“… There continues to be food business operators who put consumers' health at risk by not complying with their legal obligations for food safety and hygiene.

"Food business operators must recognise that the legal onus is on them to be responsible and ensure that the food they serve is safe to eat."

That’s professor Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, describing the monthly inspection results as "extremely disappointing".

Twelve companies were hit with closure orders after being found with such poor food safety and hygiene standards they were deemed to be of grave or immediate danger to the public.

One cash-and-carry was served with a prohibition order, meaning it was banned from selling food found to have been dangerous to consumers.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said the 13 orders represented a fourfold increase from the previous month, making July one of the highest ever for enforcements over the last decade.

As 12 people were sickened with influenza A (H3N2) variant from contact with pigs at petting zoos last week and four outbreaks linked with mail-order chicks that have sickened hundreds with Salmonella, primarily children, Kanssas State researchers are warning that interactions between animals and the public need better oversight,

“People have to be careful, and a lot more careful than they thought, “ said Dr. Douglas Powell a professor of food safety at Kansas State University. “That’s what I told my 3-year-old’s daycare as they prepared for a chicken coop. I’m not sure people like that message.”

Gonzalo Erdozain, a veterinary and Masters of Public Health student who works with Powell, lead the study and visited numerous petting zoos and fairs in Kansas and Missouri in 2010 and 2011. Erdozain found many sanitary problems at the facilities..

The other authors were Katherine KuKanich of Kansas State and Ben Chapman of North Carolina State University.

Scott Weese, an OK hockey player, veterinarian, and author of the Worms & Germs Blog first published the news our paper was public.

A recent study in Zoonoses and Public Health by Erdozain et al 2012 (under the guidance of Doug Powell and Ben Chapman of barfblog fame…or infamy, I guess, if you're particularly slack regulator or politician) evaluated petting zoos in Kansas and Missouri in 2010-2011.

They focused on behaviours or factors that would be associated with public health risks, and found:

Handwashing station and signs were present at the exit of 7/13 petting zoos. Yes, it means the majority had them but it’s a pretty disappointing number. It’s easy to do and there’s no excuse for not having proper hand hygiene station at the exit. The other 6 at least had hand hygiene stations within or near animal contact areas, but that’s not ideal. People need to be able to clean their hands on the way out. Doing it in the middle doesn’t help much, and if people have to go out of the way to perform hand hygiene after leaving, it will rarely get done.
At one event, there was only a sink with no soap, and at another, 2/3 hand sanitizers were empty and there was no area to wash hands. Having hand hygiene facilities is only useful if they are actually appropriately stocked.
Signs encouraging hand washing were present at the exit of 10/13 petting zoos, but signs were present at the entrance or entrance to eating areas.
Staff were present monitoring activities in only 6/13 events. At one unsupervised facility, kid goats were able to escape through the fence and were roaming freely.

When they observed people, they saw that only 37% of visitors washed their hands or used a hand sanitizer when leaving. That’s not really surprising but it’s disappointing nonetheless. People are skipping what is typically the biggest risk factor for pathogen transmission in petting zoos.

Visitors were almost 5 times as likely to wash their hands when a staff member was present. That’s consistent with a study we published last year and shows the importance of a little encouragement.

High-risk animals were present in some petting zoos. That includes chicks, young ruminants (kid goats) and, a new one for me, a petting zoo that allowed people to enter an area and pet and sit with tortoises.

People were allowed into animal enclosures in 7 petting zoos, and not surprising, fecal contamination of the ground was common (petting zoo animals not being house trained).

Various behaviors that might increase the risk of disease were observed, including kids (the human kind, not the goat kind) touching their faces (77% of events), kids eating or drinking in the petting zoo (15% and 38%, respectively), kids eating petting zoo food (7%) and kids sucking on pacifiers (23%). Children were also seen picking up animal feces at one event.

Overall, despite the lessons that should have been learned from various outbreaks, numerous deficiencies were present, including many that would take little effort to rectify.

The state of petting zoos, at least around here, has certainly improved over the past decade, in part due to more attention from location public health officials, but how do we get more, sustained and widespread improvement?

More strict governmental regulation and enforcement is one way, but that tends to be slow. The more effective approach is probably one that involves the almighty dollar. Most petting zoos are there to make money or bring people to a broader event that makes money. Like many issues, if consumers start demanding change, change will occur quickly. Maybe that’s easier said than done, but the more pressure that’s put on petting zoo operators and people that run events where petting zoos are present, the more likely it is that change will occur. Petting zoos can be great opportunities, particularly for kids, but we need to make them as safe as possible. Providing hand hygiene stations, some good signs, having staff supervise, avoiding high-risk animals and logical facility design are easy and inexpensive, and not doing so is inexcusable.

That means, parents, rather than just sending your kids on the latest self-funded school trip, be sure to ask questions about where the kids are going when they visit the animals.

A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks.

Abstract below:

Observation of public health risk behaviors, risk communication and hand hygiene at Kansas and Missouri petting zoos – 2010-2011Outbreaks of human illness have been linked to visiting settings with animal contact throughout developed countries. This paper details an observational study of hand hygiene tool availability and recommendations; frequency of risky behavior; and, handwashing attempts by visitors in Kansas (9) and Missouri (4), U.S., petting zoos. Handwashing signs and hand hygiene stations were available at the exit of animal-contact areas in 10/13 and 8/13 petting zoos respectively. Risky behaviors were observed being performed at all petting zoos by at least one visitor. Frequently observed behaviors were: children (10/13 petting zoos) and adults (9/13 petting zoos) touching hands to face within animal-contact areas; animals licking children’s and adults’ hands (7/13 and 4/13 petting zoos, respectively); and children and adults drinking within animal-contact areas (5/13 petting zoos each). Of 574 visitors observed for hand hygiene when exiting animal-contact areas, 37% (n=214) of individuals attempted some type of hand hygiene, with male adults, female adults, and children attempting at similar rates (32%, 40%, and 37% respectively). Visitors were 4.8x more likely to wash their hands when a staff member was present within or at the exit to the animal-contact area (136/231, 59%) than when no staff member was present (78/343, 23%; p<0.001, OR=4.863, 95% C.I.=3.380-6.998). Visitors at zoos with a fence as a partial barrier to human-animal contact were 2.3x more likely to wash their hands (188/460, 40.9%) than visitors allowed to enter the animals’ yard for contact (26/114, 22.8%; p<0.001, OR= 2.339, 95% CI= 1.454-3.763). Inconsistencies existed in tool availability, signage, and supervision of animal-contact. Risk communication was poor, with few petting zoos outlining risks associated with animal-contact, or providing recommendations for precautions to be taken to reduce these risks.

A commercial vaccine for cattle can effectively reduce levels of E. coli by more than 50 percent, a Kansas State University study has found. The vaccine is also effective using two doses instead of the recommended three doses, which can help cut costs for the beef industry.

David Renter, associate professor of epidemiology, is the principal investigator on a project that researched the effectiveness of products used to prevent the shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle. The research appears in a recent online version of the journal Vaccine and helps improve current preventative methods for addressing food safety concerns.

While E. coli O157:H7 does not affect cattle, it causes foodborne disease in humans. Vaccines and other products may be given to cattle to help prevent the spread of the bacteria.

"We wanted to test how well these products work to control E. coli O157:H7 in a commercial feedlot with a large population of cattle that were fed in the summer and may be expected to have a high level of E. coli O157:H7," Renter said.

Other Kansas State University researchers involved include T.G. Nagaraja, university distinguished professor of microbiology; Nora Bello, assistant professor of statistics; Charley Cull, doctoral student in pathobiology, Oakland, Neb.; and Zachary Paddock, doctoral student in pathobiology, Manhattan. Abram Babcock, an August 2010 Kansas State University doctoral graduate, also was involved in the research.

Using a commercial feedlot setting, the researchers studied more than 17,000 cattle during an 85-day period. They studied two products: a vaccine and a low-dose direct-fed microbial.

"What's unique about this study is the number of animals we used, the research setting and that we used commercial products in the way that any cattle producer could use them," Renter said. "We didn't want it to be any different than the way somebody would use the products in a commercial feedlot."

The researchers found that the vaccine reduced the number of cattle that were shedding E. coli O157:H7 in feces by more than 50 percent. E. coli shedding was reduced by more than 75 percent among cattle that were high shedders of E. coli. While the vaccine label suggests that it is given in three doses, the researchers found that two doses of the vaccine significantly reduced E. coli.

"Showing that level of efficacy with two doses is really important because a shift to two doses from three could significantly cut costs for the beef industry," Renter said. "In terms of logistics, it can be difficult for commercial feedlot production systems to vaccinate animals three times. Both of these benefits help when considering how the vaccine can be adopted and implemented in the industry."

The researchers also discovered that the low-dose direct-fed microbial product did not work as well as the vaccine. Renter said while the study used a lower dose of the direct-fed microbial and could find no evidence that it reduced E. coli shredding, it is possible that the direct-fed microbial product is more effective at a higher dose.

"This vaccine is an option for reducing E. coli," Renter said. "We have shown that this vaccine works and that it is a tool that could be adopted in the industry."
The research was supported as part of a three-year $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nagaraja and Renter are involved in several other studies on E. coli O157 and other types of E. coli closely related to O157, including research associated with the $25 million coordinated agricultural program, or CAP, grant with the University of Nebraska Lincoln and several other universities. That five-year grant is supported by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Abstract below:

Efficacy of a vaccine and a direct-fed microbial against fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a randomized pen-level field trial of commercial feedlot cattle.
13.jun.12
Vaccine
Cull CA, Paddock ZD, Nagaraja TG, Bello NM, Babcock AH, Renter DG
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22704925
Abstract
Our primary objective was to determine the efficacy of a siderophore receptor and porin proteins-based vaccine (VAC) and a Lactobacillus acidophilus-based direct-fed microbial (DFM) against fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in commercial feedlot cattle fed a corn grain-based diet with 25% distiller's grains. Cattle projected to be on a finishing diet during the summer were randomly allocated into 40 study pens within ten blocks based on allocation dates. Blocks were complete; each of the four pens within a block was randomly assigned one treatment: control, VAC, DFM, or VAC+DFM. The DFM was fed (10(6)CFU/animal/day of Lactobacillus) throughout the study periods (84-88 days) and cattle were vaccinated at enrollment and again three weeks later. Fresh fecal samples (30/pen) from pen floors were collected weekly for four consecutive weeks (study days 52-77). Two concurrent culture procedures were used to enable estimates of E. coli O157:H7 shedding prevalence and prevalence of high shedders. From 4800 total samples, 1522 (31.7%) were positive for E. coli O157:H7 and 169 (3.5%) were considered high shedders. Pen-level linear mixed models were used for data analyses. There were no significant interactions among treatments and time of sampling. However, vaccinated pens had lower (P<0.01) overall prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 (model-adjusted mean ±SEM=17.4±3.95%) and lower (P<0.01) prevalence of high shedders (0.95±0.26%) than unvaccinated pens (37.0±6.32% and 4.19±0.81%, respectively). There was no evidence of a DFM effect on either measure of E. coli O157:H7 shedding. Results indicate that a two-dose regimen of the vaccine significantly reduces fecal prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 (vaccine efficacy of 53.0%) and prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 high shedders (vaccine efficacy of 77.3%) in commercial feedlot cattle reared in the summer on a finishing diet with 25% distiller's grains.

On Friday USDA stats folks released an updated estimate of growth of farmers' markets with an increase of almost 10% between 2011 and 2012. There are various reasons folks say they shop at farmers' markets: to support the local economy; feel a connection with producers; buy fresher food; have a better selection; and, the perception of increased safety.

Media reports of increased farmers' market sales of spinach in 2006, tomatoes in 2008 and cantaloupes in 2011 echo the safety thing - pretty well every nationally-reported fresh produce outbreak results in shoppers heading away from a retail store and to the market for the implicated product. My guess is that it is easier to trust that the market vendor won't make you sick. Because you know where they are if you do. That's sort of a simplistic view, but might be what folks think. I dunno.

From the Raleigh News & Observer:

Jonathan Johnson can’t slice peaches fast enough.

With his pocket knife and thick thumbs, he peels off the juiciest pieces of fruit to be passed out for free. “Peach? Free sample? Want to try a peach?,” his two teenaged workers chime. Johnson fills one pint-sized plastic bowl with free samples. An empty one appears in front of him.

As he wipes the sweat from his brow, a familiar voice calls out to him (is it saying "did you wash your hands"?-ben).

“What have you got for me today?” says Donnell Johnson, of Raleigh (oh -ben).

The peach farmer grins. He had an answer prepared: “You know I’ve got some ripe ones picked out for you over here,” he says.

“It doesn’t get much better than this,” Donnell Johnson says. “These (peaches) were picked yesterday, and I get to buy them from this man here, who’s just a great guy.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more and more farmers are forming this face-to-face relationship with their customers. Last week, the USDA announced a 9.6 percent increase in the number of farmers markets listed on its national directory from 2011 to 2012. There are now 7,864 farmers markets registered with the USDA, up from 7,175 in 2011.

Over the past couple of years when I speak to market managers and vendors at various venues I tell them that capitalizing on that perception is totally fine - if they can back it up with documented practices. Whether that means someone from the market asking for vendors to employ specific good agricultural practices or requiring vendors to learn about risks and employ strategies to keep pathogens off of their wares. Whatever it is, someone in the system needs to be asking good questions and providing resources and guidance on what should be happening. Some great market managers get this and volunteer what they do - and ask for ideas on how to deal with problems.

For a look at some of the stuff (training materials and supporting documents) my group and the North Carolina Fresh Produce Safety Task Force is producing for market managers and vendors check out our site on good farmers market practices here.


 

Being in jail is a training school for how to get away with stuff.

I did 6 weeks dead time between conviction and sentencing in 1981 at the local jail – the equivalent of maximum security -- and saw drugs enter daily. Since any visits were behind Plexiglas, the preferred method was via the exercise yard – we got 30 minutes a day in a small basketball-sized court surrounded by 20 feet of brick and topped with razor wire. People on the outside would flick half a cigarette, with the tobacco removed and filled with hashish, over the wall so it looked like another discarded butt.

At the minimum security institution, where visits involved contact, the preferred method was a long kiss and a balloon full of pills. I was just happy with some contact (thank you, Alison).

But, even wise guys can get it wrong.

The Arizona Republic reports that four state prison inmates were hospitalized with suspected botulism poisoning Friday after apparently drinking homemade prison alcohol,.

Three were reported in stable condition Friday night. The condition of the fourth was not known late Friday.

All four inmates had been housed in the maximum-security Eyman complex in Florence.

"It's not an airborne illness," said Pinal County spokeswoman Heather Murphy. "It has to be ingested or injected. We cannot confirm it at this time, but we believe it to be contraband prisoner-made alcohol."

In some cases, inmates use fruit and bread from their food trays to ferment an alcohol concoction.

Barfield said that she once found about two gallons of homemade alcohol in a garbage bag.

"It's that easy," Barfield said.

But because the smell is so overpowering, corrections officers can easily detect the contraband, which is flushed down the toilet, she said.

In 2011, 12 inmates at the Utah State Prison in Draper developed botulism after drinking a concoction made from fruit, potatoes, bread, water and sugar.

In 2004, four California inmates were hospitalized after contracting botulism from a two-gallon batch of prison-made alcohol.

I’ve been listening to people preach petting zoo safety for 15 years, along with all kinds of food safety gospel, and it’s all faith-based.

Elizabeth Weise of USA Today reports a cluster of flu cases linked to contact with pigs has doctors at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning people to wash up and avoid eating around animals as they attend county and state fairs.

The new influenza strain sickened at least 12 people last week. All cases involved recent contact with pigs at agricultural fairs. Hawaii and Indiana each has one case, and 10 were linked to last week's Butler County Fair in Ohio. Four other cases have been linked to a county fair in Indiana that ran July 8-14. None resulted in hospitalization or death.

The new flu goes by the name influenza A (H3N2) variant, or H3N2v, and was first identified in humans a year ago, says Joseph Bresee of the CDC Influenza Division. Of the 29 cases that have been reported so far, 80% "had swine contact before getting ill and most of that contact was at county fairs," he said.

To avoid H3N2v, people attending agricultural fairs and other events involving swine should take these precautions, CDC says:

• Wash hands with soap and water before and after exposure to animals.
• Avoid eating, drinking or putting anything in the mouth in animal areas.
• Don't take food or drink into animal areas.
• Pregnant women, young children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses should avoid exposure to animal areas.
• If you develop flu symptoms after attending an agricultural fair, tell your doctor.
• Avoid sick pigs.

How do you know whether a pig is sick? Look for "a pig that's got a runny nose, goop in their eyes or they're standing away from other pigs in the enclosure," says Lisa Ferguson, a veterinarian with the Department of Agriculture's National Animal Health Policy Program.

More rock, less BS.

Chlorine is your friend. I tell that to soldiers going overseas, and to Sorenne going swimming. Because everyone pees in the pool. Even Olympic champs.

Ryan Lochte told Ryan Seacrest this morning, when Seacrest asked if swimmers ever pee in the pool -- Ryan replied, "Of course. We always do."

When asked if he ever peed during one of the races in London, Ryan said, "Not during the races, but I sure did before in warm-up."

According to Lochte, "There's something about getting into chlorine water that you just automatically go."

Trois participants à un rassemblement privé dans l'Oregon ont été hospitalisés en juillet 2012, après la consommation d'aliments qui contenaient la toxine du botulisme.
Les personnes malades ont partagé des betteraves qui n'avaient pas été correctement mises en conserves. Les betteraves ont été mises dans des bocaux, chauffés dans un bain d'eau bouillante, puis conservées à température ambiante. Le manque d'oxygène, un environnement faible en acide et la température ambiante ont créé des conditions idéales pour que les spores de Clostridium botulinum puissent germer et produire la toxine.
Alors que les températures d'ébullition de l'eau vont tuer de nombreux pathogènes d'origine alimentaire, les spores de Clostridium botulinum sont plus résistantes et nécessitent plus de chaleur pour être inactivées. La seule façon de le faire à la maison est d’utiliser un appareil à pression.
Mettre des aliments à faible acidité dans un bocal et le refermer sans acidifiant ou sans utiliser un appareil à pression crée des conditions idéales pour la formation de la toxine.
Des recettes testées et des règles pour des conserves sûres peuvent être trouvées au National Center for Home Food Preservation : nchfp.uga.edu
En 1977, 59 clients d’un restaurant mexicain de Detroit ont été atteints de botulisme après avoir consommé des conserves de piments mal faites. Le personnel du restaurant avait légèrement cuit les piments et l’eau dans des bocaux et les ont scellés.
- Les aliments à faible acidité (pH > 4,6) telles que les betteraves ne peuvent pas être mises en conserve de façon sûre en utilisant de l’eau bouillante à moins qu’ils ne soit acidifiés selon une recette testée.
- Clostridium botulinum est présent dans la terre et les aliments qui viennent de la terre. Après chauffage, les spores peuvent germer dans les cellules et produire une toxine entraînant le botulisme dans un environnement sans oxygène (comme les aliments en conserve).
- Une livre de betteraves doit être traitée pendant 30 min à 0,76 bar de pression si vous utilisez un manomètre (ou 0,69 bar avec une jauge de pression) d’un autoclave au niveau de la mer.
- La pression exigée va augmenter à une altitude plus élevée ; le temps augmentera pour des contenants plus grands (1 litre).
- Consultez le National Center for Home Food Preservation, http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ pour les ajustements liés à l'altitude et les recettes testées.

Click here to download.

In the same way that Chapman owes me for introducing him to Neil Young in the 2000s, I owe it to my high school girlfriend, Sue Baker, for introducing me, in 1978. This was her favorite song.

And if you’re going to a swap meet in Nevada, get the food safety right.

The location is J & J Swap Meet on East Charleston where inspectors found problems with the temperature of just about everything. The violations are at the swap meet snack bar which was shut down with 58 demerits. It's really important that food is kept hot or cold enough to be safe. Otherwise, bacteria begins to grow and no one wants to eat that.