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.

Norovirus confirmed in Michigan Applebee’s illness; 30 others with symptoms

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Viruses are fascinating. A 27nm particle first isolated in 1978 from the poop of ill students and teachers at a Norwalk, Ohio school causes millions of illnesses a year by using a host’s cells to make more viruses.

And spread them to other hosts through projectile vomit and explosive diarrhea.

Sort of like what’s happening in Corunna, Michigan where 30 patrons of an Applebee’s are, according to MLive, sick with noro symptoms.

The Shiawassee County Health Department confirmed the virus was responsible after a person became ill during the investigation period of March 9-12. The transmission source has not yet been identified.

“As of start of business day on March 22, 2016, a total of thirty people experienced similar symptoms and have contacted the Shiawassee County Health Department,” reads a statement from the health department’s Personal Health Services Division.

A call for comment from the restaurant was not immediately returned.

Nicole Greenway, director of personal community health for the Shiawassee County Health Department, said the restaurant is cooperating with the investigation and has fully sanitized the kitchen, bathroom and customer dining areas.

“We were notified by a person from the state who’d seen a complaint and we followed up on that,” she said, of the March 14 notification.

“Unfortunately it goes around, it’s very contagious,” said Greenway, referencing a recent norovirus outbreak at the University of Michigan that led to more than 100 people getting ill. “You can get it from touching a door handle or something like that. One public health message is to watch your hands. That’s a good prevention (tip).”

Everything old is new again: Sous vide at Chipotle edition

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Genetic marker testing is in, no it’s out. Adding cilantro to hot rice is in. Ceviche salsa is in? I can’t keep track of Chipotle’s changes anymore.

Centralized sous vide for steak is in and it’s new. Just like the sous vide technique Chipotle has been using for it’s carnitas and barbacoa?

According to ABC News, Chipotle’s new food safety folks are making some updates to the chain’s much ballyhooed plans to take food safety into the future.

Another change is coming to Chipotle: how the company cooks its steaks. A Chipotle spokesperson told ABC News the company is beginning to prepare the steak used in its burritos, bowls and tacos using a French culinary technique to help prevent future pathogen outbreaks at its restaurants.

Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle, said the steak will be cooked “sous vide” at an off-site central kitchen and then marinated and seared on grills in the restaurants.

Chipotle’s steak was previously grilled in each restaurant location, according to the company website. Chipotle’s beef barbacoa and pork carnitas though have long been cooked in central kitchens, Arnold said.

“Central cooking sounds like a much safer process,” William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, told ABC News. “Pathogen testing is very elaborate, expensive and would not produce 100 percent results.”

Arnold addressed The Journal’s reporting, telling ABC News today, “Our commitment to establishing Chipotle as a leader in food safety remains fully intact. Over the last few months, we have implemented a number of programs and procedures to enhance food safety — including prep of some ingredients in central kitchens, high resolution testing of ingredients, and procedural changes in our restaurants. Any changes we may make to our initial plans will be to strengthen what we are doing.”

On its website, Chipotle describes its high-resolution testing as “the practice of taking a large number of samples from a relatively small amount of the ingredient,” which it says, for example, “substantially reduces the risk that unsafe cilantro will go undetected.”

In addition to implementing changes to how its steak is prepared, Chipotle is preparing and testing tomatoes, romaine lettuce and bell peppers in its central kitchen, according to the Chipotle website. The company previously diced tomatoes at its restaurants, the company website explains.

Sam Oches, editor of Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) magazine, said he isn’t surprised if Chipotle is fine-tuning its food safety process.

Oches said he applauded Chipotle’s move to hire a food safety czar and its decision to offer free burritos to customers last month.

“It’s hard to understate how shocking this whole thing has been because Chipotle for many years has been the gold standard,” Oches said. “It’s to say this can happen to any company. There will be so many lessons learned in this. There will be textbooks written about this. Any company that wants to scale fresh locally-sourced food will have to study Chipotle. We’re watching food safety history be written.”

Maybe the internal emails blaming Australian beef suppliers (which is really about cross-contamination and cooking in the restaurant) is a clue to the centralized sous vide steak change.

Stigma is hard to shake: Chipotle edition

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Ben Chapman

“We don’t have a good example of something like this (the frequency and duration of food issues experienced by Chipotle) … and (don’t know) how long it takes to rebuild,”

That’s what I told Matt Krantz of USA Today when he asked when folks would start to trust Chipotle again, and when investors might expect to see profits go up.

I don’t know much about profits, but I did tell him about stigma and how hard it is to shake it. Jack-in-the-Box, over two decades later is still identified with the E. coli outbreak that started them all.

The burrito chain late Tuesday told investors it could lose up to $1 a share “or worse” in the first quarter as the company continues to suffer from a spate of food-safety outbreaks. That’s a big disappointment for investors who expected the company to report an adjusted profit per share of 4 cents a share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Chipotle reported an adjusted profit of $2.17 a share in the fourth quarter of 2015.

A variety of factors are hurting Chipotle’s bottom line. Chipotle faces higher costs during the quarter to increase marketing and promotions – not to mention costs associated with improving its processes to try to prevent future outbreaks. “We also anticipate higher food costs due to additional food safety protocols put into place,” the company said in a statement.

Food Safety Talk 95: What’s the right number of logs?

Posted on March 16, 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.

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 95 can be found here and on iTunes.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Dough used in dessert fingered in Pizza Ranch outbreak

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Ben Chapman

The source of an outbreak at the aptly-named Pizza Ranch is a mystery. But it appears to be linked to skillet dough used in some desserts.

Dough and E. coli O157 have been a pair in the past – raw prepackaged Nestle cookie dough caused 72 illnesses in 2009. Flour was thought to be the source.

The Des Moines Register, based on initial reporting by Food Poisoning Bulletin, quotes Brittany Behm, a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behm says the outbreak stretches back to December and includes 13 cases.

Nine of the people said they recently had eaten at Pizza Ranches, she said. Two children, in Kansas and Nebraska, suffered kidney failure and had to be hospitalized. They have since recovered, Behm said. None of the patients died.

David Werning, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, said Iowa officials picked up samples from Pizza Ranch restaurants in Denison and Sergeant Bluff, then forwarded them to federal investigators. No E. coli bacteria were found in those samples, he said.

Pizza Ranch released a statement Wednesday morning from its Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Achterhoff:

“Since late January, we have been assisting public health officials who are investigating 13 cases of illness attributed to a specific strain of E. coli O157 bacteria. Nine of the affected individuals reported having eaten at nine different Pizza Ranches in seven states. There are also individuals multiple states away from the nearest Pizza Ranch that reported not eating at Pizza Ranch that have the same strain of E. coli O157, though health investigators have not been able to pinpoint how they contracted the strain. The most recent reported illness related to this outbreak reported eating at one of our locations on January 30, 2016. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told us that it believes the outbreak is concluded.

“We removed our Skillet Dough mix immediately from use in response to information suggesting that this product was a possible common factor in the illnesses and subsequently expanded this product withdrawal to include our Original Dough mix.

“The fact pattern shows that the source of bacteria originated from an outside supplier rather than at our restaurants. Several states collected products from Pizza Ranch restaurant locations to test for the presence of E.coli O157 though it was not found in any products tested. Pizza Ranch independently ran over 40 tests on different products to test for the presence of E. coli O157 and it was not found in any products tested. We provided public health investigators with a list of all of our ingredients as well as contact information for our ingredient suppliers. We also contacted the supplier of our dough mixes regarding this issue with the request that they cooperate with state and federal health officials.

“In addition, we instructed all Pizza Ranch locations to complete a special, precautionary cleaning of all surfaces and equipment used in dough preparation or service. Our franchisees and their team members responded with professionalism and great attention to detail. As a result, we continue to have absolute confidence in the quality and wholesomeness of every item we serve. All Pizza Ranch locations are open and serving their full menu.”

Blaming suppliers for this seems odd. Pathogens come into restaurants all the time. Limiting cross contamination and ensuring that cooking methods (like how they prepare the dessert pizza) are things Pizza Ranch needs to control.

Recall creep demonstrates system issues

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Ben Chapman

When folks try to limit recall size and scope without good traceability and sanitation clean breaks they usually aren’t successful. One recall announcement turns quickly into multiple and leads to larger questions about overall systems.

Last year, during the Blue Bell’s outbreak response and recall Marler and I both highlighted the issue of recall creep:

“Maybe the cleaning and sanitation program that Blue Bell was using wasn’t adequate. As more samples came back … it highlights that this problem was larger than they originally thought.”

“Limiting the recall might seem like a good idea. But then if you keep expanding your recall, it’s a death by a thousand cuts. You look like you’re dragging your feet.”

Traceability, sanitation, product lots, suppliers, ingredients. All this stuff, if not managed well, especially as investigators start asking for documentation, leads to recall expansion.

Here’s today’s recall creep example, care of Texas Star Nut & Food Company:

The above listed products, were distributed to Retailers nationwide. These products were sold between 8/13/2015 and 2/24/2016.

The company has ceased the distribution of all of the above products containing pistachio kernels. The recall was as a result of a routine, random sampling program conducted by a FDA third party contracted lab which revealed that the Nature’s Eats Natural Pistachio Kernels product contained Salmonella.

Consumers who have purchased any of the above listed products and best by dates are urged to discontinue consuming the potentially affected product and may return product to the retail location for a refund. Consumers with concerns or questions should contact the company at 1-844-571-5555 from 8:30am to 5:30 pm Central Standard Time.

Street food vendors in New Delhi get trained in food safety

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Ben Chapman

The U.S. food truck movement isn’t quite the same (or as authentic) as buying a hot tamale, salsa and guacamole out of a bag in Central America or samosas from a street stall in India.

But the concerns are the same – can the vendor manage the hazards associated with their foods? Prepping some food off site, transporting it, holding it and taking home the leftovers (and maybe reselling them) can be more complicated than making food in a restaurant. Especially when it comes to handwashing and cross-contamination.

According to the Economic Times, New Delhi street food vendors are getting trained.

Vendors selling street food in the national capital will now be sensitised about health and

hygiene for raising food safety standards.

Health Minister J P Nadda today launched the project titled as ‘Clean Street Food’ to be undertaken by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The FSSAI will train street food vendors under the Recognition of Prior Learning category of the Centre’s skills training scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

Speaking at the launch of the Project, Nadda said it is a pragmatic, practical, constructive and positive approach to skilling one of the largest unorganised sectors of the country.

“With nearly 20 lakh street vendors in the country, the training of 20,000 vendors on a pilot basis in the NCR of Delhi is a welcome steep. As street food forms an integral part of our society, the project which shall upgrade the skills of the street food vendors, will also contribute to preventive and promotive health,” he said.

Besides, the FSSAI also launched a Mobile App to empower citizens to reach out to the food enforcement machinery for any concerns or suggestions that they may have on the issue of food safety.

Being sensitized to the risks is a start; addressing them is what makes food safer.

Food Safety Talk 94: Bagpiping hot

Posted on March 13, 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. 1457889533387 Every two weeks or so, Ben and Don get together virtually and talk for about an hour.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food safety starts at the top; Chipotle co-CEOs only get $13 million each for 2015

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Chipotle by the numbers:

Over 490 illnesses linked to 6 outbreaks in 6 months.

Stock down 40%

1 fired manager and 1 fired food handler

Almost 2000 sites closed for 4 hours to change their food safety culture

3 Billerica Chipotle employees with norovirus

And, according to Reuters, the co-CEO’s 2015 compensation cut over 50% to about $13 million

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc’s (CMG.N) co-chief executive officers’ total compensation more than halved in 2015, a year when the one-time Wall Street darling lost flavor following a series of food-borne illnesses linked to its restaurants.

Founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells’ total compensation fell 52 percent to $13.8 million, from a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Co-CEO Monty Moran’s total compensation fell about 51 percent to $13.6 million.

Wild game in restaurants

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Foraged food is growing in popularity. And safety is a concern.

A couple of months ago, Marcus Plescia, director of the Mecklenburg County Health Department told Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer, ‘We want restaurants to be creative and experimental. We also want them to be safe. There’s got to be somebody who can make sure the restaurants that want to do foraging are doing so in a safe way.’

Stuff like wild-grown mushrooms, ramps and game carry different risks because they aren’t in a managed system or environment.

Misidentify a mushroom and a customer can die.

TVO reports that some folks in Ontario want to serve wild game in restaurants. According to CDC, wild game (especially bear meat) continues to be an important source of trichinosis in the U.S..

The first time chef Michael Hunter tasted wild turkey — truly wild, not farmed —it blew his mind. The flavours were unlike any he had tasted before.

“It’s just totally different. But also the meat is different – a wild turkey was my first experience eating wild game and compared to the turkey dinners I’ve grown up eating it’s totally different — the meat is dark, the fat is yellow, the flavour is just incredible,” Hunter says.

It’s the kind of experience the co-owner of Toronto’s Antler Kitchen Bar would love to bring to his restaurant, but can’t.

Wild meat is legal to give away, so long as it has been properly prepared by a licensed and inspected butcher. A First Nations-run wild food bank in Sudbury does just that, accepting donated game from local hunters and giving it to anyone in the community in exchange for an offering of tobacco.

Some other provinces have already lifted the prohibition on sale of wild game. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia both allow the sale of wild game in restaurants. The regulatory regime in those provinces requires hunters to have licences and tags for the animals they kill, and that restaurants be specifically licensed to serve wild game.

“As long as it’s regulated, the population of animals is not diminished. I don’t want to sell wild game in the restaurant all the time — I don’t think it should be available as a menu item,” Hunter says. “I just like to be able to do it sometimes or have a feature or have it as an option for people to try.”

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