Monthly Archives: June 2011

Gonzalo Erdozain: food porn may give John and Jane Doe the wrong impression about food safety

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I learned to cook watching my mom – and cooking shows.

But watching Bobby Flay’s show on grilling was a cross-contamination nightmare.

He touched cooked, ready-to-eat steak right after handling raw dough. After tasting the steak, he went back to the dough. He later prepared some sort of grilled chicken breasts, which would have been fine, except he touched the grapes and everything else that made up his salad without washing his hands after handling the raw chicken.

These shows are recorded in different shots and might take proper safety procedures in-between takes, but unless the viewer is told, who would know?

All raw food has the potential to be contaminated, so be the bug. And stick it in with a tip-sensitive digital thermometer.
 

E. coli on Dutch sprouts is new; 39 dead in German E. coli O104 sprout outbreak

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Researchers say a strain of E. coli found last week on Dutch beet sprouts has not been seen before in the country and they have sent samples for further analysis at labs in Italy and Denmark.

The Dutch Food Safety Authority says nobody appears to have been sickened by the strain.

Friday’s announcement came a day after Germany’s disease control center said the death toll in Europe’s outbreak of a separate strain of E. coli had risen to 39 after one more patient died.

The killer strain has been traced to sprouts from an organic farm in a northern German village.


8 kids sick with E. coli from burgers in France

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Eight children in Northern France have been admitted to hospital after eating beef burgers bought frozen from the German discount chain Lidl.

"One of the children was put on dialysis overnight," Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said on Radio Classique. "His condition has worsened."

The children, all aged between 20 months and 8 years, fell ill with symptoms such as bloody diarrhea. One was discharged from hospital on Wednesday.

Health authorities have blamed the contagion on beef burgers sold frozen for distribution under the "Steaks Country" label.

Privately-owned Lidl, which distributes burgers that are produced by French frozen-beef supplier SEB-CERF, has pulled all "Steaks Country" brand burgers from supermarket shelves.

Selena Gomez blames junk food habit for illness

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Pop star Selena Gomez says she’s all better after being treated for food poisoning and exhaustion after becoming ill following her appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on June 9.

"I’m good now, thank you. I’m so much better. I do eat. The problem is I don’t eat right. I love everything that’s possibly not good for me."

Junk food is not synonymous with food poisoning.

Best in show: dog show leads to E. coli outbreak in Sweden

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Around 50 dog owners and several dogs are believed to have been infected with enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) following a dog show in eastern Sweden.

"We’re right in the middle of investigating where the bacteria came from," Britt Åkerlind of the infectious disease unit of Östergötland County told The Local.

So far, two Swedes have been confirmed as infected by EHEC, one from Skåne in the south, and another from Gothenburg in the west.

"But we’re expecting more confirmed cases to come in," said Åkerlind.

Those infected with the bacteria all attended a dog show near Norrköping in eastern Sweden held the first weekend in June.

Of the roughly 120 participants, who traveled from all over Sweden as well as from Denmark, Norway, and Finland, about half have come down with symptoms stemming from EHEC infection.

"We’ve also received reports that some of the dogs have had upset stomachs," said Åkerlind, who labeled the outbreak as "quite large."

4 cases of E. coli in visitors to Wash. petting zoo

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The Snohomish Health District confirms four suspected cases of E. coli found in people who visited the Animal Petting Farm at Forest Park in Everett, Wash.

Two adults and two children reported symptoms after visiting the farm on opening day June 4th. One of the children was hospitalized for three days but is now recovering.

It is believed that the suspected E. coli poisoning originated with the animals who naturally carry bacteria. The Health district believes the infected people did not properly wash their hands.

The city bleached the entire farm and enhanced fences around the animal cages to further limit contact between children and animals. No animals are in quarantine.

Proper handwashing requires access to proper tools. Were sinks with running water, soap and paper towels available near the animals, as is now being recommended, or was it just some sort of wipe that was available.

An updated table of international petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks
 

29 people sick at Calif. naval air station; water suspected

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Residents and employees at Lemoore Naval Air Station, about 40 miles south of Fresno, Calif., are being told not to drink the base’s water after more than two dozen people became sick at the base.

Base spokeswoman Melinda Larson says 29 people have become ill with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The source or the cause of what is making people sick has not been determined, but Larson told the Fresno Bee that base residents and base personnel are being told to drink bottled water, not the base’s water.
 

How to be tired: older dads try parenting the second time around

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This isn’t about food safety, although it has a pic of Sorenne and me cooking, when I constantly tell her about food safety.

In a father’s day homage, Sharon Jayson writes in today’s USA Today about a bunch of dads who married young by today’s standards, worked hard and built careers. Divorce may have followed, then remarriage to a younger partner who wanted kids (but did not violate the half-your-age-plus-7 rule).

Doug Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University-Manhattan, spends much of his day with his daughter Sorenne, 2.

Because he teaches from home for his distance-learning courses, Powell, 48, has created a routine.

"When she sleeps, I go record lectures on my computer and put on a clean shirt."

Powell also says he’s a more relaxed parent with his young daughter than he was when his four older daughters were growing up. They range in age from 16 to 24.

"I do enjoy having a 2-year-old to take care of. I just like hanging out with her.”

Powell says he had a vasectomy in 1996, so he and his wife, Amy Hubbell, an associate professor of French at Kansas State, used a sperm donor for Sorenne.

Probably more information than you wanted to know.

Nice safefood Queensland apron I got in 2004.
 

Brazilian boy dies after eating poisoned cookies

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A 12-year-old boy died after eating cookies poisoned by two girls at his school in north-eastern Brazil, police said today.

The girls, aged 13 and 14, admitted putting a deadly dose of rat poison in the cookies, but claimed they were meant for two rival girls at their school on the outskirts of the city of Recife.

The boy, who was called to deliver the toxic cookies to allay suspicions, was not aware of the plan and ate them instead, with deadly result. He was taken to hospital in agony and died shortly afterwards.