Dancing in the Loo wins, wins, wins at the Gloden Poo awards
Occasional guest barfblogger and handwashing advocate Michéle Samarya-Timm, now with the Somerset County Health Department in central New Jersey – represent – writes:
Usually poo is an undesirable thing. Regular readers barfblog.com know about the focus on poo avoidance – through proper farm-to-fork food handling, through sound regulatory practices, and through increased handwashing. We inform using po(o)p culture. We use humor. We use reality.
And it doesn’t get much more real than this -- The International Golden Poo Awards were held in London last week.
Imagine, a red-carpet paparazzi filled evening at a majestic theatre, to view a program full of short animated films about hygiene and poo – culminating in the presentation of a coveted golden statuette. How better to increase awareness of handwashing and heap praise on those who are helping to spread the clean hands message in unique, humorous and gross ways?
Golden Poo Award nominees included:
• For your convenience
• Symphony Number Two
• A Film about Poo
• Poo in Passing
• Are you spreading poo?
• Toilet Plant
And the winner: Dancing in the Loo (above).
The winning videos can be found at thegoldenpooawrds.org.
Several of my colleagues already commented that these videos were a little too focused on fecal matter. Perhaps. But as noted in the recent UK study – the perception of gross seems to increase handwashing amongst some audiences.
Cats shouldn't hang out in supermarket meat cases
Cats like meat.
Even though we live in central Manhattan (Kansas), there’s a small greenbelt behind the house and we’ve had visitors such as deer, turkeys, and yesterday, a fox.
The raccoons, squirrels, birds and rabbits are everywhere.
My two black cats have had happy hunting since our 2006 arrival, and left me a pair of lucky rabbits feet the other day (the two black ones, as kittens in this pic, from 2003; the other one, named Lucky, wasn’t so lucky).
Because cats like meat, it’s a good idea to keep them out of supermarkets, especially those with a butcher shop, or a meat case with open doors.
A colleague sent along this video of a cat in a meat case in a supermarket, apparently, according to readers’ comments, in St. Petersburgh, Russia. Not good supermarket food safety practices.
Gratuitous food porn shot of the day - scrambled eggs with veggies and toast
Sorenne eating breakfast with dad, Oct. 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m.
Saute fresh rosemary, garlic, red pepper and garden-fresh tomato (the nighttime temperatures are cooler, but not quite freezing yet, when what’s left of the herbs and tomatoes will move inside). Add scrambled eggs, salt and pepper, cooking the salmonella out of the eggs. Serve with whole grain toast.
That’s toast. I like … toast.
Does it suck or not? USDA's version of protect your baby and yourself from listeriosis
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, eager to groove with the youtube generation but without the grossness that thrives online, released a video today highlighting the potential for certain foods to cause listeriosis in pregnant women.
I don’t know if it works so I asked Chapman. He said the video doesn’t spend enough time on deli meats, the food that risk assessments have shown was much riskier than others. He also said it’s not bad, but somewhat patronizing, but he’s also not a pregnant woman.
For which we are all grateful.
I asked a former pregnant woman, Amy, to look at the video. She said,
“The voices are crazy. I love the idea that she had her baby while they were filming.
“Why do they pick such a boring male narrator? Like I want to listen to him tell me about what not to eat.
“He sounds like he should be the voice of the Pork Bureau.”
These are anecdotal responses. I look forward to USDA releasing the results of their video evaluation research so taxpayers can be assured these attempts at video aren’t just wasting time and money.
Powell food safety culture video available at bites.ksu.edu
People often say to me, Doug, I get 10 e-mails from you each day. How can I get more of the Doug?
The talk I taped for the Australian HACCP conference a few weeks ago is now available on-line.
Be kind.
Does Domino's Pizza get new media?
Domino’s Pizza posted a youtube response last night and has moved quickly to douse the Internet-fanned yuckiness of poop in its pizza.
But when Domino's spokesman Tim McIntyre told USA Today today the company is considering banning video cameras in stores, I wonder if they actually understand this social networking stuff – and that anyone can have a video camera on their cell phone.
The USA Today piece explains that two Domino’s employees in Conover, N.C. — fired and facing charges — posted a video on YouTube on Monday that shows one of them doing gross things to a Domino's sub sandwich he is making, such as sticking cheese pieces up his nose and passing gas on the salami.
Although Domino's is getting fairly high marks from social-networking and crisis-management types about its response, McIntyre told the N.Y. Times today that company executives initially decided not to respond aggressively, hoping the controversy would quiet down.
Scott Hoffman, the chief marketing officer of the social-media marketing firm Lotame, said in social media, “if you think it’s not going to spread, that’s when it gets bigger.”
That’s actually traditional media 101, but sure, dress it up with terms like new and social media.
By Wednesday afternoon, Domino’s had created a Twitter account, @dpzinfo, to address the comments, and it had presented its chief executive in a video on YouTube by evening (see below).
Yet more than one commentator has said the video may make things worse.
Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle fails to look into the camera. Instead his eyes peer at 45 degrees, presumably in the direction of a script. The effect is not reassuring. What is even more unfortunate for Domino's is that the posting of the video apology has caused even more YouTube commentary about the company, some of it extremely unflattering.
However, marketers are getting an instant lesson in the dangers of an online world where just about anyone with a video camera and a grudge can bring a company to its knees with lightning speed.
Here are key things experts say marketers can do to quickly catch and respond effectively to similar social-networking attacks:
• monitor social media;
• respond quickly;
• respond at the flashpoint (Domino's first responded on consumer affairs blog The Consumerist, whose readers helped track down the store and employees who made the video);
• educate workers about social media;
• foster a positive culture; and,
• set clear guidelines.
We covered many of the same points in our Food Technology paper about food safety blogging that appeared earlier this year.
Domino's YouTube pizza 'prank:' arrest warrants issued
Arrest warrants have been issued for Kristy and Michael, the two former Domino’s employees who had their 15-minutes of Internet fame yesterday.
The videos are available at GoodAsYou, including one of Michael wiping his ass with a sponge and then using it to clean a pan, and another in which Kristy says, "Did you all see that? He just blew a booger on those sandwiches.”
The Charlotte Observer reports that Catawba County health inspection records show the Domino's in Conover, on 10th Street N.W., has a very good sanitation rating -- 96.5. In fact, its last four inspections have produced scores ranging from 95.5 to 97.5.
Domino's officials and Catawba County health department inspectors took nothing to chance late Tuesday, sanitizing all equipment in the restaurant and throwing away all opened food items.
NewsChannel 36, the Observer's news partner, said Kristy sent an email to Domino's officials, saying it was a prank and that she and Michael never would prepare food that way -- in contrast to what they said on the video.
Domino's officials responded to the video Tuesday, sending out a news release that said, “We are appalled by the actions of these individuals and they do not represent the 125,000 hard-working men and women of Domino’s Pizza across the country and in 60 countries around the world.”
Bite Me '09: First gig, Raleigh, North Carolina
It was like Spinal Tap goes to the airforce base (below).
But Ben’s dad enjoyed the talk, New messages, media, to reduce incidence of foodborne disease.
The global incidence of foodborne illness continues to rise. The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30 per cent of individuals in developed countries suffer from foodborne illness each year . Current strategies for compelling individuals and organizations to practice food safety appear inadequate and are rarely evaluated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported in April 2008 that efforts to reduce foodborne illness have stalled. New messages using new media are required to create a culture that values microbiologically safe food.
Culture encompasses the shared values, mores, customary practices, inherited traditions, and prevailing habits of communities. The culture of today’s food system (including its farms, food processing facilities, domestic and international distribution channels, retail outlets, restaurants, and domestic kitchens) is saturated with information but short on behavioral-change insights. Creating a culture of food safety requires application of the best science with the best management and communication systems, including compelling, rapid, relevant, reliable and repeated, multi-linguistic and culturally-sensitive messages.
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The effectiveness of multilingual, convergent and distinctive food safety communications must be evaluated by direct observation – people lie a lot on surveys. A novel video capture system will be discussed.
The talk went well. We captured everything on video so the material will get used in about 30 places.
And after doing my usual, why are animal activists the only ones who know how to use a video camera spiel, Cargill Beef announced today it had implemented a third-party video-auditing system that will operate 24 hours a day at its U.S. beef harvesting plants to enhance the company’s animal welfare protection systems. All of Cargill’s U.S. plants are expected to have the program in place by the end of 2009.
We’ve now traveled to North Myrtle Beach for a few days of golf with a bunch of other Canadians.
And Amy appears to have some sort of foodborne illness.
You burnt the bird? A number of reasons to be thankful!
Michéle Samarya-Timm, a Health Educator for the Franklin Township Health Department in New Jersey, writes, Thanksgiving, and its hours of food prep, certainly creates a reason to appreciate sound food safety advice. After all, 3 hours seated at the dinner table should never be followed by 3 days seated on a porcelain throne.
Over the past few days, I’ve seen lots of advice to ensure a perfectly cooked (and foodsafe) thanksgiving turkey, but what if you’ve applied the cooking process a little too thoroughly?
Amending a list I found several years ago, here’s an updated version of Reasons to Be Thankful for Burning the Bird:
1. The useless pop-up timer was rendered useless.
2. Your tip sensitive digital thermometer will read at least 165F.
3. Salmonella won't be a concern.
4. Another valid reason for cooking stuffing outside the bird.
5. No one will overeat.
6. Post dinner sleepiness won’t be due to the tryptophan in turkey.
7. Uninvited guests will think twice next year.
8. Pets won't pester you for scraps.
9. The smoke alarm was due for a test.
10. Ash residue is a great motivation for handwashing.
11. Carving the bird will provide a good cardiovascular workout.
12. After dinner, the guys can take the bird to the yard and play football.
13. The less turkey Uncle George eats, the less likely he will be to walk around with his pants unbuttoned.
14. You'll get to the desserts quicker.
15. No arguments about throwing out turkey leftovers.
16. Next year you’ll pay closer attention to Doug Powell’s Canadian Thanksgiving food prep video.
Enjoy your holidays. And wash your hands!
Don't serve poop - it's on candid camera
While awaiting DNA test results on the poop in the Australian ice cream, Sydney’s Coogee Bay Hotel has announced it will install six new security cameras, with the food preparation area to be under constant surveillance.
It has also invited NSW health authorities to do monthly inspections of the kitchen, and customers will be able to have their say about the hotel via its website, to be launched soon.
Why burn poop on a doorstep when you can cook it in a 7-Eleven microwave
Earlier this week, police released surveillance video of three teens who walked into the convenience store near 2200 East and 9400 South, took out a one-gallon plastic bag with human feces inside and put it into the microwave while the clerk wasn't looking.The boys left the store, and the clerk figured out what had happened when a foul stench filled the building. The store had to be closed temporarily because of the odor.
Sandy police Sgt. Victor Quezada said the surveillance video was broadcast by local news stations, investigators received numerous tips from callers, and that on Wednesday morning, five high school students were greeted by police as they arrived for school in the morning. Two of the boys eventually were released, while the other three, two aged 16 and a 17-year-old, were arrested for investigation of third-degree felony criminal mischief.
The 7-Eleven figured out the video surveillance thing, but USDA says it's too complicated for slaughterhouses.
USDA says newfangled technology not required, slaughterhouses are fine
Everything is just fine.
Raymond, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for food safety (right, on the left, at Marler's food safety bash last week), told a House subcommittee that USDA has enough food inspectors after hiring more than 190 last year and videotaping meat plant operations would be costly and practically difficult to implement, adding, "It's not as simple as a camera," and that the agency was "not stretched too thin."Raymond's response angered House members, who said the recall of beef slaughtered in the Hallmark/Westland plant in Chino, Calif., showed a need for improvements.
The beef was recalled after the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover video showing the mistreatment of sick cows at the Westland/Hallmark plant in Chino, Calif.
As I've said before, USDA may need to adopt some new inspection and investigative techniques if the HSUS can so easily document such grotesquely poor treatment of animals.
And unlike 12th century France, USDA has access to the same video technology that a single undercover worker -- not the five USDA inspectors on-site -- was able to use to bring down a large corporation. Producers and processors who say their food is safe should be able to prove it. Producers and processors who say they treat animals humanely should be able to prove it.
Queen Liz hip to YouTube
About an hour later, I e-mailed Ben Chapman, and said this is a good study in risk communication, we can use it in the classes we teach.
Today, the 81-year-old Queen Elizabeth II once again proved herself adaptable -- at least more nimble than most American food producers, especially spinach growers -- and launched her own special Royal Channel on YouTube.The Associated Press reports that the queen will use the popular video-sharing website to send out her 50th annual televised Christmas message, which she first delivered live to the nation and its colonies on Dec. 25, 1957.
I was born in 1962 in the colony of Canada, and it was a Christmas tradition when I was young to watch the Queen's broadcast on Christmas Day at my very English grandparents' house, and then cuddle up with my grandmother over a heat register behind the couch and watch the Toronto Maple Leafs -- the same Leafs who last won hockey's Stanley Cup in 1967.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement today,
"The queen always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people. The Christmas message was podcast last year."
On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II's annual Christmas speech can once again be downloaded as a podcast from www.royal.gov.uk. It also is being made available on television in high definition for the first time.
American baseball pitcher Roger Clemens has also continued his campaign to refute allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs on Sunday as he released a video and agreed to an interview that will air on “60 Minutes."
Kids love the video.
Kids love the video
Ben borrowed a classic from Beavis and Butthead, and Andrew posted the results of his first foray into video -- in the fall we gave him a video camera he'd never used before, sent him to the state fair in Hutchinson, Kansas, and told him to come back with a story (risks associated with petting zoos).
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After training for a semester, you are going to see a lot more video from Andrew and others at iFSN.A culture of safe food needs cool videos. And iFSN.
Give large. Give small. It's all on-line at
https://one.found.ksu.edu/ccon/new_gift.do?action=newGift&CCN_FUND_ID=3894&SCENARIO=SELECTFUND
Any problems, just e-mail me, dpowell@ksu.edu.
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