26 sickened; woman shares survival story after E. coli outbreak linked to Calif. lettuce

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Belle Bourque of Westville, Nova Scotia, spent almost a month in hospital with E. coli O157:H7 after eating lettuce at a restaurant over the holidays.

“You know, one minute you’re healthy, you’re living a normal life and then ‘boom,’ you’re dying.”

She spent nearly a month in hospital as E. coli bacteria attacked her kidneys.

“I’m sure if it wasn’t for the good doctors and the good Lord and all the prayers, I wouldn’t be here.”

Bourque’s case was one of more than a dozen confirmed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, along with 13 in Ontario.

In early Jan. 2013, the Public Health Agency of Canada said the most probable cause of 26 confirmed E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in the Maritimes and Ontario was shredded lettuce grown in California and distributed by FreshPoint Inc. primarily to some KFC and KFC-Taco Bell restaurants.

The silence from the California Greens Marketing Agreement has been deafening.

A table of leafy green outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/leafy-greens-related-outbreaks.

No one in the Bourque family has eaten lettuce since Belle fell ill, and they don’t plan to unless it comes out of their own garden.

KFC employee fired for photo of potato licking

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Note to daughters working in food service: don’t pretend to lick the food you may be serving and post it on facebook. Someone may notice and you may get fired.

But by all means, the next time some suit blathers on about how food safety is the most important thing ever and ever, please, post evidence to refute such blatant nose stretchers.

I got your back.

An employee at the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Tennessee distributed a pic of her holding a plate of mashed potatoes close to her face, as if she was going to lick them.

A company spokesman on Monday said customers did not receive those potatoes.

KFC spokesman Rick Maynard wrote to Johnson City Press via email and said this food was not served.

“Nothing is more important to KFC than food safety. As soon as our franchisee became aware of the issue, immediate action was taken. The franchisee’s investigation confirmed the photos were taken after the restaurant was closed and none of the food was served. The employee involved was immediately terminated.”

KFC Twister appeal in Australian settlement sucks

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Douglas Powell

In April 2012, KFC was ordered to pay $8 million damages by a judge who found a young Sydney girl was left severely brain damaged after eating a Twister chicken wrap.

KFC decided to appeal.

On Friday, Justice Clifton Hoeben of the Supreme Court of NSW told Michael Jones, SC, representing the fast food chain, that his appeal submissions “don’t come within a bull’s roar of complying with the rules.”

“I get very little assistance from the written submissions,” Justice Hoeben said, adding there was “hardly any law there”.

“They really read as submissions that should have been or probably were made at trial,” he said.

“They are not in the form of submissions on appeal.”

Would you like worms with that chicken? Closure notice issued to KFC outlet in India

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Douglas Powell

The Hindu reports food safety officials issued a closure notice to a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) at Pulimood, India, following a complaint about live worms inside the chicken served to a family via a toll-free line.

“A family which had come to eat at the KFC outlet had called saying that there were live worms in the fried chicken they had been served. They said that they had torn a piece of chicken apart to feed their toddler when they spotted scores of wriggly worms inside the meat. We were sceptical at first about finding live worms inside chicken which had been fried. But it turned out to be true,” a senior food safety official said.

A squad of officials, led by District Designated Food Safety Officer D. Sivakumar, reached the outlet and collected the samples of the incriminating food.

Officials said the frozen chicken was brought in bulk from Coimbatore by the food chain, but obviously the cold-chain maintenance must have been poor, leading to the spoilage of the meat and worms starting to fester inside.

They said the method of frying adopted – quick frying in extremely hot oil – did not kill the worms as the heat had not penetrated inside.

KFC takes disabled girl back to court in Australia

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Fast-food giant KFC has appealed against the $8 million damages payout awarded to a young girl who was left severely brain damaged from salmonella poisoning after eating a KFC chicken twister.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the company is also trying to force Monika Samaan and her family to pay its legal costs from her 2009 court hearing, which are likely to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Monika, then seven and now 14, became seriously ill after eating the chicken wrap at the Villawood KFC in 2005, suffering brain damage that has left her confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak.

KFC denied it was responsible, challenging the family’s claim during a four-week trial.

But the hearing exposed a series of poor hygiene practices at the Villawood store.

In April, Justice Stephen Rothman found in favour of the family, ordering KFC to pay the Samaan family $8 million in compensation, much of which will be used to pay for Monika’s lifelong medical care.

But lawyers for KFC told the NSW Supreme Court today that they have formally lodged their appeal submissions.

The court heard that the fast-food chain had a three-pronged appeal, including “the failure to consider evidence”, an “error in the judge’s factual findings” and the weight given to certain evidence.

A lawyer for the Samaan family criticised KFC’s appeal submissions, describing them as “an amorphous restatement” of what was said during the trial.

The lawyer for KFC denied this.

Sometimes, chicken comes raw: KFC Ontario version

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Color is still a lousy indicator to determine whether food has been safely cooked. But sometimes it’s obvious, usually by biting into semi-still-frozen burgers; Amy got to experience that once in Manhattan; I did in New Zealand years ago; and now some dude in Ontario (the one in Canada) whose friend posted this pic to Reddit over the weekend.

“Fried Chicken #FAIL. My friend ordered a chicken burger from KFC & it came back raw. Yes he ate that bite that’s missing.”

In the comments, the user explains that that sandwich in question was purchased in Ontario, Canada, where the information on the packing is written in both French and English. PFK stands for “Poulet frit a la Kentucky.”

KFC ordered to pay $8 million for poisoning; will appeal

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Douglas Powell

KFC has been ordered to pay $8 million damages by a judge who found a young Sydney girl was left severely brain damaged after eating a Twister chicken wrap.

AAP reports the family of Monika Samaan (right) successfully sued the fast food giant, claiming the source of her salmonella poisoning was a Twister.

Her father told the NSW Supreme Court he bought the wrap on October 24, 2005, at the KFC outlet at Villawood, in Sydney’s west.

While Monika, her parents and her brother ended up in hospital with salmonella poisoning, the then seven-year-old was left severely brain damaged and is effectively now a quadriplegic.

On Friday, Justice Stephen Rothman ordered KFC to pay $8 million damages plus legal costs.

Last Friday, he found KFC had breached its duty of care to the young girl.
KFC has indicated it will appeal his finding.

In a statement, the family’s lawyer George Vlahakis said, "The compensation ordered is very much needed. KFC have to date been determined that Monika does not receive a cent."

Sydney family’s daughter stricken with Salmonella wins court case against KFC

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Douglas Powell

A Sydney father who claimed his daughter was left severely brain damaged from salmonella poisoning after eating a KFC ‘Twister’ has won a court battle against the fast-food chain.

The family of Monika Samaan brought a multimillion-dollar compensation bid against KFC in the NSW Supreme Court, claiming the then seven-year-old became ill after eating the chicken wrap in Sydney’s west in 2005.

KFC denied the claim but on Friday afternoon Justice Stephen Rothman found in favor of the family in the NSW Supreme Court.

KFC has vowed to appeal the ruling.

In a statement, the restaurant said the case was clearly tragic but they were "deeply disappointed and surprised" by Judge Rothman’s decision.

"We believe the evidence showed KFC did not cause this tragedy and, after reviewing the judgment and seeking further advice from our lawyers, we have decided to appeal Justice Rothman’s decision," KFC Australia’s chief corporate affairs officer Sally Glover said.

"We feel deeply for Monika and the Samaan family, however, we also have a responsibility to defend KFC’s reputation as a provider of safe, high-quality food."

During a four-week trial in 2010, Monika’s father Amanwial Samaan told the court he and his wife Hanna, son Abanou and Monika all fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea after sharing the Twister.

Monika, who was in a coma for six months and in hospital for seven, is effectively now a quadriplegic and severely brain damaged.

She took the NSW Supreme Court action through her father.

KFC’s lawyer, Ian Barker QC, argued there "never was a shared Twister" because there was no sales data to prove the family purchased it.

"You did not tell anyone at the hospital, when you were there between October 27 and 29, that you had shared a KFC Twister that Monday," Mr Barker said in the NSW Supreme Court in July 2010.

"Because there was no direct question at me," Mr Samaan replied.

He also accused Mr Samaan of thinking KFC "might be an easy target."

But the family’s barrister, Anthony Bartley SC, presented evidence about KFC food practices that were "disturbing and unsettling."

"If the store was particularly busy, then even if chicken dropped on the floor… it was on some occasions simply put back into the burger station from where it had fallen," he said.

He told the court Monika, who had been a bright girl, could now feed herself to a limited extent but wears a nappy and goes to a special school.

KFC said it would not comment further on the matter as it is now on appeal.

‘Sedation stunning’ or ‘slow induction anesthesia’ for slaughtered chickens; why not microbiologically safer

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Douglas Powell

Why are production standards marketed in grocery stores, but microbiological safety isn’t?

As reported by William Neuman of the New York Times, “shoppers in the supermarket today can buy chicken free of nearly everything but adjectives. It comes free-range, cage-free, antibiotic-free, raised on vegetarian feed, organic, even air-chilled.

“Coming soon: stress-free?

“Two premium chicken producers, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary’s Chickens in California, are preparing to switch to a system of killing their birds that they consider more humane. The new system uses carbon dioxide gas to gently render the birds unconscious before they are hung by their feet to have their throats slit, sparing them the potential suffering associated with conventional slaughter methods.”

With so many options, why isn’t someone marketing microbiologically safer chicken – chicken with fewer of the bugs that make people barf?

With the slaughter system, David Pitman, whose family owns Mary’s Chickens, said,

“Most of the time, people don’t want to think about how the animal was killed.”

And retailers will say, you can’t market food safety because that would imply other foods are unsafe.

But as a shopper, I want to reward companies that pay attention to microbial food safety issues, and shun companies that are sloppy.

Americans are good at marketing, so why not get the Mad Men geniuses on the case and figure out how to brag about microbiologically safer food.

Anglia Autoflow, the company that is building the knock-out systems for the two processors, calls the process “controlled atmosphere stunning,” but Mr. Pitman said his company was considering the phrase “sedation stunning” for use on its packages. Also on the short-list: “humanely slaughtered,” “humanely processed” or “humanely handled.”

The trick, he said, is to communicate the goal of the new system, which is to ensure that the birds “not have any extra pain or discomfort in the last few minutes of their lives.”

Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and a prominent livestock expert, consulted with Bell & Evans as the company worked with Anglia to design its system. She said it was better because the chickens were not aware of what was happening to them. “Birds don’t like being hung upside down,” Dr. Grandin said. “They get really stressed out by that.”

Scott Sechler, the owner of Bell & Evans, said the system was designed to put birds to sleep gently, in the same way that a person undergoes anesthesia before surgery.

To evoke that image, he wants to put the words “slow induction anesthesia” on his packages and advertising, which already tell customers that the birds are raised in roomy conditions with natural light and given feed free of antibiotics or animal byproducts. Customers who want to know more will be able to go to the company’s Web site.

Australian KFC staff tell of food fights, poor hygiene

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Douglas Powell

For years, no matter where I lived, there was a Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurant nearby – what’s now called KFC — and the scent of special herbs and spices was in the air and in my clothing.

I’d eat the stuff once a year, and immediately regret the indulgence.

There’s a tragic case involving a KFC that is being heard by the Australian Supreme Court involving 11-year-old Monika Samaan, who is suing KFC, claiming the source of her salmonella poisoning was a Twister her father said he bought at the outlet on October 24, 2005.

In testimony today, three former staff at KFC Villawood, near Sydney said they would drop chicken pieces on the floor, help themselves to food and throw chicken strips at each other as ‘pranks.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports KFC has denied responsibility for Samaan’s illness, which has left her with severe brain damage and quadriplegia.

Hatem Alhindawiq, 20, who began working at the Villawood branch in September 2005, told the court that a few weeks after he started there he and his friends would lock each other in the cool room and ”maybe chuck chips … at each other, that kind of stuff”.

They would also throw chicken nuggets and chicken strips and ”muck around, slap each other and run away, all that sort of stuff”, he said, adding that chicken strips were ”the easiest to chuck”.

Mr Alhindawiq said he saw a friend who was a cook at the outlet accidentally drop a piece of chicken as he was unloading the deep fry basket. It fell onto a ”breading table” where chicken is floured before being cooked, and then onto the floor. ”He was like, ‘Oh, don’t worry’ … look, it’s only flour,’ and he grabbed it and he chucked it back in.”

Danielle Cabassi, 19, who worked at the branch for two years from 2005, said she often saw the cooks fail to wash their hands between working with raw chicken and removing cooked chicken from the fryer. They would use tongs, but there was still blood on their hands, the interior student said.

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