Monthly Archives: March 2014

Parents in Ohio say their kids not allowed to wash hands at school

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First thing I do when a kid is checked into a new daycare or school is check out the handwashing facilities. Proper handwashing requires access to proper tools: vigorously running water, soap and paper towels.

Sorenne says at her kindergarten (prep here) she always washes her hands, uses soap, but because there is only blow driers she often dries her hands on her clothes (blow driers suck, the friction from wiping with paper towel provides an extra level of safety).

Too often, hypocrites preach about the importance of handwashing without checking to courtlynn.handwashensure the tools are available.

Two parents of students attending separate Toledo Public elementary schools in Ohio say their children are not being allowed to wash their hands after using the restroom, an allegation the school district denies.

Holly, who has two kids that attend East Broadway Elementary School, said she was surprised when her children told her that they couldn’t wash their hands while at school. “They told me they are only allowed to put hand sanitizer on twice a day after we use the bathroom,” said Holly.

The mother shared the information with her sister, Heather, who has a fourth grader enrolled at Burroughs Elementary.

Heather’s son told her that while at school he had witnessed another boy walk to the sink to wash his hands after using the restroom. The boy was stopped by a school staff member who called him over, squirted hand sanitizer in his hand, and walked away, according to Heather’s son.

When asked if they were sure of what their children were alleging, the women said that their kids have always been honest about what goes on at school.

Toledo Public Schools denies that students are prohibited from washing their hands. In an email to WNWO, TPS spokesperson Patty Mazur wrote, “Teachers take students to the bathroom as a class and then watch as students exit the restroom and wash their hands. If a student didn’t wash their hands properly, they are asked by their teacher to re-wash.”

Despite the response from TPS, Heather remains convinced that her son is not allowed to wash his hands while at school. “It needs to be addressed, ” she said. “This is disgusting. It makes me wonder if this is why my child has been sick so much this year.”
TPS said it holds hand-washing classes for elementary school students at the beginning of the year. Signs are posted in the restrooms reminding students to wash their hands after they use the bathroom.

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‘Why do we have to wash our hands? We wear gloves’ bad inspection forces Wisconsin McDonald’s to close, give refunds

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A McDonald’s at 3131 Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa was, according to the Journal Sentinel, closed briefly two weeks ago because of issues with handwashing, and the restaurant was forced to give customers refunds at the counter, public records from the city showed.

The restaurant closed March 12 for several hours while a hand sink was being repaired. There were none working in the kitchen for washing hands or in the rest of the restaurant,handwash_south_park(2)except in the bathrooms. Restaurants in Wisconsin are required to have sinks designated solely for washing hands.

The inspection yielded several other violations, including dirty utensils, accumulations of food debris and grease, wiping rags in sanitizer buckets that didn’t have any sanitizer in them and a lack of basic knowledge about food safety.

According to the inspection report, one employee said, “Why do we have to wash our hands? We wear gloves.”

The inspector also instructed staff to throw out undated foods from the refrigerators.

Owner Deborah Allen said in a statement, “Nothing is more important to me than operating a safe and clean restaurant. We follow rigorous standards for food safety and quality, and we take great pride in the food and beverages we serve to our customers every day. We take these matters very seriously, and took immediate action to make the appropriate corrections.”

The inspection report is available at the Journal Sentinel’s restaurant inspection page, jsonline.com/data, which houses restaurant inspection data from the four-county Milwaukee area and is updated monthly. Wauwatosa is not included with other cities and towns in the four-county database because the city has said it is not able to release its database. Instead, the city provides inspection reports weekly.

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Russian factory staff bathes in cheese vat

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Still hurting from their early exit in the 2014 men’s Olympic hockey tournament, Russians have apparently resorted to bathing with cheese to heal the wounds. And are sharing the activities on Instagram.

Or something like that.article-2590574-1C937D7E00000578-915_634x416

According to Opposing Views, a picture is making its way through the internet that shows Siberian factor workers  naked in a vat of cheese.

“Yeah, our job is really boring,” the photo’s caption reads.

Officials were alerted to the photo when angry consumers saw the “sickening” picture, which is believed to be taken at lead food processing center Omsk “The Cheese” trade house.

“If you plan to buy string cheese the next time you go to the supermarket, you may want to check that it wasn’t made in Omsk,” one Russian newspaper warned. 

Alexander Kriga, head of RosPotrebNadzor, the Russian food safety watchdog in the Omsk region, said investigation into the exact location the picture was taken at is under way.

 

Sent to US military bases; USDA FSIS issues public health alert for processed egg products unfit for human consumption

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is issuing a massive recall on food sent to the men and women who serve the U.S.

According to USDA, “Nutriom LLC” sent false test reports about thousands of pounds of eggs, many of which were sent to military bases overseas. USDA says the eggs were at risk of containing Salmonella. When the company refused to recall the eggs, the food egg.farmsafety and inspection service stepped in and recalled the product. In February, the company recalled over 200,000 pounds of eggs.

USDA says the request for expansion was based on evidence collected during an ongoing investigation conducted by FSIS at this establishment. The company has refused to recall the additional processed egg products. As a consequence, FSIS intends to take appropriate action to remove the products from commerce.

FSIS issued the original recall because the company allegedly recorded false laboratory results. The company allegedly produced negative laboratory results for Salmonella when the results were actually positive, or reported that sampling had occurred when, in fact, no microbial testing was performed. FSIS requested the company to include additional products, but it declined. Because the product was not produced in accordance with FSIS requirements, it is unfit for human consumption.

Five new Listeria species found; may improve tests

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Cornell researchers have discovered five new species of Listeria – including one named for Cornell – that provide new insights that could lead to better ways to detect soil bacteria in food.

To date, of the 10 previously known species of Listeria, only two are pathogenic to humans; Listeria monocytogenes is the main cause of Listeriosis, which causes illness in listeriahundreds – and death in nearly 250 – people each year in the United States through infected deli meats, seafood and produce.

The new study, published online March 5 in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, suggests that all five new species are benign.

The research was part of a larger study led by researchers at Colorado State University and Cornell to examine the distribution of such foodborne pathogens as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella in agricultural and natural environments. Samples were taken from fields, soil, ponds and streams in New York, Colorado and Florida.

“Doing studies on natural diversity in produce fields helps us develop better and more precise tests to make food safer,” said Martin Wiedmann, Cornell professor of food science and the paper’s senior author.

UK retail group fined £8700 over food hygiene offences

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Food had to be removed from a village shop on four occasions and destroyed after safety inspectors found it posed a risk to public health. McColls store in Lytham Road, Warton, came under suspicion after customer complained milk bought there caused him to vomit repeatedly.

Altogether 465 items of food and drink, including many high risk items such as sandwiches, cheese and yoghurt had to be seized and thrown away, because they were being stored McColls store in Lytham Road, Wartonat the wrong temperature in chiller units.

McColls Retail Group Limited, based in Brentwood, Essex, pleaded guilty to 12 food hygiene offences.

The company was fined £7,600 with £1,140 costs and £120 victims’ surcharge by District Judge James Hatton sitting at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court who commented: “There was substantial risk to health had anyone consumed these items.”

Clare Holmes, prosecuting for Fylde Borough Council, said on June 18 last year environmental health officers visited the Warton shop following a customer’s complaint milk bought there had made him repeatedly vomit.

Food in the chillers such as cream cakes and pies was being kept at too high a temperature. A packet of ham was found to be “blown” with the packaging extending. The food was immediately removed from sale and staff agreed to stop deliveries of high risk food. But the next day when inspectors returned, they found there had been another delivery and that food had to be removed.

On June 21 inspectors again went to the shop following another complaint from a member of the public the chillers were not working properly. Again food being stored had to be removed, as it did also on August 1 because it was at too high a temperature.

Richard Orridge, for the company, said it owned 1,300 shops and had a good food safety record. 

Europe assesses the risk of Salmonella and Norovirus in leafy greens

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Rainfall, use of contaminated water for irrigation or contaminated equipment are among the factors that cause contamination of leafy greens with Salmonella and Norovirus. These are some of the findings of EFSA’s latest opinion on risk factors that contribute to the contamination of leafy greens at different stages of the food chain. The BIOHAZ Panel has lettuce.skull.e.coli.O145recommended that producers use good agricultural, hygiene and manufacturing practices to reduce contamination. The Panel has also proposed specific microbiological criteria at primary production.

Leafy greens eaten raw as salads are minimally processed and widely consumed foods. Risk factors for leafy greens contamination by Salmonella spp. and Norovirus were considered in the context of the whole food chain including agricultural production and processing. Available estimates of the prevalence of these pathogens (together with the use of Escherichia coli as an indicator organism) in leafy greens were evaluated. Specific mitigation options relating to contamination of leafy greens were considered and qualitatively assessed. It was concluded that each farm environment represents a unique combination of numerous characteristics that can influence occurrence and persistence of pathogens in leafy greens production. Appropriate implementation of food safety management systems, including Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), should be primary objectives of leafy green producers. The relevance of microbiological criteria applicable to production, processing and at retail/catering were considered. The current legal framework does not include microbiological criteria applicable at primary production which will validate and verify GAP and GHP. It is proposed to define a criterion at primary production of leafy greens which is designated as Hygiene Criterion, and E. coli was identified as suitable for this purpose.

A Process Hygiene Criterion for E. coli in leafy green packaging plants or fresh cutting plants was considered and will also give an indication of the degree to which GAP, GHP, GMP or HACCP programs have been implemented. A Food Safety Criterion for Salmonella in leafy greens could be used as a tool to communicate to producers and processors that Salmonella should not be present in the product. Studies on the prevalence and infectivity of Norovirus are limited, and quantitative data on viral load are scarce making establishment of microbiological criteria for Norovirus on leafy greens difficult.

Over 100 sickened; Salmonella linked to unlabeled Mexican-style cheese in Illinois

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The Illinois Department of Public Health issued a warning Thursday, saying 100 people have contracted Salmonella linked to illegally manufactured Mexican-style cheeses.

Health departments in Cook, DuPage, Boone, Fayette, Kane, Lake, LaSalle, Macon, Marion, McHenry, Vermillion, Washington and Will counties have reported about 100 mexican.style.cheesecases of Salmonella believed to be associated with the cheese since July 2012, according to a statement from the department.

IDPH is working to identify the manufacturer of the contaminated cheese, according to the department.

Many cases have reported consuming Mexican-style cheese obtained from worksites, including factories, and at train stations, from street vendors and from relatives and friends, the department said. The cheese is not labeled and is often wrapped in aluminum foil.

‘Tip of iceburg’ 7 sick from Campylobacter linked to NZ raw milk

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A recent outbreak of Campylobacter in Timaru, New Zealand, has been blamed on raw milk.

Seven people have been confirmed as having Campylobacter after purchasing raw milk from a farm on the outskirts of Timaru.

South Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Daniel Williams believes the seven cases colbert.raw.milkare the tip the iceberg.

”Drinking raw milk is risky for your health. It can contain disease-causing bacteria and other organisms which can lead to gastroenteritis and other illnesses, some of which can be life-threatening,” Dr Williams said.

Dr Williams said even drinking raw milk from suppliers with the highest hygiene and safety standards can be dangerous as any raw cow milk can contain bugs.

New Zealand legislation allows producers to sell up to five litres of raw milk daily at the farm gate to buyers who purchase it for themselves or their family.

Michigan restaurant investigated for norovirus; responds on Facebook

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The Beltline Bar, a Grand Rapids Michigan Fixture is at the center of an outbreak investigation. According to the Grand Rapids Press, at least 10 individuals have called the health department reporting symptoms of norovirus.

The Kent County Health Department says it received more than a dozen calls from people who said they ate at the Beltline Bar last weekend and became ill. Department spokeswoman Lisa LaPlante tells The Grand Rapids Press (http://bit.ly/1m7MRi6 ) the symptoms were consistent with norovirus.264590_10150279668530743_4366177_n

There was no answer early Thursday at a telephone listing for the restaurant.

This message was posted at the Beltline Bar’s Facebook page:

Dear Valued Customers & Friends,

My name is Jeff Lobdell, I am the owner of the Beltline Bar. Tonight it was reported that the restaurant is being investigated for a possible norovirus incident that may have happened over the weekend. Nothing like this has happened in the restaurant’s 60 year history, but we are taking this very seriously. The health, wellness and safety our guests and staff is the most important thing to us. We serve as many as 1000 people a day & pride ourselves on our many years of exemplary sanitation and safety. This single incident is a reminder that the norovirus, which has become more prevalent in all public places is very powerful and there that you can never be too cautious. We want to thank the Health Department in their assistance in helping us ensure that we go above and beyond all suggested measures to protect our patrons and employees. I ask that anyone who thinks that may have possibly been affected by this situation personally call me at (616-235-8640) so I can make it right. Your patronage & support is appreciated at this difficult time not only by myself, but also our staff members.

The best follow-up comment on the page is from Janet M Sanders:

They need to screen there employees better when they call out sick! Unless you were infected by the norovirus and lost three days if work from it , I don’t think you can say the whole thing was handled well! How about paying wages and cleaning costs for those affected.