Hot New York pizzeria Don Antonio closed by health dept

 A new New York pizzeria, Don Antonio, has already been shuttered by the Dept. of Health.

Eater reports a tipster spotted the yellow sign on the door yesterday, and when an Eater operative went by to snap a pic of the exterior, the management freaked out and said they’d call the cops.

The information from yesterday’s inspection isn’t up on the DOH site yet, but in March, an inspector found 22 violation points (enough for a B-Grade), including two critical violations: cold food held above 41º F, and evidence of mice or vermin. Don Antonio currently does not have a letter grade.

An employee at the restaurant said they hoped to get the restaurant open by tomorrow or Friday.

Salmonella Paratyphi B outbreak in Western North Carolina

There’s a salmonellosis outbreak going on in western North Carolina. According to WYFF4.com, 27 individuals are part of a cluster of illnesses linked to Salmonella Paratyphi B infections.

Communicable Disease Nurses and Environmental Health Specialists are conducting interviews with people who currently have or have had the infection, reviewing laboratory reports and inspecting food sources that may be linked to the outbreak.Communicable disease experts from the North Carolina Division of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as food specialists from the N.C. Department of Agriculture are assisting with the investigations.

As of Friday morning, 27 possible cases have been identified.  The source of contamination had not been confirmed.

All cases appear to have been associated with residence or travel to Buncombe County since Feb. 28, 2012.

Health center-fest struck: dozens sickened after annual luncheon in Colorado

Health officials are investigating the cause of what sickened 27 people following a luncheon this week for the Pueblo Community Health Center.

"It’s too early to implicate the caterer. We’re only a day into it and we have 27 people sick out of 80," Dr. Chris Nevin-Woods said Thursday.

"The symptoms are fitting of a number of possibilities, but it could be something other than food," Nevin-Woods said. One possibility could be norovirus.

Janet Fieldman, the health center’s chief foundation officer, sent an email Thursday to those who attended the dinner, alerting them to the outbreak and telling them they would be contacted by health officials.

The email was sent to several elected officials at the city and county levels, college leaders, doctors and members of the medical community.

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

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."

2 years for Las Vegas man who smuggled iguana meat

A 38-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison after admitting that he tried to smuggle 159 pounds of iguana meat from Mexico into the U.S.

The Los Angeles Times reports Eliodoro Soria Fonseca admitted in San Diego federal court that he intentionally concealed the iguana meat inside several coolers because he lacked the necessary import permits from the U.S. or Mexican governments. The meat was to be sold for human consumption, prosecutors said.

Iguana meat often carries salmonella, officials said. Fonseca was arrested attempting to cross the border at Otay Mesa on June 10, 2011.

The iguanas had been beheaded, skinned and deboned and hidden under several pounds of fish, according to court documents.

Importation of iguana meat is permitted but only under restrictions meant to keep from depleting certain populations of the lizard. The iguana is listed as imperiled but not yet endangered, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

North Carolina’s adoption of the FDA Model Food Code and requiring cut leafy greens to be received at 41F

North Carolina is set to adopt the FDA Model Food Code by reference, with a couple of state-specific adjustments, starting with the 2009 iteration. This means the Food Code becomes the law that commercial food service businesses will be required to follow. According to the code, commercial buyers of cut leafy greens should receive them at 41F (5C) or below. This requirement is to curb the growth of pathogens. Based on past outbreaks, the two pathogens of most concern are shiga-toxin producing E. coli and Salmonella spp. There is lots of debate around the validity of the guidance, as well as the economic impact the cooling requirement might have on producers marketing salad ingredients.

Cut leafy greens (as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) are fresh leafy greens whose leaves have been cut, shredded, sliced, chopped, or torn –beyond a root zone cut or harvest cut. The term leafy greens includes iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, baby leaf lettuce (i.e., immature lettuce or leafy greens), escarole, endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard. The term leafy greens does not include herbs such as cilantro or parsley (see here).

Cut leafy greens have not always required temperature control for safety. Following over 20 multi-state outbreaks between 1998 and 2008, ‘cut leafy greens’ was added to the definition of potentially hazardous food requiring time-temperature control for safety (TCS).

Storage and transport time and temperature are contributing factors for pathogen growth in cut leafy greens; water and nutrient availability, along with a suitable pH create an environment to support the growth of lots of food borne bacteria

Luo and colleagues (2010) demonstrated one log growth over a 4-day period after inoculating cut lettuce with E. coli O157:H7 at 53.6F (12C). Luo and colleagues also showed that if stored at 41F (5C), E. coli O157:H7 populations do not grow and experience slight decline. Lee and Baek (2008) showed that spinach inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 and stored at 44.6F (7C) would support pathogen growth This finding, coupled with other data, was modeled by Danyluk and Schaffner (2011) and supports assumptions that cut leafy greens that are temperature abused will support the growth of E. coli O157:H7 and that the pathogen’s populations may increase by as much as ten-fold each day (at optimum temperatures). Pathogens, once attached to the surface or internalized into cut surfaces of leafy greens, are only marginally affected by sanitizers (their use is not considered an adequate control strategy for the pathogens) leaving time/temperature as the most effective control.

While adoption of the FDA Model Food Code has brought attention to a potential barrier, the process of taking a raw agriculture product and turning it into a cut leafy green (for example heads of iceberg lettuce being shredded and sold in a package/box to retail) already requires refrigeration in post-processing and storage by FDA’s CFR 21 110.80 (as it’s applied in North Carolina).

While folks might argue the validity of the 41F or lower requirement for cut leafy greens, producers who are marketing cut leafy greens should focus on risk reduction through refrigeration (at of below 41F) in storage and transport regardless of the law (which also likely provides a higher quality product). Or harvest, cut and transport to a restaurant quickly, where time in lieu of temperature would be a valid control measure.

Maintaining temperatures below 41F for fresh-cut leafy greens has been raised as a practical and economic barrier for producers (as it is suggested that processors of these products do not typically have the means to control temperatures post-processing and during transport). There isn’t a whole lot of data available to support or refute this – so we’re going to generate some by quickly evaluating regular food coolers and ice/icepacks as a potential way for a producer to get the product to a buyer at 41F.

References:

Danyluk, M and Schaffner, D. 2011.  Quantitative assessment of the microbial risk of leafy greens from farm to consumption: Preliminary framework, data, and risk estimates. J. Food Prot. 74:700–708.

Lee, S. Y., and Baek, S. 2008. Effect of chemical sanitizer combined with modified atmosphere packaging on inhibiting Escherichia coli O157:H7 in commercial spinach. Food Microbiol. 25:582–587.

Luo, Y., He, Q., and McEvoy, J. 2010. Effect of storage temperature and duration on the behavior of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on packaged fresh-cut salad containing romaine and iceberg lettuce. J. Food Sci. 75:M390-M397.

 

Seek and ye shall find: second Salmonella strain in sushi slime, 200 sick

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that based on an epidemiological link and results of laboratory testing, CDC has combined the Salmonella Bareilly investigation with an ongoing multistate outbreak investigation of Salmonella serotype Nchanga infections. The two associated PFGE patterns have been grouped together as the outbreak strains.

A total of 200 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Bareilly or Salmonella Nchanga have been reported from 21 states and the District of Columbia.

 

190 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella  Bareilly have been reported from 21 states and the District of Columbia.

 

10 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Nchanga have been reported from 5 states.

 

28 ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

 

Collaborative investigation efforts of state, local, and federal public health agencies indicate that a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, known as Nakaochi Scrape, from Moon Marine USA Corporation is the likely source of this outbreak.

 

Testing conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection laboratory isolated the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly from one sample of recalled tuna and one sample of a spicy tuna roll made with recalled tuna.

Operator view: ‘You have no reason to shut it down’ Dirty Dining Vegas style

A Las Vegas local restaurant owner is angry with the Southern Nevada Health District. And he’s speaking out after his restaurant was shut down.

"You have no reason to go shut it down, Gabriel Adefris told KTNV. "And you think this list is basically nothing?" asks Darcy. "Nothing. For me nothing, yes," says Gabriel.

He firmly believes his business has been treated unfairly. Gabriel owns the Cottage Cafe on Paradise Road, near Tropicana Avenue. During a recent visit, health inspectors shut down the Ethiopian restaurant with 49 demerits. Anything more than 40 means an automatic closure.

Contact 13 went to the Cottage Cafe to ask about the long list of violations. Gabriel was more than willing to show us around and answer all of our questions.

"What’s the deal with the bar? It notes that they told you on December 8 and January 17 to get it permitted. But you failed to do that," says Darcy. "No. I did call them," says Gabriel.

Gabriel claims he tried to make appointments to get his bar inspected. But after leaving multiple messages, he says they never returned his calls.

"So there’s no way I could force them to come down here, it’s not my job," says Gabriel.

I also asked Gabriel about an employee, inspectors say washed her hands without soap, multiple times.

"That’s not true. She washed it, she used soaps all the time here. Nobody use without soap water, there’s no way," says Gabriel. "So you think the health inspector is lying?" asks Darcy. "Yes, they’re lying. They lie. 100%, they’re lying," says Gabriel.

And he didn’t stop there. He says health inspectors are too critical. Like citing his restaurant for a dirty can opener he claims was being used by an employee.

"They shouldn’t write it down. Small stuff like that you write it down. Once she’s done she’s got to go and wash it anyways. Right?" says Gabriel. "So she just hadn’t gotten to that can opener yet," says Darcy. "Yes. They didn’t even give her time," says Gabriel.

But Cottage Cafe has made our Dirty Dining list before. In September of 2010, the restaurant was forced to close its doors with 58 demerits.

Gabriel feels like he’s being targeted

"So you believe they’re looking for violations and writing down stuff that doesn’t exist just to bilk you for money?" asks Darcy. "That’s what I think. Because my employees they know what to do. They know their job," says Gabriel.

Gabriel wants customers to know his restaurant is clean and his food is safe.

We spoke with the Health District, which says all restaurants must pass the same regulations. Every inspector’s main priority is the public’s health and safety and they stand by their report. They also tell us the Cottage Cafe is back open, and operating with a 7 demerit A grade.

Four more cases of cryptosporidium on Welsh farm

itv News reports four more people have been diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis linked to the outbreak at Greenmeadow Community farm in Cwmbran, Wales.

It brings the total number of cases to eight. All were either members of staff or volunteers who bottle fed unwell animals. The animals have now been removed from the farm.

Public Health Wales say extra control measures are in place to ensure that risks to farm visitors and staff are kept to a minimum.

Tools to keep hands pathogen-free can have unintended uses: teens drinking sanitizer

I received a bunch of my food safety education while working with fruit and vegetable farmers in southern Ontario (that’s in Canada). Sure, I learned lots of stuff in classes, but a lot of my training on practical ways to keep folks from barfing was in greenhouses, fields and orchards. Farmers deal with variability in weather, wildlife, prices and staff. Driving up and down dirt roads and walking through their systems led me to the conclusion that it takes a lot to surprise a producer.

One farmer who figured his staff were one of his biggest weaknesses, invested in a couple of portable restrooms that he was going to cart around to the orchards. He told his staff that they were expected to cease the convention of peeing against a tree. The staff didn’t like the idea of having to stop and walk back to the road where the porta potties were located. So they set them on fire and burned them down. The producer said calling the fire department was an unexpected outcome of his food safety program.

Another producer told me that he had installed fully stocked hands free restrooms in his greenhouse, put boxes of one-use gloves throughout his site and came in one day to see a staff member urinating on the outside of the restroom with his gloves on. Maybe not surprising is that he fired the employee on the spot.

Giving folks tools for risk reduction doesn’t always end up with the intended action. According to AP and USA Today teenagers are buying alcohol-based hand sanitizer, not as a bacterial reduction tool, but as a party drink precursor.

Teenagers are showing up in Los Angeles emergency rooms after drinking inexpensive liquid hand sanitizers to get drunk.
Cheap and easily accessible hand sanitizers contain 62 percent ethyl alcohol.

The Los Angeles Times says six teenagers have shown up in two San Fernando Valley emergency rooms in the last few months with alcohol poisoning after drinking hand sanitizer.

Some of the teens used salt to separate the alcohol from the sanitizer, making a potent drink similar to a shot of hard liquor. Distillation instructions can be found on the Internet.

Although there’s only been a few cases, county public health toxicology expert Cyrus Rangan says it could signal a dangerous trend.