Food Poisoning, Foodborne Illness Information and Research : International Food Safety Network : BarfBlog

The Raleigh News & Observer reports today that Wake County health authorities have begun enforcing a no doggie-dining rule, an interpretation of a North Carolina state rule that prohibits pets from "a food preparation or storage area." The crackdown was apparently in response to a list of pet-friendly patios listed in the News & Observer last week.

Restaurateur Greg Hatem, questioned how health officials can regulate activity on sidewalks, where many of his restaurants have outdoor tables.

"I don't know how it would create any more of an environmental risk than people walking dogs by on the sidewalk," Hatem said. "If they want to regulate something, we have a lot of street vagrants hounding our guests who are probably more of an environmental risk than the puppies."

"We're certainly pet-friendly," Hatem said. "We're going to continue to be pet-friendly until we're told otherwise."

There are a number of potential risks including tripping, biting, dog fights, barking, allergies, and the transfer of dangerous microorganisms such as E. coli, Salmonella and Cryptosporidium. While pathogens can be transferred from pet-to-human and back and theoretically cause illness, there haven't been any patio-related outbreaks recorded.

Florida recently enacted rules permiting doggie dining with provisions to reduce pet and owner co-eating related risks; some restaurants have also set aside entire sections for doggie dining. Rules state that hand sanitizer be available, restaurant staff are not allowed to touch the pets while working and poop must be picked up promptly. Seems reasonable.

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What with baby Sorenne, and the breastfeeding, and my general attitude, there’s been a lot of nakedness around the house lately.

However, with student Katie arriving tomorrow from Canada to take up residence in the basement, time to be more discreet.

Unlike the dude in Australia’s Northern Territory who was served hot chips (right, exactly as shown) at a Territory eatery wearing … nothing.

The late night reveller stripped bare before putting in his order at the Darwin City 24-Hour Eatery on Smith St early on Monday.

A witness said the naked man walked into the shop to order two buckets of chips with gravy.

And the female attendant was reportedly only too happy to serve the nude customer.
 

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Florida Today reports that Cocoa Beach could become the first beachside community in Brevard County, Florida, to allow restaurant patrons to bring their dogs to dinner (instead of leaving them outside in the rain, left).

Tonya Morgan, general manager at The Surf, which brought the request for the ordinance before the commission, said, "We thought that dogs were allowed on the patio. We never realized that we were breaking the law.”

Morgan said they wanted to legally do what they had already been doing at the request of customers, who come to the restaurant patio area with their dogs.

The commission voted 4-1 in favor of the measure. Councilman Ken Griffin, the lone dissenter, said, "I oppose this. I wasn’t raised up eating with dogs."

Doggie dining has pros and cons. The Florida state guidelines seem like a reasonable compromise.

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The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Chicago last night approved an ordinance that will allow doggie dining -- allowing dogs to accompany their owners to sidewalk cafes.

The new doggie dining ordinance will take effect Jan. 1. Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who co-sponsored the ordinance, said doggie dining would "go a long way to restoring our prestige as one of the most dog-friendly cities in America."

He added that it "allows restaurant owners to decide for themselves if they wish to allow dogs at their sidewalk cafes. ... The market will shift with consumers. Restaurants that find that dogs are not so popular will likely eliminate those options."

So no more being left in the backyard for some Chicago pups. I approve, as long as some very specific guidelines, like those practiced in Florida, are followed.

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Ed Murrieta writes about the doggie hospitality in the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington.

As for the health department regulations that prohibit dogs in taverns and restaurants? The owner of the Shamrock Tavern on Pacific Avenue was quoted as saying, "Well, they came in once and told us to keep him out or they’d fine us."

Mike Davis, a food safety supervisor for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said his department doesn’t go looking for dogs, but “we cite them when we see them. They have their pet sitting in the corner. The code says ‘no.’”

Murrieta then lists the local spots that are doggie friendly. It may be better to lay out some rules so everyone is playing on the same field.

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Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of Florida's so-called doggy dining law, a three-year experiment allowing pooches on restaurant patios.



Watching dogs in restaurants, stores and trains as we tour France has made us wonder if indeed 60 million Frenchmen can't be wrong.




Yet the other night during dinner at a patio table next to us, a couple sat with their ‘tween son and a tiny doggy that they passed from person to person until the food came. The Yorkie was then expected to sit calmly under a chair while his family ate. Within minutes he started yelping when a large stray wandered by looking for handouts. Most of the diners good-naturedly ignored the dog, but our neighbors, clear dog lovers, juggled patting the big beast, feeding table scraps to their own puppy, keeping the two from scuffling (surely the tiny dog would win), and finishing their dinners. The management softly discouraged feeding scraps to the stray, but there was no real effort made to dissuade him from joining the families.
No one seemed bothered.




But poop happens. Having to engage in athletic contortions to avoid dog poop in the narrow streets of Nîmes, Marseilles or Toulouse makes us recognize that dogs without yards, grass-lined sidewalks, and pooper-scoopers, quickly make an otherwise lovely city unsanitary. One pioneering doggy-friendly restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida discovered this when a canine guest had diarrhea during peak hours. The owner said, "Ultimately, we're here to serve people, not dogs," and reverted to the no-dogs-allowed camp.

As lawmakers in Oregon, Missouri, Washington, Florida, Chicago, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York City and San Diego have discovered, there are reasons why dogs and their companions should -- and should not -- be allowed to “have a brewski together, a hot dog together or whatever they want” as former governor Jeb Bush worded it a year ago in enacting Florida's legislation.
Florida appears to have considered the risks -- at least on paper. And although doggy dining may be convenient for a client, for the restaurant owner it’s not as simple.

Under the law, Florida cities are able to enact an ordinance allowing restaurants to apply for permission to open their patio doors to dogs, under the following conditions:
• food service employees must not touch, pet or handle dogs while serving food or beverages;
• food service employees must wash their hands promptly after touching, petting or handling dogs;
• patrons must be advised to wash their hands before eating and the restaurant must provide waterless hand sanitizer at each table;
• dogs must not come into contact with serving dishes, utensils and tableware or other items involved in food service (this is the only applicable law in France);
• dogs will not be allowed on chairs, tables or other furnishings.
• accidents involving dog waste must be cleaned immediately and the area must be sanitized;
• cats and other pets are not covered by the law; and,
• local governments can issue a fee to the restaurants for  permit.

While the benefits for a dog-loving nation may seem apparent, there are any number of risks: tripping, biting, dog fights, barking, allergies, and the transfer of dangerous microorganisms such as E. coli, salmonella and cryptosporidium, among others. If it's difficult to get employees to wash their hands after using the bathroom, what about after touching a dog? And do public health inspectors, who already investigate both dog bites and restaurants in many cities, really need more of both without extra help?

The transfer of pathogens from dogs to humans (and vice-versa) is well-documented -- but not on restaurant patios. The outbreaks of foodborne illness just aren't there. A pre-rehab Britney Spears changing her baby's diaper on a restaurant table likely poses a greater risk.

As pet owners, we would likely choose to frequent restaurants that allow our (exceedingly well-behaved) dogs on the terrace, as we have done in the past.



If we were restaurant owners, we would want to know we weren’t serving poop, whether it came with the bags of spinach, was ground up in the beef that wasn’t sufficiently cooked, or transmitted on our patio by a pet. Further, we'd want to know the dog -- and more importantly the owner -- before they came anywhere near our patio.

The evidence suggests that dogs can and should be allowed on restaurant patios -- but only at the discretion of restaurant staff and only if staff and owners follow the Florida protocol.

Amy Hubbell and Douglas Powell are with the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University.

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