This year marks our first in the U.S. and I'm excited to celebrate Thanksgiving with the locals. We've been invited to participate in a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving (turkey, all the fixin's, football) with our friends Julia and Ship (a foodie who doubles as my main man at NC State News Services) and their kids.

Thanksgiving dinner does come with some food safety risks. Trying to pull off multiple dishes; thawing, preparing and cooking a 20lb+ bird; and, putting it all in the fridge for leftovers makes for a complicated day.

To help out with some tips on how to avoid foodborne illness at Thanksgiving and during the holiday season, we've pulled together this week's food safety infosheet, focusing on turkey, downloadable here.

In the first paper, Outbreaks of Campylobacteriosis in Australia, 2001 to 2006, researchers looked at 33 outbreaks of campylobacterosis between 2001 and 2006 resulting in 457 probable and 147 confirmed illnesses. These outbreaks only captured 0.1 per cent of laboratory confirmed outbreaks suggesting that sporadic cases are much more problematic than outbreaks. The group found that commercial settings were implicated in 55 per cent of the outbreaks, and the most common suspected food vehicle was poultry (41 per cent of outbreaks). Salads were also suspected in two of the outbreaks.

In the second paper, Thermotolerant Coliforms Are Not a Good Surrogate for Campylobacter spp. in Environmental Water, researchers in the former home of the Nordiques, Quebec, analyzed over 2400 samples of river water from 25 sites over a two year period. The samples were tested for the presence of indicators (thermotolerant coliforms and generic E. coli) and Campylobacter. The group found that there was a weak association between the distributions of Campylobacter spp. and thermotolerant coliforms and between the quantitative levels of the two classes of organisms. Their results suggest that sampling water for thermotolerant coliform does not provide a good indication whether or not Campylobacter is present.

This is important information for the produce industry which, as the first paper shows, plays a role in Campylobacter infections. By testing water for common indicators, producers and packers may be missing campylobacter risks entirely.

A good way to get campylobacter? Use raw chicken to reduce swelling.

This week's food safety infosheet focuses on the outbreak and recall.

Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:
-  Fairbank Farms recalls over 500,000 lbs of ground beef in CT, MD, VA, NC, MA, NY, NJ and PA; NH and NY deaths linked to the beef, at least 26 others ill.
- The meat juices created from thawing a frozen product like ground beef can transfer pathogens to other foods.
- Never place cooked hamburger patties on the unwashed plate that held raw patties; wash hands, counters, and utensils (like forks and spatulas) with hot soapy water after they touch raw meat.
- For a full list of recalled products, visit the FSIS release: http://tinyurl.com/yzemas7

There are quite a few recalls going on most of the time; this one is notable because this product has been linked to an outbreak of illnesses at a camp in Massachusetts. It's also notable because bulk amounts of the product were shipped down the East Coast for further processing. Retail outlets receiving some of this product include Shaw, Giant, Price Chopper,Trader Joe's, BJs and others.

From the press release:
"Products for further processing:
Cases of 10-pound "FAIRBANK FARMS FRESH GROUND BEEF CHUBS."
     Each case bears the establishment number "EST. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection; has package dates of "09.14.09," "09.15.09," or "09.16.09;" and sell-by dates of "10.3.09," "10.4.09," or "10.5.09. These products were distributed to retail establishments in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia for further processing. However, these products at retail will likely not bear the package dates and sell-by dates listed above. Customers with concerns should contact their point of purchase."

It is unlikely that any of the product is still being sold fresh at retail stores (the best-if-sold-before dates range from mid-September to early October) but it's likely that the affected beef is still around in freezers. The meat juices from thawing can provide a nice vehicle for pathogen transfer.

Stick it in with a tip-sensitive digital thermometer (in multiple spots) to ensure that ground beef has reached a safe temperature and be vigilant in containing meat juices when thawing frozen meats. Juicy is good, nasty meat juice spread around the kitchen isn't.

One of the solutions we talk about is tailoring messages to the target audience. This means communicate with them like they talk amongst themselves and use trusted methods to get risk-reduction info out.

Bell and colleagues at Washington State University did this with their raw milk/Abuela project a decade ago. Recent publications out of the UK and Australia have focused on emotion and disgust in message building and even within a target audience, gender is a factor in intervention effectiveness.

These four papers demonstrate that generic, sanitized messages might be a waste of time and resources. A better bang for the public health buck might come from something more compelling and engaging. Or as Doug mentioned to the Nebraskan, "Wash your damn hands," and follow up with the consequences of not. They may or may not actually change their practices, but maybe you got their attention. 

You can download the food safety infosheet here.

Risk in cantaloupes is largely due to growing conditions, contaminated wash water and the potential for cantaloupe flesh to support the growth of bacteria.  Prevention of surface contamination is an important factor for folks from farm-to-fork to address and control as research has shown a potential for bacteria to be pushed into the meat of the cantaloupe during slicing. Due to the roughness of the rind, it is very difficult to wash away much of the bacteria, suggesting that risk-reduction emphasis needs to be placed before the someone home uses them for a prosciutto-wrapped appetizer. 

California Department of Public Health warns consumers not to eat Del Monte cantaloupe -- great -- how would someone in their home know whether their cantaloupe was Del Monte? Are they labeled (I know some here in North Carolina are, some aren't) and if they are, what does that label look like? That's useful information.

I suspect since the scope of this recall has been limited to a specific shipment or lot of cantaloupes that the distributor has at least a rudimentary traceability system. Maybe the system is handwritten notes in a book of sales, maybe they possess a an electronic system incorporating barcodes and shipping documents. I've seen both. And both can work.

Throughout the summer, with help from my trusty assistant Michelle, we have been investigating some of the current traceability systems employed by fresh produce growers/packers/shippers in North Carolina.  While labeling of units (that's what the industry calls something like an individual cantaloupe or tomato) is part of the traceability story, what we've found is that there are multiple ways the on-farm/packing folks are trying to differentiate, collect, record and transfer food safety information with their products.

But there are gaps, like the labeling one illustrated here. One of our conclusions is that while many producers might be awake and trying to navigate vague national and international suggestions, what happens to that information (maybe stored in a lot code) once it leaves the packhouse sometimes isn't really known. The distribution folks may or may not record something like a lot code, and the producers may or may not tell their buyers why it's important that they do. That's a GAP gap.

The fair also brings petting zoo risks. The UK and Vancouver (Canada) have had recent tragic petting zoo stories and over at wormsandgerms Scott Weese detailed some of the things he saw at a recent Ontario event. I'm curious to see what the N.C. State Fair has for risk management tools, and if anyone is using them. 

Laura Hendley, frequent contributor to the foodsafe listserv, wrote a letter to her local paper detailing her praise over what she saw at a Helena (MT) event: 

The Jim Darcy School PTA provided a petting zoo and pony rides at the recent Helena Education Foundation carnival on Sept. 20, at Memorial Park. Located at the exit to the petting zoo were two temporary hand-washing stations set up with potable water jugs filled with warm water, soap, paper towels and catch buckets. There was also hand sanitizer available.

Good stuff, without the tools it's difficult to practice good hand hygiene.

But just having the tools there might not be enough. Like we've seen with norovirus, it's a good idea to engage the petting zoo target audience (parents and kids) with compelling risk-reduction messages and conduct some sort of evaluation (no matter how crude) to see whether they work.

I'm starting to think about snakes a lot more now -- I saw a story on Fark.com today about a snake in Brunswick County (N.C.). A serious snake:

"Two brothers were just driving along N.C. 133, near Orton Plantation, on Wednesday morning when they noticed a large snake - different from those native to the area - in the roadway. “We thought it was a rattlesnake,” said Billy Ballard, of Oak Island. But a closer look and, later, an expert opinion revealed it was actually a boa constrictor that stretched at least 7 feet long."

"The brothers, on their way to Wilmington for an appointment, brought the snake to the StarNews, where about a dozen people - the ones who apparently did not have a phobia of snakes - came outside to hear the brothers' story."

"“He's wounded. We just have to care for him,” Billy Ballard said. “He's got a family. You can't tell me he's just a stray.”"

Who grabs a snake from the highway, thinking that it might be a rattle snake, throws it in the back of a truck and takes it to the newspaper?

I had my own snake sighting last week. While visiting a farm in Chatham County with a bunch of food safety folks, we saw a snake (left, exactly as shown), known to my tour companions a "big black snake" (creative taxonomist).

I'm feeling a bit like Indiana Jones.

Okay, I knew about the Boss before, but the soundtrack indirectly led me to discover Thunder Road (which has helped me forget Dancing in the Dark).

The High fidelity-esque, Top 5 Records Rob Gordon-style, Center for Science in the Public Interest released a list of the top ten "riskiest" foods.

I place riskiest in dick fingers not because I want to be a dick, but because I don't think that's the right word. The list has been generated through data collected from CDC outbreak listings, state health departments and other various sources. The list should be called "The top 10 foods that are in dishes with foods regulated by the FDA, at some point, which have caused the most microbial foodborne illness outbreaks". But that title is too long.

CSPI is better than anyone else at pulling this stuff together and has an outbreak database that I use all the time. The missing bit of information which is not captured in the list (but is alluded to a bit in the report) and is needed to put the info into context is where did the contamination occur or where was the risk reduction step missed. What is the attributed source?

Source alone doesn't matter, food alone doesn't matter but putting those two data sources together allows for a concentration on where risk reduction efforts are needed.

Potatoes are the food on the list I have the most problem with. And it's not because I have a soft spot for Idaho or Prince Edward Island. It's because the outbreaks that place potatoes on the list are associated with potato dishes. It just happens that potato salad is consumed a lot, is prepared alongside other foods that carry risks by foodhandlers who might suck at hygiene. Potato dishes (mainly because of the additon of other foods) also create a great medium for pathogens. Potatoes aren't on this list because potatoes are a particularly risky food.

The report says that over 40% of the included potato outbreaks were linked to foodservice or processing. 60% come from elsewhere (which probably includes community dinners, festivals, and in-the-home). Should I not eat potatoes, or should I not eat potato dishes? What about potato chips? 

That information matters when it comes to dedicating resources to address the risky foods. It's not a potato problem, it's not an FDA regulated-food problem. Food safety is a farm-to-fork, almost every food, food handling problem.

I think hubris first came up when I scored a goal in a weekly pick-up hockey game, discussed how great I was, and then on the very next play gave up the puck resulting in a goal against.

As a response to Sunday's New York Times article by Michael Moss profiling a 2007 ground beef linked outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, the Washington City Paper asked a few restaurateurs what they thought about the story. 

As part of the series of interviews, Mark Bucher, founder and co-owner of BGR: The Burger Joint offered up his hubris-y take on why his business was sure that their sub-160F burgers are safe.

Bucher: We source only Prime Beef, which is the top 2% of all beef produced in the U.S. Our beef comes from corn-fed Midwestern farms. The beef is transported to Baltimore for processing at a very small 3rd generation family-owned facility (that actually processes Kosher beef), so their standards are much higher than the USDA’s. Our processor only produces burgers for us and for no one else. It’s an artisinal process, from start to finish. We test our beef very frequently for bacteria strains.  As recently as last week, we tested our product as part of our normal quality control, and it came back completely 100% perfect.

Our beef is safe to eat, and our burgers are “gorgeous” at medium-rare. I have no issues or questions about the safety of our ground beef. I am 1000% confident of the source, the muscles used, and the processing techniques.

Can't infrequently test your way to safe food Mark; no matter how many thousands or millions of percent you are confident in the source. Sure, testing is one step you can take to know more about your products but sampling is a bit of a lottery.  The only way to ensure safety is to stick it in.

The video (which I can't seem to embed, but it can be viewed on the Times site) was particularly impactful and shows some of the devastating consequences of foodborne illness.

That story is the focus for this week's food safety infosheet

Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:
- Ground beef has been linked to at least 16 outbreaks since 2007.
- In 2009, this pathogen led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states.
- Cook all ground beef to 155°F for 15 seconds or 160°F for an instant kill.
- Clean and sanitize all surfaces (cutting boards, counters) where ground beef items were prepared.

The food safety infosheet can be downloaded here.

The 'Canes lost 2-0, in part because of a futile powerplay (0-for-8).

I took my dad to the game (right, self-pic, exactly as shown) and we debated getting a bbq sandwich after the first period but the price tag was a bit steep ($7).

My dad asked me "So, how do you think they are doing, food safety-wise".

I told him that it's tough to say, anytime you eat you put trust in a food handler somewhere and hopefully they know somthing about risks and risk reduction. I watched for a couple of minutes and snapped the below pic of the bbq (below left, food porn shot, exactly as shown).

While sitting around today and watching some college football I started to think a bit more about my dad's question and dug up some inspection reports. I couldn't find the Carolina BBQ stand in question but was able to browse through 20 or so other RBC Center sites from the past couple of years. Temperature abuse, especially hot-holding seemed to be a common violation.

The bbq looked and smelled good, and judging by the lineups, was moved out of the pans to patrons' sandwiches pretty fast. But who knows at what temperature, and how long it was held before we came by. I hope that someone did.

Owner Aileen McGhie told the Standard she was not ordered to close the three-star hotel, and took the decision to do so herself in a bid to clean the premises from top to bottom.

She said: “A few people fell ill last week after being a guest or a diner at the hotel and we are still waiting for test results. I called environmental health myself and it is assumed it is an outbreak of the Norovirus. Rumours that it is food poisoning are completely false.

Um, Aileen, sometimes they are the same thing. While cruiseships and hospitals get a lot of press for norovirus, the majority of reported norovirus outbreaks are associated with foodservice settings or events, and have higher attack rates than other settings. While the difference between classical food poisoning might matter to you, many of the control measures are the same (reducing cross-contamination, good personal hygiene, doing a good job at cleaning up barf).

Owner Aiellen McGhie went on to say:

“Twenty people is not actually a high number considering the hundreds of people we had in the hotel that week." 

It's possible that one dish or food handler is implicated in -- my guess is that not everyone ate everything on the menu. Foodborne illness cases are also consistently under reported and might contribute to the "low numbers".  And it probably doesn't matter to the barfing customers.

Handwashing can reduce the risk of E. coli O157, but signs and sinks do not make people wash their hands. Operators and volunteers need to be diligent in promoting the importance of handwashing as infection control with patrons and staff and compel folks with creative messages.

CDC has a publication that operators should check out on managing public-animal contact risks (scroll down to the bottom of the page). We've combined some of that information and added our barfblog flare to come up with this week's food safety infosheet, which is downloadable here.

Surprisingly, that plan worked perfectly.

Jack fell asleep around 7pm and did not wake until Dani abruptly woke him up with some spectacular barfing somewhere around Scranton, PA. She had been feeling car sick since about 30 minutes after we left and had fought it for a few hours, in her words, it "just came up". It surprised her enough that she felt she didn't have time to roll down the window, or even open the door. Sitting in the passenger seat, she turned to her left and decided to try to catch the barf in an empty cup she had sitting in the console. Bad idea. She filled the cup, and then both cup holders on the console. And then all over my leg and shoes.

Reminiscent of Lardass Hogan (see Stand By Me clip, below) I had a sympathy puke.

This ranks pretty high in my all-time vomit memories. It's up there with puking in Doug's flower bed; trying to catch vomit in my hands while sitting in a car and throwing it out the window (didn't work); deep-sea fishing induced illness and another Dani car story where she opened the window but decided to puke on the inside of the door instead. The most recent has made the top-5.

Jack fell back asleep soon after we stopped to clean up. But the car still smells like barf.

I got an email from a couple of folks at Guelph this morning saying that our recently published Journal of Environmental Health article where the above results and conclusions were shared is making the rounds on campus. Here are some of the highlights from the interview I did with Katie Mangan at the Chronicle of Higher Education.

"We couldn't follow students into the bathroom, because that leads to ethical problems," Mr. Chapman says. So the researchers focused on whether students were using a plastic bottle of hand-sanitizing gel placed at the entrance of a cafeteria that had been described to them as "ground zero" of the outbreak.

"What people do and what they say with regard to hand hygiene are two different things," Mr. Chapman reports.

He says health officials should aim their messages at specific audiences, such as students living in a particular residence hall. Instant messaging and other social-media tools should be used as well.

"It really hits home," he notes, "when their classmates start changing their IM names to something like Puking Veronica."

Gotta know how to reach the kids with health messages; make it relevant and compelling. Check out www.foodsafetyinfosheets to see how we attempt to do that.

There have been 67 cases of shigellosis from July 1 through Monday, compared to nine cases for all of 2008, according to the St. Louis City Department of Health.

Health officials said four day care centers and one school clustered in south St. Louis city reported illnesses. Officials did not offer other specifics except to say that children ages 4 and younger are most commonly infected.

City health officials sent the shigellosis alert to day cares and schools, where the shigella bacteria is typically spread when people don’t wash their hands properly after using the bathroom or changing diapers. It can also be spread through contact with food. Shigella bacteria can remain in feces for several weeks.