Yale university may have Renaissance man and actor James Franco enrolled in their PhD program, but Yalies eat like other mortals – and the food safety at Yale sorta sucks.

The Yale Daily News reports the Commons Dining Hall failed a routine inspection by the New Haven Health Departmen (right, exactly as shown, photo by Zoe Gorman, Yale Daily News). So did seven other local restaurants.

Commons scored 75 out of 100, with health inspectors citing chipping paint on equipment, the storage of employee food with that to be served to students, and soiled wiping cloths and cutting boards in their report.

Establishments are inspected between one and four times each year, and are graded on a scale of zero to 100 based on general cleanliness and other health-related issues. Those that score 80 or lower are given two weeks to improve their health and safety conditions before a second inspection visit.

In a bit of actual reporting – so rare these days – a journalist went out and chatted with nine Commons staff and not a one was aware of the potential health risks mentioned in the report. They deferred to Director of Residential Dining Regenia Phillips, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

This is evidence of a lousy food safety culture.

In a follow-up article, New Haven Health Department Senior Sanitarian Shellie Longo said there were no serious health risks associated with eating at Commons and most of the violations cited in the inspection have little to no effect on the food itself.

Soiled wiping clothes and cutting boards are ideal vectors for cross-contamination.

Commons General Manager Maureen O’Donnell said most of the concerns will be addressed by next week, when inspectors return. But some issues, like the installation of new hand-washing sinks, will be dealt with over the summer.

“Obviously, I am concerned [about the inspection report],” O’Donnell said. “These are violations we need to address and we will.”

Neither Rafi Taherian, the executive director of Yale Dining, nor Regenia Phillips, the director of residential dining, responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

Out of 19 students interviewed, 12 said they were surprised by the findings of Longo’s inspection report. Though all said that they would not actively avoid eating in Commons unless more serious health threats come to light, many added that they were displeased by the news.

“It’s disappointing to realize that a University-run eatery like Commons is so bad in terms of cleanliness,” said Julie Blindauer.
 

Colgate Palmolive and Don Schaffner (right, pretty much as shown) have hooked up to help spread awareness about safe kitchen practices.

Schaffner did a lit review, and I like that the press release has references – so many don’t; I don’t like that it repeatedly says food safety is simple and easy – it isn’t.

Research shows that E. coli, Salmonella and Staph can thrive on dishes and other kitchen surfaces.1 Whether putting away groceries or rinsing fresh vegetables, even the most careful cook can pass bacteria to new kitchen surfaces through the simple process of preparing a dish.

To help spread awareness about safe kitchen practices, the Palmolive® brand partnered with Donald W. Schaffner, Ph.D., renowned microbiologist and professor at Rutgers University. As an author of nearly 100 food microbiology studies, Dr. Schaffner was among the first to quantify how bacteria transfer during common kitchen tasks.

To demonstrate how easily cross-contamination can occur, Dr. Schaffner conducted a comprehensive review of his bacterial studies and those of leading universities and institutions worldwide that specialize in food safety research. Key research findings from this analysis include:

Bacterial Build-Up on Cutting Boards: Bacteria on a cutting board can double after 10 minutes of use, whether cutting raw meat or vegetables.2
Cutting Board Cross-Contamination: Ten percent of bacteria on a cutting board can transfer to lettuce while chopping.3
Survival of E. coli on Dishes: E. coli that remains on washed and dried dishes can survive up to three days.4

"Studies consistently demonstrate how easily bacteria spread throughout a kitchen - both bacteria-contaminated foods and hands can pass bacteria to dishes, cooking utensils and other ingredients," said Dr. Schaffner. "Yet, according to the research, even when cooks understand the ways bacteria can spread, they often fail to follow the simple precautions that can help reduce the risk of bacterial cross-contamination in the kitchen."

Consumers generally understand the causes of cross-contamination, such as not washing or changing the cutting board and other utensils between the preparation of meat and ready-to-eat foods.5 Despite this knowledge, many do not practice these safety measures while preparing meals. A recent study revealed that two-thirds of consumers failed to adequately wash hands after handling raw chicken, nearly 30 percent failed to wash or change the cutting board after cutting raw chicken and one-third failed to wash or change a knife used to cut raw chicken before cutting raw vegetables.6

"We know that consumers want to do everything they can to keep their kitchens clean and their families safe," said Dave Wilcox, Vice President, Product Safety, Regulatory & Quality, Colgate-Palmolive. "Using Ultra Palmolive® Antibacterial Dish Liquid to clean knife blades, dishes and other hard, nonporous kitchen surfaces throughout your cooking prep and clean-up process is a simple step that can help put your cooks' minds at ease."

References


1"The importance of hygiene in the domestic kitchen: Implications for preparation and storage of food and infant formula." 2009. Perspectives in Public Health, March. Vol. 129 No. 2 l. http://rsh.sagepub.com/content/129/2/69.refs.html


2 "Use of Microbial Modeling and Monte Carlo Simulation to Determine Microbial Performance Criteria on Plastic Cutting Boards in Use in Foodservice Kitchens." 2004. Food Protection Trends, Vol. 24, No. 1: 14-19.

3 "Quantification and Variability analysis of Bacterial Cross-Contamination Rates in Common Food Service Tasks." 2001. Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 64, No. 1: 72-80.

4 "The survival of foodborne pathogens during domestic washing-up and subsequesnt transfer onto washing-up sponges, kitchen surfaces and food." 2002. International Journal of Food Microbiology, Vol. 85 (2003): 213- 226.

5 "Bacterial Contamination of Hands Increases Risk of Cross-contamination among Low-income Puerto Rican Meal Preparers." 2009. Journal of Nutritional Educational Behavior, Vol. 41:389-397


6"Cooking Practices in the Kitchen-Observed Versus Predicted Behavior." 2009. Risk Analysis, Vol. 29, No. 4. DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01189.x

There’s some merit in ignoring garbage food safety news stories so they don’t take on too much credibility.

But then, garbage should also be crushed, quickly, factually, and mercilessly, so it doesn’t get repeated forever.

The Consumers Union theatrics about bacteria found in bagged leafy greens has found new legs in Canada – always a week behind -- in stories with quotes like, “If you buy ready-made salad greens, wash them before eating.”

This is bull poop.

The March issue of Consumer Reports says that tests on 208 samples of salads sold in bags or plastic containers, conducted by Consumers Union revealed that 39 per cent of the salads analyzed revealed the presence of several types of bacteria, including total coliforms and Enterococcus, both found “in the human digestive tract.”

The Canadian wire story says: “Translation: poop.”

Not quite.

Trevor Suslow of UC Davis told the Perishable Pundit that “a normal head of lettuce is colonized, not contaminated with, a diversity of microbiota, including diverse types of bacteria. Only a small fraction of the total normal bacteria on lettuce can be grown or cultured in the lab. The total numbers of bacteria on a leaf far exceed the number of a single group like the Total Coliforms that were a prime target in the survey. A smaller subset of Total Coliform bacteria are the fecal coliforms. We eat lots and lots of microbes all the time. …

“I am certainly not a medical or public health expert and I am simplifying this quite a bit just to ensure that you are aware that a total coliform or fecal coliform doesn’t necessarily indicate fecal contamination in the plant world. Their numbers on a leaf or fruit do not relate well to risk of illness or true and serious pathogens being present. When one follows standard protocols, developed for dairy, meat, drinking water, and wastewater reclamation, for example, for enumerating total coliform populations from plants, one often gets high numbers of these plant colonizers. They are very tough to wash off…”

“Purchasing packaged salads or whole heads is a matter of personal choice. We do both in my family. I always wash loose leaf lettuces to remove any adhering soil. I never wash packaged salads. I do not support or believe that re-washing packaged salads should be a recommendation for the home consumer. A large and diverse panel of experts published a comprehensive article in 2007 detailing the scientific evidence for the lack of benefit and the greater risk of cross-contamination in the home.”

That report is available here. The conclusion is there is a greater chance of cross-contamination during the rewash of packaged greens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also states, “… there is no need to wash fresh-cut leafy greens again if they are labeled as "washed," "triple washed," or "ready-to-eat" on the package. Although not recommended, if end users do re-wash RTE fresh-cut leafy greens, having appropriate sanitary washing and drying conditions in the foodservice, retail or in-home food preparation environment to reduce the potential for cross contamination of fresh-cut RTE produce with human pathogens. “

The U.K. Food Standards Authority made a similar statement about no need for rewashing after the Brits had a row about the issue documented in Salad Smackdown ’08.

The issue is complicated, but for Consumers Union to come out with a soundbite about washing greens is great PR and lousy public policy. For journalists not to check is becoming standard for an industry in decline. For the producers of bagged leafy greens, this is an opportunity to tout your food safety efforts and market them at retail so consumers can choose.

Shangri La restaurant in Phoenix, AZ has failed its most recent inspection, and it’s no wonder why, reports Phoenix New Times.

Raw sprouts were too warm. There was no hand soap in the employee restroom. Opened cans of food were stored too long. Boxes of raw duck were in the wrong place, as was a bag of carrots. There were soiled sponges at the hand sink, cooked chicken without a date, and the sink on the cook line was starting to back up.

Directly from the inspection report,

"ICE MACHINE SOILED WITH BLACK & BROWN BUILD UP (INSIDE FRONT PANEL & UNDER PANEL WHERE CHUTE IS). ... LARGE CUTTING BOARDS PITTED, SCORED & STAINED."

But that's not Shangri La's worst transgression…this inspection report underscores the importance of proper storage:

"TWO BOXES OF RAW CHICKEN BEING STORED AND DRIPPING OVER TWO BOXES OF LETTUCE...."

Inspection reports are available online in Phoenix, and the report for Shangri La can be found here.