A 1997 outbreak of cyclospora in fresh basil prepared at a Washington, D.C. restaurant sickened hundreds. Additional outbreaks have been associated with parsley, cilantro and pepper, among others.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that in the middle of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness linked to black and red pepper -- and after 16 separate U.S. recalls since 2001 of tainted spices ranging from basil to sage -- federal regulators met last week with the spice industry to figure out ways to make the supply safer.

Jeff Farrar, the FDA's associate commissioner for food safety, said the government wants the spice industry to do more to prevent contamination. That would include use of one of three methods to rid spices of bacteria: irradiation, steam heating or fumigation with ethylene oxide, a pesticide.

"The bottom line is, if there are readily available validated processes out there to reduce the risk of contamination, our expectation is that they will use them," Farrar said. But the FDA cannot currently require it.

Cheryl Deem, executive director of the American Spice Trade Association, said contamination of raw ingredients has long been a problem in the spice industry, adding,

"The vast majority of spices are cultivated outside of the U.S., where processing methods often result in contamination."

Linda Harris, a microbiologist at the University of California at Davis, said,

"In the last 15 years, food safety is just at an increasingly higher level of awareness. We've got increased testing, increased detection methods. I don't think what we're seeing is necessarily a true increase in prevalence. I think it's an increase in our ability to detect."

Steve Markus, director of food safety and commercial products at Sterigenics Inc., the biggest food irradiation company in the country, said about half of the nation's spices are irradiated, but that nearly all companies using irradiation sell to industrial customers. No retail spice company uses irradiation because federal law requires disclosure of irradiation on the label, and the industry thinks consumers will not buy those products.

I’d buy irradiated spices and so would others. No one has tried selling the stuff, so conjectures about consumer behavior based on surveys are meaningless. But, that’s the way many retailers are. Market food safety at retail.

Robert Cribb of the Toronto Star is reporting tonight that two Ontarians were hospitalized — and another two deaths are being investigated — in relation to a listeria outbreak traced to a Toronto deli meat manufacturer.

Its part of a dramatic spike in listeria cases in Ontario since January that has renewed concerns about the country’s food safety system 18 months after 22 Canadians died in the Maple Leaf tragedy (fiasco – dp).

Packages of prosciutto cotto cooked ham and mild cacciatore salami made by Siena Foods Ltd. have been targeted as a possible cause in the outbreak.

The company’s salami was recalled in December and the ham was recalled early Friday. Both were sold to delis, grocery stores, specialty food stores and supermarkets after January 11.

“We are using a variety of different methods to ... prevent any further exposure to this product by the public,” said

Siena officials did not respond to interview requests Friday.

Since January, the province has had 14 confirmed listeria cases (six in Toronto) — well beyond the eight that is typically expected for this point in the year, said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.

Two Torontonians were sickened by a strain of the pathogen that matches with the Siena meat, hospitalized and are now recovering, she said. At least seven people across the province have been hospitalized since January from listeria.

Two Ontarians died during the same time the tainted Siena meat was in the marketplace, she confirmed. But provincial officials are still investigating whether there is a direct connection between those deaths and the company’s products.

Rick Holley, a microbiologist and food safety expert at the University of Manitoba and a consultant with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said,

“I haven’t seen improvement. We haven’t seen any reduction, in my view, of the risk. We’re not doing foodborne illness surveillance the way we should. I’m not encouraged that, materially, we’ve got the kind of buy-in by industry we need to move forward with confidence.”

Doug Powell, a Canadian food safety expert at Kansas State University, said,

“There’s clearly some bad stuff going at that plant. I would like (health officials) to be clear about what they know, what they don’t know and what they’re doing about it. I don’t know how these Canadian health types are allowed to operate the way they do and not say anything.”

Timeline:
December 21, 2009: The CFIA recalls Siera salami
March 3: The ministry began a detailed investigation with local health units to identify source of the illness
March 5: The ministry released an “enhanced surveillance directive” to health units to identify any other cases
March 9: The ministry was notified of the test results of food samples taken from one of the two cases of hospitalized victims. The genetic fingerprint from the prosciutto was an exact match to the salami and a sample taken from one of the infected people.
March 11: The CFIA recalls Siera cooked ham

All these stories about local health code violations rarely get to the real issues – what is a critical violation, how is it defined, who decides and why is food safety training so apparently ineffective?

Health inspectors nailed at least 1,900 area restaurants and food vendors — including the swanky Palm and Georgia Brown's -- for violations ranging from rat infestations to "slime"-covered water spigots during a three-month period, according to health department records obtained by The Washington Examiner.

Health inspectors in Virginia, Maryland and the District closed at least 116 area food establishments as a result of major health code infractions.

But hundreds of other restaurants were allowed to remain open, despite racking up critical violations such as expired food and preparing dishes with open wounds. All the violations occurred between Nov. 1 and Feb. 1.

A health inspector observed 11 critical health code violations at Gordon Biersch, which tied Georgia Brown's for the most among D.C. restaurants during one inspection.

A hand-written report described one barehanded cook "preparing desserts with cuts/sores on fingers," and said employees were cleaning dining utensils and dishes with dirty rags between servings, and using the same pair of tongs to handle cooked and raw food.

And in Virginia, Alexandria's upscale Brabo by Robert Wiedmaier was cited for 10 critical health code violations during one inspection.

However, Brabo owner and Executive Chef Wiedmaier said the violations -- which included kitchen employees drinking from uncovered containers and handling toasted bread with bare hands -- did not endanger customers' health, and the use of the word "critical" was misleading.

"No one's ever been sick here," he said. "I run clean, professional restaurants, and I pride myself on how people see my kitchens."

How would he know? He wouldn’t.

It’s a mystery, how various health agencies decide when to issue public warnings about particular food products.

On Wednesday, Ontario health officials announced they were investigating two cases of listeriosis that appear to be linked to salami recalled from stores in Ontario and Quebec about three months ago.

The salami was sold by Siena Foods based in Toronto and was voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer on Dec. 21, 2009, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday. The best before date on the packaged meat is May 4, 2010.

Last night, CFIA and Siena Foods Ltd. warned the public not to consume certain Siena brand Prosciutto Cotto Cooked Ham below because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The affected product Siena brand Prosciutto Cotto Cooked Ham, was sold to delicatessens, grocery and speciality food stores in large wholesale packages for further slicing bearing Best Before dates of March 8 and March 22, 2010.

The affected product would have been sold to consumers after January 11, 2010. However, the original brand and/or best before dates may not have been transferred at the deli counters to consumer packages. Persons who may have purchased cooked ham after January 11, 2010 and do not know original brand and code are advised to check with their retailer or supplier to determine if they have the affected product.

So much for traceability.

This recall is based on positive test results for Listeria monocytogenes in product samples and CFIA's investigation of these findings.

The CFIA is aware of reported listeriosis illness in Ontario and is collaborating with the Province of Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada to investigate these illnesses. At this time, no confirmed linkage has been made between the subject recalled products and the reported illnesses.

That’s CFIA-speak for ‘we haven’t found the same Listeria in an unopened package. But we found enough links to go public and cover ourselves.’

I hate myself for being able to interpret CFIA-speak.

The Marriage Ref is a terrible show, even with A-lister guests Madonna, Larry David and Ricky Gervais, some of my personal favorites.

The scene of the couple sharing pretty much everything with a giant salmonella-shedding iguana brought no complaints, and while Entertainment Weekly has already have called the episode much better than the previous, it still sucked.
 

Kevin Allen (right, pretty much as shown), an assistant professor of food microbiology at the University of British Columbia who used to focus on perfecting his hockey skills through food microbiology graduate education but has more recently shifted his focus to preventing foodborne illness, writes:

As details of the Salmonella enterica serovar Tennessee contamination of hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP) recall associated with Basic Foods Inc. (BFI), Nevada unravel, it is clear that many issues have played a role in this escalating and pervasive recall.

The finding of S. Tennessee on processing equipment at the BFI production facility demonstrates serious deficiencies in their sanitation program; the delay in reporting and back-dating of the recall show a lack of proper risk communication and management; and the continued manufacture and shipping of potentially contaminated HVP product to food producers shows a serious lack of risk-based decision making. Together, this has the potential to result in a large number of continued recalls and smacks similar to the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) recall in which S. Tennessee contaminated peanut products (2008) led to over 4,500 affected food products.

In both recalls, there appears to be a lack of responsibility associated with the food producers using these contaminated products. Because traditional microbiological testing requires highly-skilled laboratory technicians and an abundance of laboratory equipment, cost-cutting measures have routinely focused on decreased in-house testing of raw materials. Rather than microbiologically verifying the quality of individual raw materials which, admittedly, is a time-consuming process, food producers have increasingly relied on the vendor’s provision of a certificate of analysis stating that the product is microbiologically safe. In theory, this process of relying on vendor (i.e. BFI, PCA) assurances of microbiological acceptability should work providing that the vendor is producing the product hygienically and subsequently testing it appropriately. However, based on these two examples alone, food producers need to start verifying the microbiological quality of their raw materials, and stop relying on vendor’s assurances.

A food producer who used HVP in a product should be able look back at that lot to see that yes, our company used it, we tested it prior to use and found no pathogen contamination. Based on this approach, all production lots that were associated with production would also be tested and shown pathogen-free prior to retail distribution. However, cost-cutting, production requirements, and a simple willingness to assume microbiological safety of raw materials based on third-party assurances have once again severely impacted the food industry in a negative manner. Maybe it’s time food producers go back to the basics, and realize that microbiological testing of raw materials is not a waste of time and money, but rather a critical step in providing microbiologically safe foods to the public.

Sorenne and I only got through the start of The Colbert Report this morning before it was off to vaccinations, so this post is somewhat late.

But Stefan did take an excellent shot at more food wackiness being peddled on the Internet and insisted on his home herb garden, because, “I refuse to live in a world where I can’t garnish.”

My seeds are germinating in the Kansas spring, including my garnish garden, but I get my seeds at Home Depot or several other places. I want hybrids. Genetic modification is good. That’s why hybrid corn has been around since the early 1900s.

Not so for the Survival Seed Bank, which says it’s more valuable than silver or gold in a real meltdown.

Remember, our hand-picked seeds are not genetically modified in any way. You simply save some of your harvest seeds from year one and have more than enough to plant in year two. You'll never need to buy seeds again! You just can't do that with man-made hybrid seeds.

Most seed companies are now selling only "terminator" seeds which have been genetically modified and will not reproduce themselves.

This is nonsense. And for government-paranoias here in the Midwest,

"Indestructible Survival Seed Bank Can Be Buried To Avoid Confiscation."

It’s all BS to make a buck.

Ontario health officials are investigating two cases of listeriosis that appear to be linked to salami recalled from stores in Ontario and Quebec about three months ago.

The salami is sold by Siena Foods based in Toronto and was voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer on Dec. 21, 2009, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday. The best before date on the packaged meat is May 4, 2010.

Ontario health officials say they've been told two men became ill and are recovering at home. The officials wouldn't say where the men live.

I understand the right to privacy, and the investigative angst regarding cases 3-months-old, but not releasing hometown information does little to jeopardize privacy and a lot to make sure others don’t come forward. And is this really the best various Canadian health bureaucrats can do in releasing timely information that may prevent others from barfing?

Canada: strive for mediocrity.

More corporate douchebags who talk a good food safety game but could care less have been caught endangering people and losing huge piles of money for their owners.

The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post are reporting this morning that Basic Food Flavors Inc., the Las Vegas company at the center of a recall of more than 100 food products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, continued to make and distribute food ingredients for about a month after it learned salmonella was present at its processing facility, according to a Food and Drug Administration report.

Managers at Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas learned on Jan. 21 that samples taken a week earlier from their Nevada facility tested positive for salmonella, but they kept shipping their product to foodmakers, according to FDA inspection records.

The FDA last week recommended companies recall products, from chips to soups, that contain a commonly used additive made by Basic Food Flavors that tested positive for salmonella. The additive is mixed into foods to give them a meaty flavor.

FDA officials inspected Basic Food's plant for about two weeks starting in mid-February and found the company didn't adequately clean equipment and store foods to protect against the growth of contaminants such as salmonella, according to the inspection report.

The inspectors noted that "light-brown residue" and "dark-brown liquid" was observed on or around where Basic Food makes flavor-enhancing ingredients used in foods. The inspectors said brown residue was also found in a plastic pipe used in making food ingredients.

Basic Food makes a flavor enhancer called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP. The FDA report said the company first learned salmonella was present at its processing facility for HVP on Jan. 21. The company continued to distribute the ingredients until Feb. 15. A representative for the company wasn't immediately available to comment. The company hasn't responded to earlier requests for comment.

No illnesses have been reported related to the recall, said FDA spokeswoman Rita Chappelle.

But those who shipped out Salmonella-positive ingredients are still douchebags.

A list of affected products can be found at http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/HVPCP/.