About Ben Chapman

Dr. Ben Chapman is a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. As a teenager, a Saturday afternoon viewing of the classic cable movie, Outbreak, sparked his interest in pathogens and public health. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, maybe not surprisingly, Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman.

History matters: Gordie Howe edition

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Ben Chapman

One of the things that Doug and I often lament is for all of the focus on technology and progress, many food safety problems that pop up are recurring issues: not understanding how the bugs move/grow, poor management, poor execution or just not caring.

Same stuff almost every time.

A lot can be learned by paying attention to the bad stuff that has happened in the past.

History matters in hockey too. Last night my kids stayed up with the hopes of seeing the Stanley Cup awarded live for the first time. Neither made it past the ten minute mark of the third, and San Jose forced a game six (so we have another chance Sunday).

During the game we talked a while about NHL players jersey numbers; Jack wears number 9 after finding out Gretzky wore that as a kid.

Gretzky chose that number because his idol Gordie Howe wore it.

Gordie died today at age 88.

From the Salmonella-in-low-moisture foods files: gummie vitamins edition

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Ben Chapman

An ongoing challenge in my home is getting my kids to eat healthy foods. We’ve tried all the strategies (introduction, hiding, urging, yelling – okay, maybe that one isn’t so good) and we’ve made some progress.

As we work on nutrition, we supplement with vitamins, of the gummie kind.

At least the kids get some essential compounds everyday if all they eat is pasta covered in parmesan cheese.

According to a press release, some Nature Made gummies may be contaminated with Salmonella and Staph aureus because of a testing issue.

Pharmavite LLC is recalling specific lots of Nature Made® products detailed in the chart below due to possible Salmonella or Staphylococcus aureus contamination.

We are initiating this recall out of an abundance of caution to protect public health. Pharmavite is working closely with the FDA to implement this recall and we are notifying all retail customers and distributors to remove the product from store shelves immediately. No other products are impacted by this recall. The recalled products were distributed nationwide to various major retailers.

The recall was initiated after it was discovered that Salmonella and/or Staphylococcus aureus testing were not completed properly on these specific batch lots. Pharmavite has identified the cause of the error, is taking the matter very seriously and has implemented corrective actions to rectify the issue. Pharmavite cares deeply about the health and safety of consumers and we apologize for any inconvenience.

5 Things You Should Know About Grilling Burgers (To Avoid Getting Sick)

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Ben Chapman

I do a lot of grilling, or barbecuing as it’s known in Ontario (that’s in Canada). One of the best things about living in North Carolina is I don’t often have to be outside in snow or sleet while I roast a pork tenderloin, beer can chicken or burgers.

One of my favorite grilling partners, Matt Shipman and I talked grilling and burger food safety this week and the results were posted at The Abstract.

For many people, the sound of burgers sizzling on the grill is enough to make their mouths water. Grilling burgers is a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends, whether it’s at a summer party in the backyard or tailgating in the autumn. But grilling burgers can also lead to vomiting, diarrhea and all the other health effects associated with foodborne illness.

To help you and your loved ones avoid barfing this grilling season, we talked to NC State University food safety expert Ben Chapman. And he gave us these five things to remember when it comes to making a delicious (and safe) burger.

1) Color Stinks. Most people think you can tell whether a burger is done by the color of the meat. Those people are wrong.

“A burger can be undercooked, and unsafe, but still be brown in the middle,” Chapman says. “Or a burger can be well cooked, and safe, but still be pink or red. Color is determined by a lot of factors other temperature.”

And you really want to make sure your burger is cooked properly. Ground beef has been linked to foodborne illnesses caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and Salmonella, while ground turkey and chicken have been linked to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

2) Temperature Rules. The only way to be sure your burger is safely cooked is to observe these basic rules related to time and temperature:

For beef and bison, burgers need to be cooked until their internal temperature reaches 155 degrees Fahrenheit (and stays at that temperature for 15 seconds), or until the internal temperature reaches 160 °F;
For chicken and turkey, burgers need to be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
And that means you’ll need a thermometer; preferably, a digital, tip-sensitive thermometer.

“Dial-based thermometers are often inaccurate and unreliable,” Chapman says. “Plus, digital thermometers make you a better cook – you’re less likely to overcook your meat if you use one.”

In addition, you’ll want to make sure to check the temperature of your burgers at multiple spots, because temperature at different spots in a single burger can vary by as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

3) Grind-It-Yourself Isn’t Safer. Some people think that buying steak and grinding their own burger is safer than buying ground beef. It’s not.

“The same pathogens we find in ground beef are also found on the outside of whole muscle beef,” Chapman says. “And with ground beef risks, because Shigatoxin-producing E. coli is considered an adulterant, the industry is looking for it much more closely. There isn’t data to show that grinding your own beef is safer, and if you grind something that isn’t intended to be ground you may actually increase your risk.”

4) All Ground Meat Carries Risks. But those risks vary. For example, STEC are much more common in ground beef than in ground poultry, whereas Campylobacter are much more common in ground turkey and chicken. Either pathogen can cause both acute and long-term illnesses – but illnesses caused by STEC are more likely to be fatal.

In other words: cook your burgers to a safe temperature. Especially if you’ll be serving those burgers to children, older adults, or people with a compromised immune system (like patients undergoing chemotherapy).

5) It’s Not Just Cooking. Even if you cook a burger properly, you could still get sick if you didn’t handle the raw meat properly. That’s because of “cross-contamination,” in which pathogens from the uncooked food are transferred to food that’s ready to eat.

“In general, foodborne pathogens have a 10 percent transfer rate,” Chapman says. “So, if there are 10,000 colony-forming units, or cells, in the raw meat you touch with your hand, an average of 1,000 of them would transfer to your hand. Then, if you touched a hamburger bun without washing your hand, you could transfer 100 of those cells onto the bun and – ultimately – into your mouth.

“To avoid cross-contamination, make sure the plate that carried the raw burgers is cleaned and sanitized before any other food touches it (including the cooked burgers),” Chapman says. “You also need to clean and sanitize any utensils that touch the raw meat, such as tongs or flippers, and make sure to wash your hands any time you touch raw meat.”

Now…who wants cheese on theirs?

There are Canadians ill from Listeria linked to chocolate milk

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Last weekend I was in Canada and visited a grocery store to pick up some of the things we can’t get easily in the U.S. like chocolate bars and some maple syrup. Walking down the dairy aisle I spied something I forgot about after spending eight years in ‘murica: Neilson brand chocolate milk – in bags.

The same stuff, according to CFIA, that was just recalled after being linked to an unknown number of listeriosis illnesses (how many? that’s anyone’s guess).

Saputo Inc. is recalling Neilson brand Partly Skimmed Chocolate Milk from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.

Recalled products
Brand Name Common Name Size Code(s) on Product UPC
Neilson Partly Skimmed Chocolate Milk, 1% m.f. 4 L Bag clip: 1590JN01H8
Inner bag: BB/MA JN 01 2016 0 66800 00047 3
What you should do
If you think you became sick from eating a recalled product, call your doctor.

This recall was triggered by findings by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) during its investigation into a foodborne illness outbreak. The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other high-risk products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated Food Recall Warnings.

The CFIA is verifying that industry is removing recalled products from the marketplace.

Maybe the Public Health Agency of Canada or the Provincial health folks will let folks know how many illnesses, how they linked them, what the timeframe was – sorta like CDC does.

Food Safety Talk 102: Flour power

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Food Safety Talk, a bi-weekly podcast for food safety nerds, by food safety nerds. The podcast is hosted by Ben Chapman and barfblog contributor Don Schaffner, Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers University. Every two weeks or so, Ben and Don get together virtually and talk for about an hour. 1464969674490

They talk about what’s on their minds or in the news regarding food safety, and popular culture. They strive to be relevant, funny and informative — sometimes they succeed. You can download the audio recordings right from the website, or subscribe using iTunes.

Episode 102 can be found here and on iTunes.

Links so you can follow alone at home:

National Chicken Council petitions FSIS for labelling law for frozen chicken thingies

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Labels aren’t the same as risk communication. And it’s not clear how effective they are as behavior change vehicles.

Information and safe handling labels can provide the basics, if developed in a science-based manner, but as the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection said in 2014, risk communication folks should really be involved in message crafting and evaluating effectiveness.

The frozen chicken thingie outbreaks are starting to matter. Like these two in 2015.

In an effort to ensure safe eating experiences and address potential consumer confusion, the National Chicken Council (NCC) has petitioned the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for mandatory labelling of raw, stuffed chicken products that may appear cooked and ready-to-eat.

Specifically, NCC is requesting that the agency take the following actions:

Conduct a rulemaking to adopt a regulation requiring that not-ready-to-eat stuffed chicken breast products that appear ready-to-eat be prominently and uniformly labelled to clearly inform consumers that the products are raw and how to properly handle and cook them; and

Publish a Compliance Guideline explaining how to validate cooking instructions for not-ready-to-eat stuffed chicken breast products that appear ready-to-eat, which incorporates NCC’s “Best Practices for Cooking Instruction Validation for Frozen NRTE Stuffed Chicken Breast Products.”

“NCC increasingly is aware that some consumers may be uncertain of the proper handling and cooking methods for not-ready-to-eat stuffed chicken breast products that may appear ready-to-eat, and the proposed measures are necessary to ensure proper handling and cooking of these products,” said NCC President Mike Brown in the petition.

“This labelling would clearly inform consumers that these products are raw and require proper cooking while providing specific and uniform instructions on how to cook the products.”

FSIS has had labeling guidance out for a while. Making it a rule will help with consistency of info but it’s not a magic bullet.

Oh, and this:

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.
Design/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.

EU provides millions to enhance food safety in Georgia

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Ben Chapman

I can’t figure why the EU has such an interest in Georgia’s food safety. Why not Montana? Or Rhode Island? Or Oklahoma.

I know some good folks at the Georgia Dept of Ag. And UGA is there.

Oh, it’s a different Georgia. The one that’s ~~a country in Europe~~ at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia.

Georgia will receive €50 million from the European Union to improve national food safety standards.

A special agreement will be signed today in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi that outlines the start of the second phase of cooperation to establish food safety standards in Georgia.

The cooperation launched under the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), which promotes agriculture and rural development policies and reforms to stimulate employment and improve the living conditions of Georgia’s rural population.

The main goal of the cooperation was to improve food safety and quality standards in Georgia, and improve the ways these standards and monitored and controlled.

The first phase included reforming and strengthening Governmental structures and building the capacity and capabilities of small farmers in Georgia to reduce poverty in Georgia’s rural areas.

From the joint cooperation between ENPARD and the Government, about 1,000 cooperatives were established and registered in Georgia and 52 consultation centres were created around the country to improve farmers’ access to agricultural information.

Hockey road trip food safety: Listeria edition

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Ben Chapman

I spent most of the day yesterday in a car driving from Raleigh to Buffalo en route to Toronto. We’re making the migration for a hockey tournament that Jack is playing in and doing food safety stuff along the way. Like snapping pictures of handwashing signs.

Somewhere in Appalachia I chatted with Live Science’s Sara Miller about frozen foods, Listeria and stuff that’s not ready-to-eat.

Listeria can live for a really long time in the freezer, said Benjamin Chapman, a food-safety specialist and an associate professor at North Carolina State University.

In fact, freezing is how scientists preserve bacteria when they want to study the organisms in the lab, Chapman told Live Science.

While Listeria is not ubiquitous, it is very common in raw foods, Chapman said. Most people ingest some Listeria daily, but not in high amounts, and those individuals are fine, he said. It takes, on average, thousands of Listeria cells to make a person sick, he said.

But when Listeria does make someone sick, “it’s one of the most fatal pathogens we have,” Chapman said.

Several CDC reports of Listeria outbreaks found that the infection’s mortality rate was between 15 and 20 percent among people who became sick enough that they had to be hospitalized.

To protect yourself against Listeria, frozen vegetables should be cooked before they are eaten, Chapman said. Heating the foods kills Listeria, he said.

In fact, frozen vegetables are not considered “ready to eat” products, meaning that the foods should not be eaten raw, Chapman said. Though eating raw, frozen vegetables may sound unusual, frozen kale, for example, is increasingly being used in smoothies, he said. And it’s not uncommon for pediatricians to recommend letting young children chew and suck on frozen veggies while teething, he added.

Chapman noted that microwaving these foods is not the best way to prepare them. That’s because microwaves provide very uneven heat distribution, Chapman said. The food will get very hot in some places and not hot in other places, he said. In other words, the bacteria might not be killed throughout the food.

He also recommended avoiding thawing frozen vegetables in the refrigerator. This can be risky, especially if a person leaves the food in the refrigerator for multiple days, he said. (sort of, this one didn’t translate very well as I was traveling through a mountain tunnel- thawing in the fridge is cool, leaving uncooked thawed frozen veggies in the fridge for a long time – like a week – especially if the temp is above 41F isn’t great -ben).

Hucksters abound: orangoutangs and gluten instead of real food safety

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Ben Chapman

I learned so much from Dr. Jonny Bower, PhD’s KCRA segment on food safety for grilling.

Like preserving orangoutang habitats. Marinade to stay safe from acrylamide. Protect against gluten. Use a proprietary blend of probiotics. Add lots of spices.

Too bad the good doctor didn’t mix in a thermometer. Or talk about cross-contamination.

I couldn’t get the video to embed, check out the full segment here.

Chipotle outbreak makes Boston College commencement address

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Part of our approach on barfblog is to inject surprise and humor, or what some might call shock jockery, into food safety messages to compel folks to employ risk reduction practices.

Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t. Linking a norovirus outbreak with a tragic terrorist event isn’t the best idea. According to Boston.com, United States Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz made the Chipotle/Boston Marathon bombing connection during a Boston College commencement speech.

United States Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz is a native of Fall River, Mass., an alumnus of BC and a professor at MIT, which means he knows very well what it means to be a Bostonian.

But Boston College’s commencement speaker gave a special shout-out to the class of 2016 for being what he called “Boston College strong.”

“You were here for the terrible Boston Marathon terrorism events, the terrible snow storm, and, as I understand, the perils of fast food became also known to this class,” he said.

Those “perils” occurred in December during a norovirus outbreak at the Chipotle in Cleveland Circle. More than 140 Boston College students got sick after eating at the restaurant, including many members of the basketball team.

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