Fancy food ain’t safe food – cruise ship edition

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a report documenting the unsanitary conditions that led to one of the world’s most luxurious cruise ships failing a health inspection last month.

The report on the surprise inspection of Silversea Cruises’ 382-passenger Silver Shadow says inspectors found raw, cooked and love.boat.cyclosporaready-to-eat foods improperly stored under the cabin beds of crew members who worked in the ship’s galley.

Food also was stored on the floors of crew cabins, as was equipment used to prepare food for passengers such as a meat slicer and serving trays, the report says.

The report suggests crew members of the ship had sought to hide the food items and equipment from inspectors after they boarded the ship.

“An organized effort was made to physically remove over 15 full trolleys of dry foods, spices, canned foods, cooked foods, milk, raw meats, pasteurized eggs, cheeses of all types, baking goods, raw fruits, raw vegetables, and a variety of both hand held and counter model food equipment, pans, dishware and utensils to over 10 individual cabins shared by two or three galley crew members in order to avoid inspection,” the report notes.

In what is a rare occurrence for modern day vessels, the CDC gave the ship — an all-suite icon of luxury cruising that boasts rooms for two starting at over $1,000 a night — a failing score of 82 out of 100.

The report also listed a number of cases of crew members suffering from diarrhea that were not properly reported, and errors in the cooling process for the walk-in refrigeration of the La Terraza restaurant that suggests food may have been improperly stored.

Everything is public; Subway fires workers after posting penis pics

Katie would enthrall us with tales of her days as a sandwich artist at Subway in the Soo.

But nothing like this.

According to Huffington Post, a Subway sandwich artist in Columbus, Ohio admitted today to putting his penis on the store’s o-SUBWAY-PENIS-PHOTO-570sandwich bread and posting the photo on Instagram.

One of the men, Cameron Boggs, admitted on Instagram that “today at work I froze my pee” in a water bottle.

Boggs posted — and later deleted — the most incriminating photo, which depicts a man rubbing his genitalia on foot-long bread. It was posted on Instagram by username “weedpriest” with a caption that reads, “My name is @ianjett and I will be your sandwich artist today.”

In an exclusive interview with HuffPost Weird News, Ian Jett copped to defiling the footlong, but denied doing the dirty deed at work.

“I would never do that at work — it was at home,” he said. “This isn’t something I’d ever do at Subway. It was totally a joke.”

Boggs and Jett were fired on Monday, and a representative from Subway public relations released this statement:

This isolated incident is not representative of SUBWAY Sandwich Artists™. These actions are not tolerated and the franchisee took immediate action to terminate the two employees involved.

5K fine for UK takeaway

A takeaway which had filthy utensils and dirty floors has been fined after food safety officers found a number of breaches.

Wen Ling Chen, the owner of the South Sea Chinese takeaway in Port Tennant has been hit with fines, costs and charges of almost £5,000.

The South Wales Evening Post reports officers found a filthy, stained chopping board, a tin opener covered in dirt and debris Travel Pictures Ltdon the floor of the takeaway on Port Tennant Road.

He pleaded guilty to 12 breaches of Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006 after inspectors carried out four unannounced visits, three last year and another this year.

Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard in February last year the takeaway agreed a voluntary closure because it had no hot water. It remained shut until a new boiler was fitted.

On the second visit a Hygiene Improvement Notice was issued because of a failure to train staff in food hygiene or have a proper food safety management system.

Magistrates were told that seven of the 12 offences arose from a third visit in September last year, when officers were confronted with large quantities of accumulated food debris on and under cooking ranges, sinks, fridges and floors. They also discovered dirty food preparation equipment and fixtures and fittings were not effectively cleaned, inadequately cooked rice and inadequately-thawed pork ribs.

They found similar issues in March this year and brought five further charges.

Brisbane Maccas fined for flies, food safety infractions

When we first came to Brisbane about three years ago for Hubbell’s interview, we stayed downtown for a few days (CBD). I was frequently found at the nearby McDonald’s because it was the only place in Australia mcdonald's.iphone.tracker.jan.13to provide free Internet.

I didn’t eat much.

The McDonald’s restaurant at the entrance to the Myer Centre near the corner of Albert and Elizabeth streets, is just one of 21 traders, establishments and individuals fined almost a combined $370,000 this year, after successful prosecutions as part of Brisbane City Council’s Eat Safe program.

As well as finding cockroaches in parts of the premises, inspectors recorded a build-up of grime and grease on the floor near a washing-up area, while food waste was found on a slicer.

Court documents show McDonald’s Australia Limited was charged with the Food Act breaches after an inspection last year.

In a prepared statement, a McDonald’s spokeswoman said the chain was “disappointed with these occurrences” and that food safety was a “top priority”.

The restaurant was owned and operated by McDonald’s but has since been taken over by a new franchisee.

Salmonella Enteritidis infections associated with foods purchased from mobile lunch trucks — Alberta, Canada, October 2010–February 2011

During October 2010–February 2011, an outbreak of 91 Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) infections in Alberta, Canada, was investigated by a local public health department (Alberta Health Services, Calgary Zone). Index cases initially were linked through a common history of consumption of food purchased from mobile food-vending vehicles (lunch trucks)
operating at worksites in Alberta. Further investigation implicated one catering company that supplied items for the lunch trucks and other vendors.

In 85 cases, patients reported consumption of food prepared by the catering company in the 7 days before illness. Six patients were employees of the catering company, and two food samples collected from the catering company were positive for SE. Foods likely were contaminated directly or indirectly through the use of illegally sourced, SE-contaminated eggs at the implicated catering facility and by catering employees who were infected with SE. Public health interventions put into place to control the outbreak included screening employees for Salmonella, excluding those infected from food-handling duties, and training employees in safe food-handling procedures. No further outbreak cases were identified after full implementation of the interventions.

This investigation highlights the potential for lunch trucks to be a source of foodborne illness and the need for robust regulatory compliance monitoring of lunch trucks and their food suppliers.

12 sick; good communication can’t cover lousy management; Clover restaurant’s lapses preceded Salmonella outbreak

When a city inspector went to the Clover restaurant in East Cambridge last Friday, she found spoiled cauliflower, hummus, and various salads coming back from food trucks at improper temperatures, and no one on hand to supervise the kitchen staff.

That inspection, sparked by an outbreak of food poisoning among some of Clover’s customers, led the city to shut the restaurant indefinitely, according to a report provided to the Globe. Deborah Kotz writes the chief clover.food.lb.jul.13executive then decided to close the other three restaurants and 10 food trucks in the popular Clover Food Lab chain, which all are supplied by the East Cambridge kitchen.

Twelve cases of salmonella were reported in June and early this month among patrons of Clover’s various locations in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline.

While the state health department declined to comment, citing its ongoing investigation, Clover CEO Ayr Muir said in an interview that he has received details on half of the people. Those customers had eaten one of two dishes containing pita bread purchased from a supplier, as well as tahini, hummus, and a cucumber tomato salad made by Clover chefs.

Muir acknowledged there were food safety practices with which “we could do a lot better,” but added that he thinks food inspectors frequently note violations at many restaurants. “I think we operate some of the cleanest kitchens in the country,” he said.

Clover has become something of an institution among the health-food set. Its no-frills vegetarian fare attracted a devoted following after it began five years ago with a single food truck near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and it grew rapidly. Its website promises locally grown and fresh food — so fresh that they have “no freezers. In the entire company. Not one.”

But Clover has racked up a string of safety lapses, ranging from minor violations such as greasy buildup on equipment, walls, and counters to major infractions such as a failure to provide handwashing facilities to employees in a food truck on Park Street off Boston Common.

Haven’t heard anything about how and where Clover sources its supposedly superior food.

Cat shuts down NY comedy club’s kitchen

After getting my first warm-blooded pets when I was 22 – cats I named Clark and Kent for reasons I can’t remember – I’ve been a long-time braunwynn.kittens.03student of cat behavior, and always preferred having at least two.

They entertain each other.

And are damn noisy at night.

Like any previous cats, Jacques and Cixous are not allowed on kitchen counters, tables and the like, but of course, they’re up there at night, as food safety video observation in Australia demonstrated about 10 years ago.

Health inspectors shut down the kitchen of the LOL New York Comedy Club last week after finding a cat roaming around inside, officials said.

The spot was given a failing grade — along with a catastrophic 75 violation points — after officials found “Live animals other than fish in tank or service animal present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas” on July 11, according to the Department of Health, which confirmed that the delinquent animal was a puss.

DNAinfo reports that along with the feline faux pas, the club’s kitchen received violations for not having a proper hand washing or dish cleaning cats.sink.jun.13facility. Inspectors also found that the location’s supervisor of food operations did not have a city-issued Food Protection Certificate.

The club reopened the kitchen the day after inspectors found the kitty, said Natasha Michael, a marketing assistant for the club. But she could not say who the cat belonged to.

Make it mandatory; Brisbane voluntary restaurant star system sorta dumb

The Gold Coast is a tourism mecca for the Australian state government of Queensland, but the locals aren’t so impressed.

The beaches are awesome, but tacky development and the influence of the underworld undermine claims to tourism credibility.

So do some of the restaurants.

Paul Weston writes that some of the Gold Coast’s best and award-winning restaurants have been hit with the biggest fines following inspections by eat.safe.brisbaneGold Coast City Council environmental health officers.



A Bulletin investigation has uncovered details of 35 restaurants prosecuted in the first five months of this year, along with 93 businesses in 2012.



A Right to Information investigation has revealed the names of the four restaurants which sparked the major prosecutions along with repeat offenders.



The biggest fines were given to Lemongrass Thai (Main Beach), Eddie’s Crazy Fish Sushi Bar (Southport), India@Q Restaurant (Mermaid Waters) and Good Choice Restaurant (Helensvale).



Legal action in the Southport Magistrate’s Court for breaches like filthy work conditions and poor hygiene led to the restaurants being fined almost $50,000.



Lemongrass Thai Restaurant won the Best Thai in the Queensland Restaurant and Catering Awards in 2006 and was a People’s Choice winner at a Gold Coast magazine awards a year earlier.

The other restaurants have been applauded by several reviewers on tourism websites..

The findings come after a public backlash where diners demanded greater transparency from Gold Coast City Council, which refused to release details of prosecuted businesses.

Queensland Health is reviewing the system and pressure is building for all councils to follow Brisbane and introduce an Eat Safe rating system.

But that system is voluntary and completely ineffectual. Having other areas follow a flawed system is not going to do anything to boost tourist confidence.

Make it mandatory; UK research shows, restaurants with shitty ratings won’t display them

The UK Food Standards Agency reports in breathtaking fashion that new research shows the number of food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland displaying Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) stickers uk.food.hygiene.ratingand certificates has increased significantly for those with the top two ratings. For those with the bottom ratings of 0 to 2, the number displaying these remains low. The research, which involved an audit and telephone survey, was commissioned by the FSA.

The findings are being used by the FSA to further develop its FHRS communications strategy and to inform policy development on display of ratings at premises.

Is this really the worst thing about eating at Golden Corral? Franchise accused of unsanitary practices

A hallmark of the annual golf trip was a visit to the Golden Corral in Newport News, Virginia, at the insistence of our host.

It’s where Chapman got his nickname that didn’t stick – sweet tea.

Now, a Golden Corral franchise is being accused of improper food handling after photos and a video surfaced online that claim to show naylor.golfunsanitary conditions at the nationwide buffet chain.

Separately, a Reddit user named GCWhistleblower posted photos purporting to show a different Golden Corral kitchen overflowing with garbage and food.

Employee Brandon Huber posted a video on Youtube, taken while he worked at a location near Port Orange, Fla., which shows raw hamburger patties swarmed by flies near the restaurant’s dumpster.

“I’m an employee here, been working here for a long time, and I don’t feel that this is right,” Huber says to the camera. “I mean look at it, what do you think?”

“Let me show you just how disgusting this is,” Huber continues, as the camera pans to reveal stacks of food next to the dumpsters including raw baby back ribs, green bean casserole, pot roast, chicken, ham, and bacon.

A statement provided to the website Consumerist via Eric Holm at Metro Corral Partners, a franchisee who owns several Golden Corral locations in Florida and Georgia, including the Port Orange location, reads:

“A video was recently posted showing an incident of improper food handling at our Port Orange, Fla., location. None of these items were served to a single customer. All were destroyed within the hour at the direction of management. Brandon Huber, the employee who made the video, participated in the disposal of the food.

The following day, the father of the employee, allegedly posted an offer to sell the video for $5,000, which was not accepted.

The manager involved in the improper storage was terminated for failing to follow approved food handling procedures,” Holm’s statement said.