The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is investigating an increase in cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in Central Missouri during late March and early April, 2012. Five cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been identified during this time period. Two of the cases, a two-year old child and a 17-month old child, reportedly have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
The investigation is ongoing and the source of the infections has not been identified.
Witticisms like that have endeared fans of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, but barf and diarrhea is no fun, especially for kids.
Bourdain’s good with a quip, as he showed last night on The Daily Show, but still comes across like
Hunter S. Thompson-lite.
Eater reports that Bourdain, whose job is "what people would do if they didn’t have to work," stopped by The Daily Show to talk about the upcoming season of No Reservations, premiering Monday.
Jon Stewart comments on the less-than-hygienic places Bourdain travels on the show — "I have gotten diarrhea from watching" — to which Bourdain replies, "If there’s not at least a 50% chance of diarrhea when you eat something, it’s almost not worth eating." Also, Bourdain says the worst food comes not from the poorest countries (that’s some of the best), but places where people just aren’t interested in food. Not liking food? Yeah, that’s like saying "I’m not interested in music, and you know, I’m not particularly interested in sex either."
Food can be adventurous and safe. So can sex.
The clip is at http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-5-2012/anthony-bourdain for those in the U.S. But it worked for me via Eater.
Don’t touch that turtle! Don’t touch that one either! And stop touching yourself!
Second City TV: great or greatest show ever?
But good advice for those who want to hang around raw food and live animals of various kinds. Bacteria 
happen. Biology happens. “It’s not a deal, nor a test nor a love of something fated.”
I don’t like sushi; pet turtles traumatized me as a child.
Turtles were inexpensive, popular, and low maintenance, with an array of groovy pre-molded plastic housing designs to choose from. Invariably they would escape, only to be found days later behind the couch along with the skeleton of the class bunny my younger sister brought home from kindergarten one weekend. Maybe I got sick from my turtle.
Maybe I picked up my turtle, rolled around on the carpet with it, pet it a bit, and then stuck my finger in my mouth. Maybe in my emotionally vacant adolescence I kissed my turtle. Who can remember?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports there are now 72 confirmed cases of people, primarily kids, infected with outbreak strains of Salmonella Sandiego, Salmonella Pomona, and Salmonella Poona in 17 states, up from 66.
Results of the epidemiologic and environmental investigations indicate exposure to turtles or their environments (e.g., water from a turtle habitat) is the cause of these outbreaks.
Small turtles (shell length less than 4 inches) were reported by 92% of cases.
Forty-three percent of ill persons with small turtles reported purchasing the turtles from street vendors.
Turtles with a shell length of less than 4 inches in size should not be purchased or given as gifts.
And in sushi land, there are now 100 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly from 19 states and the District of Columbia, up from 93.
The investigation has not conclusively identified a food source.
The investigation is ongoing into individual food items and their sources.
Translated by Albert Amgar
La manipulation des poussins et des canetons peut entrainer une salmonellose,
Les oeufs crus sont liés a des epidémies
Risques dus aux poussins
Le CDC a rapporté ce mois-ci que 96 cas de salmonellose ont été liés à la manipulation de poussins pendant l’été 2011.
La plupart des patients ont rapporté avoir acheté des poussins ou des canetons dans une chaîne nationale de magasins d’aliments pour animaux qui a été fournie par un seul couvoir.
Depuis 1990, 35 épidémies d’infections humaines à Salmonella liées au contact avec des volailles vivantes ont été signalées.
Le lavage des mains après la manipulation des animaux, même les plus mignons, réduit le risque de maladie. Les enfants peuvent tomber malades en touchant les oiseaux et en mettant leurs mains directement dans la bouche ou en touchant des aliments.
Risques liés aux œufs
En 2011, les desserts produits par une boulangerie de Rhode Island ont été liés à 56 cas de maladies et un décès. Le Rhode Island Department of Health a souligné la contamination croisée avec des œufs crus comme source probable de contamination.
Les pâtisseries ont également été entreposées dans des caisses où des œufs cassés avaient été mis.
Des œufs pas assez cuits ou crus ont été liés à de multiples épidémies à Salmonella, dont 22 cas de maladies en Australie au début de 2012 et plus de 200 cas de maladies au Royaume-Uni en juin 2011.
• Les œufs peuvent héberger Salmonella et ont besoin d’être cuits à 63°C pendant 15 secondes ou jusqu’à ce que le jaune soit centré pour réduire les risques.
• Les œufs crus doivent être entreposés au réfrigérateur à une température égale ou inférieure à 7°C.
• Utilisez des œufs pasteurisés dans un plat à la place d’œufs crus pour réduire les risques.
Utilisez un colorant de qualité alimentaire, si vous souhaitez colorer des œufs. Si des œufs à la coque sont utilisés pour une chasse aux œufs, il est préférable de ne pas les consommer car les coquilles peuvent se fissurer permettant aux bactéries d’entrer. Si les œufs colorés doivent être consommés, conservez-les en dessous de 5°C après les avoir fait bouillir et colorer et ne pas les laisser hors du réfrigérateur pendant plus de 4h.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made available on the Internet the second edition of the Bad Bug Book, a handbook of basic information about foodborne bacteria, viruses, parasites, prions, and naturally occurring toxins. In addition to updated scientific information, the book includes five new chapters 
(on Cronobacter, Enterococcus, Francisella tularensis, phytohaemagglutinin, and venomous fish).
Although the book is intended primarily for scientific and technical readers, each chapter now also includes a separate section for consumers. The consumer sections are written in everyday language and focus on food safety, including tips on how to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
(Don’t pay attention to this; attempts to simplify or dumb down information rarely work; write and present information in a clear, concise and compelling manner).
Please check the FDA web site periodically, as more chapters will be added. The updated edition of the Bad Bug Book is available on the FDA web site at http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodborneIllness/FoodborneIllnessFoodbornePathogensNaturalToxins/BadBugBook/default.htm
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the Ayyam Zaman brand Extra Fine Tahina described below because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.
The affected product, Ayyam Zaman brand Extra Fine Tahina, is sold in 400 g packages bearing UPC 6 217000 429807 and a code starting with "EXP 10/08".
This product is known to have been distributed in Ontario and may have been distributed in other provinces 
as well.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.
As usual, no one knows how the Salmonella was magically discovered.
I loves me the frozen berries; they’re a mainstay of my diet, along with all the fresh berries I can plant, buy and consume.
Maybe the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has hepatitis A on its mind, what with the employee at a Victoria retailer testing positive earily this week, but the public is now being warned not to consume Pomeberry Blend frozen berries manufactured by Western Family because it may be linked to the hepatitis A virus.
The BCCDC and regional health authorities are investigating eight cases of hepatitis A that have occurred over the past two months in BC. Five out of eight of these cases are known to have consumed the 
Pomeberry product and an investigation is ongoing. This product has been distributed through Save-On-Foods and Overwaitea.
While there is no direct link yet, as a precaution, anyone who has the Pomeberry Blend product in their refrigerator or freezer is advised not to consume it, and to discard it. This blend contains frozen pomegranate seeds, blueberries, strawberries and cherries. No other frozen berry products from Western Family are a concern at this time.
This is a precautionary alert as the investigation continues and more information should be available next week. There is currently no recommendation for people who have consumed the product to receive vaccine since the overall risk to the public is very low. This will be reassessed as further information becomes available.
How refreshing. A government type who doesn’t waffle because they’re worried about what industry might say, or what farmers might say, or all the uncertainties involved in managing risk.
Prof Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, said vigilance is always required in relation to food safety and standards must not be permitted to slip to such levels that consumer health is put at risk.
“Food business operators must recognize that the legal onus is on them to be responsible and ensure that the food they serve is safe to eat. The FSAI has stressed again and again that a basic food safety management system is not difficult to implement, so it is disappointing that there continues to be food .jpeg)
businesses who choose not to comply with this legal requirement. With the long weekend upon us, food businesses are going to be under more pressure than usual. … There’s no excuse for ignorance of the legal food safety and hygiene requirements.”
The comments came as the exclusive Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club in Dublin was shut for four days last month by environmental officers.
Six other food businesses were also rapped for breaches in food safety legislation last month, including:
• Ocean Palace Chinese Restaurant, Main Street, Swinford, Mayo – closed since March 23.
• Oriental Express takeaway, 140 Parnell Street, Dublin 1 – closed from March 21-26.
• The kitchen area of the Lemon Cafe Bar, 42 St Stephens Street, Dublin 2 – closed on March 14-15.
• Netpol grocery (sale and portioning of cooked meats, cheeses and all ready-to-eat foodstuffs), Unit 9, Tyrrelstown Avenue, Dublin 15 – closed on March 6-7.
• Thai Orchid restaurant, 7 Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2 – closed from March 6-13.
• The Superbites takeaway, New Street, Newmarket, Cork – closed from March 1-16.
Ten years after neighboring Toronto initiated its red-yellow-green restaurant grading system, eight years after we said Guelph sucked at providing public information on restaurant inspections, and six years after other Ontario communities began adopting a variety of additional information disclosure systems such as websites and letter-grades, Guelph is trying to catch up.
The self-proclaimed capital of all things food in Canada is maybe, possibly, considering disclosure.
The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public health is signaling that it may want to make the results of its food 
safety assessments more readily accessible to the public.
The Guelph Mercury editorial board concludes that’s a welcome and overdue direction for this organization to take.
The agency is engaging in survey efforts with the general public and with food service providers to gain input on whether, and how, to place more information about health unit restaurant inspection results and the like more into the public realm.
There are two surveys on the health board’s website, www.wdgpublichealth.ca, one for the public at large, the second for food preparation businesses like restaurants and caterers that are regularly inspected, on whether and how reports should be made accessible.
To date from both groups, it’s been virtually unanimous that such information would be appreciated.
“We thought the number would be high, but we didn’t really think it would be 99 per cent,” health protection manager Shawn Zentner said Wednesday.
Cutting-edge excellence.
In a 2005 audit, the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph unit only released the results of local restaurant inspections after a formal access to information request was made and paid for.
We know. A couple of my students tried to get some results in 2004 and were told to pay up and wait 4-6 weeks.
It’s all painfully archaic.
Rotisserie baseball kicks off today for me. I grew up in the 90s near Toronto (that’s in Canada) – a fun time since the Blue Jays were winning World Series titles. As I got older, the Jays sucked and baseball became boring. I switched allegiance to the Boston Red Sox (it was nice to back a winner) and to keep my interest I got into a rotisserie baseball league. I’ve been in the same league for 15 years with the same bunch of nerdy guys. I’ve finished in last place, a league record, four times (which comes with it’s own toilet-shaped trophy).
I have never won.
I thought last year was my time to shine as I dominated the league all season and even started to spend the pool winnings in my head. Then I got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.
Opening day in the American League (where my nerdy group draws it’s players from) is today and I’m all set to watch my players amass home runs, strikeouts, quality starts and stolen bases.
Injuries can derail a great rotisserie baseball team. I’m glad I don’t have Josh Outman, who, according to The Gazette, will start the season on the disabled list after injuring an oblique while barfing.
Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Josh Outman will start the season on the 15-day disabled list after a strange injury, according to foxsports.com.
Rockies manager Jim Tracy said Outman strained his oblique from vomiting because of a bout of food poisoning.
Outman, a left-hander, joined the Rockies after a trade over the winter from the Oakland Athletics