Monthly Archives: April 2014

Of course food safety is your top priority; dancing rats at Manhattan Dunkin’ Donuts

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Oh iPhone cameras and youtube.com; how do I love thee?

And Dunkin’ Donuts, you’re no Tim Hortons.

Two videos uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday show rats crawling around a New York City Dunkin’ Donuts location in the Garmnet District.

In the first video, uploaded by user ‘Pjayone’, a rat is seen making its way from the top of a display rack, touching croissants, bagels and other Dunkin' Donutsbaked goods in open tubs.

The second video shows yet another rat crawling up a window curtain at the same location on 37th Street and 8th Avenue.

In an email to Gothamist, the YouTube user explains that this is a normal occurrence  at the location.

‘At two-thirty [in the morning] every [day] the workers load the shelves with the morning’s wares. Shortly thereafter like clockwork the rats come out and party.’

‘My phone ran out of power, or I would’ve filmed the outright nine deep rat assault which followed the action above,’ he added.

‘The items in the video that are being besieged upon by the rats were to be sold for that mornings breakfast rush.’

The location captured in the video has an ‘A’ rating from the city’s health department, despite getting a citation for vermin-related issues in November 2013.

The citation called the facility ‘not vermin proof. Harboarge or conditions conductive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowed vermin to exist.’

When contacted by Gothamist, the location manager said simply: ‘We don’t have an issue like that.’

Dunkin’ Donuts’ corporate offices issued their own statement, saying ‘food safety is a top priority’.

‘We have stringent food safety and quality standards, and we take great pride in the food and beverages we serve to our guests every day.

Multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to soft-ripened cheese — United States, 2013

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On June 27, 2013, the Minnesota Department of Health notified CDC of two patients with invasive Listeria monocytogenes infections (listeriosis) whose clinical isolates had indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns. A query of PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, identified clinical and environmental isolates from other states. On June 28, CDC learned from the Food and Drug Administration’s Coordinated Outbreak crave.brothers.cheeseResponse and Evaluation Network that environmental isolates indistinguishable from those of the two patients had been collected from Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese during 2010–2011. An outbreak-related case was defined as isolation of L. monocytogenes with the outbreak PFGE pattern from an anatomic site that is normally sterile (e.g., blood or cerebrospinal fluid), or from a product of conception, with an isolate upload date during May 20–June 28, 2013. As of June 28, five cases were identified in four states (Minnesota, two cases; Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, one each). Median age of the five patients was 58 years (range: 31–67 years). Four patients were female, including one who was pregnant at the time of infection. All five were hospitalized. One death and one miscarriage were reported.

Case–case analysis of Listeria Initiative* data (1) was conducted, comparing food exposure frequencies among the five outbreak-related cases identified by June 28 with food exposure frequencies in 1,735 sporadic listeriosis cases reported to CDC during 2004–2013. The analysis indicated that any soft cheese consumption during the month before illness onset was associated with outbreak-related listeriosis: five of five (100%) in the outbreak-related cases versus 569 of 1,735 (33%) in the sporadic cases (odds ratio = 10.8; 95% confidence interval = 1.8–∞).

The five patients were reinterviewed to assess their cheese exposures. All five patients had definitely or probably eaten one of three varieties of Crave Brothers soft-ripened cheese (Les Frères, Petit Frère, or Petit Frère with truffles). Three patients had purchased the cheese at three different restaurants, and two had purchased the cheese at two different grocery stores. The cheeses were shipped as intact wheels to the three restaurants and two grocery stores, where they had been cut and served or repackaged and sold to customers.

Testing at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture identified the outbreak pattern of L. monocytogenes in two cheese wedges (Les Frères and Petit Frère with truffles) collected from two different grocery stores in Minnesota. Inspection of the cheese-making facility revealed that substantial sanitation deficiencies during the cheese-making process itself, after the milk was pasteurized, likely led to contamination. On July 1, Crave Brothers halted production of Les Frères, Petit Frère, and Petit Frère with truffles. On July 3, Crave Brothers issued a voluntary recall of these products with a production date of July 1, 2013, or earlier. On July 11, the company voluntarily halted production of all cheese products manufactured at the facility. After product recall, one additional case was identified in Texas through whole genome sequencing, bringing the total case count for the outbreak to six.

This outbreak was linked to soft cheeses that were likely contaminated during the cheese-making process (2,3). Pasteurization eliminates Listeria in milk. However, contamination can occur after pasteurization. Cheese-making facilities should use strict sanitation and microbiologic monitoring, regardless of whether they use pasteurized milk.†

Persons at greater risk for listeriosis, including older adults, pregnant women, and those with immunocompromising conditions, should be aware that certain soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk, or made under unsanitary conditions, regardless of whether the milk was pasteurized, have been shown to cause severe illness. These soft cheeses include fresh (unripened) cheeses, such as queso fresco (4), and soft-ripened cheeses, such as the cheeses implicated in this outbreak.

Mary J. Choi, Kelly A. Jackson, Carlota Medus,  Jennifer Beal, Carrie E. Rigdon, Tami C. Cloyd, Matthew J. Forstner, Jill Ball, Stacy Bosch, Lyndsay Bottichio, Venessa Cantu, David C. Melka, Wilete Ishow, Sarah Slette, Kari Irvin, Matthew Wise, Cheryl Tarr, Barbara Mahon, Kirk E. Smith, Benjamin J. Silk

Beam me up: renewed calls for beef irradiation in Canada

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Reynold Bergen, science director of the Beef Cattle Research Council, writes that irradiation has been used to pasteurize astronauts’ food since 1966.

Irradiation is also approved as a food safety treatment in over 50 countries back here on earth. For example, France, Belgium and the Netherlands use irradiation to combat foodborne pathogens in frogs’ legs, seafood, and poultry.  The U.S. has approved irradiation of meat. Canada has approved irradiation for spices, seasonings, flour, onions and seed Irradiation-beef-Cattlemens-Association-Canada-ionizing-radiation-Ecoli-bacteria-pathogens-EDIWeeklypotatoes, but not meat or poultry. Irradiation is safe for human food use at doses more than eight times higher than those approved for meat in the U.S. Irradiation does not cause the meat to become radioactive, and has less of an effect on food nutrients than cooking does, but irradiation can have undesirable effects on flavour or colour under some conditions.

Dr. Rick Holley at the University of Manitoba recently published two papers from research funded under Canada’s Beef Science Cluster.

One paper (Meat Science 96:413-418) examined whether a low dose (one kGy) of non-radioactive, ionizing electron-beam irradiation can eliminate verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC) and salmonella from beef trim.

VTEC, also known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli or STEC, are E. coli that can cause illness in humans. E. coli O157:H7 is one of about 200 serotypes of VTEC. More than a third of VTEC-related illnesses in humans are also caused by non-O157 serotypes such as the “top 6” E. coli O26, O45, O103, O113, O111, O121 and O145. Salmonella is relatively uncommon in beef, but is more irradiation resistant than E. coli because salmonella is better at repairing DNA damaged by irradiation.

The second paper (Journal of Food Science 78:920-925) examined whether e-beam irradiation of beef trim affects the colour, aroma, texture, juiciness or flavour of beef patties.

Over 30 different VTEC (including E. coli O157:H7 and the “top 6” non-O157 VTECs), and six different salmonella serovars were screened for resistance to the one-kGy e-beam. Twelve of these bacteria were then pooled in four groups to test for survivors on beef. Fresh muscle pieces (outside flat, inside round, brisket, and sirloin) were separately inoculated Unknownwith either 1,000 bacteria/gram or 10 million/g of each of the four bacterial mixtures. These numbers are up to a million times higher than would normally be found in beef. The inoculated beef was exposed to a one-kGy e-beam. Surviving bacteria were recovered and counted during storage at 4 C for up to five days. Inoculated muscle pieces were also pre-treated with five per cent lactic acid before being frozen and exposed to the e-beam.

For sensory tests, the same types of fresh muscle pieces (but not inoculated with bacteria) were treated with the one-kGy e-beam. Fresh ground beef patties (10, 20 or 30 per cent fat) were separately formulated with zero, 10, 20, 50 or 100 per cent lean beef treated with the one-kGy e-beam, cooked and evaluated by a similar panel for colour, aroma, texture, juiciness and flavour.

In spite of the artificially high level of experimental contamination, treating fresh beef with the one-kGy e-beam eliminated more than 99.99 per cent of the VTEC E. coli and 99 per cent of the salmonella. The e-beam had less effect on salmonella when used on frozen beef, but this could be overcome if the beef was dipped in five per cent lactic acid before freezing.

The trained panel observed no effects of irradiation on the colour, aroma, texture, juiciness or flavour of beef patties, even when they were made entirely with beef that had been e-beam treated.

Irradiation was highly effective even in beef that was experimentally contaminated with up to a million times more bacteria than would be found in retail beef. Under normal processing conditions, a one-kGy e-beam would be expected to eliminate the hazard represented by all types of VTEC E. coli. Low-dose (one-kGy) e-beam treatment can effectively control E. coli O157:H7, non-O157 VTEC E. coli and salmonella in fresh beef trim. The e-beam did not significantly affect any sensory attributes of the beef patties, regardless of how much irradiated beef they contained. Low-dose e-beam treatment of beef trim to formulate ground beef appears to be a viable pathogen mitigation process that does not affect product quality.

145 sick? Norovirus fingered in Michigan restaurant outbreak

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Norovirus was identified as a source of a food illness outbreak among customers of the Beltline Bar, the Kent County Health Department reported Wednesday, April 2.

Three cases tested positive for norovirus, confirming investigators’ suspicions about the reports of gastrointestinal illness linked to the norovirus-2restaurant at 16 28th St. SE, said Lisa LaPlante, spokeswoman for the health department.

The health department reported March 26 that it had received dozens of calls from people who said they became sick after eating at the restaurant. By Wednesday, April 2, 145 complaints were reported.

The Beltline Bar staff did a thorough cleaning to disinfect the restaurant after hours, LaPlante said.

If someone has norovirus, if possible, the person should use a separate bathroom from others in the home, she said. The bathroom should be cleaned with a solution that includes a ¼ cup of bleach to a gallon of water – typical cleaning products do not kill norovirus.

Australia still has an egg problem: farm linked to 220 Salmonella illnesses fires 5 workers, back in business

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Ash Lewis was limp in his mother’s arms. The three-year-old boy had been sick for several days, in and out of the family doctor’s surgery and up all night with diarrhea.

That Sunday he had been happily playing on the beach at Torquay on Victoria’s west coast and later munching on an egg and cheese roll at a raw.egg_.mayo_.may_.13-300x221beachside cafe. He and his mother had left Melbourne to escape February’s heatwave.

By Thursday his condition had gone downhill fast. He stopped speaking and couldn’t walk. His parents, Scott and Sarina Lewis, rushed him to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. His blood pressure was down, his heart rate was low and his face was the ”colour of concrete.”

From the happy little boy playing in the sea he was now in hospital with an IV drip in his arm.

A stool sample taken from Ash confirmed he was infected with Salmonella causing gastroenteritis. The sandwich he ate at that cafe was prepared with mayonnaise made with free-range (but not microbiologically-safe) eggs.

Ash was one of about 220 people sickened with Salmonella linked to two Victoria, Australia, restaurants that were supplied by Green Eggs.

This week, the Victorian Health Department lifted a ban on raw egg products from the farm.

Media reports note that five workers were fired from the Green Eggs company last month.

Maybe they were the employees who didn’t have the Salmonella goggles.

And while an employee of the Victorian state government sent along its advice on using eggs — cook eggs until they are hot all the way through, but with no advice as to what hot all the way through actually means – the government utterly fails when it comes to enforcement.

Anyone who has been to an Australian restaurant will be offered a mayonnaise, salad dressing, béarnaise and hollandaise sauces, garlic.aioli_-300x300milkshakes with raw egg or an aioli dip that has been crafted by the chef using raw eggs, because no self-respecting chef would use a cooked product.

The Victorian government’s advice is that when in doubt, “read the label or get in touch with the manufacturer.”

There are no labels on those little containers of dip or the mayo on a sandwich. Good luck with that.

And why Australia continues to have an egg problem.

Seventy-seven diners who fell ill after eating at Canberra restaurant Copa Brazilian Churrasco last year are at present taking civil action against its owners in the ACT Supreme Court. A total of 140 people fell ill, with 15 taken to hospital, after eating home-made mayonnaise at the restaurant in May last year.

Here’s a tip: don’t use raw eggs.

Why won’t Australian government or industry or consumer groups make such a basic statement, and actively promote the message? Instead, consumers are told it’s their fault when they buy a sandwich made with raw egg mayo and get sick. And consumers pay for such terrible messages with tax dollars.

A table of raw egg related outbreaks in Australia is available at https://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia-3-3-14.xlsx.

Several hospitalized: E. coli linked to Oklahoma State Fairgrounds

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The Oklahoma Health Department is investigating several cases of E. coli sickness with one thing in common, the State Fairgrounds.

Several people who attended the Oklahoma Youth Expo between March 12-royal.petting.zoo21 have been hospitalized with the illness.

Officials at the health department say contamination could come from anything from food vendors to the showcased livestock.

A Montreal cafe that won’t let you poop

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This past weekend Sprudge.com editors Zachary Carlsen and Jordan Michelman traveled to Montreal, Quebec as speakers at the first Barista Nation event of 2014. And discovered a cafe policy so shocking, so out of the ordinary that it demands sharing with the wider world. Because there in Montreal, Michelman and Carlsen stumbled upon a cafe with a very strict ordinance.

A cafe that won’t let its patrons poop.

“Numero Un Seulement”, reads the sign on the door at Cafe Aux Marron, a small, intimate shop serving a variety of Canadian and American roasters, no.poop.cafelocated on a snowy sidestreet just a few rue from the McGill University campus in downtown Montreal.

Roughly translated, the sign means “Number #1 Only”, a slang colloquialism that Marron likely picked up from its American transplant clientele. The bathroom itself is a one door petite unisex affair, located directly adjacent to the cafe’s small seating area and coffee bar.

The reasoning behind the policy? “Logique“, says Marque Montpellier, the propriétaire at Marron, who would not allow himself to be photographed for this article. He went on to explain in French (and translated by Amy):

We sample coffee every day in this café. The clients’ odors are a serious problem. No perfume, no cologne, and no bowel movements are allowed in this café. It’s a strict policy. We are professional coffee tasters; we have to restrict all unpleasant odors in the café. Thank you for respecting this policy.

And what about his staff? Banning a normal, healthy bodily function must be an unpleasant policy for baristas working 8 hour shifts. “Notre personnel ne défèquent pas” Montpellier told Sprudge, which translated roughly means “our staff does not poop.”

Personnel retention is a challenge, concedes Montpellier, but it’s worth it in the name of pursuing his vision for Cafe Aux Marron. “Nous souffrons du café,” Montpellier said, evoking the wider sense of suffering for quality familiar to all service professionals.

Montpellier, who was unwilling to give a statement to Sprudge in English, closed our interview by declaring “Sans numero deux, notre politique nous libere completement.” In the name of fair reporting, we later heard him flirting in perfect English with a young American McGill student.

Food Safety Talk 58: Where’s my wallet?

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Food Safety Talk, a bi-weekly podcast for food safety nerds, by food safety nerds. The podcast is hosted by Ben Chapman and barfblog contributor Don Schaffner, Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers University. Every two weeks or so, Ben and Don get together virtually and talk for about an hour.  They talk about what’s on their minds or in the news regarding food safety, and popular culture. They strive to be relevant, funny and informative — sometimes they succeed. You can download the audio recordings right from the website, or subscribe using iTunes.1396369706543

In Episode 58 the guys started the show admiring Ben’s new computer, and his House of Clay beer, before talking about Don and Victoria Backham’s treadmill desks, Ricky Gervais bathtub photos, dressing up like a realtor, and confidence intervals.

Don and Ben then welcomed Bill Marler to the show. Bill’s notoriety started with the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak (documented in the book Poisoned). The discussion moved to the Jensen farm legal case, in particular, the criminal aspects of unknowingly shipping contaminated food and the involvement of service providers, i.e. auditors. The guys also discussed the impact on apportioning liability as a result of the recent North Carolina limiting farmers liability law. The conversation then turned to Salmonella and Foster Farm’s chicken and no one could understand why there hadn’t been a recall.

The guys then discussed Listeria and cantaloupes, including CDC’s recommendations and Don’s paper on “Modeling the growth of Listeria monocytogenes on cut cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon.”

After a short detour via the AVN Awards, Bill got the chance to explain why he generally doesn’t take on norovirus cases and the lengths he goes to before taking on a case, using the Townsend Farm Hepatitis A outbreak as an example. The conversation then turned to auditors and what the impact of the Jensen Farm litigation case might be.

After saying farewell to Bill, Don and Ben talked about podcasting, including Lex Friedman, and Libsyn’s Rob Walch.

In the after dark the guys chatted about House of Cards, True Detective, Ben’s quirky Aussie accent, Malaysia Airlines flight 370 andLost.

The longterm business impacts of an outbreak

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Beyond the tragic longterm effects on health for the victims of an outbreak, issues associated with foodborne illness incidents can taint a business for a long time. Jack-in-the-box, Odwalla, Castleberry’s and others may have changed their processes and practices but the stigma from an outbreak can last years. Beyond public perception, internal and external investigations into the causes can continue to impact business for years. And lead to revenue losses, expensive changes and criminal action.images

On national peanut butter and jelly day, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, uh, chronicles Conagra’s responses to a 2007 Salmonella outbreak affecting over 280 individuals associated with the Peter Pan and Great Value brands.

Seven years after a recall of peanut butter made at a Georgia plant, federal investigations are still hanging over the head of ConAgra Foods Inc.

Following the recall, investigators searched the plant. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Georgia and the Consumer Protection Branch of the Department of Justice launched a formal investigation in 2011.

ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) reported today that it spent a total of $25 million in 2012 and 2013 in connection with the investigations.

“We have been and continue to be engaged in ongoing discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s office and the Department of Justice in regard to the investigation,” ConAgra reported today. “We are pursuing a negotiated resolution, which we believe will likely involve a misdemeanor criminal disposition under the Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act.”

Parents baffled by doll that literally poops rainbows

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As a father of five daughters, I’ve always tried to introduce some activity into their routine to balance all the girly stuff.

Sure Sorenne wears a pink sweater, but she plays hockey.

sorenne.hockeyShe’s also really into human anatomy videos on youtube, so maybe the Moxie Girls are for her.

TM, the brand that owns Bratz and Bratzillas, tells girls what it means to have moxie and the tagline “Be True, Be You.”

The Moxie Girls’ pet unicorns actually poop. But not just any poop, rainbow poop.

One commentator said “I suppose a doll with a pooping pet has some sort of educational value (might encourage potty training), but really, I think they could have done more. After all, it’s a UNICORN. Pooping rainbows is one thing, but if it doesn’t also fart moonbeams and sunshine, then really, it’s only half a unicorn.”

poopsy.pets