Yearly Archives: 2015

Except for the Salmonella: Fairway ‘Like No Other Market’ recalls raw hazelnuts (Filberts)

Posted on by
Reply

Fairway “Like No Other Market” of New York, NY, is recalling Fairway brand Raw Hazelnuts (Filberts), because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Blanched-FilbertsThe Fairway brand Raw Hazelnuts (Filberts) were distributed to Fairway stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and also through home delivery programs provided by Google and Instacart.

The product is packaged in clear, plastic cello bags of varying weights, each weighing less than one pound. The product bears Item Code 228119 XXXXXX. All “SELL BY” Date codes of May 15, 2015 and earlier are being recalled.

There have been no reported illnesses to date.

The recall is the result of a routine sampling program by the FDA which revealed that the finished product contained the bacteria. The company has ceased distribution of the Fairway brand Raw Hazelnut (Filberts) and removed the product from Fairway store shelves as the FDA and the company continues their investigation as to what caused the problem.

Food purchases remain faith-based, at market or megalomart: 4 sick with scombroid from tuna in Sydney

Posted on by
Reply

As the buy-local mantra becomes indoctrinated in Australia with 18 confirmed sick with hepatitis A from frozen Chinese berries, a Sydney café has vowed to change suppliers after four were sickened with scombroid poisoning linked to tuna from Thailand.

No country is an island, even Australia.

Floating strip club in Alaska got in trouble for dumping poop in the water

Posted on by
Reply

A strip club housed in an old crab fishing boat docked off the coast of Alaska is in trouble for allegedly dumping all their waste into the ocean.

strip.club.poop.alaska.fb.15The owners of The Wild Alaskan, Darren Byler and Kimberly Riedel-Byler, are pleading not guilty to their charges, which include breaking the federal Refuse Act.

The two have been in trouble before for going over capacity on the ship, and they recently had their liquor license revoked.

You see a lizard, I see foodborne illness: 36 students vomit after eating dish in India

Posted on by
Reply

As many as 36 students of a government school in Ulupakkudi area complained of nausea after eating ‘paniyaram’ from a roadside eatery which had parts of lizard in it, police said.

kuzhi-paniyaram-recipe-1Paniyaram is a fried dish available both in sweet and spicy form.

The students from class 1 to 8 complained of vomiting after consuming the dish, sold by a woman outside the school.

Could that purple thing be replaced with a tip-sensitive digital thermometer?

CDC probing strain of Taiwan Norovirus

Posted on by
Reply

Whether last week’s norovirus outbreak in Taichung’s Hoya Resort Hotel Wuling (武陵富野渡假村) was caused by norovirus GII.17 — a genotype common in certain African nations — has not been determined, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

norovirusThe agency made the remarks after a norovirus outbreak at the hotel over the Lunar New Year holiday affected more than 200 guests and employees.

Norovirus infections cause rapid onset of vomiting and diarrhea. The virus is transmitted through the fecal-oral route, primarily via contaminated food or water.

CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said there are many genotypes of norovirus and that local cases last year were caused mostly by GII.4 and GII.6 strains.

“GII.17 genotype was first detected in Taiwan in October 2013, before disappearing shortly later. However, it re-emerged in the nation late last year and has since been the most predominant genotype circulating in the country,” Chuang said.

Chuang said the world’s knowledge about the GII.17 strain’s pathogenicity and level of communicability is still limited, except that it caused a cluster of infections in Africa and Brazil in 2005 and 2006 respectively, and affected a few individuals in the US and Japan in recent years.

Going public: Signs of Australian hepatitis A outbreak linked to frozen berries month before public disclosure

Posted on by
Reply

Australian health types should be further embarrassed by their lack of disclosure, public notification and political pandering after it was revealed today that the first case of hepatitis A linked to frozen berries was diagnosed on January 3 but it took more than a month to recall the berries from supermarkets.

266570-ed20eaa0-b5e3-11e4-89a7-658c9eaa89c0Senate Estimates has been told there were three cases of Hepatitis A diagnosed in Victoria between January 3 and February 6.

Experts investigated to find a common link between the affected patients and identified the common factor as Nanna’s 1kg frozen mixed berries.

This meant it was not until February 12 that Ausfoodnet Victoria informed a national network of food regulators of the three cases.

It then took another two days before food company Patties announced a voluntary recall of the berries from supermarket shelves on February 14.

It was not until February 17 the government set up a national incident room to deal with the outbreak which has now spread to 18 people.

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Baggoley said before the incident room was set up, epidemiologists and other experts in food safety were already working on containing the Hepatitis outbreak.

Uh-huh.

Thermometers, they aren’t just for omnivores

Posted on by
Reply

That’s what I told Lydia Zuraw of Food Safety News when she and I spoke last week about my favorite kitchen tool, the tip-sensitive digital thermometer (below, exactly as shown). We chatted about cold spots, microwaving and checking internal temperatures in multiple spots.

I also told her that my very first thermometer came as a gift from the infamous Pete Snyder. It was during the testing of food safety infosheets and Pete had been providing feedback on specific kinds of thermometers and why. And Pete’s suggestions came with publications and references. One day my very own Comark PDT 300 showed up unannounced in the mail.231-xx7_z_a

 

“It’s a tool just like a frying pan,” says Benjamin Chapman, associate professor of food safety at North Carolina State University. “The more you cook, the more investment you put into your tools.”

As for dial thermometers, or bi-metallic stems, they’re “not great tools,” Chapman says. “They’re fine in a jam, but they do have to be calibrated.”246609-meatthermometers-comark-pdt300digital

They also aren’t as precise – as the dial provides an average temperature between the tip and a dimple, sometimes an inch away. That makes me nervous as the surface of a thick piece of meat may be 20 or 30 degrees warmer than an inch inside.

Hockey and food safety? Sure they’re the same, keep elbows up when you go in the corners

Posted on by
1

This isn’t about food safety. It’s about coaching, mentoring, whatever words you like that are often thrown around in the food safety world but often not practiced (follow the money).

No money involved here, just me and fellow coach Kyle spending four Sundays trying to teach a bunch of surfer kids in 90 F heat how to play hockey.

And it was a family affair. Sorenne and Amy both helped out with the various tasks to get people on the ice, as did Kyle’s kids.

The regular season begins next weekend, and I’m anxious to get back on the ice as a goalie (if my body can handle it) and coaching.

But this was fun. Thanks to all who volunteered their time. And especially my family who tolerate my Canadian indulgences in Australia.

come.and.try.15

UK restaurant gets hygiene award; practices shared with other restaurants

Posted on by
Reply

Some food safety coverage is incomplete, leaving the food safety nerds wanting more. According to The Star (the U.K. version, not the one the covers the Toronto Maple Leafs) a Sheffield Cafe is doing great things, stuff that others could learn from.

Steve Edmonds, manager of Beighton Village Trust, which runs the Beighton Lifestyle Centre café, said: “The food safety officer was very complimentary and even took away some of our practices to share with other such establishments.1079199562

“Our score is testimony to the pride our colleagues take in our café.”

What are the practices that the superstar cafe employs? If anyone knows, please share.

 

 

UK hotel fined £20k for kitchen hygiene breaches

Posted on by
Reply

A landmark Swindon hotel has been ordered to pay more than £20,000 in fines and court costs after admitting a dozen breaches of hygiene regulations said to pose a significant risk to public health.

GW in Station RoadGreat Western Hotel (Swindon) Ltd, which owns The GW in Station Road, was hit with a £13,200 fine, as well as being ordered to pay £7,500 costs at Swindon Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Director Gavin McKelvie, 42, was ordered to pay £4,400 while the kitchen manager at the time, Mark Wylie, 30, was fined £2,200.

It follows an inspection by a Swindon Council environmental officer in March last year, which revealed numerous serious breaches.

Milk was found on top of raw chicken, while out of date sandwiches were found on the premises, ready for sale.

The inspector found a kitchen covered in food debris, a lack of hand soap and a failure to record temperature checks of food or equipment.

Before the inspecdtion the hotel had a three-star rating and there were no complaints by customers or reports of anyone becoming ill.

All of the defendants admitted the offences and Anna Mathias, defending all parties, said they accepted standards had been allowed to slip to an unacceptable level – but action had now been taken to rectify all the problems.