Customer, parent outraged over Hepatitis A linked to Illinois McDonald's
There are 19 confirmed cases of Hepatitis A in Illinois, primarily in Rock Island County, and they appear to be linked to a McDonald’s restaurant in Milan, Illinois that was closed Wednesday evening.
.jpeg)
The mother of a McDonalds employee who did not wish to be identified, said her daughter worked from 11-5 on Wednesday and she then accompanied her to the Rock Island County Health Department where employees were being screened for Hepatitis A.
The mother said,
"I'm very angry. They put my daughter in jeopardy along with the public and other people."
Arnie Hanson, his wife and daughter were among the last to be served food on Wednesday evening. A manager had to unlock a door so they could leave.
"You should be able to trust who's preparing your food. It's very disappointing. … We're upset about it because not only me and my wife ate there. We also had our 11-year-old daughter. Now you're dealing with kids. It's just not right."
Food safety in pregnancy is not simple
Yesterday I enjoyed an aperitif at Houlihan’s with my friend Angélique. Although the conversation was excellent, ordering was complicated for me. I wasn’t supposed to eat at least half of the items offered, and another third of them didn’t sound good to me. Pregnancy food safety guidelines combined with changing tastes and sensitivity to smells make ordering very difficult. On our trip home from Australia on Sunday, for example, I wanted to grab a sandwich at LAX, and because we were at a deli, that left only one choice for me: a chicken Panini. Everything else had unheated deli meat – known to put me at risk for listeria.
At Houlihan’s, I used to enjoy the tuna wontons, but the tuna is only seared and I don’t trust raw fish right now. I couldn’t eat the very appetizing brie starter because the waitress didn’t think it was heated, and the bruschetta that we did share was a big question mark for me. It had goat’s cheese together with the tomato mix. We now know that tomatoes are all supposedly safe from Salmonella, but how safe was the cheese? I take at least a little comfort in knowing that I’ve been fully vaccinated against Hepatitis A thanks to my past wild travels. Angélique and I also shared a spinach and artichoke dip that came with fresh cilantro and scallions sprinkled all over the chips. I grow my own cilantro at home and know how hard it is to keep it clean and out of the snails’ reach …
Finally, very hungry, I just ate and tried to ignore the smaller risk factors. I did my best but I still didn’t feel confident that my food was safe. Who knows or can control what was happening in the kitchen?
For those who want to tell me, and every pregnant woman, how simple it is to eat safely during pregnancy, I beg to differ. See “Listeria warning for pregnant women” for example. Dr. Paul McKeown says, “Simple measures such as ensuring that the fridge is in good working order with the temperature between two and five degrees Celsius, eating food that is well within its use-by date so that harmful bugs will not have had time to grow and practising good general food hygiene will reduce the risk of listeriosis.”
We, as consumers, can reduce some of the risks but we cannot eliminate them. And I find that the more I know about food safety, the more complicated all of this becomes. When you’re hungry and the airline offers you a roll with cheddar and pastrami … and you ask your food safety expert partner, “if I pick off the pastrami, is the sandwich safe to eat and how much cross contamination might have taken place?” and he shrugs … sometimes you have to decide for yourself.
.jpg)
Hepatitis A case confirmed at B.C. ski resort restaurant
The British Columbia Interior Health Authority warned yesterday that people who ate at the Sun Peaks ski resort near Kamloops between January 7 and 24 may have been exposed to Hepatitis A.
.jpg)
Dr. Digby Horne, the medical health officer for the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap area told CBC News on Wednesday morning that a food handler at Masa’s Bar and Grill developed the virus after travelling outside of the county.
As a result, Interior Health is urging anyone who ate at Masa’s after 3 p.m. PT on January 16, 18, 20, 23 or 24 to get vaccinated.
And food handlers, wash your damn hands.
Dr. Digby Horne, the medical health officer for the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap area told CBC News on Wednesday morning that a food handler at Masa’s Bar and Grill developed the virus after travelling outside of the county.As a result, Interior Health is urging anyone who ate at Masa’s after 3 p.m. PT on January 16, 18, 20, 23 or 24 to get vaccinated.
And food handlers, wash your damn hands.
New International Food Safety Network Podcast -- Week of 10/26/07
This week in the podcast we look at:
- Hepatitis A in Calgary
- More beef recalls
- Salmonella in Georgia
McDonald's food handler in Calgary has hepatitis A
A food handler at a McDonald's restaurant in Calgary, AB was diagnosed with hepatitis A this week, resulting a risk of exposure to thousands of customer who ate there between October 1 and 23.
There has been a bunch of coverage locally and nationally. While watching Canada AM this morning I caught this on the Crawl; "Thousands exposed to Hep A at Calgary McDonald's" The Calgary Herald, and Calgary Sun both covered the story today.
From the Herald:
Ron Thompkins, who drives a semi-trailer truck in the area and eats at that McDonald's almost everyday, plans to get vaccinated. "This really sucks," he said, explaining that he's concerned about the cleanliness of McDonald's in general. "The bathrooms are very dirty. The toilets are filthy. It needs to be cleaned more."
I think it's interesting that Thompkins brings up that he's concerned about how often the bathrooms are cleaned, and still eats at the McDonald's almost every day. I'm not surprised, likely the safety of the food at this location was never in question for Tompkins until the hep A news hit -- that's an assumption I'm making based on him eating there often. Now he's been told about the risk and he's voicing something he noticed but didn't think was a problem. This is one of the problems food safety communicators face -- though around 1 in 4 people get sick each year, events like these are still quite rare, and only when they occur do some individuals (consumers, staff, managers) really take notice.
For today's iFSN infosheet sheet, we used the story as the hook, and focused on what food handlers can do. Hep a is more problematic for businesses than other pathogens because staff can have and pass on the virus without showing symptoms, and even if the food handler is a handwashing superstar you are going to have a line up outside your restaurant (or at the health unit/clinic) while patrons get their post-exposure shots. So maybe the answer for some businesses is to require (and possibly pay for) hep A vaccines for food handlers. Staff turnover, lack of protection from other bugs and the cost are problems, but vaccinations may be worth requiring to keep your company out of the newspaper.
There has been a bunch of coverage locally and nationally. While watching Canada AM this morning I caught this on the Crawl; "Thousands exposed to Hep A at Calgary McDonald's" The Calgary Herald, and Calgary Sun both covered the story today.
From the Herald:
Ron Thompkins, who drives a semi-trailer truck in the area and eats at that McDonald's almost everyday, plans to get vaccinated. "This really sucks," he said, explaining that he's concerned about the cleanliness of McDonald's in general. "The bathrooms are very dirty. The toilets are filthy. It needs to be cleaned more."
I think it's interesting that Thompkins brings up that he's concerned about how often the bathrooms are cleaned, and still eats at the McDonald's almost every day. I'm not surprised, likely the safety of the food at this location was never in question for Tompkins until the hep A news hit -- that's an assumption I'm making based on him eating there often. Now he's been told about the risk and he's voicing something he noticed but didn't think was a problem. This is one of the problems food safety communicators face -- though around 1 in 4 people get sick each year, events like these are still quite rare, and only when they occur do some individuals (consumers, staff, managers) really take notice.
For today's iFSN infosheet sheet, we used the story as the hook, and focused on what food handlers can do. Hep a is more problematic for businesses than other pathogens because staff can have and pass on the virus without showing symptoms, and even if the food handler is a handwashing superstar you are going to have a line up outside your restaurant (or at the health unit/clinic) while patrons get their post-exposure shots. So maybe the answer for some businesses is to require (and possibly pay for) hep A vaccines for food handlers. Staff turnover, lack of protection from other bugs and the cost are problems, but vaccinations may be worth requiring to keep your company out of the newspaper.
Talladega Shake-N-Bake
Is NASCAR a source of infectious disease? Sure, with 200,000 -- 300,000 people hanging out in the same area for the weekend.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Democrats who advised aides studying public health preparedness at mass gatherings to get immunized for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and influenza before going to the UAW-Ford 500 in Talladega last weekend and the Bank of America 500 this weekend northeast of Charlotte, N.C. are now being taunted by Republicans.
Linda Daves, the chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said,
"Democrats should know that there is no preventive measure yet designed to ward off the blue-collar values and patriotism that NASCAR fans represent. If they aren't careful, they just might catch some of it."
Republican Rep. Tim Walberg, whose district includes the Michigan International Speedway, said Democrats must not understand the term "rubbin' is racing," adding,
"To suggest that vaccines are needed to attend NASCAR races is insulting to millions of hardworking Americans who love their country and the smell of burnt rubber."
Shake-N-Bake.
Crisis management 101
.jpg)
The San Francisco Chronicle reports this morning that a single employee's illness at a single San Jose store propelled Jamba Juice into a high-profile damage control effort Friday as health authorities said thousands of customers might have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus.
Jamba Juice spokeswoman Anne Baker was cited as saying the staffer didn't contract the virus from the store at 1140 Lincoln Ave. in San Jose or its products. But because it's possible that the worker distributed virus particles, the store was cleaned and sanitized Wednesday night after the company learned of the worker's illness.
The virus is found in the feces of infected people, who can deposit it on food or surfaces even if they wash their hands after going to the bathroom. But hand washing is one of the most important measures to prevent contagion.
Don't serve poop.
Jamba Juice jolt
Martin Fenstersheib, the chief medical officer for Santa Clara County, was cited as saying on Thursday that about 4,000 customers could be at risk after a worker at a Jamba Juice store in San Jose, California, developed hepatitis A, adding,"During the time she was infectious, she was also working at Jamba Juice, so we were concerned that even though there is a corporate policy of good hand washing, you can't be 100 percent sure."
Paul Clayton, Jamba Juice's chief executive, was quoted as saying in a statement,
"Jamba Juice will pay eligible individuals, who satisfy the reimbursement requirements, their reasonable, out-of-pocket medical expenses related to the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis A."
Wash your hands. And don't serve poop.
