Yearly Archives: 2015

Does that work? More training planned at Chicago grocery after failed health inspections

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Employees of a Park Ridge grocery store will undergo additional training in public health and food safety after the store failed two consecutive inspections last year.

mariano'sMariano’s, which opened in February of last year in the former Dominick’s at 1900 S. Cumberland Ave., was hit with a $100 fine from the Park Ridge Department of Environment Health after the store received a 52 percent score during a routine December inspection. In July, the market’s score was 50 percent.

According to sanitation inspection reports compiled by the city’s environmental health officers, violations involving improper food temperature and inadequate refrigeration largely accounted for the deductions the store received and the ultimate failing grades.

Examples cited in the Dec. 12 inspection report included a pre-made sandwich refrigerator reportedly operating at 62 degrees, well above the 41-degree maximum; a cheese case recording temperatures of 50 degrees for more than one hour; and sliced tomatoes on a prep table measuring 70 degrees.

The food was ordered thrown away, the report stated.

According to the report, a number of hot foods on the store’s buffet bar were not as hot as they should have been because too many items had been piled in the heated containers, cooling off the food on top.

“If you over-stack hot food, it won’t keep at 135 degrees minimum temperature required,” the inspector’s report stated. “I found sausage and chicken below 135 degrees because it was overstocked. The chicken was at 98 degrees, sausage at 106.”

On Jan. 7 of this year, Park Ridge’s health inspectors met with representatives from Mariano’s and Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. to “clarify the importance of employee training,” said Laura Dee, environmental health officer for the city.

Dee said that while Mariano’s was striving for “high level” customer service and food presentation, employees did not appear to be receiving the right training regarding food temperature and basic hand-washing procedures.

“Employees have to be trained to take their job seriously,” she said. “If it’s 80 percent customer service and only 20 percent food service sanitation, then it has to be balanced.”

Chef teaches inmates (Blues Brothers?) at Cook County Jail how to cook, how to live

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When it comes to getting a fresh start in life, a jail is probably just about the last place that comes to mind — particularly one as large and with as storied a past as Illinois’ Cook County Jail.

n-BRUNO-large570But a new beginning is exactly what’s being served up these days in Division 11. Bruno Abate, chef and owner of Tocco, a popular Italian restaurant in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, has been teaching a cooking class to inmates.

The class, which began last spring, isn’t just about cooking up a perfectly crispy pizza or a zesty marinara. Rather, Abate says the program aims to educate its participants in professionalism and responsibility, and to give them hope for their life beyond the cell — hope that they can secure employment, many of them through Abate’s restaurant, and avoid returning to jail.

“I’m trying to teach them the simple life, that you always have the chance to start again,” the Naples, Italy native told The Huffington Post. “You made a mistake, but this country is a good country to start again as long as you’re strong and you fight for the freedom to make a change in your life.”

Abate, who has lived in Chicago since 1998 and opened Tocco in 2009, starts the program with lessons in food safety and sanitation before moving onto classes centered on nutrition, fresh pasta, pizza, cooking with fresh herbs, baking bread and more. When it comes to utensils that could be used as weapons, namely knives, the implements are tethered to the table when in use and stored in lockboxes when they aren’t.

When I was in jail, it was spoons for every meal. I taught school, and afterwards for awhile, but this program sounds awesome. And I had a lotta love.

Today in 1979, the Blues Brothers hit #1 with Briefcase Full of Blues (yes the clip is from the movie, not the album, which I owned, on vinyl).

Disclosure in lieu of handwashing

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Politicians, like the NFL and the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills provide some entertainment sometimes. Today’s installment comes from NC Senator Thom Tillis who, in the name of over regulation, suggests that restaurants should be able to opt out of sanitation laws like handwashing. The action that, when done poorly the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “accounts for 89% of the outbreaks in which food was contaminated by food workers”.
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Tillis says,

“I was having a discussion with someone, and we were at a Starbucks in my district, and we were talking about certain regulations where I felt like ‘maybe you should allow businesses to opt out,’” he said, “as long as they indicate through proper disclosure, through advertising, through employment literature, or whatever else.”

Or maybe a label (above, exactly as shown).

He goes on to say:

“I Don’t have any problem with Starbucks opting out as long as they post a sign that says ‘We don’t require our employees to wash their hands’ and post it. The market will take care of it.”

After a bunch of people get sick.

“It’s one example, let them decide, and they will probably go out of business… but that’s the sort of mentality we need to have.”

States set restaurant food safety laws, based on the federal FDA food code, and most jurisdictions have a process for variances to that code; there’s already a way for businesses to opt out if they feel overburdened by the law as long as the outcome is the same. And addressing the hazard with some sort of public disclosure needs to be shown with some data.

I’d like to see the data that shows public disclosure of opting out of handwashing has the same net public health effect of requiring the behavior and inspecting for it.

Republican senator says restaurants should be able to opt-out of mandatory handwashing

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As Republican presidential hopefuls like Rand Paul and Chris Christie fall over themselves to claim the live-free-or-die vote by saying vaccinations should be optional, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has gone further: laws requiring mandatory handwashing by food service employees are just regulatory burden.

handwashing.sep.12According to Daily Kos, Tillis made the declaration at the Bipartisan Policy Center, at the end of a question and answer with the audience. He was relaying a 2010 anecdote about his “bias when it comes to regulatory reform.”

“I was having a discussion with someone, and we were at a Starbucks in my district, and we were talking about certain regulations where I felt like ‘maybe you should allow businesses to opt out,’” he said, “as long as they indicate through proper disclosure, through advertising, through employment literature, or whatever else.”

Restaurants can just opt-out and let the free market take care of business after word spreads of unsanitary conditions.

“That’s the sort of mentality that we need to have to reduce the regulatory burden on this country,” he added. “We’re one of the most regulated nations in the history of the planet.”

Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet joked that he was “not sure” he would shake Sen. Tillis’ hand when the discussion was over, causing the lawmaker and members of the audience to laugh.

Yawn: FDA’s FY 2016 budget request includes single agency; will fewer people get sick?

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U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed bringing together the country’s food safety operations into one agency to better monitor food quality in a move that would reshape the Food and Drug Administration.

one.stop.shopThe proposal was put forward as part of the President’s 2016 budget plan. The new agency would combine the food safety responsibilities of the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies.

“A single Federal food safety agency would provide focused, centralized leadership, a primary voice on food safety standards and compliance with those standards, and clear lines of responsibility and accountability that will enhance both prevention of and responses to outbreaks of food-borne illnesses,” the budget proposal noted.

The President’s proposal reflects provisions in draft bill introduced last month by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois and Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut. The bill, introduced as the Safe Food Act of 2015, is designed to improve safety at a time more and more food is being sourced from overseas.

Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine at the FDA, declined to say whether such a move would be supported by FDA officials.

“It depends on how it’s done,” he said.

While recognizing that food safety is fragmented, he said, the FDA will focus on implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act “while Congress considers what the President has proposed.”

one.stop.2The President’s proposal calls for a single agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency would be independent from the FDA and would be responsible for food safety inspections, enforcement, applied research and responses to food-poisoning outbreaks.

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs writes in these edited comments that:

FDA oversees products that represent more than 20 cents of every dollar that American consumers spend.

In FY 2014, we took important steps to finalize a key set of proposed food safety rules … In FY 2016, we are requesting essential and timely resources to address critical food and medical product safety issues

FDA is requesting a total of $4.9 billion to support our various mandates to protect the American people.  This includes a $148 million budget authority increase to focus on the following:

delivering a farm-to-table system of prevention, including improved oversight of imported foods, through effectively implementing the final rules required by FSMA;

combating the growing threat of antibiotic resistance – in which drugs become less effective, or ineffective, against harmful bacteria.

 

Poop-in-water made me sick says CSIRO employee; nope says Tribunal

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A CSIRO spin doctor who says she contracted a virus after drinking water contaminated with feces at a conference has lost her bid for compensation.

water.jug.feb.15The Administrative Appeals Tribunal found federal workplace insurer Comcare had no liability for her ill-health as it could not be certain the type of virus, where it had been contracted, or if it could cause chronic fatigue syndrome.

Sasha Hardcastle reported flu-like symptoms on the third day of the 2012 conference and was rushed to hospital a week later with chest pain.

Mrs Hardcastle saw a number of doctors when her health did not improve over the following months, and was diagnosed with post viral fatigue and CFS.

She claimed that she had contracted Coxsackie B virus at the conference after she drank water contaminated with feces due to the jug being filled from the hand basin in the ladies’ toilets.

The communications manager took her case to the tribunal after Comcare rejected her compensation claim.

There is no dispute Ms Hardcastle suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome.

simpsons.aust.toiletsBut Comcare did not accept that the illness had been caused by her employment or that she contracted Coxsackie B virus at the conference.

Medical experts agreed that the chances of catching Coxsackie B virus from a jug filled from the tap in a hand basin located in a toilet facility were so low that they would both be comfortable drinking the water.

Mancini: Food safety at home

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Rob Mancini writes:

There’s a lot of talk about food safety in the home.

mancini.kitchen.2Because the majority of meals consumed are at home.

In 2005 I hosted Kitchen Crimes, a television-based series that promoted food safety at home, from dirty sponges to mice poop on countertops, we’ve seen it all. I always inform the public to use a diluted concentration of bleach to water in efforts to wash produce, countertops, and so on without validating the procedure.

From my experience, 100ppm of a diluted bleach solution means absolutely nothing to the home chef and more often than none, an excessive amount of bleach is used.

There are three important factors to consider when looking at food safety at home: hand washing; the use of a digital tip-sensitive thermometer and understanding proper internal temperatures; and, avoid cross-contamination. 

Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas linked to norovirus outbreak, again

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In March and April 2014 over 100 cruisers were ill on two consecutive voyages of Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, and according to wbaltv, the ship is the source of another outbreak. Almost 200 guests of the 2,300 on board during a were sick with gastrointestinal illness last week.

Royal Caribbean spokesperson Cynthia Martinez said that during the voyage, a number of guests aboard the Grandeur of the Seas experienced gastrointestinal illness.Royal-Caribbean--Grandeur-of-the-Seas-cruise-ship-jpg

Over the course of the sailing, 193 guests, 9.91 percent, and nine crew members, 1.15 percent, experienced the illness, thought to be norovirus, Martinez said.

“Those affected by the short-lived illness are responding well to over-the-counter medication administered on board the ship,” Martinez said.

The biggest complaint 11 News heard from passengers was the lack of information from Royal Caribbean.

“It was the honeymoon from hell. It was sad,” passenger April Neall said. “It kind of seemed like they weren’t being very honest with us about the whole situation.

We heard that here were three people sick. Then another person said it was over 100, so, I mean, we never got a clear answer from any of the crew members,” passenger Nick Canning said.

 

Another Virginia college with a norovirus outbreak

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Farmville, VA has a norovirus problem. After Hampden-Sydney college closed Sunday for an outbreak-inspired deep clean, four students from neighboring Longwood University have also come down with noro, according to CBS6.

Longwood University reported that over the weekend, there were four cases of students with gastrointestinal issues.

In each case, cleaning crews disinfected the reported area with bleach. The university is continuing to monitor the situation and cleaning crews are standing by.

Risk management decision: Norovirus outbreak closes Hampden-Sydney College

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Norovirus kind of sucks, unless you are a virologist. The perfect human pathogen (a term coined by my NoroCORE colleague and all-around good guy, Aron Hall) is shed at a crazy high rate of virus particles per gram of vomit or feces and sticks around in the environment for a long time. So outbreaks tend to persist.10849902_719581291471357_3442145704847569295_n1-300x300

Risk managers are faced with a  tough decision – shut down a place (school, amusement park, hotel, restaurant) for a deep clean/sanitize (with high concentrations of chlorine) or risk the chance that an outbreak stretches out over weeks. According to NBC 12, a Virginia college chose the former and will be closed until Wednesday as sanitation staff do their thing, while ill students stay isolated (and out of the classroom).

Hampden-Sydney College announced Sunday that it will remain closed through Wednesday, Feb. 4.

An update on the college’s website reads, “The Virginia Department of Health has determined that the illness on campus is norovirus. Norovirus spreads quickly person to person and causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and a low grade fever. The virus is contracted by contact with infected persons or contaminated surfaces and items. The virus can remain vital for as long as two weeks.

Classes are suspended until Wednesday, February 4.

Athletic practices and competitions, extracurricular activities, and fraternity social events are suspended until Wednesday, February 4.

Administrative departments will resume normal hours on Tuesday, February 3.

It may have taken three days, but sophomore Tre Briggs just got over the norovirus. He is one of more than 300 students who fell ill after the outbreak on campus last week. “I just knew something was wrong and then that night I went to sleep and I was just vomiting all night,” Briggs said.

Managing behavior through messaging doesn’t always work, as we saw 7 years ago at Guelph:

University students’ hand hygiene practice during a gastrointestinal outbreak in residence: What they say they do and what they actually do
01.sep.09
Journal of Environmental Health Sept. issue 72(2): 24-28
Brae V. Surgeoner, MS, Benjamin J. Chapman, PhD, and Douglas A. Powell, PhD

Abstract
Published research on outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness has focused primarily on the results of epidemiological and clinical data collected postoutbreak; little research has been done on actual preventative practices during an outbreak. In this study, the authors observed student compliance with hand hygiene recommendations at the height of a suspected norovirus outbreak in a university residence in Ontario, Canada. Data on observed practices was compared to post-outbreak self-report surveys administered to students to examine their beliefs and perceptions about hand hygiene. Observed compliance with prescribed hand hygiene recommendations occurred 17.4% of the time. Despite knowledge of hand hygiene protocols and low compliance, 83.0% of students indicated that they practiced correct hand hygiene during the outbreak. To proactively prepare for future outbreaks, a current and thorough crisis communications and management strategy, targeted at a university student audience and supplemented with proper hand washing tools, should be enacted by residence administration.