Monthly Archives: April 2012

Norovirus plagued tennis tourney

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Norovirus was the cause of some cases of nausea, diarrhea and chills that afflicted players and staff at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in March.

The Riverside County Department of Disease said Monday the illness knocked several top players out of the world-class BNP event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“Some individuals were tested and we did have some positive results for norovirus,” said Barbara Cole, director of disease control for the Riverside County Department of Health.

“We did have some people that were linked to the tournament, but we can’t say definitively that everyone who was ill had norovirus.”

Among the players who withdrew from the event were Nikolay Davydenko, Vani King, Gaels Monfils, Francesa Schiovone and doubles specialist Mike Bryan. Both women’s No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka and men’s champion Roger Federer complained about symptoms during the two-week event, though Federer insisted he had the illness before arriving in Indian Wells.

FDA figures out Americans speak many languages

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The. U.S. Food and Drug Administration now offers publications in five foreign languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

The Packer reports the agency’s Office of International Programs began offering the foreign language versions in early April. The intent is to enable the FDA’s foreign counterparts and industry to better understand the agency’s laws and practices.

Among the translated publications is the FDA’s produce guidance document, “Guide to minimize microbial food safety hazards for fresh fruits and vegetables.” It and other documents are available in the foreign language versions on a special page on the agency’s website:www.FDA.gov/translations.

As a language professor I hang out with might say, translation often fails to capture cultural nuances and meaning. I say, if the message isn’t clear, don’t expect a translated version to be clear or clearest.

Producto crudo y congelado de atún de aleta amarilla enferma a 116 personas. La causa fué Salmonella en el sushi

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 Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:
– 12 de los 116 casos, requirieron hospitalización
– El producto implicado, procesado y distribuido por Moon Marine USA Corporation (conocida como MMI) de Cupertino, Calif., esta hecho con “tuna backmeat.” Según la FDA, dicha carne es rascada de los huesos, y parece carne molida.
– El producto no es vendido al publico, pero pudo haber sido usado por restaurantes y establecimientos para hacer sushi, sashimi, ceviche, y/u otros platos similares.
– Moon Marine USA Corporation o MMI y Nakaochi Scrape AA o AAA, aparecen en las cajas del producto vendido a los distribuidores mayoristas. Dichas cajas pudieron haber sido divididas y a su vez vendidas a otros establecimientos.

Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.
Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
@benjaminchapman y @barfblog.

Green slime in Australia: cheese waste in up to 16% of milk

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From the what-else-is-in-food file, the Brisbane Times reports that permeate – a watery, greenish waste product from the production of cheese – forms up to 16 per cent of the fresh milk in Australia according to documents obtained by the Herald.

The story isn’t new; check out this video from an Australian TV show in May 2008 (see below).

The story has all the elements of pink slime: a food additive that appears safe, but has s yuck factor; corporate misrepresentation (dude, it’s not milk) consumer outrage at not being told; and an industry deferring to government standards (the lowest kind), clueless about communication with its own snappy catchphrase — a rich source of dairy carbohydrate — and deep in denial about public disclosure.

As the milk wars between supermarkets have reduced margins for milk producers, industry sources say permeate is increasingly being used by producers to reduce the cost per litre.

Just how much permeate – which is cheaper than fresh milk and can be used to moderate fat levels – is used has been a closely held secret of the dairy industry.

In 2008 a number of NSW farmers accused the milk industry of adding up to 12 per cent permeate to milk to cut its production cost.

Internal documents from Australia’s biggest supplier, National Foods – which makes Pura, Big M, Dairy Farmers and supplies both Woolworths and Coles brand milk – reveal its milk now contains up to 16.43 per cent permeate. One document, labeled ”permeate cost savings”, reveals up to $22,960 can be saved by adding 16 per cent permeate to the production of 350,000 litres of whole milk. This shaves almost 16 per cent of the cost off the price of production, and does not have to be disclosed on the label.

In Australia, the food standards code allows producers to dilute milk with "milk components", such as permeate, as long as the total fat level remains at least 3.2 per cent (for full-cream milk) and the protein at least 3 per cent (for any milk). Natural cow’s milk has a fat level of 4 per cent.

There are no known health risks associated with adding permeate to milk.
Not only does its addition to milk reduce costs, but it eliminates the need to dispose of the permeate.

A Dairymark report recommends the industry should change its view of permeate to "a rich source of dairy carbohydrate, rather than a more orthodox view on permeate as a waste stream that is proving problematic in disposal terms."

The chief executive of A2 Milk, Peter Nathan, who said none of his milk contained permeate, described the substance as a "lemony-green liquid substance; it’s certainly not attractive”. He said consumers were "being led to believe that milk they are drinking is pure milk. It’s not".

According to the industry body Dairy Australia, permeate is green in colour because of the Vitamin B in milk.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said: "This is regulated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. We contract our own brand milk to numerous suppliers around the country and we are confident that they are delivering a product that matches the nutritional panel."

A Coles spokesman said: "Coles brand milk is made to the same high standards as branded milk lines, and in no way has the quality of our milk been altered as a result of our milk price cuts in January 2011." 

Toddlers dominate food safety discussion in Canada

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Why is meat inspected?

Why does it have to be overseen by veterinarians?

Does inspection result in fewer sick people?

Do inspectors have pathogen-seeking goggles?

How can the system be improved?

In Canada, the years following the 2008 listeria-in-Maple-Leaf-deli-meat outbreak that killed 23, the federal inspectors’ union has had the public discussion volume set to shrill.

It’s now reached 11 as the federal government wants to make cuts to various levels of the civil service but offers no rationale, and the union blindly proclaims any cuts to federal meat inspectors would be “devastating.”

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, who inexplicably still has his job after joking on a conference call during the 2008 listeria outbreak he was dying death by a thousand cold-cuts — while people were actually dying – blindly reiterates that there is "no way" the federal government would ever compromise food safety.

Sarah Schmidt of Canada.com has asked for precise numbers — more than once. But for some reason, neither CFIA nor Gerry Ritz’s Office has responded to this request for specific details and numbers. Instead, this is what the media has received, in the form of a statement from Ritz (reproduced in part):

“The Agency will not make any changes that would in any way place the health and safety of Canadians at risk. In fact, Economic Action Plan 2012 includes an additional $51 million over two years to enhance food safety, building upon the $100 million in last year’s budget. Ensuring safe food for Canadian families is CFIA’s priority and these changes underscore that commitment. Since 2006, the Harper Government has provided the investments for the CFIA to hire 733 net new inspection staff. Agriculture is a competitive modern industry, and changes will modernize Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada allowing it to concentrate on innovation, marketing and reducing barriers for business.”

Ger, make your case, explain what government-back inspection does and does not do. Union types: make a case about the necessity of your role, using examples and data. Then maybe the two sides can work on something that actually makes fewer people barf; cause I thought this was all about food safety, At this point you both sound like my 3-year-old who goes into a trance-like meltdown when she’s in a mood or can’t get what she wants and huffs and puffs and repeats the same line 10 times.

New Food Safety Infosheet: 116 illnesses linked to frozen raw yellowfin tuna product; Salmonella in sushi source of illnesses

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The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food businesses, is now available.

Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:

– Among the 116 illnesses are 12 hospitalizations.

– The implicated product, processed and distributed by Moon Marine USA Corporation (also known as MMI) of Cupertino, Calif. is made of tuna back meat, which is  scraped off the bones and looks like ground product.

– The product is not available for sale to individual consumers, but may have been used in food service and retail to make sushi, sashimi, ceviche and similar dishes.

– Moon Marine USA Corporation or MMI and Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA were printed on boxes of the product when it was initially sold to distributors. Boxes may have been broken into smaller lots for further sale.

Food safety infosheets are created bi-weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

You can follow food safety infosheets stories and barfblog on twitter @benjaminchapman and @barfblog.

Click here to download the infosheet.

Tracking device found in NZ chocolate; ‘sounds like a lunatic friend with personal issues’

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A high-tech tracking device embedded in a slab of chocolate is among hundreds of bizarre complaints about foreign objects found in food.

Among the most unsavoury items was a condom found in a KFC meal, worms and maggots on supermarket pork and a sticking plaster on pizza.

Information obtained by the Herald on Sunday revealed 201 complaints of food safety breaches had been investigated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) since January last year.

Paragon Investigations director Ron McQuilter said the tracking device would have been highly technical and expensive because devices that tiny were difficult to find.
"Something that small isn’t normal," said McQuilter. "I’m imagining it would be very high-tech which means it will be expensive."

He suggested it could have been taken from animal researchers or made at home then placed in the chocolate to trace the woman’s movements.

"It sounds like a lunatic friend with personal issues going on as opposed to someone at Whittaker’s doing it," said McQuilter.

A KFC customer claimed to have found a condom in their quarter pack meal from Hamilton’s Frankton store in February last year, Restaurant Brands spokeswoman Jo Bell said.

As a result, KFC has installed cameras in all of its stores’ kitchens, serving and customer areas.

Food Safety New Zealand consultant Suresh Din encouraged customers to inform authorities about foreign objects in their food, poisoning or a lack of hygiene.

Should needle or blade tenderized steaks be labeled?

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On Christmas Eve, 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced some 248,000 pounds of tenderized beef were being recalled and was eventually linked to 21 E. coli O157:H7 infections in 16 states.

Needle or blade tenderized beef is typically used on tougher cuts of beef or pork to break down muscle fibers or to inject marinade into meat. About 50 million pounds of needle- or blade-tenderized meat is produced in the U.S. each month, according to a federal study, but it’s not required to be labeled.

All hamburger should be cooked to a thermometer-verified 160F because it’s all ground up – the outside, which can be laden with poop, is on the inside. With steaks, the thought has been that searing on the outside will take care of any poop bugs like E. coli and the inside is clean. But what if needles pushed the E. coli on the outside of the steak to the inside?

Luchansky et al. wrote in the July 2009 Journal of Food Protection that based on inoculation studies, cooking on a commercial gas grill is effective at eliminating relatively low levels of the pathogen that may be distributed throughout a blade-tenderized steak. But others recommend such meat be labeled because it may require a higher cooking temperature.

JoNel Aleccia of msnbc writes the recall of more than a ton of beef potentially contaminated with dangerous E. coli bacteria — including mechanically tenderized sirloin steaks — is renewing calls for better labeling.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service officials said the Town & Country Foods meat was shipped from April 4 to April 10 and included hamburger patties, stewing beef and sirloin fillets. The problem was discovered when company lab tests confirmed E. coli O157:H7 after the meat already had gone out, resulting in the recall.

Meat industry officials and even a former federal agriculture leader say they’re not convinced of the risk of illness — or that it’s worth slapping a label on every package, possibly discouraging consumption, and that reported illnesses associated with tenderized meat have been very small compared to the volume of product.

Why didn’t they find more? One in five UK chickens contaminated with campy; just cook it say lobbyists

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One in five supermarket chickens is contaminated with campylobacter, according to an investigation – spurring claims of "scaremongering" by a retail consortium.

The study involved poultry bought from nine of the UK’s major supermarkets by the Which? consumer group.

As well as 18% of the samples containing campylobacter, 17% of them were contaminated with listeria, with salmonella present in 1.5% of the 192 chickens tested.

Whole chickens and chicken portions – standard, free range and organic, and all reared in the UK – were tested.

Sky News contacted all nine of the supermarkets tested in the survey. Most of them referred us to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The BRC’s food director Andrew Opie said: "Which? is scaremongering. Campylobacter is completely killed by normal cooking so providing people prepare chicken properly and follow sensible hygiene practices they’re at no risk."

There’s always a risk; especially with cross-contamination in home and food service kitchens.

In 2009, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) found (in a similar but not directly comparable test) that 65% of chickens were contaminated with campylobacter at the point of sale.

FSA said that tackling campylobacter was a “key issue” but warned that, despite the reduction in contamination, seasonal variations made it difficult to assess the merits of the decline.

Campylobacter was responsible for over 371,000 cases of food poisoning, including 88 deaths in the UK in 20009.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "We want to see the risk of contamination minimised at every stage of production, because for far too long consumers have been expected to clean up mistakes made earlier in the supply chain."

British Poultry Council chief executive Peter Bradnock said: "This report makes it clear that chicken is a safe and healthy product when properly cooked. These welcome findings show a big reduction in campylobacter presence on chicken, demonstrating the effectiveness of the biosecurity measures being taken by producers and processors against this naturally occurring bacteria."

Lidl issued a separate statement to Sky News saying: "All farms used to produce our fresh poultry range are members of the Assured Food Standards scheme for poultry, commonly known as the Red Tractor scheme, and are subject to independent third-party audits.

So what.

And journos repeated bad UK food safety advice to cook chicken until the juices runs clear: color is a terrible indicator of food safety in eat. Use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer and stick it in.

NC considers long overdue overhaul of food safety standards: ‘safe food is good business’

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WRAL reports that North Carolina state legislators considered changes Thursday to overhaul food safety standards that were implemented over 35 years ago.

Larry Michael, a spokesman from NC Dairy & Food Protection, said people are now realizing that "safe food is good business."

Some of the proposed changes include prohibiting workers from handling ready-to-eat food with their bare hands and doing away with the bonus points restaurants can earn by completing a two-day food safety course.

New regulations would require a certified food protection manager to be on site whenever the establishment is open. Employees would be able to earn that certification online.

If the changes are accepted, they won’t go into effect until September at the earliest.