Serial barfer busted near Toronto

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Brad Hunter of the Toronto Sun writes a man with a penchant for serial puking on vehicles behind a Markham restaurant has been busted, York regional Police say.

Cops say that the vomit villain struck more than 30 times during the last four years. Customers and staff at all-you-can-eat Italian eatery, Frankie Tomatto’s on Woodbine Ave. have emerged midday to discover their cars doused with an oily liquid.

Quick-thinking management were determined to bust the bad news barfer and installed surveillance cameras in the lot at the rear of the building.

Cameras captured the man hurling all over the vehicles — always between noon and 2 p.m. Unfortunately, they could not get a clear picture of the man — or his plate.

Newer cameras were able to make out the licence plate and they passed the information and video onto cops.

‘Pure greed’ UK couple who faked holiday sickness are jailed

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A couple have been jailed for making fake holiday sickness claims in a landmark case.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Deborah Briton, 53, and partner Paul Roberts, 43, tried to claim compensation by stating they and their two children had fallen ill on holidays to Majorca in 2015 and 2016.

But the couple’s social media showed posts where they boasted of holidays full of “sun, laughter and fun”, reports the Daily Mail.

Briton sobbed as she was sentenced to nine months in prison after admitting four counts of fraud in the private prosecution, brought by holiday company Thomas Cook.

Roberts, who was sentenced to 15 months after admitting the same offences, cried and shook in the court throughout the hearing.

The court heard the couple, from Wallasey, Wirral, tried to claim nearly £20,000 ($33,800) for the fake gastric illnesses and would have also cost the holiday firm a further £28,000 ($47,323) in legal expenses had their claims been successful.

Sentencing, Judge David Aubrey QC said their claims had been a “complete and utter sham”.

He said the claims, made in August last year, must have required planning and premeditation.

He said: “Why? Pure greed. Seeking to get something for nothing.”

Disgruntled contractor allegedly sprays poop on produce in S. Carolina

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WYFF 4 reports a disgruntled contractor sprayed what investigators told employees was apparently feces on produce at a West Ashley Harris Teeter, officials with the supermarket said.

Charleston police said 41-year-old Pau S. Hang has been arrested and charged with damage to personal property. Police say Hang has been on trespass notice for the store.

“The suspect is accused of spraying a brown liquid from a spray bottle onto some of the produce in the store,” CPD officials said. “Police don’t know the type of liquid that was used.”

According to Harris Teeter officials, the suspect attempted to contaminate food in the produce department and the fresh foods department inside the store in the St. Andrews Shopping Center in Charleston.

Cigarette butt in chips and rats spotted on premises among FSAI findings

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The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) report for 2016 reveals that they handled over 10,000 queries in 2016, as well as outlining some of the more gruesome finds made by their inspectors.

The report outlines the wide scope of the Authority, who now supervise almost 50,000 food businesses (49,404 to be exact) and their Advice Line took 10,497 queries from consumers, manufacturers and retailers in 2016.

According to the report, contamination of food with foreign objects was frequently reported to them by consumers.

Last year these reports included:

  • allegations of food contaminated with insects and glass,
  • a live insect found in a packaged dessert
  • a long black hair in garlic sauce
  • a human nail in a takeaway meal
  • glass in a dessert
  • plastic rope in a takeaway meal
  • a cigarette butt in a bag of chips.

Other complaints regarding poor hygiene standards included:

  • dirty customer toilets
  • rats seen on the premises
  • dirty tables and floors
  • and one case of a staff member at a deli sneezing into their hands and then preparing sandwiches without washing their hands.

All complaints received were followed up and investigated.

In total, 106 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses last year by the Authority.

That broke down to 94 Closure Orders, three Improvement orders and nine Prohibition Orders.

The annual report also reveals the FSAI sampled and tested 56,588 samples, while 2,625 food supplements were assessed.

And the highest number of food alerts were issued in a decade, 39 in total.

These alerts resulted in product recalls or withdrawals.

Rapid detection of human norovirus in frozen raspberries

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Raspberries have lately caused several human norovirus (HuNoV) outbreaks in Europe.

In this study, we developed and evaluated for HuNoV reverse transcription (RT)-PCR detection in frozen raspberries extraction methods that have equal sensitivity but are less time-consuming than widely used methods based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and chloroform–butanol purification.

One method was applied to stored frozen raspberries linked to previous HuNoV outbreaks and berries on sale. In the virus elution-based Method 1, sparkling water eluted viruses most efficiently from the berries. Method 2, based on direct nucleic acid extraction with minor PEG supplement, yielded the highest number of positive findings (4 out of 9) at low virus concentration level of 100 genome copies HuNoV genogroup II per 25 g raspberries. Both methods showed approximately equal sensitivity to a method including PEG precipitation and chloroform–butanol purification. Two naturally contaminated berry samples linked to HuNoV outbreaks in 2006 and 2009 were still positive for HuNoV genogroup I, but all berry products purchased from a local store remained negative for HuNoV. In conclusion, this study presents two efficient and rapid methods which can be used in urgent HuNoV outbreak investigations, since the results of the virus analysis are available in a few hours.

Norovirus at the hotel California

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As I gracefully age, I realize a few truths: my brain can’t take any more hits to the head, my childhood buddy Wayne will always be a better hockey player than me, and the Eagles suck.

I had one of those grade 10 English teachers who made us analyze contemporary music lyrics as poetry so he and his beard could sleep while students offered daft analysis (and lesbian seagull played while we meditated).

Some kid did Hotel California and got an A. I did Led Zeppelin’s Kasmir because it went on forever and meant nothing.

I got a D.

Adam Racusin of 10 News reports a group of people in the health care industry are suing the world famous Hotel del Coronado.

A lawsuit filed last week claims nearly 90 people got sick after attending a dining event at the hotel.

According to the suit, several of the attendees were confirmed to have been infected with norovirus.

The suit claims “an investigation by the California Department of Public Health confirmed that the source of the norovirus outbreak was a dessert table containing food items that were prepared, served, and monitored by defendants in accordance with the contract between Defendants and Healthgrades.”

The dining event was part of a three-day symposium sponsored by Healthgrades, an online site for information about physicians and hospitals.

45 sick: Norovirus outbreak linked to Hawaiian restaurant

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One of Waikiki’s newest restaurants underwent a thorough cleaning after several diners got sick.

Herringbone Waikiki voluntarily closed Thursday after a string of illnesses was traced back to the restaurant.

A sign on the door read, “Unfortunately we will not open this evening and apologize for any inconvenience.”

The Hawaii Department of Health says it’s an outbreak of norovirus, which is a foodborne illness.

So far, up to 45 people have fallen ill, and officials say that number will rise.

According to a department report posted online, on Saturday, Oct. 7, at around 11:30 a.m, “three customers ordered and shared the toss salad. All three showed symptoms of nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.”

On Monday, diners who got sick called Herringbone and the health department.

An inspector was dispatched Tuesday and observed good personal hygiene practices. No employees were sick.

Fancy food ain’t safe food: UK E. coli cheesemaker edition

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Jane Bradley of the Scotsman reports an artisan cheesemaker which is embroiled in a court case with food hygiene authorities after being forced to withdraw its products amid an outbreak of E.coli which killed a three year old girl, has been named one of Britain’s top cheese producers in an industry awards ceremony.

Errington Cheeses, which is awaiting a court date against South Lanarkshire Council, which ordered the manufacturer to stop production of its raw milk cheeses amid an investigation following the outbreak of the food poisoning bug last summer, was given runner up in the Best Artisan Producer category at the Great British Cheese Awards. The Lanarkshire-based business also came runner up in the category of Best Blue Cheese for its Lanark Blue cheese, at the awards at Marcus Wareing’s Gilbert Scott restaurant in London, hosted by food website Great British Chefs.

The company is currently only making one type of cheese – made from ewe’s milk – pending its court case against South Lanarkshire Council. Owner Humphrey Errington, who launched the firm in 1985, has insisted that his cheese is not the source of the food poisoning outbreak – which saw 19 people hospitalised – and has claimed that the authorities, including Food Standards Scotland, are trying to curb production of raw milk cheese. A Just Giving campaign launched to help Errington cover its legal costs, raised £34,000 from supporters. Twitter user Artisan Food wrote: “Chefs vote of confidence @ErringtonCheese Resilience in face of harassment/bias/ignorance.” In March, an official report from Health Protection Scotland into the E.coli outbreak claimed that Errington’s Dunsyre Blue was the source of the bacteria.

2 sick with E. coli O157:H7 from Vermont’s Bread & Butter Farm

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Vermont Livestock Slaughter and Processing, LLC, a Ferrisburg, Vt., establishment, is recalling approximately 133 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The ground beef was produced on July 24 and 25, 2017.  The following products are subject to recall:

* 1-lb. vacuum sealed packages containing “Bread & Butter Farm Ground Beef” with lot codes #072517BNB and #072417BNB.

The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 9558” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were sold at Bread & Butter farm in Shelburne, Vt. (I could write a book about the BS in the pic, above; maybe I will).

On September 30, 2017, FSIS was notified of an investigation of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. Working in conjunction with the Vermont Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FSIS determined the cooked beef burgers that were served at an event at Bread & Butter Farm was the probable source of the reported illnesses. Based on the epidemiological investigation, two case-patients were identified in Vermont with illness onset dates ranging from September 18, 2017, to September 23, 2017. Traceback information indicated that both case-patients consumed ground beef products at Bread & Butter Farm which was supplied by Vermont Livestock Slaughter & Processing. Vermont Livestock Slaughter and Processing, LLC is recalling the products out of an abundance of caution. FSIS continues to work with public health partners on this investigation and will provide updated information as it becomes available.

4 stricken with E. coli O157 in Norway

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Since August 2017, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has found the same variant of the bacterium E. coli O157: H7 in 4 persons.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health was informed in mid-August 2017 of a child with E. coli O157: H7 infection that developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and was a resident of Møre og Romsdal. In addition, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has detected the same bacterial strain in 3 adults with diarrhea symptoms living in Hedmark, Buskerud and Hordaland.

“We have good procedures on how we monitor infection with EHEC infection,” says Director General Line Vold at the Institute of Public Health. We collaborate with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the municipal authorities and the Veterinary Institute. Depending on the need, interviews are conducted by the sick, as well as possible sampling in relevant foods and close contacts. Since the patients reside in different counties, the investigation of the outbreak is coordinated by the National Institute of Public Health.

“None of the investigations around these cases have so far revealed any common source of infection. This work takes time and is complicated. It is not always possible to find the source of infection, ” says Line Vold.