Yearly Archives: 2015

Stay away from chicken blood tofu: Thai doctors

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Thai social networks have been buzzing with warnings against eating steamed chicken with rice (khao man gai) served with chicken blood tofu, which is said to contain the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus. 

chicken.blood.tofu
fAccording to Dr. Surasing Wisarutratana of Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office, last year around 100 people in Chiang Mai suffered from food poisoning caused by steamed chicken with rice, but officials examined and supposedly dealt with these problems already.

Khao man gai is like fast food, said Dr. Surasing. If it is not cooked properly, it can contain a variety of different types of bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Khao man gai should be served fresh and hot. If it is left out for over four hours after cooking, it can cause food poisoning.

Dr. Surasing advises consumers to take caution when selecting restaurants, and to avoid food that has been sitting out for extended periods of time. Chicken blood tofu should be boiled in hot water (75 degrees Celsius and up) for at least 15 minutes prior to consumption, he added.

Meanwhile, according to Dr. Sopon Mekthon of the Department of Disease Control, Vibrio parahaemolyticus has been found in chicken blood tofu only. People may still eat chicken but should avoid blood tofu, which is not sterilised. Dr. Sopon also suggested that cooks take heed to separate knives and chopping blocks for chicken blood tofu from other equipment to prevent food poisoning.

Humans as source of Campylobacter in Scotland’s seals

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In one of the first studies to establish the land-to-sea transmission of a human pathogen, scientists have detected high levels of a human bacterial strain in gray seals. The study also suggests these bacteria may make some seals sick.

sealTerrestrial pathogens have made their way into marine waters before. Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in cat feces, for example, can infect sea otters when kitty litter gets washed out to sea. Few studies have found a similar route of transmission for human diseases to marine animals, however. Now, by employing genome sequencing and statistical models used to track the source of pathogens, researchers have found the strongest evidence to date that bacteria detected in a population of gray seals originated from a human source.

In the new study, a team led by Johanna Baily, a veterinary pathologist with the Moredun Research Institute in Penicuik, U.K., set out to collect baseline health data on gray seals breeding on Scotland’s Isle of May—an uninhabited island and nature reserve that sits just 8 kilometers off the mainland. During the fall of 2011, the team collected microbiological samples from nearly 100 live and 50 dead seal pups on the island. The researchers screened the samples for several pathogens including Campylobacter—a bacterium commonly found in wildlife and domestic livestock that triggers foodborne illness in humans.

Campylobacter was detected in nearly 50% of the seals tested. Dead seals harboring Campylobacter had signs of intestinal inflammation, suggesting that the pathogen could affect the animals’ health.

article-0-03366E500000044D-308_468x286Next, they compared bacterial sequences from seals to those from potential source populations including poultry, livestock, wild birds, and humans using statistical models. The pathogens infecting seals were most similar to those found in sick humans, the team reports this month in Molecular Ecology.

But, it’s not clear yet whether humans are actually responsible for spreading the bacteria to seals, says Erin Lipp, a microbial ecologist at the University of Georgia, Athens, who was not involved in the study.

The genomic sequences of the bacteria isolated from seals were also highly similar to those found in poultry. Because humans typically contract Campylobacter infections through the consumption of infected poultry, both humans and seals could be acquiring the bacteria through contact with the domestic birds. Agricultural runoff from poultry farms could serve as one potential pathway for the birds to spread the bacteria to seals, without direct contact between the two.   

Scared by the apple recall? These 5 fruits and veggies are even bigger risks

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I’m still somewhat bemused that anyone has no trouble contacting me – this time while goofing around in Hawaii – yet university admin types were baffled so much they fired me for bad attendance.

Excellence in education.

lettuce.skull.noroAmy Rushlow of Yahoo! Health reports that a bacterial outbreak in apples has killed seven people and hospitalized 31, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently confirmed that strains of listeria bacteria were discovered at the Bidart Bros. apple-packing plant in California. A majority of the cases have been linked to prepackaged caramel apples. Last week, Bidart Bros. voluntarily recalled all Granny Smith and Gala apples following the results of the tests.

Apples are the second most popular fruit in America, according the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. But apple contamination is actually rare because they have a hard surface, which prevents bacteria from entering the fruit, says Doug Powell, PhD, a former professor of food safety in the U.S. and Canada who publishes barfblog.com.

“Fresh fruits and vegetables are probably the biggest source of foodborne illness today in North America, and that’s because they’re fresh — we don’t cook them — so anything that comes into contact has the potential to contaminate,” Powell tells Yahoo Health.

Powell is especially careful with the following five fruits and vegetables, which have been linked to a significant number of foodborne illness outbreaks over the past years. (And no, apples didn’t make the list.)

1. Sprouts

This is the one food that Powell simply refuses to eat. “There are outbreaks all the time around the world.” You might recall the 2011 outbreak in Germany, which killed more than 50 people and sickened more than 4,000. In late 2014, more than 100 Americans became ill after eating sprouts tainted with E. coli.

Sprouts are particularly prone to bacteria because they germinate in a high-temperature, high-moisture environment — the same environment where germs thrive. “They’ve shown in many of these cases, it’s the seed that’s contaminated on the inside, so then when you get it germinated, you only need one cell and it’s going to grow,” he adds.

The CDC recommends that pregnant women, children, older adults, and people with weak immune systems avoid eating raw sprouts. Cooking sprouts destroys harmful bacteria.

cantaloupe.salmonella2. Cantaloupe

Unlike honeydew melons or watermelon, cantaloupes have porous rinds that allow bacteria to enter the fruit. In addition, the fields where cantaloupes are grown often flood, Powell explains, “So they’re sitting in water, and that water may have come downstream from a livestock operation.”

3. Leafy greens

Bacteria becomes trapped on the inner leaves as the head is forming, Powell explains. Plus, leafy greens are especially difficult to wash effectively. Over the past several years in the U.S., bags of romaine lettuce, prepackaged salad mix, spinach, and spring mix have all been linked to E. coli outbreaks.

4. Tomatoes

There are several ways for germs to enter the fruit of the tomato, including via groundwater or through the water tomatoes are plunged into to give them a little shine, Powell says. “The dunk tank water has to be within five degrees of the interior of the tomato or else a vacuum is formed and water rushes in, so whatever is in dunk tank water is now inside of the tomato.” An easy fix is for tomato companies to monitor the dunk tank water, but unfortunately there isn’t a simple way for consumers to know if their grower does this.

5. Garnishes, such as green onions, cilantro, and parsley

Green onions and other herbs and vegetables used as garnishes are at high risk for outbreaks because we don’t cook them, Powell explains. He recommends leaving them off the plate if they’re simply for decoration.

Don’t let all of this scare you away from eating fresh fruits and vegetables, Powell stresses. While there is no one measure that will keep you completely safe, a few small steps can add up. For one, Powell himself shops for produce at the largest store he can find. “They have the resources to demand that their supply has to go through some basic food safety standards that they’re going to apply internally,” he says. He also recommends giving fresh produce a rinse, which removes surface debris and some (but not all) bacteria.

And while Powell doesn’t suggest always cooking fruits and vegetables to kill bacteria, since there are nutritional benefits to eating them raw, it’s a step you can take if you’re especially concerned. The FDA website offers additional everyday food safety tips.

People love this stuff: Yelp partners with Socrata to access and distribute restaurant inspection data

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A new partnership between Yelp and Socrata, the Seattle-based government data technology company, promises to bring restaurant inspection information to more Yelp users around the word, by giving cities, counties and governmental agencies new ways to connect their databases to the widely used business review service.

larry.david.rest.inspecUnder the partnership, Yelp will become a member of Socrata’s Open Data Network, and government users of Socrata’s Open Data Portal will receive tools and guidance to help them connect their data to Yelp’s systems, according to a news release from the companies this morning.

“With this behind-the-scenes data integration, millions of people will be able to benefit from better health information, which will ultimately improve their lives,” said Socrata CEO Kevin Merritt in the release.

Accessing and understanding public health data about restaurants can be a major challenge for restaurant customers, as illustrated by Seattle resident Sarah Schacht’s quest to get King County to make its inspection data more accessible to the public, using placards at restaurants.

Yelp makes restaurant inspection data available in some cities, but it’s not yet a widespread practice.

“Extracting restaurant inspections data from government databases is not always easy,” explains Socrata. “Additionally, the majority of cities throughout the United States are not yet publishing their restaurant inspection information in a format that can be consumed by ‘business-to-consumer’ solutions such as Yelp. The strategic partnership between Socrata and Yelp, as well as their new solution, is a first in that it helps governments unlock this data while normalizing and presenting it to everyday consumers in a way that is easy to understand and in a context with which they are familiar.”

The partnership will use the Local Inspector Value Entry Specification (LIVES) open data standard, which helps software developers analyze restaurant inspection data. Socrata says this approach is already being applied by one of its customers, the DataSF, the data portal for the City and County of San Francisco.

I don’t eat raw oysters: Iron overload disease causes rapid growth of Vibrio

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Every summer, the news reports on a bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus found in warm saltwater that causes people to get sick, or die, after they eat raw tainted shellfish or when an open wound comes in contact with seawater.

SUN0705N-Oyster7People with a weakened immune system, chronic liver disease or iron overload disease are most at risk for severe illness. Vibrio vulnificus infections in high-risk individuals are fatal 50 percent of the time.

Now, researchers at UCLA have figured out why those with iron overload disease are so vulnerable. People with the common genetic iron overload disease called hereditary hemochromatosis have a deficiency of the iron-regulating hormone hepcidin and thus develop excess iron in their blood and tissue, providing prime growth conditions for Vibrio vulnificus.

The study also found that minihepcidin, a medicinal form of the hormone hepcidin that lowers iron levels in blood, could cure the infection by restricting bacterial growth.

The early findings were reported online Jan. 14 in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.

“This is the first time that the association of hepcidin deficiency and susceptibility to Vibrio vulnificus infection was tested,” said senior author Dr. Yonca Bulut, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA and a researcher with the UCLA Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute. “The dramatic effectiveness of the new treatment, even after the infection was established, was impressive.”

To conduct the study, researchers compared the fatality of Vibrio vulnificus infection in healthy mice with mice that lacked hepcidin, modeling human hereditary hemochromatosis. The results showed that the infection was much more lethal in hepcidin-deficient mice because they could not decrease iron levels in the blood in response to infection, a process mediated by hepcidin in healthy mice.

Giving minihepcidin to susceptible hepcidin-deficient mice to lower the amount of iron in the blood prevented infection if the hormone was given before the Vibrio vulnificus was introduced. Additionally, mice given minihepcidin three hours after the bacterium was introduced were cured of any infection.

Raw oystersHereditary hemochromatosis is a genetic disease that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. It affects as many as 1 in every 200 people in the United States. Since it can take decades for the body to store damaging levels of iron, many people may not be aware that they have the disease until signs of the condition begin to appear later in life.

The co-directors of the UCLA Center for Iron Disorders, Dr. Tomas Ganz, a professor of medicine and pathology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Elizabeta Nemeth, a professor of medicine at UCLA, led the invention of minihepcidins at UCLA. Minihepcidins are being developed for treatment of iron-overload disorders, such as hereditary hemochromatosis and Cooley’s anemia. The use of minihepcidin to treat potentially lethal infections is a possible new application.

“We found that hepcidin is required for resistance to a Vibrio vulnificus infection,” said the study’s lead author Joao Arezes, a visiting graduate student from the University of Porto in Portugal. “The development of the treatment tested in mouse models could reduce the high mortality rate of this disease.”

The next stage of research is to understand why Vibrio vulnificus bacteria become so lethal when iron levels are high, and to learn which other microbes respond similarly to excess iron.

Journal reference: Cell Host and Microbe

Provided by University of California, Los Angeles

‘Blood in the chicken cats around food’ Not a country song but Turkish resort where 595 fell ill in 2009

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A family holiday to celebrate a honeymoon and a 40th birthday was ruined after a father-of-three was hospitalised with severe gastric illness.

cat.in.foodThe Swannell family, from West Yorkshire, had booked a week’s stay at the First Choice Holiday Village resort in Sarigerme, Turkey, when Mark Swannell, 46, fell seriously ill a few days into the break with diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and lethargy.

Mr Swannell, a bus driver from Dewsbury, said: ‘I was in a really bad way and Nicola had no option but to get the hotel doctor to come to our room as I felt like I was going to collapse. 

‘I was taken by wheelchair to the surgery, laid out on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to hospital – I couldn’t believe this was happening on our special family holiday.”

Back in 2009, an outbreak of gastric illness at the same resort led to £1.7m paid out in compensation, with 595 people affected by illness. 

Mr Swannell said that some of the food he was served at the hotel had been undercooked. On one occasion, he claims that he cut in to some chicken and noticed blood in the middle. Some food was also said not have to have been served at the correct temperature.

The family also claim that food was left uncovered for prolonged periods of time and appeared as though it had been served more than once. 

They said that cutlery, crockery and table linen used in the restaurant was not up to standard, while they saw cats in the public areas of the hotel and in the restaurant.

Mr Swannell had travelled to the Turkish resort on October 23, 2014 with his wife Nicola and their children Lewis, 13, Kyle, 13 and Keira, seven.

In the 2009 outbreak, over 400 holidaymakers within the group action suffered gastric illness with over 100 men, women and children suffering from infections including Salmonella, Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter and E-Coli. 

A spokesperson for TUI, who manage the First Choice and Thomson brands, told MailOnline Travel: ‘We are sorry to hear of the Swannell’s experience at the Holiday Village Turkey in October.

‘First Choice closely audits all resorts to which we operate to ensure that health, hygiene and comfort levels are maintained in line with industry standards.

‘As this case is now subject to legal proceedings it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.’

Preventative pasteurization for Hazelnut Growers of Oregon

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Hazelnut Growers of Oregon is starting up its large Napasol Pasteurization line this week, effectively bringing in house a state-of-the-art process to eliminate any potential foodborne pathogens. The performance of the Napasol process is validated for a 5-log kill on Salmonella and other pathogens on hazelnuts and other nuts and seeds.

hgobannerOregon is the largest producer of Hazelnuts in the U.S. In business since 1984, the 150 growers that are members of the Hazelnut Growers of Oregon cooperative cultivate 10,000 acres of prime hazelnut orchards in the Willamette Valley. The region’s gentle climate and abundant rainfall grows trees that produce large nuts of exquisite flavor and freshness. Westnut, their industrial ingredients division, is the largest processor and marketer of hazelnuts in North America. Hazelnuts are processed in the Cornelius facility which handles 25 million lbs. of in-shell hazelnuts and 5 million lbs. of hazelnut kernels.

Pathogens such as Salmonella have been involved in foodborne illnesses and product recalls in several kinds of nuts including Hazelnuts. Jeff Fox, President of Hazelnut Growers of Oregon, points out that “the number of samples from the field that test positive warrants this investment to protect the interest of their growers and the commercial development of the cooperative” adding that “whole industry sectors are taking proactive measures to protect their markets, for example mandatory pasteurization of almonds has been in place since 2007.”

Napasol offers an ideal solution, because nuts are treated at relatively low temperatures and the saturated steam is dry, the process preserves the sensory attributes of the raw nuts while delivering the most effective microbial reduction on the market. The process is validated for the pasteurization of a wide range of nuts including hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, macadamias, and Brazil nuts.

“There is a clear trend in the industry for a demand for pasteurization of nuts, for example for pistachios and walnuts, two other large US crops involved in recalls” says Dieter Kundig CEO of Napasol. He adds “This investment gives a unique advantage to Hazelnut Growers of Oregon and also anticipates regulatory measures that will affect the entire nut industry with the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act and with the outcome of FDA’s ongoing tree nut risk assessment.”

E. coli in Igloolik not tied to drinking water: hamlet official

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Hamlet officials in Igloolik, Nunavut, are still unclear as to the source of an E. coli outbreak that caused a number of residents to come down with severe diarrhea and vomiting.

igloolikhockey_screenHowever, it did not originate in the hamlet’s drinking water.

“From the testing which was done by our hamlet staff, it was confirmed it’s not coming from the drinking water,” said Celestino Uyarak, Igloolik’s assistant senior administrative officer.

One Igloolik resident is in Ottawa being treated for the illness, while several others have gone to the local health centre.

Nunavut’s health department has been investigating the source of the bacteria since mid-December. Over the holiday, health officials were on hand to observe how community feasts are conducted.

Uyarak said it is unclear when the source will be determined, but added that no new cases have been reported following the initial outbreak.

Portable poopers to manage San Fran shit

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Ariel Schwartz of Co.Exist writes that San Francisco has a poop problem. The city suffers from an excess of excrement on public streets and even in the innards of subway escalators, where it renders them unusable. Part of the issue is that the city has never effectively dealt with its homeless population (there up to 10,000 homeless in the city), and a failure to provide public bathrooms that aren’t eventually shut down because people use them to do drugs.

Tenderloin Pit Stop,Now that’s changing.

This past summer, San Francisco announced the launch of Tenderloin Pit Stop, a series of mobile bathrooms that each comes with a sink, two toilets, a dog waste station, and a needle disposal bin. An attendant stands outside of each bathroom during the day, and bathroomgoers get five minutes to do their business before the attendants come calling. Every evening, the toilets are taken away by the Department of Public Works (DPW) and cleaned.

Each bathroom is placed strategically based on the DPW’s reports of human feces on the street. Those reports tend to be clustered in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, as you can see on this map, called (Human) Wasteland. Created by a web developer named Jennifer Wong, the map uses complaints about feces and urine phoned into DPW in 2013 (over 5,000 in total) to figure out where the poop problem is worst.

Campylobacter: UK pensioner died from undercooked chicken kiev

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Microwaves are great for reheating but lousy for cooking because the heat is erratically dispersed throughout an uncooked, frozen meal like a chicken kiev. That’s why U.S. producers are required to include labels that clearly distinguish between raw frozen chicken thingies, and cooked frozen chicken thingies, and say check in multiple spots with a meat thermometer to ensure a safe temperature has been reached: the Brits probably say cook it until the juices run clear and it’s piping hot, which is nothing more than faith-based cooking.

chicken.kievUK pensioner Dorothy Flannagan died after contracting food poisoning from an undercooked chicken kiev.

The 86-year-old, who lived with her daughter Karen Kelly, had cooked the meal while Ms Kelly was on holiday in Egypt in July last year.

But the grandmother started to suffer from sickness and diarrhoea the following day.

Doctors believed Mrs Flannagan’s organs started to fail after she contracted campylobacter – the most common cause of food poisoning.

And the retired club secretary of Ryland Close, Lightwood, sadly died at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire on July 30.

During Mrs Flannagan’s inquest yesterday, her daughter, Beverley Turner, told the coroner’s court that she had a delivery of food from Tesco which included two packets of pre-packed chicken kiev.

Mrs Turner, of Caverswall, said: “She had lived with my sister for 18 years. She was self-caring. She didn’t need caring for but she had people staying with her while Karen was away.

“Nobody was with mum when she cooked her tea that night. She had previously cooked one in the microwave but I don’t know how she cooked it that night. She had already had the chicken kiev when we got there that night.”

A post mortem revealed Mrs Flannagan’s cause of death was acute kidney injury following campylobacter infection.

Self-reported and observed behavior of primary meal preparers and adolescents during preparation of frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products

01.nov.09

British Food Journal, Vol 111, Issue 9, p 915-929

Sarah DeDonder, Casey J. Jacob, Brae V. Surgeoner, Benjamin Chapman, Randall Phebus, Douglas A. Powell

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=6146E6AFABCC349C376B7E55A3866D4A?contentType=Article&contentId=1811820

Abstract:

Purpose – The purpose of the present study was to observe the preparation practices of both adult and young consumers using frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products, which were previously involved in outbreaks linked to consumer mishandling. The study also sought to observe behaviors of adolescents as home food preparers. Finally, the study aimed to compare food handler behaviors with those prescribed on product labels.

chicken.thingies.rawDesign/methodology/approach – The study sought, through video observation and self-report surveys, to determine if differences exist between consumers’ intent and actual behavior.

Findings – A survey study of consumer reactions to safe food-handling labels on raw meat and poultry products suggested that instructions for safe handling found on labels had only limited influence on consumer practices. The labels studied by these researchers were found on the packaging of chicken products examined in the current study alongside step-by-step cooking instructions. Observational techniques, as mentioned above, provide a different perception of consumer behaviors.

Originality/value – This paper finds areas that have not been studied in previous observational research and is an excellent addition to existing literature.