First lawsuit filed in E. coli O157 outbreak linked to UK petting zoo
Solicitor Jill Greenfield said she was instructed by relatives of the "seriously ill" youngster to pursue a negligence claim against Godstone Farm in Surrey.
But she would not disclose her clients' names or the age of the child involved.
"We need to establish what went wrong and who if anyone is at fault. I would hope that the farm representatives and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) will agree to meet with me as soon as possible in order that I can establish the facts as quickly as possible.
"I have contacted both the farm and the HPA today suggesting a meeting this week and I wait to hear."
The HPA said eight children remained in hospital and 67 cases of E.coli have been linked to Godstone farm.
Geese-poop-pathogens-barfing exorcism style: food safety tip #2
Old man winter is right around the corner and as usual the lovely geese of Manitoba begin their trek south to avoid the ridiculous temperatures of Winnipeg. No I’m not bitter, just a touch cool from my brisk morning rides to work on my scooter. Being jealous of the geese I was reminded this morning about food safety tip number 2. Avoid eating poop. Geese fecal matter or animal fecal matter contain pathogenic organisms such as E. coli and Salmonella. Geese really don’t care where they do their business which means it could be getting into your fruits and vegetables. Studies have also shown that Salmonella can survive in the soil for up 900 days and can also survive in fruits and vegetables (1). Washing your fruits and vegetables at this point will be ineffective.
I remember when I was a young lad in Edmonton, Alberta performing water quality testing for the triathlon games. The athletes were to use a man-made lake for the swimming portion of the event. The lake was consistently bombarded with E.coli due to the overwhelming number of surrounding geese. If poop can get into the water, it can get into your gardens as well. Foodborne illnesses associated with fruits and vegetables have been increasing. This increase is partly due to higher consumption of such products to satisfy a healthy diet, better reporting, and changes in production practices (2). It is important to think about where your food is coming from (farm-to-fork chain) and the potential sources of contamination, one being animal droppings. As a consumer, there is very little one can accomplish in reducing bacterial loads with certain types of vegetables, one being sprouts for instance. Pathogens can exceed10 7 per gram of sprouts without affecting its appearance (3). It is for this reason that the young, old, immunocomprised, and pregnant women should avoid raw sprouts.
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1. Charpentier, Heribert Hirt. The Dark Side of the Salad: Salmonella typhimurium Overcomes the Innate Immune Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Shows an Endopathogenic Lifestyle
2. Risk Profile on the Microbiological Contamination of Fruits and Vegetables Eaten Raw. Report of the Scientific Committee on Food (adopted on the 24th of April 2002). European Commission, Health and Consumer Protection Directorate- General.
3. Taormina PJ, Beuchat LR, Slusker R. 1999. Infections associated with eating seed sprouts: An international concern. Emerg Infect Dis; 5: 629-634.
Cross-contamination at checkout
Katie and I were craving hamburgers this weekend and Doug decided to indulge us. At the supermarket on Saturday he picked up some ground beef along with our normal cart full of produce and other proteins. As usual, I tried to separate the items in the cart so that the fresh produce was not touching the beef, pork, or salmon filets, even though all the meat was wrapped.
Checkout on Saturdays is always busy, and with a baby, a shopper’s plus card, a payment method, eco-friendly shopping bags, and chatter with the cashiers and baggers, there are plenty of distractions. On this particular day, the new store manager was bagging our items and complementing Doug on his culinary ability: “I can see you must be a good cook because those items require skill.” I chimed in with full-hearted agreement. Doug’s an awesome cook.
In the meantime, as the hamburger was being passed over the scale and scanner, juice poured out all over the place. I watched the cashier and was about to say something, but she pulled out a sanitary wipe and cleaned her hands. She then proceeded to pass every one of our produce items over the scale and through the hamburger juice. I felt like I should say something but wanted Doug to be the bad ass. And as I stood there stunned, not wanting the store manager to fire the woman, she completed our transaction and was on to the next person.
As soon as we exited the store, I declared we would have to wash every piece of produce in the bags. It didn’t even occur to me until later that the following person’s items were also going to pass over that potentially E.coli-laden scale. And maybe the same thing had already happened five times before we arrived. Maybe we were already at risk before our hamburger leaked all over.
It’s important to wash fresh fruits and vegetables to remove external contamination, because you never know where it’s been. Once your produce is exposed, it can contaminate other items in your bag or at home. Even if you are a careful consumer, it’s difficult to know just where that tomato has been.
(P.S. Doug cooked the burgers to a perfect 160F and they were delicious.)
Someone says they're sorry; Harvey's president apologizes
Harvey's Canada president Rick McNabb said Tuesday at a North Bay, Ontario, hotel that he’s sorry for the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has now stricken 190 people, of which 36 are laboratory confirmed.
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". . . On behalf of our company, I just want to say how sorry we are that something happened here, despite the fact that we don't know what it is, but it's clear we were associated with it."
McNabb said the local franchise operator, Cindy Gibb, is distraught and this is overwhelming for her.
I speak to her daily," he said. She's hurt, sorry and scared. The best-case scenario for everyone is to find the source."
New food safety infosheet -- Lettuce linked to E. coli O157 outbreak
Last week, an outbreak of E. coli O157 in Michigan was linked to bagged, industrial-sized packages of iceberg lettuce distributed to institutions and restaurants throughout the state, according to Michigan's Department of Community Health (MDCH). 34 illnesses in Michigan have been linked to this outbreak, as well as illnesses in IL, OH, NY and OR. MDCH suggests that the outbreak is associated with eating lettuce at a facilities supplied by Aunt Mid's Produce Company, a Detroit-based wholesale distributor.
In a press release yesterday, Aunt Mid's Produce Company reported that they hired an outside laboratory to test products and samples from their facility, and that the results from the tests "prove there is NO CONTAMINATION in Aunt Mid's products."
Strong words, especially since the outbreak has been linked to products that were consumed between September 8 and 19.
This outbreak is the focus of the newest Food Safety Infosheet, and can be found here.
