental assessment showed that maybe all guidelines weren't followed. While the ultimate source of contamination was the septic tank, water used for diluting pesticides and fertilizers, and for irrigation, is the most likely vehicle of pathogen transmission onto/on the farm.

Liquid pesticides and fertilizers used on the lettuce crops were diluted with both municipal and local irrigation canal waters. Municipal water is treated and periodically monitored. Based on these factors, the municipal water was not considered a reasonably likely source of contamination.

Arizona Leafy Green Marketing Agreement guidelines do have parameters for microbial testing of water that is applied directly to the product, which includes microbial testing. Would be nice to see the history of the test results from the producer for the irrigation canals (and if it did happen, it would have been nice to see mention in the FDA environmental assessment. If the sampling didn't provide any indicators of a problem the guidelines need to be revisited as Nolte notes, “From that incident, our charge is to research the risk of septic tanks leaking deep underground that may leach into a dirt irrigation ditch.”

Yeah, and show other producers the consequences of mixing potentially risky irrigation water with fungicides and pesticides.