Yearly Archives: 2015

Shit happens, but hipsters will still flock to Chipotle, even if previous outbreak was secret

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Chipotle restaurants in Washington may reopen as soon as Wednesday after samples tested negative for E. coli linked to an outbreak that sickened dozens in Washington and Oregon, health officials said Monday.

chipotle.barf,nov.15Tests of thousands of produce samples turned up negative for the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26 bacteria tagged as the culprit, and the popular restaurant chain has gone “above and beyond” state health requirements to ensure safety, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, Washington’s epidemiologist for communicable disease.

“Do I think the food is safe? I can’t answer whether the food is safe, but I can tell you I agree with all of the steps they are taking,” Lindquist said. “We have found no food with E. coli and there doesn’t appear to be an ongoing risk at this point.”

Testing is a poor substitute for epidemiology.

Last week the chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, Steve Ells, said in a statement, “The safety of our customers and integrity of our food supply has always been our highest priority.”

There is one case of the same strain and DNA fingerprint of E. coli in Minnesota, but that person had not eaten at a Chipotle within the week before symptoms began, therefore health officials believe this is an unrelated case. The CDC is unaware of any cases in other states.

State and local health officials continue to work with federal health officials to investigate this outbreak.

Really? Rapid test for E. coli improves food safety

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Scientists are always talking about new rapid tests for pathogens, but I don’t see them in grocery stores – that’s a place where people buy food.

scienceBut, here goes the PR from Western (in Canada).

Dr. Michael Rieder and his team have created a new rapid-test system to detect E. coli O157 – a foodborne bacteria most commonly found in ground meat. The test would allow manufacturers to identify contaminated food quickly before it leaves the processing plant and enters the grocery store. The system was developed as a result of collaborations between Dr. Rieder, associate scientist at Robarts, and London entrepreneurs, Michael Brock and Craig Coombe.

Current conventional testing can take from three to 21 days for definitive results and relies on bacterial culture. By the time the bacteria are identified, the food has been shipped to grocery stores and may have already caused illness. With this current system, two weeks of food may need to be recalled to ensure against cross-contamination.

 Dr. Rieder’s rapid-test system would allow food to be sampled at the end of one day, and the results would be available before the food is shipped the next morning. “This means that one day’s production is lost, not five day’s production,” he said. “This has the potential to save companies considerable money, and more importantly could save a lot of people from being exposed to food-borne disease.”

  The rapid-test relies on targeting proteins identified by Dr. Rieder’s lab that are only present in the organisms that cause people to become ill. By collaborating with Toronto-based company International Point of Care, the team was able to use flow-through technology to mark the protein with colloidal gold so that it is visible to the naked eye. The process is similar to that used in pregnancy tests – one line for negative, two lines for positive.

 Much of the work has been funded through a grant from Mitacs, a provincial program that encourages academic and industrial collaboration. Dr. Rieder credits the success of the project to these collaborations with industry, as well as colleagues at Robarts and Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Sadly, Michael Brock, a key member of the project, died suddenly just as it was entering its final stages.

 The rapid-test system has completed testing at Robarts and the Health Canada-certified Agriculture and Food Laboratory at the University of Guelph. The final application has been submitted to Health Canada for approval.

Salmonella in flax seed meal

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Zenobia Company LLC. of Yonkers, NY is recalling Ground Flax Seed Meal, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

salm.flax.seedProduct was distributed nationwide through online mail order between dates of 6/15/15 – 11/4/15.

This product is labeled Ground Flax Seed Meal packaged in resealable plastic bags of the following sizes: 4 oz. and 16 oz. or 50 pounds bulk. UPC #’s00575004, 00575016, 00575111

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The recall was initiated after our supplier notified us that the Ground Flax Seed Meal potentially containing Salmonella was shipped to us by them unknowingly.

Going public: Chipotle involved in 4th outbreak this year that was kept secret

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Lynne Terry of The Oregonian writes, Chipotle has had three known outbreaks this year, including the most recent one in Oregon and Washington. But there was also a fourth in Seattle that put two people in the hospital.

chipotle.BSIt was essentially kept secret. Health officials, who investigated the outbreak, did not inform the public.

“It took us a while to make the connection between the sick people and Chipotle,” James Apa, spokesman for King County Public Health, said in an email. “By the time we were able to make an association with Chipotle, the outbreak was over.”

A total of five were sickened after eating at a Chipotle restaurant at 1415 Broadway, according to Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety litigator representing one of those who got sick. He said his client only contacted him recently in wake of the latest outbreak.

Like the latest outbreak, it involved E. coli.

The five people dined at Chipotle in late July, Apa said. Health officials were never able to determine the culprit.

Restaurant inspectors found no problems at the restaurant.

Source food that is microbiologically safe.

And stop with the BS.

Toxoplasmosis, now found in Giant Panda

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The Open Access journal Parasite just published the results on toxoplasmosis in Giant Panda.

giantpandapr3.003In February 2014, China’s Zhengzhou Zoo suffered the loss of a 7-year-old female panda named Jin Yi. The Giant Panda was infected with toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which infects virtually all warm-blooded animals (mammals and birds), including humans.

Hongyu Ma, Zedong Wang, Chengdong Wang, Caiwu Li, Feng Wei, and Quan Liu, six researchers from the Jilin Agricultural University in Changchun, the Military Veterinary Institute in Changchun and the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Ya’an, China, have now published their analysis, based on immunological and molecular methods. They confirmed that Jin Yi died from acute gastroenteritis and respiratory symptoms caused by toxoplasmosis.

Jean-Lou Justine, Editor-in-Chief of Parasite says, “This first report of toxoplasmosis in the Giant Panda is a major finding as it is an additional example of the ubiquity of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite famous for reports of its effects on the behavior of infected mice. To our knowledge, this is the first report of clinical toxoplasmosis in a Giant Panda.”

This paper published in Parasite is available in English with English, French and Chinese abstracts and free to read. Please follow this link, http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2015030

Thank you for your service

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Sorenne and I wore poppies to school today, as did Amy, after having a long chat about WW1 and what it meant.

poppy.remembrance.dayMy grandfather was too young to serve in WWI and too old for WWII, but he served in Wales, on local watch. My father was just a babe when Newport got bombed to hell in WWII and I still remember a pic of him in an astronaut’s helmet in a bomb shelter.

He was about 1-year-old.

On the way back from school, I had conversations with three different veterans, and thanked them for their service.

They were all headed to the local park, for a memorial service.

An Australian friend tells me, every little town and suburb in this country has parks and memorials like that, and it’s quite remarkable.

I agree, and have visited enough to know it’s true.

I’m sorta like Tony Soprano, who had a penchant for WWII documentaries, in that there’s an underlying feeing of inadequacy when compared to what our forebears did.

I’m grateful.

Sorenne is too.

‘I do wash my hands!’ – Jennifer Lawrence shuts down toilet rumors

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Jennifer Lawrence told an MTV interview with Hunger Games co-stars Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, that she didn’t wash her hands when she went to the toilet.

jennifer.lawrence.hunger.gamesShe was joking.

Her joke was taken out of context, leading to a series of questions about her hygiene on her press tour.

So, being media savvy, J-Law made a video, and said, “I hate talking to the Internet but I can’t get asked another question about my hygiene on this press tour. I told MTV I didn’t wash my hands after going to the bathroom because I was trying to gross out Josh and Liam and I ended up grossing out the world. Of course I wash my hands after going to the bathroom! (I can’t believe I’ve put myself in a situation where I even have to say that.) Anyway with all the rumors I’ve ever heard about myself this is the one I really had to put to rest.’


 

UK E. coli infections ‘rise by 1,000’

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The UK has a long history, like many countries, of blaming the consumer when  foodborne illness is involved.

give.blood.townsendMaybe those who are sick are in the wrong class.

The number of people infected with E. coli across England rose by more than 1,000 last year, figures have shown.

Dorset and North, East and West Devon were the worst hit for the infection with 629 and 612 cases each between September 2014 and September 2015.

Public Health England figures show there were 39,604 from September 2014 to September 2015, compared with 38,291 for the same period the year before.

The health authority said it was working to reduce the rate.

That’s a lot of E. coli infections.

Consumers are apparently supposed to:

  • Wash hands thoroughly after using the toilet, before and after handling food and after handling animals
  • Remove any loose soil before storing vegetables and salads
  • Wash all vegetables and fruits that will be eaten raw
  • Store and prepare raw meat and unwashed vegetables away from ready-to-eat foods
  • Do not prepare raw vegetables with utensils that have also been used for raw meat
  • Cook all minced meat products, such as burgers and meat balls, thoroughly
  • People who have been ill should not prepare food for others for at least 48 hours after they have recovered.

The UK health types really do treat people as if they are dense. Wrong social class, I guess.

8 sick: Apparent E. coli outbreak in Nevada

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The Washoe County Health District says it’s currently investigating eight reported cases of E. coli. 

Twisted Fork restaurant in south RenoSpokesman Phil Ulibarri says the health district was notified of the cases on Wednesday, November 4th with six cases affiliated with the Twisted Fork restaurant in south Reno, which remains opens for business. 

There was no immediate information on the remaining two reported cases. 

Health officials say these eight cases are not related to the current cases being investigated in El Dorado County at High Hill Ranch, or Chipotle restaurants.

Channel 2 spoke with Twisted Fork General Manager Joe Clements, who told us they were made aware of the possible connection about ten days ago, and that the customers ate at the establishment at different times over the course of a month, and all ate different foods. Clements says none of their employees are sick, and that they don’t know where this issue initiated. He says they are cooperating fully with the Health District’s investigation, and says it’s still too early in the investigation to pinpoint a possible source. 

He told us, “Our overwhelming concern is for the health of the people who are sick…It’s a horrible situation but we are complying fully with whatever the health department needs.”

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