But it wasn’t the cronuts – it was probably a uniquely Canadian product, maple bacon jam served with the cronut burger.
Toronto Public Health says inadequate refrigeration probably caused the outbreak of Staphylococcus aureus.
While the brown sugar and maple syrup results came back negative, the bacon tested positive, but for different bacteria. The bacterial toxin found in jam samples from both Le Dolci and Epic Burgers was actually produced from a different strain of Staphylococcus aureus than that found in the bacon.
Nostalgia for dinner tonight with beef ribs, baked potatoes, baked beans (which I decided not to serve until tomorrow, because when they’re made from scratch, even with pork stock, it takes time) and corn-on-the-cob.
It wasn’t so great, so I whipped up some popcorn with my butter-olive-oil-lime-garlic-and-chili topping.
It was a hit.
I was probably inspired after reading about Big Tim’s, billed as some of the best BBQ in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 1968, a town for which I have many fond memories.
But on August 21 a state inspector ordered an emergency closure documenting 19 violations, four high priority, including cups and to-go containers on the floor and temperature violations in the walk-in cooler with the raw pork. There were also live roaches behind the pork chopping station, too many roaches to count under main prep table and cutting board, and rodent droppings all throughout the kitchen and in a holding area with beans and sauce.
The inspector also documented no soap or paper towels at a kitchen hand sink and no proof of the state-required employee training.
“I’d be worried about the roaches getting in my food,” said another customer. “I wouldn’t eat there if I knew that before I got inside the building.”
So Thursday night we stopped in to find out what was going on inside the south St. Pete kitchen. When we walked inside, an unidentified employee told us we were not welcome in the kitchen.
“No, there’s no need to show you my kitchen. I’m here, I’m open, I’m serving food.”
When we explained we had concerns after state records showed a number of people getting sick, the employee said, “I have no clue about that. If anything was a problem it’s not a problem anymore.”
But state records show Big Tim’s BBQ has not met inspection standards on any of their past seven inspections, racking up 96 violations since mid-June. 10 News also learned the restaurant was the subject of a health department investigation into a food-borne illness outbreak back in June.
“Our epidemiology staff investigated and what they found were several cases of probable salmonella,” said Department of Health spokeswoman Maggie Hall. “Three were later confirmed by the state lab.”
Despite all that, Big Tim’s still refused to provide us any proof things had been cleaned up in the kitchen.
A rat infestation in Tesco’s Perth Metro store, recent complaints about a live caterpillar discovered in a sandwich at a store in Sussex and a ‘supermouse’ at its Covent GardenMetro outlet were isolated incidents, according to a spokeswoman for the retail giant.
Maricopa County health officials are continuing to investigate a bloody diarrhea outbreak they say is linked to Federico’s Mexican Restaurant in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
The Maricopa County Department of Public Health announced in Aug. that 52 people have been sickened, and of those, 18 have been or are currently hospitalized.
Dr. Bob England, director of the Maricopa County Departments of Public Health, previously told ABC15 a few of the patients have experienced renal failure.
The Maricopa County Environmental Service Department responded to these reports by inspecting the facility immediately and taking food samples.
“The restaurant has been extremely cooperative with our investigation. In fact, out of an abundance of caution and concern for their customers, the restaurant is voluntarily closing,” said Steven Goode, deputy director for MCESD.
Public health officials have linked E. coli infections of 14 people, including 11 San Francisco residents, to the restaurant San Francisco Burma Superstar at 309 Clement St., health officer Tomas Aragon said in a statement.
The Burmese restaurant in the city’s Richmond District and the restaurant has chosen to close its doors for the weekend, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
Paramedics assessed 12 patients who experienced gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain, at the CNE on Tuesday night, said EmergencyMedical Services spokesman Jamie Rodgers.
Five people were taken to hospital.
Some of the patients were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. They said they had eaten the cronut burger, the CNE’s much-hyped croissant-donut-cheeseburger hybrid, confirmed hospital spokeswoman Leslie O’Leary.
Jim Chan, Toronto Public Health’s manager of food safety, confirmed that Epic Burgers and Waffles, the vendor that makes the cronut burger, is under investigation.
Two TPH inspectors arrived around 10 a.m. on Wednesday and took food samples. One inspector used a thermometer on two burgers after an employee put them on the grill.
Chan said the samples will go to a lab, and that results would take 48 to 72 hours.
If they pass the inspection, all the remaining food on site will be removed and disposed of, at which point TPH would have no objection to the establishment reopening, he said.
In Minneapolis, dozens of people, including children, fell ill from suspected salmonella poisoning after eating guinea pig meat and other dishes from a vendor at an Ecuadorian festival Aug. 11.
At least 81 people went to Hennepin County Medical Center and Minneapolis Children’s Hospital with severe gastrointestinal symptoms after eating food served by one of the festival’s vendors. The Minnesota Department of Health said numerous ill individuals have tested positive for salmonella.
Bill Belknap, spokesman for Hennepin County Public Health, said some of those who fell ill ate a traditional Ecuadorian dish that contained guinea pig meat, but others who didn’t eat that dish also got sick. All of those who got sick were treated and released.
Update: There are now 34 sick linked to the cronut thingies at the CNE.
Havering Council officers became concerned about poor hygiene at the restaurant during a routine inspection in January 2012, and when Nazakat became the proprietor the following month he was made aware of these concerns.
The Council were clear that improvements needed to be implemented including adequate staff training in food safety, written food safety procedures and ensuring food is protected from contamination.
When further visits indicated no improvements had been made a number of hygiene improvement notices were served.
Another visit in June 2012, to check the notices were being complied with, yielding yet more food safety issues which included inadequate hand washing facilities, staff not wearing aprons, and insufficient lighting. This was alongside a filthy storage area, outside bin, walls, floors and kitchen equipment.
Raw chicken was found to be stored too closely to cooked food and a cleaning cloth was tested and found to contain excessive levels of enterobacteriaceae (a bacteria associated with poor hygiene that can cause food poisoning). Following this visit, Havering Council decided court action was the only option.
Councillor Lesley Kelly, cabinet member for public protection, said: “It is absolutely disgusting that despite so many visits and advice given by our officers this restaurant owner failed to clean up his act and continued to break the law, putting the health and wellbeing of every person who ate there at risk.
“He blatantly flouted the law and I am pleased that magistrates saw fit to impose a hefty fine.
“We want to work with local food businesses to help them comply with food safety regulations and that’s why for each business we inspect we give a food hygiene rating from zero, where urgent improvement is necessary, to five which is very good. Residents can check these ratings online before they purchase take-away food or eat out in the Borough.”
New York City is going to make changes to its restaurant inspection system.
System critic, Council Speaker, and mayoral-hopeful Christine Quinn announced Sunday a deal has been reached to revamp some of the more highly criticized aspects of the city’s restaurant-inspection system, one that balances “the needs of restaurant owners and operators with our obligation to keep restaurants clean and safe for the public.”
Some of the most notable aspects of the deal, according to the Staten Island Advocate:
the fine for many of the most common violations will be dropped between 15 and 50 percent;
restaurants with less than 14 points after adjudication will not be required to pay any fines for that inspection;
restaurants that receive violations for structural irregularities — such as an improperly placed sink — will still be required to fix the violation but they will not be liable for the fine if they can prove that it was not noted in any previous inspection;
60 percent of fines will be reset to the minimum $200 level i.e. the fine for a sewage disposal system in disrepair would drop from $348 to $200; and,
critical violations would be reduced to $300 and $350, compared to an average of $420.
In all, the reforms are expected to reduce fines by $10 million per year, Ms. Quinn’s office announced. It’s part of a larger set of reforms to be announced Wednesday.
“Restaurant letter grading was never supposed to be a way to generate additional fine revenue, Ms. Quinn said.
Health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said the new system will be an improvement that will benefit all New Yorkers. “We began restaurant letter-grading to provide an added incentive to restaurants to have the best food safety practices. This system is working: restaurant practices are improving, and these practices are improving public health,” he said.
Our foursome of food safety types were alternately alarmed and amazed, but ultimately resigned to conclude that much of what passes for food safety advice falls on deaf ears.
I asked the kid flipping burgers if he had a meat thermometer.
He replied, snickering, “Yeah, this is a pretty high-tech operation.”
The young woman taking orders glanced about, and then confided that she didn’t think there was a meat thermometer anywhere in the kitchen; this, at a fancy golf course catering to weddings and other swanky functions.
Darcy Spears of KTNV in Nevada reports that the 19th Hole Supper Club in Mesquite got a 35 demerit C grade on its July 29 inspections. Due to poor inspection history their management was told to schedule a supervisory conference with the Health District before they’re allowed to be reinspected.
Their violations were for things like expired food, improperly cooled gravy and fresh garlic in butter left sitting out at room temperature. Inspectors found multiple prepared foods in the walk-in fridge that were more than seven days old and they were using whipped cream that was more than a month expired.
When Chief Investigator Darcy Spears showed up asking for the person in charge, she was sent to a bartender who said the person in charge was Armando.
The bartender said Armando wouldn’t talk to us.
“What we got in trouble for not our fault,” explained the bartender.
“The stuff in the health report is not your fault?” asked Darcy.
“Well, the cooler was down and it had just gotten repaired. And they were moving stuff out of it but it didn’t matter,” said the bartender.
The health inspector did note that neither the fridge nor the salad prep area were holding a safe temperature.
“I do know there was stuff like month old whipped cream and that is not a broken cooler when you’re serving month old whipped cream at least according to the health report that was happening. Improper hand washing,” explained Darcy.
“I don’t know nothing about any of that,” said the bartender.
Todd Peterson owns the 19th Hole. He sent a written statement saying his restaurant has been providing good and safe food for over 18 years. Most of the issues were corrected while the Health District was on the property. The rest have since been corrected and he said they’re positive their good rating will be returned.
“We put our children and our parents and people who are ill in these institutions,” said Canadian food safety expert Doug Powell. “We’ve got captive the most vulnerable people, and if there isn’t going to be a high level of food safety there where will you find it?”
Sort of a garbled quote, but valid.
In an accompanying story, I said, “All outbreaks should be documented so residents and their families can figure out if there are repeat offenders out there to stay away from.”
Restaurant disclosure icon Robert Cribb of the Toronto Star and a team of students from Ryerson University found that 12 years after the introduction of Toronto’s red-yellow-green DineSafe disclosure program, food inspection records for nursing homes, hospitals, daycares and school cafeterias were never publicly reported.
In June, shortly after the Ryerson/Star investigation, Toronto Public Health began releasing a two-year history of inspection results online.
“You guys get the credit for pushing us to disclose,” said Toronto Public Health food safety manager Jim Chan. “The questions regarding disclosure of the institutions played a role in this.”
While the information is now gradually moving online, the institutions, which are provincially licensed, will still not be subject to the city bylaw that compels restaurants to post green, yellow or red signs at their entrances indicating their latest inspection results.
The public has to hunt the information online on the DineSafe website.
Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto last month.
actually produced from a different strain of Staphylococcus aureus than that found in the bacon.
