Food safety doesn't just happen in English - so why aren't restaurant inspection disclosure results available in other languages?
You’d figure that getting stuff translated into other languages would be a breeze, since I have an in with the modern languages department. But to do it in real-time is a bit messy.
Whether it’s a recall, an inspection report or a warning label, not everyone who eats in the U.S. is fluent in English. That’s why our food safety infosheets are now available weekly in French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Debbie Pacheco of blogTO writes today that the garbage disposal calendar Toronto distributes has sections in various languages, so why, then, is something as important as Toronto's DineSafe guidelines only available in English?
One restaurateur told Pacheco he's interpreted food preparation instructions for his staff before. "If you want that traditional food, it's usually the older people who don't necessarily speak English that cook it." He manages his kitchen and is certified in food handling. The city requires that someone with a food handling certificate supervise the kitchen at all times while it's operating.
Mebrak, who's been with Cleopatra restaurant for nine years, put it best. "It's important people really understand how to handle food. It's about safety for everyone."
New Food Safety Infosheet: Five students ill from outbreak linked to Campylobacter at school in UK
The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food handlers, is now available at www.foodsafetyinfosheets.com and http://bites.ksu.edu/infosheets (with multiple language translations of past infosheets)
Food Safety Infosheet highlights:
- Environmental health officers focus on cross-contamination practices of food handlers.
- Infections often are a result of cross-contamination, cooking to unsafe temperatures or contact with animals; Campylobacter is not often passed person-to person.
- Clean and sanitize all surfaces (cutting boards, counters) between raw and ready-to-eat food preparation.
- Use different utensils such as knives, tongs and lifters for raw and ready-to-eat foods, if cleaning and sanitizing between use isn't practical.
Food safety infosheets are created weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.
You can download the food safety infosheet here.
If you yak on your cat, what's the best way to clean it and avoid norovirus transmission?
Amy has covered what to do if a student pukes in class; Ben and Mayra have made up a groovy infosheet on cleaning procedures.
But what if you yak on your cat or dog?
Specifically, as Scott Weese asks at the Worms & Germs Blog, when he should be enjoying turkey in Guelph, how do you disinfect a cat?
Weese explains how a colleague’s wife once had norovirus and spewed on the family cat, and says, dogs and cats cannot become infected with norovirus. However, they could act as a source of infection is their coat was contaminated.
Weese figures a bath is the best way to go (not the oven, right) and that anyone bathing a heavily contaminated animal should wear a mask and gloves, change their clothes after, clean any contaminated surfaces with bleach or another disinfectant and wash their hands.
He also concludes that the easiest way to handle this is to avoid vomiting on pets.
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New Food Safety Infosheet:Effects of E. coli O157:H7 linked to grilled burger leaves woman paralyzed
In Sunday's New York Times, journalist Michael Moss profiled a 2007 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to ground beef. The tragic story focused on one of the victims, Stephanie Smith, a 22-year-old woman who was in a coma and paralyzed after acquiring the pathogen.
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.
New Food Safety Infosheet:Over 70 children ill from E. coli O157:H7 in two separate petting zoo outbreaks
Petting zoos, farm visits and local fairs are all settings for pathogen risks, especially for kids. Scott Weese at wormsandgerms detailed some of the risks in action that he saw recently at an Ontario site. Media reports out of the UK suggest that in the wake of the recent farm visit-linked outbreak with over 60 children ill with E. coli O157, agritourism business is down. Another 13 kids are also ill in outbreak linked to the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver.
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.
Food safety infosheets now available in French, Spanish and Portuguese
I’m OK at coaching hockey. Soccer, not so much.
Years ago, one of my girl’s needed a coach for a team, so I volunteered. One of the parents was from Portugal. By my third game he was screaming at me from the sidelines.
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Translation sounds easy.
It’s not.
Everyone interprets stuff differently
But I’ve got some people, and hopefully the translation pics won’t continue to crash the main website, and we’ll see where it all goes.
French, Spanish and Portuguese. Check them out.
Fat Duck outbreak redux -- food safety infosheet version
This week's food safety infosheet, directed at foodservice staff is attached here. The infosheet focuses on an outbreak at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant which happened earlier this year. 
While norovirus illnesses were initially linked to patrons who ate shellfish, health authorities believe that ill staff members handling other food also contributed to the length and scope of the outbreak.
Michelin Stars don't mean anything when it comes to food safety culture.
Download the Fat Duck food safety infosheet here.
French and Spanish food safety infosheets now available at bites.ksu.edu
Amy is a French professor. Her influence on me has been profound – and has even involved some language awareness stuff.
That’s why we have don’t eat poop shirts in French, Chinese and Spanish.
You’d figure that getting stuff translated into other languages would be a breeze, since I have an in with the department. But to do it in real-time is a bit messy. The first time I tried to upload a French infosheet, last week, I crashed the entire bites.ksu.edu site.
Damn you, France.
We’ve been messing around but are reasonably confident we’ve got the people and technology in place to at least translate food safety infosheets on a weekly basis. The Spanish food safety infosheets are available at http://bites.ksu.edu/infosheets-sp, and the French food safety infosheets are available at http://bites.ksu.edu/infosheets-fr.
Is this picture too gross? Will you think about washing your hands? H1N1 edition
Those ubiquitous signs, “Employees Must Wash Hands” probably don’t have the desired effect. Jon Stewart says, they sure ain’t keeping the piss out of your Happy Meals.
Some people have told us images like the one below, are too graphic and will offend people. Maybe. I’m offended that people don’t wash their hands which can lead to other people barfing and spreading things like the H1N1 virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control seems to agree, and has called for new food safety messages using new media.
So with all those germ factories … I mean students … returning to the confined quarters of residence living, here’s some tips for not barfing:
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• If you are sick with flu-like symptoms, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone. Keep away from others as much as possible.
• Wash your hands often especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective, but are best used after proper handwashing.
Hepatitis A debacle in Illinois
Who knew what, when? A common theme in foodborne illness outbreak management is how was the essential information managed and responded to (whether it was knowledge of a contaminated product, linked illnesses or reporting an infected food handler). As more information trickles out about 
a food handler-linked Hepatitis A outbreak in Milan, Illinois it gets more confusing as to when the operator knew about the illness. Today a customer came forward and claims overhearing the discussion:
The woman says she was waiting in line to order at the McDonalds in Milan on June 25th, when she heard employee Cheryl Schram approach a manager behind the counter.
''She came out and she said Michelle, I was diagnosed with Hepatitis A'', said the woman who doesn't want her name used. ''I was in there and I heard her say that''.
The customer says she knows what she heard that day. ''I swear on my mothers grave''.
This week's food safety infosheet is all about the Hep A outbreak. Download it here.
New food safety infosheet -- Harvey's E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak Report Released
The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food handlers is also now available at foodsafetyinfosheets.ksu.edu. Infosheets are created weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world.
This week's food safety infosheet focuses on a Fall 2008 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak inked to a Harvey's restaurant in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. 
Food safety infosheet highlights:
- Health authorities point to Spanish red onions as most likley source of the outbreak
- Poor sanitation of onion dicer may have prolonged the outbreak
- Equipment should be fully disassembled to allow for cleaning and sanitizing of hard to reach areas
Food safety infosheets are created weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu
You can follow food safety infosheets stories and barfblog on twitter @benjaminchapman and @barfblog.
Click here to download a pdf of the food safety infosheet.
Fat Duck staff members worked while ill
UK celeb chef Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, The Fat Duck, has now been linked to over 400 illnesses. Moleculargastrologest Blumenthal, who looks like the love child of Alton Brown and Mats Sundin, reportedly had up to 16 food handlers working with norovirus symptoms at the restaurant. Not a great idea.
The reality of the food industry is that a sick day is a day without pay and can lead to less hours. This continues to be a problem, especially with norovirus as ill food handlers are often linked to large-scale outbreaks.
Below is a food safety infosheet dedicated to the Fat Duck outrbreak. You can download the food safety infosheet here.
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C.C. Sabathia returns after missing time with virus
What is going on in the baseball spring training facilities? MLB.com and ESPN.com reported yesterday that the Yankees Pitcher and big-time free agent signee, C.C. Sabathia missed time over the weekend with an intestinal virus.
Yankee's Manager Joe Girardi was quoted as saying: "He said he wanted to throw his BP and he ended up throwing up again"
C.C. came back on Sunday and reportedly looked pretty decent against Yankee sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.
Sabathia had been scheduled to pitch Saturday, but he was unable to make it to the mound, fighting a virus that he acquired from his children, who had been ill earlier in the week.
Probably a good idea for the Yankees (and maybe all MLB staff) to take a look at our cleaning up vomit/norovirus food safety infosheet.
Update: Sounds like the Astros and Giants also have some virus control issues.
My parents probably saved me from Salmonella
I always wanted a pet turtle. When I was 10, I was really into comics (nerd alert). There was a comic book store in between my school and house, that I used to spend lots of time at, and all of my allowance. Right around that time, an underground comic book from creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird made its debut: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What a ridiculous concept, but the coolest thing to this 10-year-old comic nerd. This was before the really cheesy cartoon, and even cheesier movies. When the Ninja Turtles were cool.
I made nunchaku and a bo staff out of broomsticks and chains from the hardware store. I was a 10-year-old blonde-haired Canadian Napoleon Dynamite.
All of this background to set this up: I also begged my parents for a pet turtle. I was going to keep him in my room, and call him Leonardo. My parents refused and got me a cat instead.
I know it had little to do with pathogen concerns, and lots to do with the potential smell. However, I'm grateful they shielded me from Salmonellosis.
This week's food safety infosheet is all about reptile-related food safety concerns.
Download the infosheet here.
Talking turkey
Being a food safety nerd, I’ve had a lot of fun developing food safety infosheets over the past 5 years. The idea behind the infosheets is to take stories, add some humour/shock/kitch and generate dialogue around food safety.
The turkey food safety infosheet is generating a lot of interest. I’m no Sarah Palin, but most responses have been from over-eager gotcha folks who are pointing out what appears to them to be serious food safety errors (especially around thawing, stuffing and cooling leftovers). Some have been nice; others, not so much.
Our focus in building the food safety infosheets is to provide practices based on the best available science. And sometimes what the FDA Food Code, USDA FSIS consumer education and published peer-reviewed articles say around food safety practices differ.
Go figure.
We base the food safety infosheets on the best available science, not jurisdictional regulation. It’s our way of being consistent because recommendations changes so much from location to location (Canada and the U.S. recommend two different temperatures for endpoint temp for poultry: 165F in the U.S., and 180F in Canada -- both countries apparently looking at the same data).
People seem to get especially antsy when we disagree with the regulators. Everything we put in "what you can do" section of the food safety infosheets has to have references to back it up (which sometimes the regulatory recommendations do not).
Here are the references for the 3 recommendations folks have mentioned the most (thawing, cooking stuffing to 150F and cooling leftovers)
Thawing on the counter:
Lacroix BJ, Li KW, Powell DA. 2003. Consumer food handling recommendations: is thawing of turkey a food safety issue? Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 64(2): 59-61. (this whole paper can be found at the bottom of this post)
Lee M. 1993. Methods and risks of defrosting turkeys. Environmental Health Review (Winter):96-100.
OP Snyder, 1999. Thawing at ambient temperature on the counter. Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management, St. Paul, MN USA.
Stuffing:
The 150F recommendation is based on a 6-7 log reduction of salmonella in stuffing at 140F for 12.7 min (pathogen destruction is time/temperature, and it will take that long to take the stuffing from 140-150. Pete Snyder's Turkey HACCP document explains it well (second paragraph on page 2).
From the doc:
As expected, no salmonellae or staphylococci was recovered. They were killed above 130°F as the turkey was cooking. Actually, if the stuffing had been sampled at 140 to 150°F, they would have found that these organisms would be dead, considering that 140°F for 12.7 minutes gives a 7D reduction of Salmonella in beef.
Cooling:
Turkey should be refrigerated within 2 -- and continuously cooled reaching 41F within 15 hours. Pete Snyder also has a referenced cooling paper that explains this well.
from the doc:
In 1992, this author received an agreement from Ray Beaulieu and Jeffery Rhodehamel at the FDA that there was indeed no scientific basis for the FDA retail food cooling regimes, and that it was appropriate to do a study. With the help of Dr. Vijay K. Juneja, USDA ARS ERRC, a study was conducted using hamburger as the food item and C. perfringens as the target organism (Juneja, 1994). Clostridium perfringens was selected, because, of the three spores, C.perfringens has the shortest lag and fastest generation time.
Hamburger was selected as the media, because C. perfringens is found in hamburger, and hamburger has often been involved in C. perfringens outbreaks. Various cooling times were evaluated in order to determine the safe cooling time. One cooling time chosen arbitrarily was 15 hours to go from 130 to 45ºF, with a 38ºF temperature of coolant, in this case, air in the refrigerator. The 15-hour cooling time showed about 3 multiplications of C. perfringens. The USDA has accepted this cooling time as safe (Federal Register, January 6, 1999), because it now accepts cooling when there are 3 or less multiplications of C.perfringens.
As I replied to one interested subscriber, here are our references, show us yours.
Food safety infosheets to be offered in Spanish
Every week or thereabouts, Ben Chapman and a few of us electronically chat and come up with a food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food handlers, and available at foodsafetyinfosheets.ksu.edu or http://fsninfosheets.blogspot.com/.
Thanks to Mayra Rivarola, food safety infosheets will now be translated into Spanish as they appear, and are available at http://fsninfosheetsesp.blogspot.com/.
Here is the most recent food safety infosheet in Spanish.
Nueva Infosheet de Food Safety Network – Si estás enfermo, quedate en casa
El más reciente folleto sobre seguridad alimenticia, un relato gráfico de una página dirigido a productores de alimentos, está ahora disponible en http://fsninfosheetsesp.blogspot.com/
Puntos importantes:
Si estás enfermo con diarrea o vomito, habla con tu gerente. Es mejor que te quedes en casa para evitar la transmissión de enfermedades.
Una ley en Indiana requiere que los trabajadores se queden en casa si son diagnosticados con una de las siguientes 5 enfermedades: salmonella, shiga toxin-producing E. coli, shigella, hepatitis A o norovirus.
Un cocinero en Michigan se presentó enfermo al trabajo en el 2006 y fue asociado a un brote de norovirus que enfermó a 364 clientes después de vomitar en los basureros de la cocina.
Que puedes hacer: Llama al trabajo para avisar que estás enfermo. Siempre lávate las manos
Estos folletos son creados semanalmente y repartidos a restaurantes, supermercados, granjas, y son usados en entrenamientos alrededor del mundo. Si tienes alguna solicitud de otro tema, fotos que te gustaría compartir, contacta con Ben Chapman en bchapman@uoguelph.ca
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New Food Safety Infosheet -- Stay home if you are sick
Don't go to work if you are ill.
It's easy to say, but hard to do. Especially if you are a food handler supporting a family, and you don't get paid for sick days. Or if you are a line cook and your boss tells you that she really needs you to show up because someone is already sick.
Indiana, like other juresdictions around North America has a law that says if a food handler has one of a handful of illnesses that can be passed to the public through food, they need to stay home. Indiana's list includes: Salmonella, shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Shigella, hepatitis A and norovirus.
According to the Star Press, the Delaware County (IN) Health Department is starting to crack down on food establishments that lack a policy of excluding employees from work if they have one of the five illnesses: "A recent informal survey revealed operators typically could not name any of the five reportable illnesses, or name the reportable symptoms," the Indiana State Department of Health reports in its Winter 2008 newsletter Food Bytes. "Only a few could name any symptoms and perhaps name one reportable illness.
Why hasn't the law been enforced before now?
"It was sort of like, not a hidden rule, but not a very well understood rule," said Terry Troxell, food division supervisor at the county health department. "No one knew its importance. Now, after we've become standardized by the state, it's one of the things being picked up on during inspections."
This week's Food Safety Infosheet is all about why it is important to stay home if you are ill, and stay away from food handling until you stop shedding the pathogen in your poop and puke.
Click here to download the Food Safety Infosheet
What do you do if someone pukes at your restaurant or event?
Clean it up. That's the easy answer.
Exactly how is another question. After Amy's story of one of her students yacking in class, we started tossing around that question and using norovirus outbreaks at Georgetown and USC as hooks. Mayra and I decided to build a food safety infosheet around it. After reviewing available guidelines from regulators and peer-reviewed research publications, we came up with some steps for cleaning up vomit. 
We based our recommedations on a norovirus-induced vomit (because aerosolized spread of virus particles is likely).
If you are looking for a cool paper on vomit, check out: Evidence for airborne transmission of Norwalk-like virus (NLV) in a hotel restaurant (Epidemiology and Infection, 2000. 124:481-487), which discusses the spread of post-vomit norovirus (abstract is here).
A pdf of the vomit cleanup food safety infosheet can be found here.
Ladies Tea outbreak linked to Country Cottage
An E. coli O111 outbreak linked to Country Cottage, a Locust Grove, OK buffet restaurant, has expanded to a church gathering in Broken Arrow, OK (not to be confused with Neil Young's home, the Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California).
According to KFSM, Tests show at least one person at the tea, which was catered by Country Cottage, has E. coli O111. There are four additional probable cases and 10 suspected cases.
The Country Cottage outbreak was the inspiration for the latest iFSN infosheet, which you can download here.
New International Food Safety Network Infosheet -- Food safety at festivals and fairs
Prior to an ultimate frisbee game on Monday night, I was warming up with a friend who attended this year's installment of Hillside. As we jogged she told me all about the weekend: The bands were great, but the best part of the weekend was the food. She described a set-up where many local restaurants have temporary booths and were serving up selections of their normal menus to the hungry concert-goers.
This conversation made me think about last year's Salmonella outbreak linked to the Taste of Chicago. Temporary kitchens can be problematic for the staff who work in them when it comes to controlling food safety risks. Equipment may not be readily available, line-ups add to the time pressure, spaces can be cramped and handwashing sinks might be hard to access (or even find).
Coupling my conversation with a link that Doug came across about fair food safety in Wisconsin led to today's infosheet, which can be downloaded here.After the infosheet was created, Doug sent on another link about a Shigella outbreak in Oregon -- which has been linked to visiting the Oregon County fair. Depending on the information that follows in the upcoming days, maybe next week's infosheet with focus on that outbreak.
New International Food Safety Network Infosheet -- Foodborne illnesses prompt fine at golf course in Western New York
Click here to download the infosheet.
New iFSN Food Safety Infosheet: Raw egg dish linked to 18 Salmonella illnesses
Today's infosheet focuses on a couple of recent outbreaks where raw egg dishes were implicated on Guernsey Island and in Australia. Raw egg dishes including Caesar salad dressing, Hollandaise, mayonnaise, mousses, icings and homemade ice cream have been linked to Salmonella outbreaks.
Click here to download the infosheet.
Infosheets are created weekly by iFSN and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at bchapman@uoguelph.ca
Food handlers linked to outbreaks of Salmonella -- New food safety infosheet
These outbreaks are also the stories we have concentrated on in today's iFSN food safety infosheet. Click here to download the infosheet.
Princeton Salmonella outbreak reaches 28 confirmed cases
A school official said that the latest date of onset of symptoms for the confirmed cases is May 2,
which was before Princeton took its intervention measures to close the Mexican and salad food stations and remove some food foods at its largest dining facility on campus — the Frist Campus Center.This outbreak was the inspiration for this week's infosheet, which can be downloaded here.
Infosheet: E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Nebraska linked to Roast Beef Dinner
Infosheet highlights:
State health officials are continuing to investigate an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Sarpy County that sickened 14 people — including a 7-year-old — and sent four people to the hospital.
What you need to worry about in a kitchen when preparing a large dinner:
-Temperature control
-Cross-contamination
-Personal Hygiene
E.coli O157:H7 is usually found in human and animal poop. Keep the poop out of the food you serve.
Click here to download the sheet.
New International Food Safety Network Infosheet -- Brazillian soccer club hit with hepatitis A
authorities are linking the outbreak to shared water bottles (they must have been contaminated with some nasty poop).You can download the infosheet here.
Community dinner outbreaks and temporary events
Infosheet highlights:
Roping Roundup" in Arizona and "Beast Feast" in Alabama linked to over 100 cases of foodborne illness
Community dinners can provide great fun and food experiences but because they may be at temporary sites, food
preparation, storage and transport can be problematic.
What you need to worry about in a kitchen at a group dinner:
-Temperature control
-Cross-contamination
-Personal Hygiene
Download the infosheet here.
Dude, wash your hands: Part 2
Turtles might be cute, but they can also be a nasty pet.
Click here to download the infosheet.
The story was so good, we made it into an infosheet
If you have any stories that you think need infosheet attention, please send them on to bchapman@uoguelph.ca.
Today's ifsn infosheet: ground beef products linked to outbreak
keeping foods separate, using clean equipment and handwashing. You can download the infosheet here.
Be appropriate in the kitchen
We hear that some companies build their food safety training around the infosheets, and we are in the midst of evaluating their impact on changing practices with food handlers. As we wrote last week, (and today's sheet is a good example) through iFSN's infosheets, we try to put a compelling spin on food safety information, attempting to draw in even the laziest, creepiest and stonedest of food handlers.
Like cockroaches? Hit up some Irish businesses
FSAI chief executive said Dr John O'Brien was quoted as saying "Catering for increased turnover during the Christmas festivities can result in commercial caterers, restaurants and retailers working flat out to meet demands."
Dr. O'Brien goes on to say that pest control and proper storage are especially important around the holidays as special functions may mean large quantities of food are often prepared several hours in advance, increasing pressure on refrigeration storage, meaning procedures should be monitored carefully.
Here's the infosheet -- enjoy the giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches
iFSN food safety infosheets -- in Spanish
Hoja Informativa de la Red de Seguridad Alimenticia: Lávese las manos y prevenga el NorovirusThat means that iFSN has started a trial translating weekly food safety infosheets into Spanish. They will be available at http://fsninfosheetsesp.blogspot.com/.
Let us know what you think:
bchampan@uoguelph.ca
or
dpowell@ksu.edu
