Monthly Archives: March 2014

Teenage girls mad they got Norovirus; Caribou Coffee confirms 7 staffers sick

Posted on by
4

A group of teenage girls are speaking out because they say they got dangerously sick after stopping at the Caribou Coffee in Brooklyn Park, and company officials confirm seven workers there had the norovirus.

“We usually go there in the morning and grab something before school usually 3 or 4 times a month,” Allison Fortuna said.

The coffee shop on Colorado Lane North was once a weekly stop for several members of the Champlain Park High School cheer squad, but Fortuna says she and the others who norovirus-2were sickened aren’t sure if they’ll ever come back.

Fortuna said 15 people fell ill, but she and her sister say the scariest part of the whole ordeal wasn’t learning what made them sick — the experience itself was.

“Really bad stomach pain and throw up time after time,” Fortuna recalled. “I started throwing up blood from throwing up so hard.”

Another young girl told Fox 9 News she also got sick after having a vanilla cooler at the same shop last week. Anna wrote, “After I drank it, I started throwing up a lot. All my friends that went there got sick too.”

Fortuna said she and other members of the cheer squad were sick for 3 to 4 days, and Brooklyn Park Code Enforcement and Public Health representatives have pinpointed a cause: A total of 7 Caribou employees were sick with norovirus last week.

“They voluntarily closed on Friday and we went back out this morning,” Jason Newby said. “They’re still screening employees and bringing in employees from other locations. They’re doing all the right things.”

Caribou spokeswoman Brianna Bauer said professional cleaners spent the entire weekend sanitizing the store before it reopened on Monday morning.

Bauer said the company was “really sorry” to hear about the illnesses, but she said she was “happy to report that it has nothing to do with anything they consumed out of Caribou Coffee.Brooklyn ParkCaribou.”

It’s estimated that 400-500 people visit that Caribou location each day, but Brooklyn Park representatives say only one sickness has been officially reported after visiting the coffee shop. In order to consider it an outbreak, those who were sickened need to report their illness to the hotline by calling 1-877-366-3455. 

Will next disease detection system be faster, cheaper?

Posted on by
1

Those who monitor disease detection policy note that it’s cheaper and faster to move away from a system that relies heavily on the time-consuming growth in the lab of cultures of disease-causing bugs.

But moving to “advanced molecular detection” technology to reap those advantages could bureaucratcreate new problems if the transition isn’t managed properly, experts say.

Roll Call reports that the PulseNet system of labs for tracking foodborne illness relies on cultures to make a diagnosis rather than the culture-free approach AMD allows. That may make it important to move to the new system now, while the nation still has that PulseNet capability as a backup.

That would also retain scientists’ ability to identify certain strains of diseases and the power to trace foodborne outbreaks back to their source. 

Poop cruise passengers suing Carnival for $5000 a month for life

Posted on by
1

After a crisis like an outbreak companies have to balance between rebuilding the brand and pragmatism. In 2013, passengers of the Carnival Triumph, affectionately known as the Poop Cruise, were stuck at sea for 5 days with no power, little food and lots of public health risks. Folks reported sewage running down the walls and floors and being asked to defecate in bags and urinate in showers due to a lack of functioning toilets.
Sewage_spews_from_drai19b1ae5e-dd69-4635-9537-a7f0ae9ac62d0000_20120424235220_320_240
In damage control mode, Carnival offered discounts, some cash and complementary bathrobes.
Some cruisers felt Carnival didn’t go far enough to make up for the experience and have sued the cruise line.
A lawsuit brought by 33 passengers of the ill-fated 2013 voyage could change how cruise lines insulate themselves from legal actions, according to maritime legal experts.
The Miami lawsuit is the first from the Triumph incident to go to trial, with others in preparation, according maritime lawyers.
In a statement, Carnival Corp said that while it recognizes its guests experienced uncomfortable conditions, everyone returned safely and were provided with a full refund, a free future cruise and an additional $500 per person.
“This is an opportunistic lawsuit brought by plaintiff’s counsel and plaintiffs who seek to make a money grab,” a company spokeswoman said.
One of the plaintiffs, Debra Oubre, 59, said she has experienced panic and anxiety attacks since the cruise, and also blames the experience for a urinary tract infection. 
“It was chaotic. People were in dire need of help,” said Oubre. “We were standing in line for food for five hours.”
Cruise lines like Carnival have successfully inoculated themselves against passenger lawsuits by printing stringent terms on their tickets that require passengers to waive their right to a class-action lawsuit. 

Uni piggery suspends supply of pigs to Australian market while it investigates possible rat poison contamination

Posted on by
Reply

The University of Queensland’s Gatton piggery has suspended the supply of pigs to market while it investigates concerns about possible rat poison contamination.

The suspension follows testing on the livers of five pigs which died during a seven-month period last year.

Tests found traces of coumatetralyl, the active ingredient in rat poison.

The poison was used by the university to control the rat population at the Gatton piggery UQ.piggeryuntil early September 2013.

The university’s acting Vice-Chancellor Alan Rix said the university was working with Safe Food Queensland and the Queensland Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department on further testing and analysis.

“All rat poison has been removed from the Gatton piggery and the site has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected,’’ Professor Rix said.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the risk to humans of eating pork from the piggery was negligible.

“This was my opinion when I was first informed of the issue and the results of testing since then have confirmed this view,’’ Dr Young said.

“There is no food recall for pork or pork products because there is no serious risk to humans.’’

Former food safety undersecretary calls BS on media coverage

Posted on by
2

Dr. Richard Raymond writes in MeatingPlace.com that when it comes to food safety, no wonder it is hard for the public to believe what they hear. Here are four public statements that fell short on honesty and accuracy:

• “Our nations’ food safety system is a hazard to public health.” — President Barack Obama shortly after his inauguration.

• “We are standing on the brink of a public health disaster.” — Congresswoman Slaughter in February, 2014, right after the FDA released its latest National Antibiotic Resistance Dan Aykroyd Plays Julia ChildMonitoring System’s (NARMS) report.

• When farmers use antibiotics, “they do so…under the care of a veterinarian.” — United States Farmers and Ranchers Alliance’s website (USFRA)

• “Salmonella is killed when food is cooked and handled properly. So, people becoming ill from antibiotic resistant foodborne bacteria and not being able to be treated in some manner, is rare if not almost non-existent.” — USFRA website

Number 1 was a good sound bite that played to the media and the change mongers, but totally failed to recognize a food safety system that may have flaws and shortcomings, but for the most part is doing a very good job with the tools given to FDA and USDA to enforce and regulate and it also ignores the dedication of our farmers and ranchers, scientists, trade organizations, packers and processors who toil every day, knowing their work is critical to your and my health.

This was just a shameful slap at tens of thousands of men and women who have chosen a less than glamorous profession, work in harsh conditions at times and try to do it right every day.

Number 2 totally ignored the fact that the latest NARMS report regarding samples of retail meat and poultry for pathogens and antibiotic resistance showed that the drugs of choice for treating foodborne illnesses caused by Salmonella and Campylobacter remain effective with no resistance seen.

It also showed significant declines in resistance in pathogens to flouroquinolones, a class of antibiotic used in human medicine but for all effects and purposes banned from use in animals by the FDA because earlier NARMS reports indicated a rapidly growing resistance that was problematical.

Numbers 3 and 4 mislead and attempt to say “no problem here with antibiotic use in animals.” Two simple facts shoot these quotes down, even as this organization tries to needle.tenderize.crspeak positively for those raising our food.

Simply put, there are a lot of antibiotics being administered in feed and water with zero DVM oversight and supervision. We all know that as a fact.

Salmonella is the number one cause of deaths from foodborne illnesses in this country, accounting for 29 percent of the total deaths. If you read the CDC annual reports you know that fact also. Tell the family members of the 452 persons who died in 2012 that those deaths were “non-existent.”

The Salmonella pathogen class also causes over 1 million illnesses per year in the United States. That fact cannot be waived off with a toss of a hand and a web page declaration, especially after the recent Foster Farms related outbreak that sickened over 500.
We have been making steady progress in making our meat and poultry safer, especially since the Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that caused the entire industry to declare food safety a non-competitive arena.

Headline seekers and grabbers do not help the movement to continue to improve. Using logic, common sense and science as the movers and shakers will produce a safer food supply.

Color sucks; use a thermometer

Posted on by
Reply

Former graduate student Allison Smathers caught Liz Szabo’s color-is-not-an-indicator brief in USA Today and tweeted like love, food safety is color blind.

So is Stephen Colbert.20140307-203245.jpg

It’s a myth that color is a reliable indicator of whether food is fully cooked. Use a meat thermometer, says Benjamin Chapman, assistant professor at North Carolina State University. Poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees, ground beef, 160; pork and seafood, 145.
Safely cooked chicken can still be pink; preservatives (nitrates or nitrites) also can cause a pink color, more common in younger birds with thin skin.

Stick it in.

Beef’s color is affected by acidity and fat content. Low-fat patties need more cooking and higher temperatures. Beef also can turn brown before reaching a safe temperature if it’s from an older animal, was stored for a long time or exposed to too much air.

 

Grand jury green lights color-coded inspection system for Orange County eateries

Posted on by
Reply

Eleven years after Toronto came up with the red-yellow-green restaurant inspection grading system, an Orange County, California, grand jury on Thursday recommended the county adopt a health inspection system with green, yellow and red placards, instead of letter grades, to inform customers whether food-service establishments are complying with the health code.

The county is the only one among its neighbors without a letter-grade system, and Thursday’s report was the latest attempt to give consumers OC.color.gradeseasily recognizable information. Previous tries here met opposition from the restaurant industry, but this time may be different, officials say.

The Board of Supervisors has three months to respond to the recommendations.

“I’m not trying to put restaurants out of business,” said Supervisor John Moorlach, who recommended a similar system in 2008, “but I want to make sure they’re doing their best to get a good green tag in the window.”

Patrons can get a copy of the restaurant’s latest inspection report online (ocfoodinfo.com) or if they ask for it at the restaurant, but hardly anybody does, said Russ Bendel, the owner of Vine Restaurant in San Clemente.

Colored signs “definitely will help guests choose where they want to go if they have multiple options,” he said.

The grand jury recommends using the same three categories as today, but coloring them like traffic signals. This is “a more practical approach” than letter grades, the report says, without the “disruption and burden” and expense.

“Improving the visibility of the current unremarkable graphic to a more distinctive image is an overdue step forward,” the report says.

It criticized other counties for “operating without any conformity” in their letter grades – for weighing certain infractions differently.

NYC’s Crocodile Lounge shut down after inspectors find rats and mice

Posted on by
Reply

The Crocodile Lounge bar — known for offering free personal pizzas with each drink — was shut down by the Health Department this week after inspectors found rats, mice and other violations, according to online records.

Inspectors shuttered Crocodile Lounge at 325 E. 14th St. on Wednesday after issuing 51 violation points for food that was not protected from crocodile.lounge.nyccontamination, dirty wiping cloths, improper plumbing and conditions that attracted vermin, plus evidence of live rats and mice, records show.

Crocodile Lounge posted a note on its Facebook page saying it had closed because of a broken pipe.

Going public: listeriosis in Austria: report of the National Reference Centre for 2013

Posted on by
Reply

In 2013, 33 invasive human listeriosis disease were registered in Austria, including two pregnancies. The 28-day mortality was 24% in 2013 (8 of 33). This high lethality and occasional serious permanent damage, require efforts listeriafor earliest possible detection of any food-borne outbreaks.

The example of an outbreak with a serovar 1/2b-Klon (2 cases in 2012 and 2 in the first half of 2013) shows that increased awareness as part of an outbreak investigation, when the causative source of infection can not be definitely proven, leads to increased preventative measures (something may be lost in translation).

Looking for risk reduction info and finding little

Posted on by
Reply

Ashley Chaifetz, a PhD student studying public policy at UNC-Chapel Hill writes,

After last year’s extended recall of my dog’s food, I switched brands. The recalls kept piling up and I did not want to put Chloe, my dog, at an increased risk as I repeatedly switched out bags of food.IMG_5238-225x300

Our pet food store gave me all sorts of samples for her to try before I committed to a new 30-lb bag. This time, I decided look up all the brands I had samples for in the FDA recall database. I initially considered ruling out companies with a history of recalls because repeated problems demonstrates a company that can’t get it right.

But what to do about businesses that may have had one health-related recall? Or none?

What I want to know is what a company does, or has done in response to an event, to improve their systems to reduce the risk of dogfoodborne illness.

It’s really hard to find information from dog food producers about what they do to keep Chloe’s potential food safe. It’s time for producers to step it up.

Providing consumers with risk reduction plans and systems, whether a company has had a contamination event or not, should be the industry standard but only a few companies provide this information.