An outbreak of illness might have more to do with the final results than the actual tennis at the BNP Paribas Open tournament in Indian Wells, California, which is about to move into its second week.

In late-in-the-day matches Sunday, third-seeded Petra Kvitova, last year's Wimbledon champion, was ousted by fast-rising American Christina McHale, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, and said afterward that she had been ill, had taken antibiotics and had "lost a bit of my fitness."

Roger Federer went through his opponent, Denis Kudla of the U.S., 6-4, 6-1, and then, looking pale and sounding hoarse, admitted afterward in his news conference that he wasn't feeling well, nor were members of his family.

"I'm the best off in the family," he said.

At least eight players have defaulted since the tournament began, most of them complaining of a stomach virus.

In Michigan, the Taylor Sportsplex was evacuated Sunday after an unknown illness swept a wave of hockey players into local emergency rooms, according to officials.


Fire Chief Bob Tompos said about 20-25 high-school-age hockey players got sick simultaneously with apparent flu-like symptoms, causing several players to vomit on benches and inside the locker room.



The sudden occurrance prompted a call to the fire department to investigate the building as the sick players began heading to nearby hospitals with families. Some went by ambulance if parents weren't yet on the scene.

"Rather than make them wait, we wanted to err on the side of caution," Tompos said, "so they were transported [by ambulance] with implied consent." An official evacuation was called about 10:30 p.m.

Firefighters first checked the building's air quality to rule out issues like unsafe levels of carbon monoxide.

"The oxygen level was fine, so we weren't too concerned about that," Tompos said, adding that other samples from the Sportsplex — including the water supply — will immediately be sent to an independent lab in the morning for analysis.

 Unseasonably warm temperatures and possibly the crowd's size caused the air conditioning system to unexpectantly kick on, so air duct samples also will get tested, Tompos said.



While the hockey world (that’s ice hockey) was focused on the New York Rangers beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 outdoors at the annual Winter Classic this afternoon (along with some linguistic troubles for caustic commentator Mike Milbury), the junior world championships taking place in Canada is home to real hockey action.

And some barfing.

The favored Canadian juniors have been stricken with the flu – whatever that means – as the bug is threatening to spread through the Canadian dressing room in advance of Tuesday’s world junior semi-final against either Russia or the Czech Republic.

Player Brendan Gallagher said, “You can’t underestimate that stuff, because if you get the flu, it can really hurt your game, so you gotta be real careful. The doctors are doing a good job. We all got our own hand sanitizers. We’re trying to keep it under control. Obviously, it’s a pretty important thing for us to be aware of. You gotta wash your hands.”

So, in addition to all the basic facts of hockey life that they had drummed into them Monday, that is the mantra going forward: Wash those hands.

CBC News reports that a business owned by a Manitoba Hutterite colony has been fined for selling thousands of turkeys deemed not fit for human consumption.

Hazelridge-based Heartland Colony Farms Ltd. recently pleaded guilty to a charge under the federal Meat Inspection Act in a Winnipeg courtroom and was handed a $10,000 fine.

"There are very much public safety concerns here," provincial court Judge Sid Lerner said, adding the company showed "negligent conduct" in how it allowed the roughly 13,154 kilograms of frozen turkey carcasses to be re-introduced into the food chain.

According to the facts of the case presented by federal Crown attorney Jeremy Akerstream, the colony purchased the turkeys "sight unseen" for $16,000 in 2007 after a truck ferrying them from a British Columbia plant crashed on an Alberta highway.

They were transferred from the crashed truck to two others, meaning the turkeys were no longer fit for human consumption unless they were reinspected under federally-approved guidelines, Akerstream said.

The turkeys, which were the property of an unidentified major meat processing company, were then sold in a salvage deal to the Manitoba colony.

The colony took possession of the birds and had them repackaged into clear plastic bags. They then sold and shipped the majority to a man in Guelph, Ont. for about $27,000.

In turn, he passed on the turkeys to minor hockey league clubs in Aurora and Markham, as well as to a business, the prosecutor said.

There were no illnesses reported as a result of the birds being back in the food chain, Akerstream said.

In one interview, a company official said, "he didn't know what the big deal was, he had eaten some of the turkeys and no one got sick," Akerstream said.

When the charge was laid, many on the colony reacted with "complete and utter shock," said defence lawyer Jamie Kagan, who represented the company in court.

"This has become a very, very expensive mistake from their perspective," he said.
 

To coach little girls playing ice hockey in Canada requires 16 hours of training. To coach kids on a travel team requires an additional 24 hours of training. 


So it seems reasonable to have some minimal training for those who prepare food for public consumption.

Some U.S., Canadian and Australian states or municipalities require at least one person at a restaurant or food outlet to have some food safety training, even if that person is at home in bed. Others require training for everyone who touches food; others require nothing.

So the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) is way ahead when it announced that all employees who handle food must be trained in hygiene by the end of 2012.

The food safety watchdog was straightforward yesterday when it said outdated attitudes to food safety are to blame for food workers failing hygiene tests.

The National reported that so far 40 per cent of workers, about 17,000, have been trained, and 60 per cent of those have failed the exams. Eleven per cent of all the emirate’s food workers have passed.

Earlier, the authority partially blamed language barriers for the problem, but yesterday it said the absence of a culture of hygiene and food safety in restaurants and food outlets was also a major cause.

Mohammed al Reyaysa, the authority’s spokesman, said,

“Unfortunately a lot of people think going into the kitchen and dealing with food does not need any science and anyone can do it. This is an old way of thinking and it is changing after the requirements and regulations being implemented.”

Mr al Reyaysa’s comments came after the release of a wide-ranging annual report, which detailed the agency’s programmes, draft laws, financial status and the total number of inspections and food establishment closures last year.

The high failure rate on hygiene exams raises questions as to why ADFCA’s spending of almost Dh1 billion in 2009 has not led to better results. Passing the tests is currently not a requirement, but Mr al Reyaysa indicated that it may eventually be obligatory for food workers in the emirate, posing a potentially protracted problem for employers.

It’s excellent Abu Dhabi is getting serious about requirements and puts them way ahead of many North American jurisdictions. Unfortunately, what constitutes a certified food safety course is often crap. So figure out what the barriers are to effective training and figure out what works and what doesn’t – what kind of training actually translates into food service staff practicing safe food preparation.

The best restaurants will not wait for a government edict and will go ahead and improve their training and compliance -- today.