The Fat Duck Cookbook has no suggestions on how to avoid norovirus and barfing on expensive food
A review of Heston Blumenthal’s, The Fat Duck Cookbook, appeared in this morning’s edition of the U.K. Independent newspaper.
Among the highlights:
“Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck Cookbook is presumably intended as a souvenir for those who have laid out £130 on the Tasting Menu at Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. At least it will give them a lasting memory of the meal. From several Fat Duck customers, I have heard complaints that they were far from replete after the experience. Though it is called a cookbook, scarcely anyone will ever cook from this volume. Many dishes call for specialist equipment and recondite ingredients. A dessert called Lime Grove requires liquid nitrogen, a Dewar flask, malic acid and high methoxyl confectioner's pectin. Even the simpler dishes call for more time and application than anyone but an extreme culinary obsessive will want to spend. “
No mention in the review or the book about how to control the spread of norovirus in an upscale restaurant. Fortunately, the U.K. Health Protection Agency has published some suggestions.
Celebrity chef dumbass: Fat Duck felled by norovirus in raw oysters; 'weaknesses in procedures - delayed response to incident'
Chapman occasionally comes up with a good line. Usually, I do all the work on a piece (at least in my mind), and he’ll put in one sentence, but it will be the one that is remembered.
Why didn’t I think of that?
Chapman described celebrity chef and molecular gastrologest Heston Blumenthal (below, right) as the love child of Alton Brown and longtime Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Mats Sundin (right).
Why didn’t I think of that.
Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant – which is consistently rated as the best in the U.K. – was the source of over 500 illnesses in early 2009. At the time, Blumenthal said, “tests for viral infections and food poisoning have proved negative and there is speculation that the winter outbreak of norovirus could be the real reason why they became sick.”
Way to blame the consumer, those paying hundreds of pounds for the privilege of barfing.
The U.K. Health Protection Agency published a report on the outbreak today that concluded:
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* There was a large outbreak of food poisoning among diners at the Fat Duck Restaurant in January and February 2009, with more than 500 reporting illness - over 15% of those dining there during this period
* The organism responsible was norovirus which was probably introduced via shellfish (more diners who ate shellfish dishes reported illness). Oysters were served raw; razor clams may not have been appropriately handled or cooked; tracing of shellfish to source showed evidence of contamination and there have been reports of illness in other establishments associated with oysters from the same source
* The outbreak continued for at least six weeks (between January 6 and February 22) because of ongoing transmission at the restaurant - which may have occurred through continuous contamination of foods prepared in the restaurant or by person-to-person spread between staff and diners or a mixture of both
* Several weaknesses in procedures at the restaurant may have contributed to ongoing transmission including: delayed response to the incident; staff working when they should have been off sick and using the wrong environmental cleaning products
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* Delays in notification of illness may have affected the ability of the investigation to identify the exact reason for the norovirus contamination
It’s the chef’s responsibility to source food from safe sources. And if the chef thinks raw shellfish is a smart thing to serve, and to have sick workers working, then, customers get what they pay for.
Take care of your patrons, especially at £340
I've been following food porn backlash in the UK as a result of an outbreak of something at quasi-celebrity Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, the Fat Duck. Today Cold Mud picked up a blog post from one of the walking wounded who experienced “two weeks of serious unpleasantness”.
The poster writes:
“The only things that felt a bit dodgy on the way down were the oysters. Neither of us is a huge fan, but we both ate them because we were determined not to miss out on anything. Anyway, we were eating in one of the most famous restaurants in the world so we were confident that there wouldn't be anything wrong with them."
I especially love this quote; it demonstrates the power of trust in food sources -- this guy is famous, I have a personal connection, I don't want to miss out, he wouldn't make me sick.
At the end of the post, the author discusses the lack of communication between the Fat Duck and ill patrons, and here's where it all goes really wrong for me:
“The next day I went onto the Fat Duck website and sent them an email. At that point the news bulletins were saying that 40 or so diners had been affected and I wrote something to the effect of: 'This has happened to us as well. We loved the meal and we’re not angry but count us among the walking wounded and let us know what's happening.’
“We received no reply so I wrote quite a long letter. I haven’t received a reply to that either. I’m appalled because I was so entranced by Heston Blumenthal and he comes across as being very decent and clever. We had been so ill and, at the very least, we expected some kind of acknowledgment. We really thought they would be interested in what had happened to us."
Dude, Captain Food Porn Blumenthal, you need to respond to patrons who got sick at your restaurant. It doesn't matter whether contamination occurred in your restaurant, or if it was something contaminated prior to its arrival (Those dodgy oysters? Fresh sprouts? Whatever). You are the face and brand associated with that meal. You have folks reaching out to you for info, or just to let you know what happened to them, you need to acknowledge it. Tell them what you are doing to find out what happened, and how you manage food safety in your organization -- especially how you assess safe suppliers.
In last week's food safety infosheet (you can download it here) we focused on the fallout of a Staphylococcus aureus outbreak associated with baked hams in Kentucky -- a 72-year-old man died and a wrongful death suit has been filed against the operator. Outbreaks like this one, and the Fat Duck happen all the time. It is on operators to be proactively identify risks with their products, address them and prepare for when things go wrong. And answer emails from ill patrons. And post something on your website about the outbreak -- have that stuff ready to go, because it's one of the first places people will be looking.
Cats eating better than their owners
I’ve just started my first year of veterinary school, and after only two days into the program, I’ve been contacted by at least five pet food companies touting their premium pet food that is healthy for pets and tasty as well. I suppose that pets enjoy the variety of flavors, but a new study from Australia suggests it’s doing more harm than good.
Deakin University scientist Dr Giovanni Turchini has discovered an estimated 2.48 million tonnes of forage fish - a limited biological resource - is consumed by the global cat food industry each year.
This puts cats ahead of people as far as consumption rates go; pet cats are eating an estimated 13.7 kilograms of fish a year, which far exceeds the Australian average (human) per capita fish and seafood consumption of around 11 kilograms.
Just as obesity has become a major epidemic among Americans, it is also an epidemic among pets. These tasty canned foods with enticing flavors such as “shredded yellowfin tuna fare” only encourage pets to grow wider around the belly all while pet food companies continue to cook up new ideas for making cats want their food.
What happened to cats eating regular dry food? Though, even the dry food goes overboard for Fancy Feast, which touts three different flavors for the finicky cat. With the slogan of “A bowl full of ‘I love you,’” Fancy Feast has definitely gone overboard in pampering cats. If you love your pet, then why are you feeding it a high-fat meal?
The luxury products containing fish unfortunately are contributing to the overfishing problem worldwide.
