Monthly Archives: April 2014

Kids don’t get to choose: more illness with more raw milk in US

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An alliance of food activists and anti-regulation libertarians is battling to legalize raw, unpasteurized milk, despite warnings from health officials about the rising toll of illnesses affecting adults and children alike.

Kimberly Kindy of The Washington Post writes that as the popularity of raw milk has grown, so too have associated outbreaks. They have nearly colbert.raw.milkdoubled over the past five years, with eight out of 10 cases occurring in states that have legalized sales of the unpasteurized product, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Public health officials have also documented how pathogens in raw milk have produced kidney failure in more than a dozen cases and paralysis in at least two.

The CDC, which analyzed more than a decade of outbreak data, said the chance of getting sick as part of an outbreak caused by raw milk is 150 times greater than from pasteurized milk. The agency reported that 796 people in 24 states had become sick after consuming raw milk between 2006 and 2011, the latest years for which complete data are available.

CDC and FDA officials say 55 percent of the victims are younger than 18 and got the beverage from a parent or guardian.

Medieval poop found: still stinks

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I’ve always been a fan of the raspberries.

A number of Medieval wooden barrels have been uncovered in Denmark, revealing their less- than-glamorous contents.

Originally built to transport goods and store fish, the barrels were converted into latrines — still filled with their original contents.

medevial.poop“We are talking about 700-year-old latrines. And yes, they still smell bad,” Maria Elisabeth Lauridsen, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, told Discovery News.

Unearthed in the center of the Medieval town of Odense, the birthplace of the fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, the barrels are believed to have served a toilet area.

“Preliminary results of analysis show that raspberries were popular in Odense in the 1300s. The contents also contain small pieces of moss, leather and fabric which were used as toilet paper,” Lauridsen said.

U.S. National Guard and Navy called in to help child suffering from salmonellosis

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Dealing with an ill toddler while away from home is stressful; being 900 miles offshore in a wind-powered boat with a kid who has picked up Salmonella is scary.

According to NBC San Diego, the California Air National Guard and U.S. Navy are involved in a complex rescue mission to help a sick baby on a boat off the coast of Mexico.

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The one-year-old girl, her 3-year-old sister and her parents from San Diego set sail two weeks ago for the latest leg of their trip around the world.
 
The family is sailing aboard a 36-foot boat named the “Rebel Heart,” blogging and posting pictures online.
 
On Thursday, the Bay Area’s 129th Rescue Wing received a call from the U.S. National Guard about a “seriously ill” girl aboard the boat located about 900 nautical miles off the coast of Mexico.
 
Two rescue helicopters took off Thursday to join the rescue mission.
 
After a five-hour flight, a team of four “Guardian Angel” pararescuemen jumped into the open ocean to board the Rebel Heart.
 
After checking the girl’s vitals, the crew determined the girl was in stable condition.
 
NBC 7 has learned the baby may suffer from some type of salmonella and has been given antibiotics. 

From the low-moisture-foods-with-Salmonella files: black peppercorn edition

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Sprouts Farmers Market have, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) press release have recalled some black peppercorn products due to Salmonella after internal testing revealed the bacterial contamination.ucm391994

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (the “Company”) is recalling Organic Black Peppercorns sold under the Sprouts brand name from all stores. This product has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

The recalled Organic Black Peppercorns were distributed to Sprouts Farmers Market stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. No illnesses have been reported to date.

The product comes in a 2.12-ounce, clear glass jar marked with lot #3287 on the bottom of the container and with an expiration date of October 2016. Each container is identified with an individual label showing the Sprouts Farmers Market company logo, the description: Organic Black Peppercorns.

Sprouts Farmers Market initiated the recall after a sample taken during routine testing by the FDA revealed the presence of Salmonella in one lot of Organic Black Peppercorns. 

For a good primer on Salmonella in low moisture foods check out this presentation from FDA’s Jenny Scott.

The consequences of unsafe home canning are scary

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With the first ramps making their way to New York restaurants, the North Carolina spring is here.

As the top two-thirds of North America thaws out, the bottom third is gearing up for the home canning season. If done incorrectly (without acid or pressure as a control step) things can get scary.canned-tomatoes

According to ASIA-plus, 33 residents of a Tajikistan village have contracted botulism from a risky batch of home canned tomatoes, tragically leading to a 10-year-old’s death.

The boy was one of 33 residents of the Qahramon village in Sughd’s Asht district who have contracted botulism poisoning by eating home-canned tomatoes. According to the Sughd Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, four of them were in the intensive care unit.

“On March 21, some 95 residents of the village of Qahramon gathered to celebrate the Navrouz holiday and 33 of them contracted botulism poisoning by eating home-canned tomatoes,” said the source.  “On March 23, they were taken to the Asht central district hospital, where they were vaccinated (I think they mean treated with antitoxin -ben) against botulism.”
It’s unclear from the report whether the product was just straight tomatoes or had other low acid foods (like peppers or onions added). Modern varieties of tomatoes are lower acid than some of their predecessors – making them a borderline low-acid food. Canned tomatoes require some added acid (lemon juice or vinegar are most common) to keep the Clostridium botulinum spores from germination, outgrowth which can then lead to bot toxin formation.

Mouse infestation closes birthplace of the cronut

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New York City residents and tourists are apparently not alone in their love of Cronuts, those croissant-and-doughnut hybrids that have people lined up for blocks before dawn outside a SoHo bakery.

Online video showing a mouse running around in the Dominique Ansel Bakery on Spring Street, which shot to fame after its eponymous chef cronut21-300x300created the pastry, led health officials to temporarily shut the shop on Friday.

The closing was reported on Friday on the website Gothamist, which noted that the bakery had been open earlier in the day.

Inspectors from the city’s health department found a severe mouse infestation at the bakery requiring professional pest control, and the bakery cannot reopen until inspectors determine the problem has been fixed, an agency statement said.

‘Name-and-shame is a good thing because it gives the public vital information’ South Australia frustrated by legal process

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A filthy, cockroach-infested St Peters restaurant fined more than $100,000 has not been added to the State Government’s name-and-shame register, despite being convicted almost two months ago.

On February 12, Imperial Peking admitted to 31 counts of breaching the state’s food safety code, after cockroaches were found on benches, walls, floors and cooking equipment.

The Eastern Health Authority (EHA) – which prosecuted the restaurant – said it should not have to jump through hoops to get convicted businesses Imperial Pekingadded to the register.

EHA chief executive Michael Livori said it the process to get convicted businesses on the register was long-winded and bureaucratic, including having to wait for the sentencing magistrate to publish remarks.

“It should be automatic or the process could be streamlined,” Mr Livori said.

“We shouldn’t have to fill in numerous forms and have to provide A, B and C to get a company on the register.

“Do I think the Department of Health could look to improve the time frame? I would answer, ‘yes’.”

An SA Health spokeswoman said it could not add premises to the register until the legal process had been completed, including waiting for the 28-day appeal window to lapse.

12 possibly sick with E. coli at Oklahoma State Fairgrounds; all worked with livestock

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The State Health Department said that they are working on 12 cases of possible E. coli cases.

They said 8 of them were at the Youth Expo, but some of the other 4 may not have been there.

petting.zoo.10They are now backtracking and trying to figure out what these cases all had in common.

There were some pre-screening events held before the Youth Expo that are also being investigated.

The one thing the Health Department said all the cases have in common is that the people worked with livestock.

17 now sick with Salmonella from Welsh laverbread outbreak

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Five new cases of Salmonella with possible links to laverbread have emerged in the past week bringing the total number to 17, said Public Health Wales.

Tests are continuing to confirm whether they are all linked to the outbreak, which has nine confirmed cases so far.

laverbreadCases have been reported across south and west Wales.

Three people have needed hospital treatment, but have been discharged.

Health officials said a study has confirmed a strong association with laverbread from Penclawdd Shellfish Processing Ltd, probably produced and distributed between 5 and 8 March.

Last week, the company voluntarily withdrew its laverbread from sale as a precaution.

Samples taken from its Swansea factory have not shown any evidence of Salmonella in either food or in the environment, said Public Health Wales.

Laverbread is the boiled and minced laver seaweed, often fried with bacon and cockles as a traditional Welsh breakfast dish. The seaweed is eaten worldwide, especially in Asia, and is often used in Japanese sushi dishes.

And it was all avoidable: seven businesses in Ireland closed over food hygiene

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Seven food businesses were closed across the country last month for breaches of food safety legislation, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has confirmed.

Professor Alan Reilly, chief executive of the FSAI, stated that there is absolutely no excuse for food businesses to put consumers’ health at risk fsaithrough negligent practices.

“While most food businesses follow high standards and are compliant with food safety legislation, we continue to encounter cases where consumers’ health is jeopardised through a failure to comply with food safety and hygiene requirements. These breaches are avoidable,” he said.

One restaurant and a take-away were served with closure orders under Irish legislation in March while three restaurants, a take-away and a butcher were served with closure orders under European regulations. In addition, one fish processor was served with a prohibition order by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority.

Closure orders are issued if it is deemed that there is or there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health or where an improvement order has not been complied with.