Craving credibility: raw milk risk and PR stunts

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Doug Powell

The scientific fringe craves the credibility – the impateur — of the scientific mainstream. It fuels conspiracy theories, drains public health resources, and unnecessarily worries a lot of folks; it’s a recycled tactic often used in the politics of genetically engineered food, water fluoridation, and so on.

Mainstream science can be wrong; but it’s better than astrology.

In the interest of public discussion and equal opportunity opinion, public agencies will often invite alternate opinions on a topic. Which is apparently what the British Columbia (that’s a province in Canada) Center for Disease Control did when it invited a raw milk proponent to promote her cause.

The subsequent press release was predictable, breathlessly announcing in scientifically-sounding garble that “quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs) recently published in the Journal of Food Protection have demonstrated that unpasteurized milk is a low-risk food.”

In craving credibility, the release states “British Columbia CDC’s Medical Director of Environmental Health Services, Dr. Tom Kosatsky, who is also Scientific Director of Canada’s National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, welcomed the invited presentation as ‘up-to-date’ and ‘a very good example of knowledge synthesis and risk communication.’”

Risk communication shouldn’t be propaganda (although it often is).

Whether a food is low-risk or high-risk is a largely subjective comparison especially because it needs to be done on a per serving basis to be meaningful. A small percentage of people drink raw milk, yet it seems to cause a disproportionately high number of outbreaks, especially among kids.

Most of us don’t have a scotch and smoke with our four-year-olds, most of us don’t share raw milk with our four-year-olds. But I’ll leave it to others to comment on the uh, unique interpretations of risk assessment.

When the press release appeared I e-mailed BCCDC. They said the talk, presented May 16, 2013, was fairly presented, but had not changed the views of BCCDC, which maintains “pasteurization of raw milk has prevented thousands of illnesses and deaths. It is one of the greatest advances in public health of the 20th century” and that “raw milk isn’t safe.”

‘Oysters have to be alive or you’ll get food poisoning’ Porn trumps microbiology again

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Doug Powell

Everything I know about Germany I learned from South Park’s portrayal of Cartman’s mom and her involvement with scheisse porn.

I gave an invited talk in Berlin about 15 years ago; my parents advised that German’s have no sense of humor; I ignored them. I failed.

Hwan Nam-kong of Furusato, a Korean restaurant in Berlin says “The fact that it is still alive on the plate is a sign of quality.”

World Crunch is talking about octopus moving around on the plate on its tentacles. The cook swiftly grabs it by its slimy head, pushes a skewer through the tentacles, wraps them around it – and voila, the Korean delicacy known as sannakji, served with chili sauce or a sesame oil and salt dip.

However, eating moving tentacles is not without danger: they can fix themselves to the inside of your mouth – or worse your throat – which could lead to suffocation and death. So if you order the dish in Korea make sure to chew well, advises Hwan Nam-kong. In her Berlin establishment, octopus is not served this way for the simple reason that it’s difficult to get live octopus in Germany.

She has heard that Germans believe that eating living things is a form of animal torture. “Every country has its own food culture that should be accepted by other cultures,” she says.

Koki Umesaka, a chef at Berlin’s Daruma Japanese restaurant, explains that with ikizukuri, a fish is served with its eyes, gills and mouth still moving. That’s not easy, he says. It requires a special technique, and a very sharp knife. Only very experienced chefs know how to do this, he says.

A similar side effect is attributed to another living food you can easily find in Germany – oysters. Greek mythology has it that Aphrodite, goddess of love, sprang from an oyster. Famed Italian seducer Casanova is said to have eaten oysters to maximize his staying power, according to Guillaume Boullay of the Austern Restaurant Meerweinin Hamburg.

If you eat raw oysters they have to be alive, otherwise you may get food poisoning, he says. The way to recognize a living oyster is by its shell clamped tightly shut, and the smell of fresh iodine when you pry it open with an oyster knife. You can also tell by the way the oyster inside moves if you touch it with the tip of the knife or squirt lemon juice on it.

I’ll continue to grill any oyster. My liver wouldn’t like Vibrio.

Raw milk advocates unfazed by bacteria outbreak

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Doug Powell

With another five people sick with Campylobacter from another in an endless line of outbreaks, the popularity of raw milk seems to be increasing.

Or so say raw milk proponents, like those quoted in the Lehigh Valley.

Farmer Layne Klein swears by the health benefits of raw milk, and says his Klein Farms Dairy & Creamery takes all the necessary steps to ensure its milk is safe to drink, and customers can take a look at the cows when they visit. “We have nothing to hide. We drink it ourselves, so we make sure it’s perfectly clean. … We just keep getting busier and busier.”

Maybe customers are outfitted with those ultra-sensitive bacteria-detecting goggles I keep hearing about, especially when there is an outbreak.

Or, like organic, local, natural, sustainable and dolphin-free, the latest food movement is pushed along by PR, celebrity endorsements, a compliant media, self-interest better profit margins and a human willingness to believe.

For all the positive press organic has received over the years, it should dominate retail sales. It doesn’t.

Raw milk sales are a sliver of conventional milk sales, yet consume a wildly disproportionate amount of electronic gibbering, a wildly disproportionate number of sick people, and a wildly disproportionate chomp of scarce public health resources.

Consumers can choose whatever they want. But there is nothing available for consumers to choose microbiologically safe food – the bugs that make people sick.

5 sick, again, from Campylobacter linked to Penn. raw milk

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Doug Powell

In Jan. 2010, the owners of The Family Cow, a producer of raw milk in Pennsylvania, in partnership with Whole Foods, took the Intertubes to extol the virtues of raw milk (video below).

In Jan. 2012, after a preliminary investigation had linked 12 people sick with Campylobacter to raw milk consumption, Edwin Shank, the owner of Shankstead EcoFarm, trading as The Family Cow in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, wrote in an e-mail to customers, “In spite of some over-eager reporting, there have been NO positive campylobacter tests from unopened container of our raw milk either by the PDA lab or from QC Labs, the certified lab that we use.

“When your emails started pouring in, one thing became immediate obvious. There is an unusually powerful stomach and lower gastrointestinal illness with acute 7-10 day diarrhea going through our communities. Some say it’s nationwide.

“So, if we were looking for an easy way out, and looking to shift the blame, it looks like we could have our answer. It’s not us! It’s not our milk! It’s a virus. It’s the flu. It is nationwide so don’t blame us!”

At least 65 people were sickened in that outbreak.

Now, the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture and Health has advised consumers to discard raw milk produced by The Family Cow because of potential bacterial contamination, based on laboratory tests and five sick people.

Again Campylobacter.

Again, epidemiology works.

The Family Cow, owned and operated by Edwin Shank, sells directly to consumers in an on-farm retail store and at drop off locations and retail stores around Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley, as well as south-central Pennsylvania.

Agriculture officials ordered the owners of the farm to stop the sale of all raw milk until further notice.

Shank, 43, told Trib Live, “We’re working with the state, doing additional testing and strengthening safety protocols. We have our laboratory. We test and hold every batch.”

Israelis warned to avoid unpasteurized milk on mouth lesions

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Doug Powell

Unpasteurized goat milk should not be applied to ulcers of the mouth because of the risk of pathogens such as E. coli, listeria, and brucella.

So says the Israeli Ministry of Health in warning residents to avoid the practice “even if they only gargle the milk without swallowing or only spread it on wounds.”

5 sick; Campylobater again in raw milk in Alaska; really is Groundhog Day

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Doug Powell

Folks in Alaska must be undergoing their own kind of public health Groundhog Day – where the same day is relived with slight variations.

But unlike the Bill Murray movie, no matter how much the health types cajole, persuade, and act nice, things won’t change.

For the second time this year, and third since 2011, the Alaska Section of Epidemiology is investigating another outbreak of Campylobacter infection associated with the consumption of raw milk. This new outbreak is associated with raw milk distributed by the same Kenai Peninsula cow-share program that was linked to a Campylobacter outbreak sickened at least 31 people in February 2013.

In the current investigation, five cases of Campylobacter infection have been identified to date. Two of the five people sought medical attention. Testing by the Alaska State Public Health Laboratory identified the bacteria strain as Campylobacter jejuni. The exact same strain of C. jejuni was found in cow manure obtained earlier this year at the cow-share farm that distributed the raw milk. “The genetic fingerprint of the bacteria isolated from these two people and the cow is unique. It has never been seen before in the United States,” said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, State Epidemiologist. “These outbreaks are an unfortunate reminder of the inherent risks associated with raw milk consumption, and underscore the importance of pasteurization.”

Food porn trumps food safety, again: Bon Appetite likes it raw

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Doug Powell

Bon Appetit, the Penthouse of food pornographers (same photo techniques), has compiled a slide show of the 15 most prominent examples of raw meat around the globe.

“In this enlightened age of hygiene and actually knowing how people get sick, raw meat has picked up a regrettable reputation. The elegance of a nice steak tartare, mixed up tableside, has been mostly forgotten, and some people even (horror of horrors) ask for perfectly nice pieces of beef to be ruined into well-doneness. But in other parts of the globe (and even some parts of America), the raw meat dish tradition is going strong.”

Like porn, it gets redundant after a while.

25 sick, up from 13; Salmonella linked to homemade unpasteurized fresh cheese in Minn

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Doug Powell

At least 25 Minnesotans have been sickened with salmonellosis linked to eating a raw Mexican-style cheese, queso fresco, state health officials said. The outbreak illustrates the dangers of consuming unpasteurized dairy products.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the City of Minneapolis have been investigating the outbreak and the source of the raw milk used to make the cheese since the first cases were detected in late April.

MDH confirmed 18 cases of infection with the same strain of Salmonella. An additional seven cases of illness occurred among family members or other contacts of confirmed cases, but no laboratory specimens were available. The individuals became ill between March 28 and April 24. Of the 25 cases, 15 were hospitalized. All have recovered. Many cases reported eating unpasteurized queso fresco purchased or received from an individual who made the product in a private home. Investigators have determined that the individual made home deliveries and also may have sold the product on a street corner near the East Lake Street area of Minneapolis.

Anyone who may have purchased or received this product recently should not eat it but should throw it away.

Samples of unpasteurized queso fresco collected from the cheese maker were found to contain the same strain of Salmonella as the illnesses. Investigators determined that the milk used to make the cheese was purchased by the cheese maker from a Dakota County farm. Unpasteurized milk samples collected at the farm were also found to match the outbreak strain.

Dr. Heidi Kassenborg, director of MDA’s Dairy and Food Inspection Division, said the outbreak underscores the dangers of consuming unpasteurized dairy products. “It only takes a few bacteria to cause illness. Milking a cow is not a sterile process and even the cleanest dairy farms can have milk that is contaminated. That’s why pasteurization – or the heat treatment of milk to kill the harmful pathogens – is so important,” said Kassenborg.

Minnesota law allows consumers to purchase raw milk directly from the farm for their own consumption, but it may not be further distributed or sold. Additionally, cheese production facilities need to follow proper food safety laws and regulations, including licensure.

Dr. Carlota Medus said the outbreak may be over, as there are no suspect cases pending. However, it may still be possible to see additional cases that have not been reported yet from people who consumed cheese prior to health officials’ interventions, which occurred April 23-26.

While this particular outbreak may be over, MDA and MDH officials are concerned that this may not be an isolated incident: that there may be other instances of people buying foods like unpasteurized queso fresco prepared by neighbors, friends or family. “It’s important for people to be aware of the inherent risk of consuming any raw dairy product from any source,” Medus said. “We encourage people to think carefully about those risks and know that the risks are especially high for young children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.”

In Australia, eggs bigger source of food poisoning than chicken

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Doug Powell

As some of the 140 sickened with Salmonella linked to raw egg mayonnaise in Canberra prepare for legal action, The Canberra Times confirms that Australia has an egg problem (that’s what the headline says).

There has been an average of 100 cases a year of salmonella poisoning – or salmonellosis – in the ACT since 1991, but the number is actually higher as not everyone affected seeks medical attention.

Last year, there were 241 cases in the ACT, well above the 23-year historical average.

Rising national rates of salmonella infection led to the introduction of a national food standard for egg producers late last year to address the risk of egg products in salmonellosis. The national standard prohibits the sale of cracked and dirty eggs, and requires individual eggs to be stamped with the producer’s unique identification so they can be traced, but they say it is too early to tell whether it has had a positive effect.

The measures do not answer all the issues either, as it is up to individual jurisdictions to enforce the standard, although NSW has had an Egg Food Safety Scheme in place since 2010 for anyone producing more than 20 dozen eggs a week.

And with the largest-ever salmonella outbreak in the territory determined to be from the mayonnaise at the Copa Brazilian Churrasco restaurant, there is a lesson for all in food safety.

“I think there’s a pretty good awareness of food safety risks in general,” said John Hart, national chief executive of the Restaurant and Catering Association, “but this area and the risk that eggs pose is showing up to be an area where there isn’t sufficient education as to the risks.

“We’ve had two outbreaks of that nature in the ACT in recent times, and it’s certainly an area in which we need some significant education to stop these sort of outbreaks occurring. It seems that most of the incidents and significant incidents we’ve had in recent times have all been around eggs.”

The Restaurant and Catering Association says it’s going to do more education about raw egg risks, but for budding chefs who fancy some homemade aioli or nanna’s tiramisu, the buck stops with them.

Australian National University professor of infectious diseases and microbiology Peter Collignon said last year that distinguishing between egg providers was not necessarily enough.

”Any egg, whether it’s commercial or free range, can be an issue,” Mr Collignon said.

”My view is whatever egg I get from whatever source, it’s too hard to know, so I cook it.”

A table of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

‘Problem fingered’ but will anything change? Raw egg in mayonnaise source of Salmonella that sickened over 140 in Canberra

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Doug Powell

Australia still has an egg problem; and it seems no matter how many outbreaks there are, how many people get sick, and how much business is lost, the cooks I talk with are fiercely committed to continue the use of raw eggs in mayonnaise, aioli and custards.

Expect more outbreaks.

Especially when the lede from the national Australian Broadcast Corporation is that the restaurant at the center of Canberra’s worst food poisoning outbreak is keen to reopen, not, why did such a large restaurant sicken so many people by relying on food safety fairytales?

More than 140 people became ill after eating at The Copa Brazilian Churrasco restaurant in Dickson at the weekend.

Fifteen people were admitted to hospital for treatment.

ACT Health found salmonella bacteria in mayonnaise used at the eatery.

Chief health officer Dr Paul Kelly says the restaurant could reopen within days.

“Now that we’ve really fingered the problem, we can actually work with them towards that in the coming days,” he said.

Dr Kelly says the use of raw eggs in restaurant food can be a problem.

“There are products on the market that pasteurize eggs, that may lead to a slightly less ‘foody’ answer to the problem, but it’s certainly safer,” he said.

“When you’re making mayonnaise at home then you’re taking your own risk. When you’re making six litres at a time using 30 raw eggs, then you just increase the chances I think to an unacceptable level. It’s a common practice in many restaurants across Australia.”

The case toll in that other, unrelated Canberra outbreak has now reached 90.

A table of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

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