Author Archives: Rob Mancini

Gobble, gobble. It’s turkey time in Canada

Posted on by
Reply

Thanksgiving is right around the corner (in Canada) and families are scurrying to purchase the most perfect, succulent turkey for the upcoming festivities. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of turkey, more a pasta kinda’ of guy, however, this year we’re cooking up turkey. Here are a few tips when cooking the bird. The turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 85°C (185°F). Use a digital tip sensitive thermometer to verify the internal temperature by inserting the thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. It is a good idea to cook the stuffing separately so that it reaches an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F). In the event of leftovers, never happens in my family, refrigerate immediately by placing the turkey in shallow pans in the refrigerator, covered. Refrigerate stuffing and gravy separate from the turkey meat and consume everything within 3 days or freeze. Upon re-heating, turkey meat should reach an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F) and ensure that the gravy is brought to a rolling boil. Throughout the whole process of cooking the turkey, remember to always wash your hands. Happy Thanksgiving.

Geese-poop-pathogens-barfing exorcism style: food safety tip #2

Posted on by
2

Old man winter is right around the corner and as usual the lovely geese of Manitoba begin their trek south to avoid the ridiculous temperatures of Winnipeg. No I’m not bitter, just a touch cool from my brisk morning rides to work on my scooter. Being jealous of the geese I was reminded this morning about food safety tip number 2. Avoid eating poop. Geese fecal matter or animal fecal matter contain pathogenic organisms such as E. coli and Salmonella. Geese really don’t care where they do their business which means it could be getting into your fruits and vegetables. Studies have also shown that Salmonella can survive in the soil for up 900 days and can also survive in fruits and vegetables (1). Washing your fruits and vegetables at this point will be ineffective.

 I remember when I was a young lad in Edmonton, Alberta performing water quality testing for the triathlon games. The athletes were to use a man-made lake for the swimming portion of the event. The lake was consistently bombarded with E.coli due to the overwhelming number of surrounding geese. If poop can get into the water, it can get into your gardens as well. Foodborne illnesses associated with fruits and vegetables have been increasing. This increase is partly due to higher consumption of such products to satisfy a healthy diet, better reporting, and changes in production practices (2). It is important to think about where your food is coming from (farm-to-fork chain) and the potential sources of contamination, one being animal droppings. As a consumer, there is very little one can accomplish in reducing bacterial loads with certain types of vegetables, one being sprouts for instance. Pathogens can exceed10 7 per gram of sprouts without affecting its appearance (3). It is for this reason that the young, old, immunocomprised, and pregnant women should avoid raw sprouts.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Charpentier, Heribert Hirt. The Dark Side of the Salad: Salmonella typhimurium Overcomes the Innate Immune Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Shows an Endopathogenic Lifestyle

2. Risk Profile on the Microbiological Contamination of Fruits and Vegetables Eaten Raw. Report of the Scientific Committee on Food (adopted on the 24th of April 2002). European Commission, Health and Consumer Protection Directorate- General.

3. Taormina PJ, Beuchat LR, Slusker R. 1999. Infections associated with eating seed sprouts: An international concern. Emerg Infect Dis; 5: 629-634.

 

Food safety month, tip number one

Posted on by
Reply

 Food safety month, has a nice ring to it, should be food safety year as more and more people are barfing from food related incidences and since we eat everyday. So, as I was perusing the streets of Winnipeg on my Vespa flying at a record fifty kilometers an hour, listening to the Flight of the Conchords for inspiration, first food safety tip dawned on me. Change your ragged dishcloth on a daily basis as they may harbor pathogenic bacteria. The dishcloth provides the perfect medium for bacterial growth which will eventually spread throughout the kitchen increasing the risk of foodborne illness. Analyses of these cloths have revealed extremely high bacterial loads coupled with significant numbers of mold and yeast. If you change your socks daily, shouldn’t you change your dishcloth?

Getting the word out

Posted on by
Reply

Food safety seems to be very hot topic lately especially with the whole Listeria thing but how effective are food safety communicators in getting the word out to the public? I was struck the other day, when at the grocery store, I had asked a pregnant lady whether or not she was concerned eating the lovely bag of bean sprouts she was holding in her hands. She laughed and replied yeah maybe the bag but not the sprouts. She continued on by saying that sprouts are a healthy choice and are great when mixed into salads, sandwiches, and other like foods. Had I asked this woman the same question regarding raw chicken, nine times out of ten, Salmonella would have been shouted out to the roof top, in an annoying Celine Dion sort of way. It seems to be a lot different when it comes to bean sprouts. So, food safety geek on alert, I decided to survey a number of people at the grocery store, some of my pregnant friends, and family members asking if they were concerned with eating this product. The answer was repeatedly no. A list of outbreaks concerning bean sprouts and food safety information on this topic can be found at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=2&c=6&sc=36&id=865.

Looks good on the outside, not so much inside

Posted on by
Reply

And no I am not talking about Johnny Depp. Time and time again food safety communicators promote the use of digital tip sensitive thermometers to determine doneness of food. But how often is this practice being done in restaurants? If so, is it being done correctly? From my experience, it seems that restaurant operators depend on color far too often and the operators that use thermometers do not use them correctly. This simply boils down to a need of properly train staff. It is imperative that front line food service staff are physically shown how to correctly use thermometers rather than just explaining the concept and theory behind it. Health inspectors, in particular, must take the time during routine inspections to demonstrate the proper usage of thermometers and compel restaurant managers to train their staff accordingly.

There have been too many cases of raw chicken burgers being served to the public and ultimately making people barf.  At times, food service staff are stressed and end up getting food orders wrong and are therefore rushed to correct the problem. In doing so, corners are cut resulting in burgers not being cooked long enough. Take the time to properly cook chicken burgers and remember stick it in.

 

 

Does wearing gloves mean safer food?

Posted on by
1

A number of fast food restaurants insist their staff wear gloves when preparing food, just like Michael Jackson when performing. However, wearing gloves does not necessarily mean safer food. A study conducted by University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, indicates that levels of heterotrophic bacteria, which is one way of determining level of hygiene, were essentially higher on staff wearing gloves than on bare hands. Perhaps this may be due to food service staff wearing gloves for an extended period of time without changing them and without handwashing in between. Also, there seems to be this mentality that wearing gloves signifies less handwashing because bare hands are not in contact with food. This notion is false and should never replace handwashing.

 

Pasta, crepes, mountains, and beaches. What am I doing in Winnipeg?

Posted on by
Reply

My wife and I recently returned from our 6 week honeymoon vacation in Europe. We spent three weeks in France, one week in Spain, and two weeks in Bella Italia. The scenery was breathtaking, the architecture unimaginable, the stench from unpasteurized cheese- priceless. My sister in law, who was also travelling with us in France, was quite taken away with a few of the unpasteurized cheeses offered. She later experienced severe cramps, headaches, nausea, bloody diarrhea, and ended up barfing away-exorcism style. After the second day of bed rest, she decided to visit the local hospital as the symptoms seem to have been worsening. The attending physician simply indicated that she had food poisoning. No samples were submitted, no food history, no information regarding foods she should be avoiding, nothing. Dr. Spaceman from 30 Rock would have probably have given better advice. If the attending physician decided not to submit samples for analysis or obtain a food history, perhaps some food safety tips would have been appropriate like avoid unpasteurized cheeses.

 

 

An inspectors’ dream…..

Posted on by
Reply

I love food safety and hate pathogens, so sometimes I can get a little too excited when restaurant operators’ are engaged in food safety and really care about what they are doing. Just the other day on a routine restaurant inspection, the manager pulled me aside and asked me if I want to hear everything they are currently doing to ensure food safety. I responded, just as Alec Baldwin did on 30 Rock when asked if he liked Phil Collins, “I have two ears and a heart, don’t I?” And so he began showing me temperature log books, digital tip sensitive thermometers to ensure proper internal cooking temperatures with log books for quality assurance purposes, food from safe sources, proper handwashing, and sanitizer solutions equipped with test strips to ensure proper chemical concentrations. The manager would encourage staff to get involved in food safety, have regular meetings discussing the importance of food safety with demonstrations, essentially on-site food safety training. Wow, doesn’t really get better than this.

And the oscar goes to…….

Posted on by
1

Well done Kansas City. The Kansas City Health Department has recognized those food service establishments, 55 in total, who have gone above and beyond in terms of sanitation and food safety. Recipients of this award will definitely benefit by getting more business simply because people enjoy clean and sanitary restaurants. Do you blame them? The Kansas City Star writes:

The recipients of the department’s Fifth Annual “Grade A Food Excellence Award” for 2008 winners include full-scale restaurants, fast-food establishments, school cafeterias, convenience stores and grocery stores, among others.

The award is valid for one year.

The winners include Arby’s on Oxford Avenue in the Northland, Bluestem in Westport, Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers on State Line Road, Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza’s Café Express and Kansas City Marriott Downtown’s Lilly’s, Paul’s Drive-in on Blue Ridge Boulevard, Popeyes Famous Chicken and Biscuits on State Line Road, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at Union Station, Russell Stover Candies on 51st Street, and Sylvia’s Deli on Washington Street.

“When you go in a restaurant you look for good quality in the food, good service, but most of all cleanliness and my deli is clean,” said Sylvia Raya, owner of Sylvia’s Deli at 1746 Washington St., which will celebrate its fifth anniversary in June. “From day one I was determined to get this award and my employees worked very hard for it as well.”

All food establishments in Kansas City are inspected regularly by the Health Department, and if they are open it means that they have passed their inspections.

But the establishments recognized with this award have substantially exceeded the standards set in the Food Code, fully endorsing employee education and training.

Criteria include:

At least one person in the facility must have successfully completed the department’s food manager course or be ServSafe certified.

High risk facilities (those with large and complicated menus) cannot have more than three critical violations, medium risk facilities (fast food operations and bistros) cannot have more than two critical violations, and low risk facilities (like street vendors or convenience stores with one or two fresh prepared products) cannot have any critical violations in the calendar year for the award.

No violations may be repeat violations from the calendar year.

Crispy, chewy chicken burger

Posted on by
1

I recently received a complaint from an individual who bit into a succulent  chicken burger only to realize that the interior was still raw. This is the picture  taken after biting into a crispy cooked chicken burger using a camera from a cell phone, gotta’ love technology. This chicken was completely raw inside but appeared cooked on the outside. 

My wife and I are finally embarking on our long awaited honeymoon to Europe to visit family and enjoy some time off. One of my all time favorite bands, Depeche Mode, will playing in Rome and we decided that we should go. Their latest song release reminded me of the answer I gave the establishment which was responsible for the raw chicken burger. An employee said that the chicken must of been cooked because it was really crispy-‘Wrong.’ Use a digital tip sensitive thermometer and stick it in.