It was the Methomy in the salsa: Kansas couple charged in mass poisonings
A couple who were upset at the owner of a Mexican restaurant were charged today with deliberately sickening dozens of patrons by spiking the salsa with an insecticide.
The Capital-Journal of Topeka (Kansas) reports today that Arnoldo Bazan, 30, and his wife Yini De La Torre, 19, both of Shawnee (Kansas) and both in clear violation of the half-your-age-plus-7-rule for relationships, have been charged with mixing Methomyl into salsa served to patrons at Mi Ranchito restaurant in Lenexa (Kansas),.
That’s good for one count of conspiring to recklessly endanger other people by conspiring to tamper with a consumer product and two counts of tampering with a consumer product.
U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch explained Thursday that Bazan was employed at a Mi Ranchito restaurant in Olathe until June 27. De La Torre was employed at the Mi Ranchito in Lenexa until Aug. 30.
The indictment alleges Bazan perceived the owner of Mi Ranchito restaurants was responsible for Bazan losing his job and his vehicle. Bazan and De La Torre devised a plan to use a Methomyl-based pesticide to poison patrons of the restaurant in hopes the owner of Mi Ranchito would be blamed and suffer financial harm.
In July, Bazan followed the owner of the Mi Ranchito restaurant, Welch said. An anonymous notice was sent to the Mi Ranchito Web site threatening harm if Bazan's vehicle wasn't returned. On Aug. 10, De La Torre is accused of placing Methomyl into the salsa at the Mi Ranchito restaurant in Lenexa. On Aug. 11, 12 patrons immediately suffered nausea, abdominal cramps, weakness, sweating and discomfort.
On Aug. 28, Arnoldo Bazan sent word to the owner of Mi Ranchito by way of another person that "the worst" was yet to come, Welch said. On Aug. 30, De La Torre again placed Methomyl into salsa at the Mi Ranchito restaurant in Lenexa. On that day, 36 patrons immediately suffered nausea, abdominal cramps, weakness, sweating and chest discomfort.
On Sept. 8, Bazan reportedly told De La Torre not to speak with law enforcement investigators or she would suffer physical harm.
Welch said the following agencies took part in the investigation: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigation, the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division, the Lenexa Police Department, the Johnson County District Attorney's Office, the Kansas Department of Agriculture, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the Johnson County Health Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask is prosecuting.
Natural does not mean safe: Kansas locals still pushing unpasteurized cider
Oh, unpasteurized apple cider, when will you stop providing food safety moments?
It was 13 years ago last night that U.S. health investigators figured out that unpasteurized juice with apple cider as a base was making people sick with E. coli O157:H7 in the Pacific Northwest region.
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On Friday, Amy made a stop at a local plant and produce shop to pick up a pumpkin.
Amy writes:
The woman behind the counter quipped, “It looks like you already have a little pumpkin” motioning towards Sorenne who was hanging off my hip.
As I was paying the woman asked me, “Did you get a chance to have a swig of our apple cider?”
There was a tray with about 10 dixie cups full of cider on the counter. I had looked at them with interest while waiting to pay. I used to love apple cider but Doug has taught me to be skeptical. I asked without thinking, “Is the juice pasteurized?”
The woman looked at me as if to say, of course not, but she said, “No, but there is a preservative in it,” sort of apologetically for the preservative not being natural.
“No thanks then, and especially not for my daughter.” “Oh no!” she replied. “I didn’t mean for her but for you.” I left it at that. I was in a hurry, the woman was helping me to the car with the pumpkin, and maybe she just didn’t know better.
In my mind I was screaming, “Lady, I don’t want to die from your juice either.” I called Doug to thank him for teaching me about food safety. Four years ago I would have unthinkingly and gladly drank the cider. And if I had a child, I would have also offered it to her, not knowing about E. coli or even questioning whether someone in a store would serve me unsafe food.
From the cider files:
In October, 1996, 16-month-old Anna Gimmestad of Denver drank Smoothie juice manufactured by Odwalla Inc. of Half Moon Bay, Calif. She died several weeks later; 64 others became ill in several western U.S. states and British Columbia after drinking the same juices, which contained unpasteurized apple cider --and E. coli O157:H7. Investigators believe that some of the apples used to make the cider may have been insufficiently washed after falling to the ground and coming into contact with deer feces.
In the fall of 1998, I accompanied one of my four daughters on a kindergarten trip to the farm. After petting the animals and touring the crops --I questioned the fresh manure on the strawberries --we were assured that all the food produced was natural. We then returned for unpasteurized apple cider. The host served the cider in a coffee urn, heated, so my concern about it being unpasteurized was abated. I asked: "Did you serve the cider heated because you heard about other outbreaks and were concerned about liability?" She responded, "No. The stuff starts to smell when it's a few weeks old and heating removes the smell."
Here's the abstract from a paper Amber Luedtke and I published back in 2002:
A review of North American apple cider outbreaks caused by E. coli O157:H7 demonstrated that in the U.S., government officials, cider producers, interest groups and the public were actively involved in reforming and reducing the risk associated with unpasteurized apple cider. In Canada, media coverage was limited and government agencies inadequately managed and communicated relevant updates or new documents to the industry and the public.
Therefore, a survey was conducted with fifteen apple cider producers in Ontario, Canada, to gain a better understanding of production practices and information sources. Small, seasonal operations in Ontario produce approximately 20,000 litres of cider per year. Improper processing procedures were employed by some operators, including the use of unwashed apples and not using sanitizers or labeling products accurately.
Most did not pasteurize or have additional safety measures. Larger cider producers ran year-long, with some producing in excess of 500,000 litres of cider. Most sold to large retail stores and have implemented safety measures such as HACCP plans, cider testing and pasteurization. All producers surveyed received government information on an irregular basis, and the motivation to ensure safe, high-quality apple cider was influenced by financial stability along with consumer and market demand, rather than by government enforcement.
Foodborne illness? There's an app for that. Using new methods and messages to communicate about food safety
With the expansion and ease-of-use of non-traditional, Internet-based communication tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube and blogs, individuals are discussing high-profile food risks .jpeg)
through various mediums. Because up to 60 per cent of adults use on online social networking site, an opportunity exists to utilize these communities to engage individuals around foodborne risks by providing information and establishing relationships tailored to specific audiences. The rapid dialogue between individuals with common food safety interests can impact belief formation and affect food decisions. Using case studies of recent outbreaks and observational studies, a catalogue of mediums and audience strategies will be presented.
Ben Chapman somehow received his PhD from the University of Guelph in 2009 under the supervision of Doug Powell. He is now an Assistant Professor and Food Safety Specialist in the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences at North Carolina State University, and part of NC Cooperative Extension. He will be speaking during Randy Phebus’ food science class on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, from 12:30-1:20 in Weber 123 at Kansas State University. This talk is open to the public so any and all can attend.
For further information or to arrange a chat, contact
Dr. Douglas Powell
associate professor, food safety
dept. diagnostic medicine/pathobiology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
66506
cell: 785-317-0560
fax: 785-532-4039
dpowell@ksu.edu
bites.ksu.edu
barfblog.com
bites, barfblog and food safety need your continued support
There’s no shortage of food safety news; there is a shortage of evidence-based, incisive approaches that challenge food safety norms and may eventually lead to fewer sick people.
The International Food Safety Network evolved into bites.ksu.edu over the past year as a way of consolidating and making food safety news delivery more efficient. In addition to the web repository, the bites-l electronic newsletter is distributed 2-3 times a day to a dedicated subscriber base of some 10,000 in 60 countries; a list that has been focused and refined by offering continuous, daily food safety news since 1994. barfblog.com – averaging well over 10,000 unique hits a day -- along with weekly food safety infosheets (available in multiple languages), and videos, are now prominent food safety resources.
Sponsorship opportunities are now available for bites.ksu.edu, barfblog.com, and the bites-l listserv (as well as the infosheets and videos; how about a movie?).
In addition to the public exposure – why not stick your company logo on the bites-l newsletter that directs electronic readers to your home site or whatever you’re flogging that week -- and reaching a desired audience, you can receive custom food safety news and analysis. We’ve also resurrected the food safety risk analysis team – assessment, management and communication – and offer 24/7 availability and insanely rapid turnaround times. If your group has a food safety issue -- short-term or long-term -- work with us, rather than having us write it up in barfblog.com, book chapters and scholarly papers as another case study of what not to do.
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Here’s some additional information.
bites.ksu.edu is a unique comprehensive resource hosted at Kansas State University for all those with a personal or professional interest in food safety. We find credible, current, evidence-based information on food safety and make it accessible to domestic and international audiences through multiple media. Sources of food safety information include government regulatory agencies, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), peer-reviewed scientific publications, academia, recognized experts in the field and other sources as appropriate.
All bites activities emphasize engaging people in dialogue about food-related risks, controls and benefits, from farm-to-fork. bites strives to provide reliable, relevant information in culturally and linguistically appropriate formats to assist people in identifying, understanding and mitigating the causes of foodborne illness.
bites LISTSERV
The bites.ksu.edu listserv is a free web-based mailing list where information about current and emerging food safety issues is provided, gathered from journalistic and scientific sources around the world and condensed into short items or stories that make up the daily postings. The listserv has been issued continuously since 1995 and is distributed daily via e-mail to thousands of individuals worldwide from academia, industry, government, the farm community, journalists and the public at large.
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The bites listserv functions as a food safety news aggregator, summarizing available information that can be can be useful for risk managers in proactively anticipating trends and reactively address issues. The bites editor (me – dp) does not say whether a story is right or wrong or somewhere in between, but rather that a specific story is available today for public discussion.
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barfblog.com is where Drs. Powell, Chapman, Hubbell and assorted food safety friends offer evidence-based opinions on current food safety issues. Opinions must be evidence-based – with references – reliable, rapid and relevant. The barfblog authors edit each other – viciously.
TWITTER
Breaking food safety news items that eventually appear in bites or barfblog are often posted on Twitter (under barfblog or benjaminchapman) for faster public notification.
INFOSHEETS
Food safety infosheets are designed to influence food handler practices by utilizing four attributes culled from education, behavioral science and communication literature:
• surprising and compelling messages;
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• generating discussion within the target audiences’ environments; and
• using verbal narrative, or storytelling, as a message delivery device.
Food safety infosheets are based on stories about outbreaks of foodborne illness sourced from the bites listserv. Four criteria are used to select the story: discussion of a foodborne illness outbreak; discussion of background knowledge of a pathogen (including symptoms, etiology and transmission); food handler control practices; and emerging food safety issues. Food safety infosheets also contain evidence-based prescriptive information to prevent or mitigate foodborne illness related to food handling. They are now available in French, Spanish and Portugese.
bites bistro videos
A nod to the youtube generation, but we don’t really know what we’re doing.
These are the various information products we deliver daily, in addition to research, training and outreach. If you or your group is interested in sponsoring any or all of these food safety activities, please contact me directly.
dp
Dr. Douglas Powell
associate professor, food safety
dept. diagnostic medicine/pathobiology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
66506
cell: 785-317-0560
fax: 785-532-4039
dpowell@ksu.edu
bites.ksu.edu
barfblog.com
Safe food handling labels on take-out containers can help restaurants stand apart in the marketplace
As take-out food continues to increase in popularity, new research from Kansas State University has found that safe handling labels can help restaurants and food providers distinguish themselves in a competitive marketplace.
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"With leftovers, people need information the moment they pull that container or clamshell package from the fridge," said Doug Powell, a K-State associate professor of food safety. "How long has it been in the fridge? Is it still safe? Our approach was to provide practical information, right on the container."
Powell, along with former graduate student Brae Surgeoner and Tanya MacLurin of the University of Guelph in Canada, designed a safe food handling label for take-out food after consulting numerous experts and consumers (right; phone number and url don't work anymore -- dp). They then worked with 10 restaurants in Ontario to provide food safety stickers for take-out food and subsequently interviewed managers about the utility of the stickers.
For the purpose of this research, takeout was defined as food procured from a casual dining restaurant -- in other words, a sit-down restaurant -- but eaten elsewhere, including food ordered as takeout and leftover food packaged to be taken home.
The researchers concluded that such a safe food handling label for take-out food was a promising value-added investment for restaurant operators as long as the stickers were used consistently and employees supported the initiative.
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"We strive to provide the right food safety message in the right setting," Powell said. "Hand washing information should go over sinks and the back door of toilet stalls. Food preparation information should go in the back kitchen. Stickers with safe food handling information should go on the clamshell containers that people take home and put in the fridge. That's where the learning moment is."
The results are published in the October 2009 issue of Food Protection Trends.
The abstract is below.
Assessing management perspectives of a safe food-handling label for casual dining take-out food
01.oct.09
Food Protection Trends, Vol 29, No 10, pages 620-625
Brae V. Surgeoner, Tanya MacLaurin, Douglas A. Powell
Abstract
Faced with the threat of food safety litigation in a highly competitive industry, foodservice establishments must take proactive steps to avoid foodborne illness. Consumer demand for convenience food, coupled with evidence that consumers do not always engage in proper food-safety practices, means that take-out food from casual dining restaurant establishments can lead to food safety concerns. A prescriptive safe food-handling label was designed through a Delphi-type exercise. A purposive sample of 10 foodservice managers was then used to evaluate the use of the label on take-out products. Semi-structured in-depth interviews focused on the level of concern for food safety, the value of labelling take-out products, perceived effectiveness of the provided label, and barriers to implementing a label system. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed, and the data was interpreted using content analysis to identify and develop overall themes and sub-themes related to the areas of inquiry. It was found that labeling is viewed as a beneficial marketing tool by which restaurants can be differentiated from their competitors based on their proactive food safety stance.
Porta handwashing in Overland Park, Kansas
College football is OK as a sport. It’s no hockey, but the carnival atmosphere for five hours of tailgating before kickoff is something uniquely American.
At Kansas State University there is a permanent section adjacent to one of the parking lots – it’s called Cat Town -- where several university departments host informal functions for hundreds of people before home games.
The veterinary college, where I am academically housed, always hosts a spread and it’s always well attended. More gets done in five minutes at Cat Town than hours of meetings during the week.
With all the discussion of H1N1 flu and the emphasis on handwashing, several of the Cat Town tents had hand sanitizers prominently available. But why not go one step further, with the potable handwashing facility?
The people who make porta potties have apparently figured this out, and Gonzalo send these pics back from Overland Park, Kansas, this afternoon while attending some fall fair thingy.
Dirty doggie dining in Manhattan, Kansas
When I first opened the Kansas State Collegian yesterday morning, the following headline popped out: “Green, pet-friendly bar opens in Aggieville.” The story started:.jpg)
“Tail wagging, mouth drooling, riled up with excitement stands Tank the dog, welcoming bar patrons this Saturday to the newly renovated the Loft Bar and Grill.”
“We will be having many different types of animals outside the Loft — dogs, goats and even miniature Clydesdales.” Jacobson said. “Our bar is very pet-friendly.”
Actually, the Kansas Food Code prohibits animals on food establishments, unless they are assistance animals, according to code reference 6-501.115 found here.
Did
The local health department inspectors would consider bringing pets to a restaurant a critical violation. Last year, Tanks Tavern, also in Aggieville, was cited two critical violations including: “live dog in bar and dog food stored under sink.”
As Amy and Doug wrote, “tripping, biting, dog fights, barking, allergies, and the transfer of dangerous microorganisms such as E. coli, salmonella and cryptosporidium” are some of the risks that come along with doggie dining.
Restaurants in Florida can apply for permits to allow dogs on their patio, if they meet certain conditions. Employees must not touch pets while handling food, and if they do, they must wash their hands. Customers should also wash their hands before eating and keep their pets off tables, chairs, and tables.
As far as I know, we are still in Kansas, where doggie dining is clearly prohibited.
These are my puppies:
Egypt and Kansas - food brings us together
I’ve been hanging out with the visiting Egyptians since Thurs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has this Cochran Fellows program that provides U.S.-based agricultural training opportunities for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators from public and private sectors who are concerned with agricultural trade, agribusiness development, management, policy, and marketing.
After spending over 30 hours to reach Kansas from Egypt, with a variety of travel headaches, the three food scientists and one professor have been taking in the best Manhattan has to offer: dinner at the Little Apple Brewing Company, viewing the animals at the Riley County Fair, shopping, taking in the Kaw Valley Rodeo Saturday night, and my lectures.
Sunday, the Fellows came to our house for some American-style BBQ and hospitality. I showed them how to cook a hamburger with a tip-sensitive digital thermometer, they told me about cooking and hospitality in Egypt.
Baby Sorenne was the star attraction.
And it's been a huge honor hanging out with the accomplished gentlemen and learning.
Improving sampling and risk communication at FSIS
Chuck Dodd is dreamy – as a student, that is.
What teacher wouldn’t be proud when a student does a class assignment, and it eventually gets published in a peer-reviewed journal?
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Chuck took my graduate course, Food Safety Risk Analysis, in the early part of 2008. For the final assignment, students are required to take a food safety risk issue of their choosing, and develop a risk analysis report for an audience, like a regulatory agency, integrating risk assessment, management and communication.
Chuck’s report – after editing and thoughtful comments from colleagues – was recently published in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, entitled, Regulatory management and communication of risks associated with Eschericia coli O157:H7 in ground beef.
The Kansas State University press release that went out this morning says, in part,
What consumers may not be finding out about recalls and the inspection process, however, could make them doubt the effectiveness of what is actually a pretty good system to keep food safe, according to Kansas State University researchers.
Charles Dodd, K-State doctoral student in food science, Wamego, and Doug Powell, K-State associate professor of food safety, published a paper in the journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease about how one government agency communicates risk about deadly bacteria like E. coli O157 in ground beef.
Publications, Web pages and recalls are all used in this risk communication.
Dodd said that although the Food Safety and Inspection Service generally does a good job of keeping meat safe, it's easy for consumers to think the opposite, particularly when a recall tells them that the food in the fridge or pantry may be dangerous. In their study, Dodd and Powell looked at what information consumers can take away from the Food Safety and Inspection Service's Web site, and suggest government agencies can more clearly communicate their role in keeping the food supply safe.
"We as Americans tend to expect more from regulatory agencies than we should, so we set ourselves up for disappointment," Dodd said. "Occasionally, regulatory agencies may create unrealistic expectations by the way they communicate with the public. The message of our paper is to say that the Food Safety and Inspection Service is doing a good job, considering the amount of resources it has. We are trying to open up dialogue about how its role could be communicated more effectively." …
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Testing is just one tool that the Food Safety and Inspection Service uses. Its role is to monitor what other stakeholders are doing to keep food safe. "As a regulatory agency, the Food Safety and Inspection Service is monitoring food safety, not necessarily testing it themselves," Dodd said. "I think that's what a lot of us consumers misinterpret. We need to remember that regulatory agencies allocate, not assume, responsibility."
He got an A in the class. And he collects his own cow pies for sampling (left).
Dodd, C.C. and Powell, D.A. 2009. Regulatory management and communication of risks associated with Eschericia coli O157:H7 in ground beef. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, 6(6): 743-747.
Abstract
Foodborne illness outbreaks and ground beef recalls associated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 have generated substantial consumer risk awareness. Although this risk has been assessed and managed according to federal regulation, communication strategies may hamper stakeholder perception of regulatory efforts in the face of continued E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with ground beef. To mitigate the risk of E. coli O157:H7 contamination in ground beef, the beef industry employs preharvest and postharvest interventions, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) provides regulatory oversight. Policy makers must understand and clearly express that regulation allocates, not assumes, responsibility. The FSIS role may be poorly communicated, leading consumers, retailers, and others in the farm-to-fork food safety system to misrepresent risks and creating unrealistic expectations of regulatory responsibility. To improve this risk communication, revisions may be needed in FSIS-related documents, Web pages, peer-reviewed publications, and recall announcements.
E. coli O157:H7 and cattle diet - it's messy
“If only” is often how statements begin by food safety wannabes who are sure they have stumbled upon a vast conspiracy meant to subjugate society.
If only Monsanto didn’t genetically-engineer seeds …
If only products like milk were served raw and natural …
If only cattle were fed grass, there would be no E. coli O157:H7.
When someone makes such proclamations, or says they speak fact, usually with an air of authority, I immediately think that person is full of it. People who say “trust me” are immediately untrustworthy.
Megan Jacob, Todd Callaway, and T.G. Nagaraja of Kansas State University write about the dietary interactions and interventions affecting Escherichia coli O157 colonization and shedding in cattle in an upcoming issue of Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. It’s not a movie, not a blog, not a pulp fiction, so they sorta have to get it right. And they do, when they write:
“The specific mechanisms responsible for increased or decreased E. coli O157 shedding or survival are not known … results of studies are conflicting or not repeatable, which speaks to the complexity of the hindgut ecosystem, variation in animal feed utilization, and variation within feed products.”
The complete abstract is below.
Escherichia coli O157 is an important foodborne pathogen affecting human health and the beef cattle industry. Contamination of carcasses at slaughter is correlated to the prevalence of E. coli O157 in cattle feces. Many associations have been made between dietary factors and E. coli O157 prevalence in cattle feces. Preharvest interventions, such as diet management, could reduce the fecal prevalence and diminish the impact of this adulterant. Dietary influences, including grain type and processing method, forage quality, and distillers grains have all been associated with E. coli O157 prevalence. In addition, several plant compounds, including phenolic acids and essential oils, have been proposed as in-feed intervention strategies. The specific mechanisms responsible for increased or decreased E. coli O157 shedding or survival are not known but are often attributed to changes in hindgut ecology induced by diet types. Some interventions may have a direct bacterial effect. Frequently, results of studies are conflicting or not repeatable, which speaks to the complexity of the hindgut ecosystem, variation in animal feed utilization, and variation within feed products. Still, understanding specific mechanisms, driven by diet influences, responsible for E. coli O157 shedding will aid in the development and implementation of better and practical preharvest intervention strategies.
Final hockey game - Friday, 7 p.m., our place
Fortunately, Dale's in Germany so I don’t have to listen to how awesome Pittsburgh is and how he’s followed them since he was a kid.
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Me, I was crushed when Pittsburgh beat out Carolina in 4 straight games in the semis.
But I’ve gotten over it to host game 7 of the National Hockey League finals Friday night. Seriously, in Manhattan, KS, and with Dale in Germany, Amy and I are hockey central.
And Amy once again wants Detroit to win. Zetterberg is her hero.
Game starts at 7, we got the big screen, the HDTV, the food, the beer, and the hockey know-how – watch me explain again to Bob what offside is – and where would you rather be?
You’re all invited. Even you public health students I talked with this morning. I’ll show you how to properly cook a decent hamburger using a digital, tip-sensitive thermometer. Let’s see if you really read barfblog.com.
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Bye bye, listservs
This is what I sent out to all the previous subscribers of my various listservs over the years. I'm grateful for all the support I received and still pissed that the University of Guelph just scooped up the leftover money for their paper clip fund. Seriously, I left $140,000 that all you great supporters provided for news, and Guelph just sucked it up. Why anyone would ever give them another dime is beyond me. But I'm just a widget; I get that.
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The listserv you have been subscribed to no longer exists. All of the activities of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University have been consolidated under bites.ksu.edu.
The 9,000 or so direct subscribers to fsnet-l have been transferred to bites-l. We’re still working on a daily digest version, so will keep the istserv going for now.
It’s a listserv, and you can subscribe with instructions below.
The fastest way to get breaking food safety news is to subscribe to barfblog.com. We’re also working on moving all the barfblog history to bites.ksu.edu.
The University of Guelph copyrighted the name, Food Safety Network in Canada, without telling anybody. And then they shut it down (no one ever talked with me, they just wanted the cash; what total assholes). I decided the name was old. A Network was cool before Al Gore invented the Internet in 1995, but now?
So everything is at bites.ksu.edu.
And everything is archived at http://archives.foodsafety.ksu.edu/fsnet-archives.htm and bites.ksu.edu
You can subscribe to bites-l
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If you only want stories about animal welfare, or norovirus, go to bites.ksu.edu and click on that section. Then click on the RSS symbol, and add to your reader.
Dr. Douglas Powell
associate professor, food safety
dept. diagnostic medicine/pathobiology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
66506
cell: 785-317-0560
fax: 785-532-4039
dpowell@ksu.edu
bites.ksu.edu
barfblog.com
Handwashing and sanitation: try to make the message meaningful
While Amy, Sorenne and I observed some sort of cross between The Hills and Real Housewives of Somewhere at a poolside party in Scottsdale, Arizona, some 2,300 Kansas State students were graduating this afternoon.
Hand sanitizers were apparently on the agenda as those who convocated were offered hand sanitizer before receiving their degree. The optional offering was apparently designed to ease flu fears. Seems reasonable enough, but do such offerings actually amplify rather than assuage concerns about swine flu, er, H1N1, or any other communicable disease?
If any of the thousands of family and friends who visited Kansas State today had wandered into the student union to use the washroom, they would have seen the sign pictured below. Megan discovered this about a week ago, and three of us read the sign and thought the disinfectant referred to some special kind of handwashing soap. Maybe we’re just handwashing geeks.
So Megan went on an investigative trek that finally led to AFFLAB Antimicrobial Lotion Soap. The company website does not list factual information about their soaps and the germ killing power it may have. In general, antimicrobial and antibacterial soaps do aid in the “eradication of germs” and washing hands properly helps as well. However, if no such soaps are available, non-antimicrobial or non-antibiotic soaps will also clean your hands. During handwashing, the act of rubbing hands vigorously together with soap, creating lather, then rinsing them, is what removes germs (or, for the science nerds, transient flora).
Then Amy looked over my shoulder and said, “the disinfectant is the stuff used to wash the bathroom floors.”
Oops.
I do not know the purpose of the signs, and what message the signs were intended to convey, but they failed. And as Megan said, “ugly, unattractive signs aren’t going to increase hand hygiene.”
Katie's stuck in Chicago, my book chapter is overdue, and the house next door is on fire
The Flintstones were a cultural milestone for kids like me and those who believe that dinosaurs and humans coexisted.
In one particular episode, Barney and Fred join Joe Rockhead’s volunteer fire department as a cover for the dance lessons they are taking so they do not humiliate themselves at the charity ball.
Betty and Wilma eventually realize that the all-stone town of Bedrock is fire proof. The wives then suspect that their husbands are slipping out to meet other women.
It’s like that in Manhattan (Kansas). I love the limestone rock that is the cornerstone of many of the buildings in town, including our own house.
The house next door is made of plaster or something and houses students who drive too fast down our dead-end road.
That house now has a hole in its roof.
It seems like the entire Bedrock volunteer fire department was out tonight after the students next door called in a fire. One of the kids said it was an electrical short. Katie called me, stranded in Chicago, and said it was probably a grow-op or crack den. Whatever it was, there were 30 firefighters working on this house for the last couple of hours. They had ladders, chainsaws, groovy duds, and a lot of them had moustaches.
Food Safety Network year-in-review
I was walking around the vet college at Kansas State the other day with baby Sorenne strapped to me, and was telling anyone who would listen that Kansas State now had the foundation of a NCAA woman’s hockey program, if only they would build an arena in Manhattan.
Someone asked me, what is it you like about hockey, and I said it’s so fast and violent and requires skills like no other game. Don Cherry, right, agrees.
You can see that on display right now as Canada and the U.S. are playing in the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa. I’m in Manhattan, Chapman is in North Carolina, and we’re both watching hockey on the NHL channel. Nerds.
Daughter Braunwynn, below, – herself a great skater and hockey player – arrives tomorrow for a visit. And while I’m all nostalgic, here’s the year in review.
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I’m not sure what to make of these statistics. Like media hits, I had thousands if all the media appearances are counted, and I’m not sure what to count anymore. And am too busy doing to count what I’m doing.
The listservs have peaked and I need to exploit new technology to get the news out. That will be happening soon enough. For this year, I developed 2 on-line courses which will start being offered in Jan. 2009, and got together 16 journal articles and book chapters. So I was doing that academic thing.
67 sick from raw milk cheese in Kansas
For all the fawning media coverage and energy expended, I figured there would be millions of Americans drinking raw milk.
A story in the Dayton Daily News pegs the number at 500,000.
That’s nothing when it comes to food dollars. And there are reasons why the numbers are so low. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report today,
“On October 26, 2007, a family health clinic nurse informed the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) that Campylobacter jejuni had been isolated from two ill persons from different families who were members of a closed community in a rural Kansas county. By October 29, 17 additional members of the community had reported gastrointestinal illness and visited the clinic within a week. All 19 persons reported consuming fresh cheese on October 20 that was made the same day at a community fair from unpasteurized milk obtained from a local dairy.
"This report summarizes the findings of an investigation by KDHE and the local health department to determine the source and extent of the outbreak. Eating fresh cheese at the fair was the only exposure associated with illness (relative risk [RR] = 13.9). Of 101 persons who ate the cheese, 67 (66%) became ill. C. jejuni isolates from two ill persons had indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns, and the isolate from a third ill person was nearly identical to the other two. Although all samples of cheese tested negative for Campylobacter, results of the epidemiologic investigation found an association between illness and consumption of fresh cheese made from unpasteurized milk. To minimize the risk for illness associated with milkborne pathogens, unpasteurized milk and milk products should not be consumed."
Safest food in the world - Kansas edition
John Schlageck, described as a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas and “whose writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion,” provides absolutely no evidence to support his assertion in The Emporia Gazette that America “enjoys the safest, most wholesome food in the world.”
Schlageck also asks, “where do the most significant food safety problems occur — on the farm or in the kitchen?
“If you guessed the kitchen, you’re probably one of those wise consumers who may already be well on your way to a wholesome, healthy eating lifestyle. On the other hand if you guessed the farm, chances are your kitchen may be a place where food is mishandled or poorly prepared.”
Phrases like “on the other hand” are a waste of words my university students get penalized for using. I reward clear writing, in the tradition of Strunk and White in The Elements of Style.
Schlageck also offers no evidence for his claim that the majority of food safety problems happen in the home. The evidence is contradictory, and we have a review that will be published soon.
Bad writing and bad food safety assumptions need to be continually challenged. Blaming consumers may not be the best way to empower individuals.
Government recommends Kansas for biodefense lab
I’ll comment more on this later, but for now, Associated Press reported about an hour ago that the U.S. federal government has recommended a site in Manhattan, Kansas for a new $450 million laboratory -- the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility -- to study biological threats like anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease.
The Department of Homeland Security's choice of Manhattan, Kan., beat out intense competition from other sites in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.
A formal announcement won't be made until later this week, when the agency releases an environmental impact statement.
The new lab would replace an aging 24-acre research complex on Plum Island, about four miles off the eastern shore of Long Island, N.Y.
The lab is expected to generate about 1,500 construction jobs and a permanent payroll of $25 million to $30 million for more than 300 employees once the project is completed by 2015.
Water, soap and paper towel: Aggieville bars have the handwashing tools
As part of the first Global Handwashing Day, students Mayra Rivarola and Skyler Wilkinson visited 11 restaurant bathrooms in Aggieville, Manhattan (Kansas) to ensure patrons were at least provided the tools to properly wash their hands.
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All of the bathrooms rated highly. Only 1-of-the-11 had a failure, a lack of paper towel.
So, wash your damn hands. And don’t eat poop.
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E. coli claims second child in Kansas
A Chase County boy is one of two young Kansas children who died within the past several days from E. coli infection, although the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the deaths are unrelated and were caused by different E. coli serotypes.
Funeral arrangements were being made today for Brant Burton, 4, who died Sunday in Wesley Regional Medical Center in Wichita.
An 18-month-old from Liberal, Tanner Strickland, reportedly died Wednesday in Wesley. Tanner’s brother remains in Wesley in stable condition with the same illness.
Fifty-two cases of E-coli were reported to KDHE in 2007; 33 were caused by E-coli O157:H7. Kansas' three-year median for 2004-2006 was 48 cases. The highest rate of disease (8.8 per 100,000) was reported among children aged less than five years.
Kansas toddler dies of E.coli
The Mayor of Liberal, Kansas, Joe Denoyer, said that 18-month-old Tanner Edgar Strickland died Wednesday at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita and his brother is listed in stable condition. The mayor says the disease is contained within the immediate family and there is no danger to the public.
Pot pies, pâté and pregnancy: The medium and the messages to create a food safety culture
Food safety culture will be the topic of a presentation by Kansas State University's Doug Powell as part of the K-State Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology Seminar Series.
Powell, associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and scientific director of the International Food Safety Network, will present "Pot pies, Pâté and Pregnancy: The Medium and the Messages to Create a Food Safety Culture" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, in the Practice Management Center on the fourth floor of K-State's Trotter hall. The seminar is free and open to the public.
Powell will provide an overview on the different mediums and messages his research team has experimented with to foster a food safety culture, from farm to fork.
"From pot pies, peanut butter, deli meats and pizza to peppers, tomatoes, spinach and more: food can make people sick -- a lot of people," Powell said. "The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30 percent of all citizens in developed and other countries will get sick from the food they consume each year.
"But statistics are easy to ignore," he said. "In the past month, a 26-year-old died and 206 were sickened with E. coli 0111 after eating in Locust Grove, Okla. Nineteen people have died and dozens sickened with listeria after eating deli meats in Canada. In a separate outbreak, at least seven pregnant women in Quebec have acquired listeria from cheese, leading to premature births and illness in their babies."
Powell said the challenge is to provide reliable and relevant information in a compelling manner to reduce the burden of foodborne illness.
Tornado hits Manhattan (Kansas)
People are always asking me, with a bemused, smug look, Kansas? Why would you move to Kansas?
I explain to them how Manhattan is huddled in the Flint Hills, beautiful spot, and most of the bad weather goes around Manhattan.
Not last night.
The townhouse Amy used to live in probably doesn't exist anymore. That was one of two areas of town that got hammered by a tornado about 11 pm Central time.
ABC affiliate KTKA in Topeka captured the tornado on video as it entered Manhattan, at least until the camera on the weather tower got taken out (see below).
Cheryl May, Kansas State University's (awesome) director of media relations extraordinaire, told CNN the storm destroyed a wind erosion lab, damaged several engineering and science buildings and tore the roof off a fraternity house at the school (right, Weber Hall, home of much of Animal Science)."Our campus is kind of a mess."
There were no immediate reports of injuries, she said.
In an update released at 8 a.m. (CST), Tom Rawson, vice president for administration and finance, estimated storm damage at Kansas State University to exceed $20 million.
"The damage on campus is extensive. Roofs have been damaged or torn off, windows have been blown out in many buildings. Weber Hall is severely damaged. The Wind Erosion Lab is gone. There is significant damage to the engineering complex, and to Waters, Call, Cardwell and Ward Hall."
And since my students don't seem to know, but of course read barfblog, classes are cancelled for today.
Local radio station KMAN has a complete list of known damage. People are being asked to stay away from damaged areas -- and there are various unsubstantiated reports of looting.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the following food safety advice after a weather emergency:
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after 4 hours without power.
Never taste a food to determine its safety
Drink only bottled water if flooding has occurred
Undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches (for example, flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches) can be saved.
When in Doubt, Throw it Out
If you have any firsthand reports, pictures or video, send it along. Amy and I are going to start working our way home from Quebec City.
Kansas wins NCAA men's basketball
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People on TV swarming the streets in Lawrence are saying this is the happiest moment of their entire lives.Ahem …
Being Canadian, I don't get all the intra-state rivalry; this KU logo may draw more vigorous complaints than Honduran cantaloupes.
But I say, good for Kansas. And besides, Kansas State was one of three teams that actually beat KU this season.
Now, about that hockey arena …
Kansas consumers warned about homemade raw milk cheese
Food safety inspectors found the cheese being sold last week at Panaderia Real, 107 North Jennie Barker Road, in Garden City. The cheese was destroyed after testing confirmed that it was made from unpasteurized milk and that it was contaminated with Salmonella.An investigation into the cheese’s origin revealed that it was being made in the home of Guadalupe Valadez, who is not licensed to manufacture food. To be licensed, Valadez would need to use a commercial kitchen to make the cheese and to undergo routine food safety inspections.
Valadez was selling the cheese to neighbors, to coworkers at Tyson Foods and to two stores, Panaderia Real on Jennie Barker Road and at Panaderia Alexis at 146 Stevens Avenue. She reports she had been making and selling the cheese for about a month.
The illegal cheese was identified during a two-month pilot project to monitor the safety of imported and domestically produced foods offered for sale in Kansas. It was launched by the Kansas Department of Agriculture late last month. '
Inspectors are collecting up to 10 products from each facility they visit as part of the project. Products are tested for Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli, the most common causes of foodborne illness.
KState beats KU in men's basketball; fans mob floor
For the first time in 24 years, Kansas State beat number 2 ranked Kansas at home, 84-75.I have nothing on food safety. But Amy won free tickets for the rest of the season from a draw at a local Radio Shack and this was the first college basketball game I'd ever attended.
Guess we picked a good one.
I think Bramlage Coliseum would make an excellent hockey arena.
Bill Murray charms them in Manhattan (Kansas)
That was the message actor Bill Murray delivered to Manhattan High School students, alumni and hangers-on like me and Amy in between the girls and boys basketball games tonight.
Murray was in town to pay homage to former Manhattan High School attendee Del Close, who was inducted along with three others to the MHS wall of fame tonight. Close was regarded as a founder of improvisational comedy favored by Chicago's Second City, where he mentored a long list of Saturday Night Live alumni, including Bill Murray. The night before Close died in 1999, he held a live wake in his hospital room and declared he was tired of being the funniest person in the room. He bequeathed his skull to the Goodman theatre for a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet (Alas, poor Yorick, I hardly knew thee).
Murray was charming, heartfelt and funny as he paid homage to his late friend, and to the town of Manhattan (Kansas). His brother, Brian Doyle-Murray apparently lives in Manhattan (Kansas), although he's in California working on a film, and there are stories of annual Murray brother sightings around town. Ask Kyle. Afterwards, while Bill graciously talked to the locals, I got a chance to give him a barfblog and French Don't Eat Poop T-shirt. He seemed amused (left).
Anyone who's been here knows Manhattan (Kansas) really is in the middle of nowhere and really is in the middle of the contiguous 48 states. It's not easy to get here. So yeah to Bill Murray.
Bill Murray coming to Manhattan (Kansas)
Who knew.
He not only played Lou Loomis in Caddyshack, which made his brother Bill famous, he co-wrote the script with Harold Ramis and Douglas Kenney. What about that turn in Wayne's World? And the numerous characters on the Canadian television version of Second City TV.
Anyway, the Manhattan Mercury reports that Bill Murray is expected to be in Manhattan Friday to attend the induction of Del Close into the Manhattan High School Hall of Fame.
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The story says that his fame began at the Second City comedy theater in Chicago, which is where he came under the guidance of Close. Close is regarded as the comic godfather of many Second City talents, including John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Chris Farley and others. Close was in the Manhattan High School class of 1952.
Doyle-Murray was cited as telling the Mercury today that he wouldn't be able to attend the induction ceremony because of a movie commitment in California, but that Bill would be here.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place between the boys' and girls' games — about 7:15 p.m. — at Manhattan High, in the north gym.
Raw milk sickens the unsuspecting -- again
Medical authorities, however, decreed that Ford died of undulant fever, apparently brought on by drinking unpasteurized milk from the Ford dairy herd, at the behest of his father's mistaken belief that all things natural must be good.
It seems like every week in the U.S. there is a report of unpasteurized milk testing positive for listeria or salmonella or E. coli or campylobacter or some other dangerous bug; every month there is a report of people, largely children, sickened after consuming unpasteurized milk.This month it's Kansas, where at least 87 people have been poisoned with campylobacter in two separate outbreaks -- one linked to consumption of raw milk, and the other to cheese made from raw milk.
Raw milk drinkers believe the pasteurized milk found on grocery store shelves lack the essential enzymes and nutrients necessary to absorb calcium -- yet research shows this is simply not the case. The only things lacking in pasteurized milk are the bacteria that make people -- especially kids -- seriously ill.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that in 1938, before widespread adoption of milk pasteurization, an estimated 25 per cent of all foodborne and waterborne outbreaks of disease were associated with milk.
By 2001, the percentage of such outbreaks associated with milk was estimated at less than 1 per cent. From 1998 to 2005, a total of 45 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported to CDC in which unpasteurized milk (or cheese suspected to have been made from unpasteurized milk) was implicated. These outbreaks accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations, and two deaths.
Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with unpasteurized milk likely is greater.
A table of the outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf
Yes, lots of foods make people sick. And people should be free to choose what they ingest.
The 19th century English utilitarian philosopher, John Stuart Mill, noted that choice has limits, stating, "if it [in this case the consumption of raw unpasteurized milk] only directly affects the person undertaking the action, then society has no right to intervene, even if it feels the actor is harming himself."
Excused from Mill’s libertarian principle are those people who are incapable of self-government – children.
Science can be used to enhance what nature provided. Further, society has a responsibility to the many -- philosopher Mill also articulated how the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one — to use knowledge to minimize harm.
Adults, do whatever you think works to ensure a natural and healthy lifestyle, but please, don't impose your dietary regimes on those incapable of protecting themselves: your kids.
Dr. Douglas Powell is scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University
Raw milk sickens the unsuspecting -- again
A table of the outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf
49 News reports tonight that two separate outbreaks of campylobacteriosis made at least 87 people sick in Kansas.
Kansas allows raw milk to be sold within the state, but health officials want you to be aware of the health risks that come with consuming raw milk.
In the first outbreak in southwest Kansas, 68 people became ill after eating cheese made from raw (unpasteurized) milk donated by a local dairy for a community celebration. Nineteen people were ill enough to seek medical attention, and two people were hospitalized. Four of these persons tested positive for Campylobacter jejuni; no other food items served at the event were associated with illness.
The second outbreak is linked to a dairy in south central Kansas that sells raw milk directly to consumers. As of November 30, 2007, 19 cases of campylobacteriosis had been reported. Each person reported drinking raw milk purchased from the dairy.
These are rather large numbers of sick people; why is it only public now?
Food science cafe
We had our first, monthly, Food Science Café, last night, and while numbers were small, I still believe that, if you build it, they will come.As long as it's useful.
Adrianna Deweese of the Kansas State Collegian wrote that Douglas Powell, scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at K-State, said the purpose of the monthly discussions is to talk about food safety and science in a different setting than a classroom.
Powell showed his meat thermometer to those in attendance, and said it is important to get a digital, instant-read, tip-sensitive meat thermometer, which costs about $12.
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"Lots of people use it for whole birds or roasts, but I think it's more important actually for the burgers and the ground beef," Powell said. "Ten years ago I would have never used one, but now I feel naked when I don't - I feel vulnerable."When he is asked at a restaurant how he would like his hamburger cooked, Powell said he responds he would like it "160," meaning he would like it cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Food color often is a poor indicator of when it is properly cooked, Powell said. K-State food-safety research has found about 25 percent of tested hamburgers turned brown before they reached a safe temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.
"We're always just trying to find one way to put information out and take information in," he said. "We're just always trying to find new ways to get it out there so we have fewer sick people."
The network also has several blogs at www.donteatpoop.k-state.edu and
barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu. Powell also wore a T-shirt Monday night that said "ne mangez pas de caca," which is French for "Don't eat poop."
"It's had more effect than anything else," Powell said of the message.
Angela Dodd, senior in food science, was quoted as saying Food Science Café discussions are
"a great way for students to become aware of what's going on in the media about food safety. Food pertains to everybody, and it's a part of everybody's life."
I didn't really like the long table set-up. Next month, we're probably going to do it in the on-campus bowling alley. Only place to get a beer at K-State.
Proper handwashing requires proper tools
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The Manhattan -- Kansas, that is -- Mercury today looked into ongoing problems at local schools and the continuing spread of staph infections.The Riley County Health Department found that a couple of schools, including MHS West, lacked soap and paper towels.
So I wrote this to the local paper:
Proper handwashing is the most effective way to control the spread of infectious diseases, including avian influenza, norovirus, and the staphylococcus apparently running through Manhattan High School's west campus (Taking the temperature of problems in the West Campus building, Oct. 14/07
But proper handwashing requires access to the proper tools.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that up to 25 per cent of the 76 million annual cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. could be eliminated with proper handwashing.
Based on the available evidence, proper handwashing consists of:
• wet hands with water;
• use soap;
• lather all over hands by scrubbing vigorously, creating friction, reaching all areas of the hands, wrists and between fingers;
• rinse hands; and,
• dry hands, preferably with paper towel.
Studies have concluded that dangerous bacteria could survive handwashing with soap and water if hands were not dried thoroughly with paper towels. The friction created when drying hands with paper towel removes additional microorganisms.
Last month, the Western Mail in Wales stated that the conditions in some Welsh schools, outlined in the final report of an E. coli O157 outbreak in 2005 that left a five-year-old dead and over 100 sick, would shame the Third World, adding, "It’s time to ensure children are not placed in environments which are breeding grounds for disease … to tolerate a situation where schools do not have toilet rolls, soap or hot water is reprehensible."
Similarly, lack of soap and paper towels exacerbated the effects of a norovirus outbreak that sickened over 150 students at a university residence in Ontario in 2006.
Age and the demands of modern education are no excuse for providing the basic tools for sanitation.
Proper handwashing begins with access to proper tools. That is why soap and paper towels are a necessary requirement for any public bathroom.
Kansas football and food safety II
As Kansas State (24) prepares to host University of Kansas Saturday morning in college football action, here's hoping the locals are better hosts than the women at KU's Pi Beta Phi sorority.Apparently, the fathers of the gals will soon be receiving “I survived Pi Phi Dad’s Day 2007” T-shirts.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that some of the dads and many of the women of Pi Beta Phi came down with an unknown illness during the Sept, 22 event at KU.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is investigating and, as yet, hasn’t found a source of the illness. The probe has included Vermont Street Barbecue, Abe & Jake’s Landing and the sorority’s kitchen, but it could expand further.
KDHE spokesman Joe Blubaugh said the number of people who were potentially exposed — up to 240 — complicates the investigation.
Meg Stewart, Pi Beta Phi president, said the sorority was grateful the illness wasn’t worse. She said a few members were sent to a hospital.
