Use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer and cook to at least 165F (74C).
Water temperature doesn’t matter when washing hands with soap (except for the comfort factor).
Fail: UK FSA’s chicken challenge adverts
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Yearly Archives: 2015
New regs to control Vibrio in raw oysters
I don’t eat raw oysters.
Lifelong Brisbane residents I know will not eat oysters, raw or cooked (and we have an abundant supply — of oysters, and lifelong Brisbane residents).
JoNel Aleccia of The Seattle Times writes that when a work trip sent Jill Poretta to Seattle two summers ago, the New Jersey resident decided to make a vacation of it, a chance to see the sights and enjoy the city’s fine dining.
But an appetizer plate of mixed oysters soon spoiled the trip. The day after her dinner at a restaurant on the central waterfront, Poretta became so violently ill she had to take a cab to a hospital at 3 a.m.
“I couldn’t get out of the car,” recalled the 43-year-old legal researcher from Haddonfield, N.J. “I’m vomiting as soon as I walk in the door.”
Poretta had to cut short her trip and head home, where she says she felt exhausted and ill for two weeks. Tests showed she’d contracted Vibrio parahaemolyticus, known as Vp, a leading cause of seafood poisoning in the U.S.
In July 2013, her case was one of four traced to Hammersley Inlet, an arm of water in southwest Puget Sound. State health officials closed the shellfish-growing area — but only after Poretta and others had gotten sick.
Starting this month, there’s a new approach — a first-in-the-nation effort by state health officials and shellfish growers — to curb heat-loving Vp long before it hits the plate. It requires quicker cooling of oysters when air and water temperatures get too warm and closing at-risk commercial beds before illnesses occur.
The protocol requires real-time monitoring to determine how fast harvested oysters must be cooled to a safe 50 degrees — and when they shouldn’t be gathered at all.
The rules aims to reduce the 40 to 45 infections tied to Washington oysters that are confirmed each year and another 6,000 to 7,000 cases that go undiagnosed, health officials said.
“Anytime you’re basically waiting for illnesses to trigger an action, it means you’ve missed your peak window for public-health protection,” said Laura Wigand Johnson, a marine and environmental scientist who led the state’s two-year process to put the Vp procedures in place.
But the new strategy, which took effect May 1 and runs through Sept. 30, has sent ripples of concern through Washington state’s commercial shellfish industry. That includes 329 licensed private growers and 39 tribal producers, though only about 150 deal in oysters, Johnson said.
All say they are in favor of reducing hard-to-predict Vp illnesses, even as they acknowledge the move requires new duties, new documentation and extra staff.
“It’s quite a shift in the way we do business as it relates to oysters for raw consumption,” said Bill Dewey, a spokesman for Shelton-based Taylor Shellfish Farms, the largest producer of farmed shellfish in the U.S. “We’re working through the nuts and bolts of how we do it.”
Those nuts and bolts apply to shellfish harvesters and dealers who supply fresh oysters to market to be eaten raw, not oysters designated for shucking or post-harvest processing.
There’s lots more at http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/tighter-rules-aim-to-limit-seafood-poisoning-from-raw-oysters/
Restaurant inspection and disclosure LA style
A few weeks ago, NBC Los Angeles released an interactive map with confirmed food poisoning cases in L.A. county over the last 18 months. The map was published as a public service, so consumers know which restaurants to possibly avoid. But does this information really help consumers avoid food poisoning?
“I don’t think it’s very useful as a tool of where you’re going to have foodborne illness,” said Angelo Bellamo, the Director of Environmental Health for L.A. County.
“We’re only able to associate 25 cases each year [in L.A.] where we’ve had an outbreak that is more than a couple of people, and we’re able to verify the restaurant,” Bellamo said. “This is a big problem. It’s really under-reported, and our methods for actually determining whether or not restaurants are causing foodborne illnesses aren’t perfected yet. They’re nowhere near being perfected.”
The issue of concern is the collection of data. Right now, tips of potential contamination are collected through complaints people send to the office. Unfortunately, the information is few and far between. (Seriously, when was the last time you even considered calling the department after a particularly queasy meal?) So, rather than waiting for tips to hit their desks, officials are looking for ways to obtain it themselves.
“The use of social media is vital,” Bellamo said. He mentions a recent investigation where an investigator logged onto Yelp and found a number of complaints directed at a facility. The investigator contacted the reviewers and built the case from there. This is one way of using social media to further investigations, but also a strategy that’s far from perfected. “A lot of information in social media is not very useful, some is not credible, but there are nuggets in there,” Bellamo said. “If we found a way to selectively screen certain words or certain locations, there could be some real value there.” (Other cities have already begun using Twitter to identify outbreaks, which Bellamo believes will soon be part of L.A.’s efforts as well.)
One thing consumers shouldn’t do is simply trust the grade letter on the front window.
“It represents a snapshot in time,” Bellamo said. “That letter grade reflects the last inspection, which took place over the course of a couple of hours. You can’t look at just the letter grade.” Bellamo wants to change the current system, so that instead of simply showing how the last inspection went, to make it include an average of the last six inspections. “Good and bad days can happen to the best and poorest of restaurants,” he said. “An average score would be a lot more indicative of how that restaurant actually operates.”
Maybe look at the menu? 34 sick with Salmonella at UK pub
A Teesside pub has carried out a deep clean of key public area after ten diners tested positive for salmonella.
Stockton Council’s environmental health team and Public Health England (PHE) launched an investigation after customers of the Anson Farm, on Teesside Industrial Estate in Thornaby, reported suspected food poisoning earlier this week.
Richard Lewis, for Farmhouse Inns which runs the pub as part of the Greene King chain, said: “We are extremely sorry to hear that people are unwell. We have been working closely with the environmental health department to establish if there is a link to our pub.”
He said the five-star rating remained in place. “We have carried out a deep and thorough clean of all hard hand contact areas in the public areas, in addition to our normal cleaning regime, and we have reminded our team of the important role they play in guaranteeing our customers enjoy the highest standards every time they visit us.”
Yesterday PHE, formerly the Health Protection Agency, said a total of 34 people had reported suffering severe sickness and diarrhea after eating in the pub restaurant. The North-east centre of PHE has confirmed 10 of those people have tested positive for salmonella, with more results expected over the next few days.
Dr Deb Wilson, consultant in health protection at the PHE North East Centre, said the pub was co-operating fully with the ongoing investigation, and is “implementing a range of control measures requested by environmental health officers.”
Salmonella in tumeric in Ireland
The FSAI has issued a warning that a spice sold in Ireland could be carrying traces of Salmonella.
The spice is a ground tumeric root that comes in 50g batches.
It is mostly sold in Eastern European food outlets under the name ‘Kurkumawurzel’ and is being recalled by food producer Monolith Mitte Gmbh.
The product originates in Germany and the batches carrying the Salmonella infantis are not safe to eat.
Businesses that sold this particular spice are required to put up ‘point of sale’ notices alerting people to the batch.
The batches that are being recalled have best before dates of 31/12/2016; 28/02/2017 and 31/03/2017.
40 sick in Sweden from Cryptosporidium at kosläpp (letting the cows out)
Apparently it’s a thing in Sweden to go and watch the cows being let out; so is Cryptosporidium.
Some 40 people have fallen ill after being infected by Cryptosporidium, reports Skovde News.
It is associated with kosläpp, a Hjo and one in Skövde, two outbreaks occurred in May.
Infectious disease doctors in the area now warning parents to let young children petting calves at kosläpp and immediately afterwards eat food or refreshments, writes Skovde News. Then they risk getting upset stomach with abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Marijuana-infused salmon in Denver deli? Inspector calls foul
On April 20, Rosenberg’s Bagels and Delicatessen in Denver made a marijuana-infused salmon for a private 4/20 party. Once the Denver Department of Environmental Health saw the video, a food inspector visited the restaurant at 27th Avenue and Welton Street in Five Points.
“A regulated food establishment is not allowed to prepare marijuana foods in their kitchen,” said Danica Lee, food safety section manager for the Denver Department of Health. “We did issue a cease-and-desist order to make the facility understand that they cannot do that any longer.”
The YouTube video shows where science meets cooking, as a salmon is infused with marijuana, then put in the kitchen’s smoker.
“We certainly did check to make sure that they had cleaned the equipment properly and taken care of the issue, and that they’re aware of what they can and can’t do moving forward,” said Lee. “It is important that even when a facility is closed and not operating that they’re not doing anything in that kitchen that’s in violation of the food code.”
“We took our deep clean, which uses both bleach and heavy duty oven cleaner, and scrubbed every aspect of the oven, as well as did a high-temperature burn,” said Rosenberg’s owner Joshua Pollack.
Pollack spoke with 7NEWS shortly after a food inspector came by to make sure there was no more pot baking going on.
“The store was completely shut down because we’re closed on Mondays. None of it was sold. I was all for private consumption. Everyone was 21 years or older,” said Pollack. “Nothing here is infused. We don’t sell any infused products.”
Whole genome sequencing to detect foodborne illness in Denmark
The National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, is promoting the creation of global databases for WGS results to facilitate intelligent use of this data.
Debate in the media around foodborne outbreaks often deteriorates to simplified descriptions of unsafe foods and nobody taking action. But that is not the case. In a 2014 Salmonella enteritidis outbreak fx that affected several European countries the source was identified through the use of whole genome sequencing, WGS, in which an organism’s entire DNA-profile is mapped out. This is just one example of the work to track down and prevent people from eating unsafe food.
In August 2014 a listeria outbreak hit headlines in Denmark. The outbreak had broken out in November 2013 and went on for months making at least 38 people sick and claiming 16 lives. The fact that this event was recognized as an outbreak stems partly from the fact that Danish labs used WGS technology to compare the listeria isolates from humans with bacterial strains isolated from food, thereby enabling linking the outbreak to a food source.
The use of WGS technology is making it possible for scientists to more quickly link many more cases of foodborne disease to an outbreak. The National Food Institute is working to make WGS data widely available through the creation of global databases for WGS results.
The use of WGS in solving foodborne outbreaks is described in greater detail in two articles in Pan European Networks Science & Technology: Foodborne outbreaks, not the whole story and Microbiology 2.0. The article is written by Jørgen Schlundt, former director of the National Food Institute, now professor at DTU Management Engineering.
The National Food Institute is part of the Global Microbial Identifier network, which works to create a global system of DNA genome databases that can be used for microbial and infectious disease identification and diagnostics. The databases will enable the identification of relevant genes and the comparison of genomes to outbreaks and emerging pathogens.
‘We come from a place of education’ Jersey restaurant inspection
For consumers who really want to get the dirt before they dine, a growing number of New Jersey counties now post restaurant inspection grades online, while some post the entire reports.
In New Jersey, county or municipal health departments are required to conduct annual inspections at all establishments serving food. That includes convenience stores, bars and full-scale restaurants. School cafeterias are inspected twice a year.
These surprise inspections cover all aspects of eatery operations, from cleanliness to proper storage of foods.
Businesses can earn one of three grades in these inspections:
S – Satisfactory: The establishment is found to be operating in substantial compliance.
C – Conditionally Satisfactory: The establishment was in violation of one or more of the New Jersey State Sanitary Codes, Chapter 24 (which deals with retail food establishments and vending machines) and a re-inspection is warranted.
U – Unsatisfactory: Unsanitary or unsafe conditions result in a temporary closure of the establishment.
Camden County Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez, liaison to the county health department. Said she’s seen a definite improvement in her county’s food inspection results since the electronic system was put in place. Businesses realize their customers are paying attention.
“One of the things we’ve seen is there is a bit of an incentive for a restaurant to be self-correcting,” Rodriguez noted. “Because it goes on the web, everyone can see what the findings are. It encourages them to do the right thing. We want to see restaurant’s that are clean and functioning.”
Wendy Carey, chief registered environmental health specialist for the Gloucester County Department of Health, Senior & Disability Services, said, “We come from a place of education.” Inspectors meet with managers and establish a dialogue.
Roy writes Michael: something about food safety
On May 20, 2015, Michael Taylor (right, exactly as shown) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted in a FDA blog that, “we’ve got to build prevention into the food safety system globally.”
Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, also wrote the Food Safety Modernization Act is about providing assurances that the food system is doing everything it can to prevent problems and to provide food in grocery stores and restaurants that is as safe as it possibly can be.
Friend of the barfblog.com, Roy Costa responded by writing:
I appreciate Michael Taylor’s comments and also believe that FSMA is a step in the right direction. The fact, however, is that companies around the globe have already adopted food safety systems. This article makes it sound like preventative controls are something new and that such programs will be brought about by new federal law. The fact is in most major operations the preventative controls are in place right now. There are firms that have not adopted such in their operations, and FSMA may help to address this, but by and large, the large foodborne illness outbreaks we have seen are not the result not having a prevention program, but the failure of the program to prevent the hazard from occurring.
Breaking a law, however, comes with a high cost for non-compliance, and that hammer is needed for some. But for most operators, this is not the answer to the microbial contamination control problem in their facilities. Our overarching goal in industry should be to be in compliance with FDA’s new laws, however, we need effective food safety management systems and we do not always have them. This is illustrated by the findings of serious sanitation issues, after the fact, in the investigation of the Blue Bell ice cream plant outbreak and many others.
As a regulator, consultant, auditor and investigator for almost 40 years, I am painfully aware of the difficulties in the implementation of complicated quality assurance and safety programs. In light of this, I feel simply more or different “preventative controls” are not likely to improve the situation much, by themselves.
Still, we look to FDA to help us, and I am still wondering if we will get what we need from the agency. We need consistent application and enforcement of the rules, and FDA has to get agents into the field, but most importantly, firms must organize their companies around food safety. This means establishing active and effective committees, appointing dedicated food safety staff, and a planned approach to assuring the safety of products. Companies must also effectively train and educate everyone in the organization, and maybe most importantly, apply the available science and technology to the food safety problem.
A lack of commitment within companies is a root cause of much of the failures of the existing programs, along with a lack of resources. We waste tons of money on audits, manuals, record keeping etc, etc, when we should be investing in educating our employees, improving our infrastructures and applying technology. These applications should include onsite laboratory capability, remote monitoring of critical processes, and sophisticated traceability and recall programs.
I totally support what FDA is doing with FSMA, but we should recognize that a new system of preventative controls is only a solution if our food safety management systems are working effectively.