Food safety apology II: Copa sorry for Salmonella outbreak

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Doug Powell

The restaurant behind Canberra’s largest salmonella outbreak has made a public apology to affected diners.

The Copa Brazilian Churrasco restaurant in Dickson released the statement on Thursday morning, after 140 people fell ill and 15 were admitted to hospital after eating bad mayonnaise nearly two weeks ago.

“It is with sincere compassion and genuine sorrow that we apologize to all the people and their families affected by the recent tragic sequence of events,” the statement said.

“We have removed all products containing raw eggs from our menu to ensure an outbreak of this kind is never repeated at The Copa.”

The release said the restaurant management had been unable to make an official statement earlier due to the ongoing investigation, but decided to make an apology now given the release date was unknown.

It’s never wrong to say sorry, especially when it was clear that 140 barfing people had one thing in common: they ate at the Copa.

To now remove all raw-egg based dishes is nice, but too little too late. Any restaurant that willingly ignores risks associated with its food gets little sympathy. There have been plenty of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia — so many that we have our own table — including Canberra in 2011.

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

Food safety apology I: Texas health type says sorry to family

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Doug Powell

The parents of an 18-month-old and a 4-year-old who were sickened by E. coli from a local restaurant weren’t happy with a Brazos County Health Department news conference on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the doctor who ate a taco from the restaurant from which the bacteria was traced, issued an apology.

Dr. Eric Wilke told News 3, “I did have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Melton yesterday and offered my heartfelt apology that I offended him and his family. I would never want to lessen the gravity of what they experienced. Mr. Melton was very gracious and I appreciate his willingness to speak to me. If my comments and actions gave anyone the impression, other than what we felt in terms of concern, then I would like to offer my apology to them and ask for their forgiveness.”

Dr. Wilke says eating the taco at the news conference on Tuesday was simply an attempt to quell some of the public concern about food safety.

It was a dumb attempt.

When health types choose restaurants over public health; parents of boys sickened from E. coli insulted by news conference

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Doug Powell

People are never as funny as they think they are; I especially ingrain that message into public health students and professionals, because when little kids are really sick, humor don’t go over too well.

But Dr. Eric Wilke, with the Brazos County Health Department in Texas, next door to Texas A&M where beef is best, thought it would be appropriate to do his own see-I’m-eating-this-it-must-be-OK routine favored by politicians to endorse the safety of a food product stigmatized – usually rightly so – by an outbreak.

The County has been investigating the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that sickened at least 10 people for two weeks, but adamantly refused to release details about the restaurant and supplier link.

Today, Dr. Wilkie began a press conference by taking a bite of a ground beef taco from fingered restaurant, Coco Loco, prior to making that announcement.

“Since everybody, I’m sure, would want to know the name of the restaurant, I went by there right before I came. I got a beef taco, so here it is.”

Wilke paused to chew the taco before continuing with the announcement at the news conference.

“The restaurant is Coco Loco. If you want to meet there tomorrow, we could go eat lunch. I shouldn’t have taken a big bite while I’m on camera.”

Judge for yourselves in the news clip from KHOU 11, below.

The parents of an 18-month-old and a 4-year-old who were sickened from E. coli were disgusted by the failed flair.

Parents Greg and Alissa Melton feel Dr. Wilke should’ve got straight to the facts.

“If his kids were in that situation, in the hospital for a month, it wouldn’t have been such a joking matter,” said Greg Melton.

Last week, Melton’s 4-year-old son Jack was released from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

On Monday, the same day as the news conference, his 18-month-old son Noah was released.

“They seemed more concerned about saving face for the restaurant than the critical care my kids were in,” said Greg Melton.

Thanks to Marler for forwarding the clip, and thanks to Dr. Wilkie, for providing a textbook example of how not to do food safety risk communication that will be used for years.

A message for all you older guys/gals: Get on Twitter

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Doug Powell

When Terry posted this I called him immediately.

I opened with, “I’m crushed.”

He immediately said back, “what, that I didn’t include you in my twitter go to list” (ya big baby; he didn’t say that, but probably thought that).

Not bad for a 70-something year old.

So from Terry Daynard’s blog, and Terry has been a huge influence in my life, we have old people being urged to own twitter.

I tell my kids the same thing; writing is hard, learning how to write in short meaningful ways is harder.

By older I mean about 50-plus, including old-timers like me who can still learn new skills. Younger people can ignore the following advice; they’ve mostly discovered what I’ll be saying, years ago.

I have long ignored the idea of social media. I saw no reason to inform others about my daily trivia, or to know the same about them. But then, thanks to two daughters, I discovered Twitter. It’s marvelous.

For sure, Twitter can be about trivia, and often is. But it’s also a phenomenal means of keeping one informed almost instantly. And about issues which are really important.

Twitter helps me in farming. It was my best source of timely information in 2012 on the spread of armyworm and aphid infestations – as well as what to do about them. It’s equally good for real-time information on crop performance, markets, ag policy, weather damage, or just about anything else you’d want to know. And it’s free.

I’ll not give details on how to get onto Twitter and into “tweeting.” I got help from my family and you can too. It’s not difficult. Emailing was a harder learn 15+ years ago.

Don’t be deterred by the 140-character-per-message limit. It’s actually your friend – forcing tweeters to be concise. Tweets can include encrypted (abbreviated) web links to more information, and often do. For many of you, there is no need to send tweets at all; it’s what you learn from the tweets of others that provides the most benefit. I know farmers with twitter accounts who have yet to tweet once; they just use it to learn from others.

The whole trick is in choosing whose tweets “to follow.” If you choose good sources, you’ll get good, timely information. If you choose bad ones, you’ll get a stream of useless nonsense about going for coffee, bathrooms, and bitching about sports events. One huge advantage: you can be ruthless and still polite. Try different sources but drop bad ones quickly (“unfollowing” is the term) if they waste your time. (I dropped one source after only 15 minutes.)

If you are in Ontario crop agriculture, there are some essentials: Peter Johnson (aka @WheatPete), Mike Cowbrough (@cowbrough), Pat Lynch (@PatrickLynch13), Tracey Baute (@TraceyBaute) and Dave Hooker (@cropdoc2). Many others are about as good – including several for market information. A characteristic of good crop info sources is that they tell you what you need to know, when you need it, but don’t flood you with countless tweets.

Include good farmers, indeed many of them, as they are your best scouts for what’s happening on farms. Two of my favourites are Brent Royce (@brfarms09) and Andrew Campbell (@FreshAirFarmer). Use sources well beyond Ontario and Canada. I value farm/ag tweets from the US and Europe, and international agencies like the Gates Foundation and CIMMYT.

There are dedicated individuals who voluntarily make it their mission to scan information from everywhere and summarize it on Twitter. Two top examples are Cami Ryan (@DocCamiRyan) at U Saskatchewan and Calestous Juma (@calestous) at Harvard University. I like “Frank N. Foode” (@franknfoode) which is a great, though cheeky source, authored, I’m told, by a group of US ag students. Carl the Corn Plant (@IowaCornPlant) is another. UofGuelphOAC (@uofGuelphOAC) is a top source of news from the Ontario Agricultural College. You can see everyone I follow, if you like, by checking @TerryDaynard.

One huge benefit for an old guy like me is that most of the information on Twitter comes from young people. I value that immensely.

Fax machines first arrived in the mid 1980s – a marvelous communications break through. Then came emails a decade later – even better, as were high-speed internet and modern web site technologies to follow. Twitter is the next wave. If you’re not part of it, you’re missing something great. Indeed, soon you may be in the minority.

Until recently, I started most days reading the (Toronto) Globe and Mail on line. But now I check Twitter first, and read several articles I’m attracted to by Twitter links. I read stuff from all over the world, often in obscure on-line publications I’ve not known before. If I still have time at breakfast, I’ll then check the Globe – good to know what’s on the national stage – but it’s pretty boring compared to Twitter.

(This item appeared initially in the Ontario Farmer, and is now being posted here. I’m pleased to hear of folks in their mid 80s who are now on Twitter, as well as 70-year-old youngsters, like me)

Stick it in with a thermometer, not a finger (yours or anyone else’s)

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Doug Powell

Canada’s version of state-sponsored jazz, CBC Radio, is the latest entrant in the terrible food safety advice category.

After several minutes of seductive food porn talk about the perfect burger, food and nutritionist columnist Julie Van Rosendaal said on CBC Calgary morning radio show, The Eyeopener, on April 30, 2012, I don’t know anyone who checks burgers with a thermometer.

One of the hosts had opined that people are told to get their burgers well-done, yet this one looks medium rare.

Van Rosendaal derisively pooh-poohed the question, saying something about the temperature should be 160F, adding that, “I don’t know many people who stick a meat thermometer in their burger,” and that cooks can tell when it’s done when it springs back when you touch the patty, rather than a finger sliding into the patty.

The clip is 7:48 long, and they start talking about this at 5:30. It’s available at http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2382534459.

Color is a lousy indicator of hamburger safety. So is finger-banging beef. Use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer and stick it in. The refs are all here.

Surveys still suck: UK attitudes to slaughterhouse treatments

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Doug Powell

The piping hot risk communicators at the UK Food Standards Agency have found that rapid chilling of meat and the application of hot water or steam emerged as the two slaughterhouse treatments consumers would find most acceptable.

Treatments using lactic acid and ozone were initially considered less acceptable, however, when consumers were given extra information on lactic acid, its acceptability increased significantly.

The survey was carried out as part of the Agency’s work to reduce the levels of campylobacter on raw poultry.

FSA Head Of Foodborne Diseases Strategy, Bob Martin said, ‘The findings suggest that providing clear information about the treatments, such as what they are and how they work, would have a positive impact on the public’s acceptability of new treatments such as these.’

FSA chief scientist Andrew Wadge also weighed in, writing the results suggest that “public resistance to innovative ideas may be partly due to an unfamiliarity with particular processes.

“It seems then, that the language we use and the type of information we provide on innovative processes is important to public acceptance of science.”

Uh-huh.

Horse meat scandal leads to tighter rules: Ireland food safety chief

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Doug Powell

Excerpts below from an op-ed in in the Irish Times by Prof Alan Reilly, chief executive of Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

Over three months have elapsed since the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) uncovered the practice of replacing processed beef with horse meat. Initial inquires put the spotlight on three processing plants, two in Ireland and one in the UK. Soon, it became evident the problem was not confined to these islands, as most countries in Europe became involved.

It is disturbing that in Europe where, in the wake of food scares, the food control systems have undergone extensive review and renewal, a scandal of large proportions went unnoticed and undetected.

The scale of the scandal is astounding. Numerous foods, beef burgers, beef meals, pies, meat balls, kebabs and remarkably, even chicken nuggets were removed from sale. One recall alone in the Netherlands involved 50,000 tonnes of meat – over 500 million burgers. Leading international food brands and retailers were caught in a web of deception perpetuated in Europe for at least a year, possibly longer.

Some businesses have ceased, others lost market share, and consumer confidence eroded. Brands and reputations carefully nurtured over years will take a long time to recover their association with quality and trust. Apart from reputational damage, the scandal resulted in the regrettable waste of considerable quantities of food.

What is clear is the risk to public health from this incident is low, as most evidence to date suggests the horse meat used came from approved abattoirs. All products in Ireland that tested positive for horse DNA, tested negative for the anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone, or “bute”.

Nevertheless, the practice of replacing processed beef with horse meat and failing to inform consumers is unacceptable. The primary motive is profit.

Already changes are coming. Global standards for the trade in beef trim will become more stringent. It will no longer be the industry norm to purchase frozen beef blocks on face value. Laboratory testing for species authenticity will be commonplace. DNA testing of meat products will be standard for major retailers. Verification of the authenticity of meat species will underpin product labelling.

As ever with food incidents, an important lesson is how risk communication minimises damage to reputations and brands. There were interesting contrasts in how food companies responded to the crisis, from denial to full acceptance of responsibilities.

Our experience is that the more a food company is open and transparent , the less likely it will be accused of cover up or lack of due care. The horse meat scandal demonstrated again how proactive risk communication and acceptance of responsibility increases public trust and minimises reputational damage.

Going public: some public rules about foodborne Illness notification would ease some private angst

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Doug Powell

The adult porn industry has clear rules about when to stop production: someone tests positive for HIV, the industry shuts down.

Public health officials in Nova Scotia (that’s in Canada) knew they were dealing with an outbreak of E. coli five days before they informed the public about it in early January, documents obtained by The Canadian Press show.

The first indication that staff were aware of the E. coli O157 outbreak appears in two emails sent by the province’s chief medical officer to staff with the Health Department and district health authorities on Dec. 31, 2012.

In one of the emails, Dr. Robert Strang says the Health Department was in the process of gathering more information about the outbreak and officials would meet on Jan. 2 to assess it.

Notes from that day’s meeting, which were released under access-to-information legislation, show that Health Department officials knew there were dealing with seven confirmed cases of E. coli O157 affecting people ranging in age from 18 to 83.

Those notes also show that six of those people reported eating at fast food restaurants and they showed symptoms of the bacterial infection from Dec. 23-26, 2012. Officials were also aware of an E. coli outbreak of the same strain in New Brunswick but decided to delay notifying the public, the notes show.

“There have been no media calls yet. Until we know what the link is, we will provide standardized messaging,” the notes say.

“If NB is sending messaging out, we should be consistent. Delay 24 hours.”

It wasn’t until Jan. 4 that the department issued a news release confirming it was investigating the cases, two of which required hospital admission. No one died.

In an interview, Strang said he doesn’t believe Health Department officials tried to withhold information from the public. Instead, he said they needed to gather more information from the people who contracted the infection.

“The judgment was that we needed to wait at least 24 hours … so we have something concrete that we can say to the public,” Strang said.

“What do you say publicly without doing unnecessary harm or creating unnecessary anxiety? So we’d respond if questions came to us, but we didn’t feel we were ready yet to go proactively because we didn’t have enough of the detail.”

New Brunswick’s Health Department went public with its outbreak of E. coli on Jan. 3, prompting calls to Nova Scotia’s Health Department that day from the news media, the documents show.

Strang said New Brunswick’s chief medical officer was able to tell the public a day earlier because that province’s outbreak occurred a few days before the one in Nova Scotia.

He said he was first alerted by the on-call medical officer of health to reports of a few cases of E. coli over the weekend of Dec. 29 and 30.

“With the information I had, I wasn’t concerned enough to bring people in on New Year’s Day,” he said. “My judgment was that it could certainly wait until the next working day.”

Strang said the E. coli outbreak would have been treated differently if there had been an indication of ongoing sickness due to the bacteria.

“If we had a sense that there was an ongoing risk to the public, we would have been communicating that right away,” said Strang.

The outbreak, which was also detected in Ontario, was later traced to shredded lettuce distributed by FreshPoint Inc. to KFC and Taco Bell restaurants.

Poop cruise passengers get bathrobes

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Doug Powell

It’s the perfect re-gift, for someone you despise.

Carnival Triumph announced Friday the bathrobes used by the over 4,000 passengers adrift in poop on a disabled ship in the Gulf of Mexico would be gratis.

“Of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary,” it said in a tweet on the official @carnivalcruise account.

Somehow, this didn’t go over well.

“Who wants a stinky robe?!” tweeted a reporter in North Carolina, Astrid Martinez, while another user of the social media site, Natalie Eshaya, enthused sarcastically, “Oh how generous.”

Another sceptic, Paul Nather, wondered “What do you think the going rate for a Carnival cruise bathrobe will be on eBay tomorrow?”

The white bathrobe has become an unlikely symbol of the nightmare of the cruise-goers, who donned them to attract attention as they stood on the drifting ship.

Others used the white terrycloth as a canvas to write messages, with one passenger proclaiming, “I survived Carnival’s triumph redbags” – a reference to the bags that substituted for toilets.

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