I’ve done a bunch of morning shows, in Canada, U.S., Australia, Germany, and other places, providing food safety info.
This sounds like more fun: Monty Python in 1975, with Peter Jennings keeping a straight face.
Had to flog the movie to pay back George Harrison, who bankrolled it
Before marijuana could be bought at a dispensary – Australia, you’re so behind the times on this, same-sex marriage and asylum seekers – would-be middle-school dealers would often pass off bags of oregano as weed.
Those who smoked it got a headache: they did not get high.
A couple of Australian supermarkets were caught doing a similar bait and switch.
Food fraud.
Esther Han of the Canberra Times reports Aldi and supermarket supplier Menora have admitted to selling nearly 190,000 units of adulterated oregano products over a one-year period and have promised never – never ever double secret probation promise — to do it again.
The budget grocery chain and Menora have signed court enforceable undertakings with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, committing to conduct annual testing of the composition of their herb and spice products.
Aldi sold more than 126,800 units of its Stonemill oregano across its 400 stores in 2015, documents show. And 61,480 Menora-branded products were sold at Coles, Woolworths, IGA and other stores in NSW, Vic, WA and SA in the same year.
They claimed the products were 100 per cent dried oregano leaves, despite a “substantial presence of olive leaves”.
“This is extremely bad behaviour. I don’t think it’s in anybody’s head that you’re getting anything other than pure oregano and our message to retailers is: ‘Check the products you’re selling,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
“The offer of refunds is there. If you take back the empty container you’ll get a refund, take back proof of purchase, you’ll get a refund.”
The undertakings follow an investigation by consumer group Choice, which in April said laboratory tests showed seven out of 12 popular oregano products were less than 50 per cent oregano leaves. They were instead bulked out with olive and sumac leaves.
The worst offender was Master of Spices, which was only 10 per cent oregano, followed by Hoyt’s, at 11 per cent, and Aldi’s Stonemill, at 26 per cent.
The test results showed Spice & Co and Menora’s products were only a third oregano, Spencers was 40 per cent and G Fresh was 50 per cent.
Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said as dried oregano was a fixture in most kitchens across the country, the undertakings were a real win for Australian consumers.
“We need be able to trust what is written on the labels of the foods we purchase in our supermarkets,” he said.
Thanks to my Italian food safety friend for forwarding this and, as usual, something may be lost in translation.
Il Messaggero reports the ordeal for the victim began one evening in late August when Mrs. Anna C. decided to put on the table one of the three packages of olives purchased a month earlier in a supermarket. The husband shortly feels the onset of illness, and Mrs C. has severe pain in the belly.
Within a day and a half the couple rush to the closest hospital. The prognosis in the emergency room is clear: “Food poisoning from botulism.” The first investigations focus on the olives. The woman appears in serious condition. The doctors noted in the medical record that this is a case of “sepsis staphylococcal pneumonia with pleural effusion.” She is transfered to an immediate resuscitation room. The husband is held for five days for foodborne botulism, recovers and is discharged.
Anna remains in a coma for almost a month, then her state of health improves. On October 8, after 40 days of hospitalization, the patient is invited to go home in a system of protected discharge. The doctors write down that she had “had a steady improvement that had been weaned from the ventilator ” and then continued clinical monitoring for persistent pericardial effusion share.”
Ten days later, on October 18, the family members of the woman call an ambulance to rush back to the hospital. She died on October 21.
The hospital has an initial autopsy. Yesterday, an order was added for a new autopsy and further toxicological investigations, prepared by the prosecutor. The cremation scheduled for November 9 is suspended. A few hours after receipt of the legal complaint of the family, the lawyer Armando Fergola, the deputy prosecutor Antonio Clemente, ordered the appointment of a medical examiner to determine the cause of death. And at the same entry in the register of suspects for the health personnel who assisted and discharged the patient. A duty, in the first steps of the investigation, also to ensure the people involved in the affair to appoint professional advisers.
“The case is alarming,” said the lawyer Fergola, “We found ourselves in a botulism infection and then to a possible case of medical malpractice. A family now awaits answers. ” The victim left her husband and two children.
Seattle & King County is investigating an outbreak of gastroenteritis with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea associated with two vendor locations: Mayuri Foods & Video at 2560 152nd Ave NE, Redmond, WA and Mayuri Indian Cuisine at 2115 Bel-Red Road also in Redmond, according to a statement from the health department.
The agency says twelve people from a single party became ill after eating food from the vendors on October 30th. The department learned of the outbreak on November 1st.
“We do not have laboratory confirmation of the etiology, but symptoms are suggestive of norovirus,” said the statement. “Often in norovirus outbreaks no laboratory testing is done. Food came from both vendors, but the exact food item that caused the illnesses has not been identified. It is not uncommon for outbreaks of norovirus to have multiple food items contaminated.”
The department said both vendors are working cooperatively with Public Health.
An inspection of Mayuri Foods & Video identified several factors that could have contributed to the outbreak, including failure to wash hands, inadequate hand washing facilities, and inadequate sanitizing of dishes.
“We have suspended Mayuri Foods & Video’s permit as of 11/3/16 so that they may correct these issues and allow time for thorough cleaning and sanitizing,” said the statement from the health agency.
Mayuri Indian Cuisine was also closed to allow the restaurant time for thorough cleaning and sanitizing, “Even though we did not identify any contributing factors at the time of our visit.” said the department’s statement.
For our American friends who have reverted to times before sanitation and are having beer for breakfast – water would kill you – Anthony Bourdain says forget the craft beer:
“I would say that the angriest critiques I get from people about shows are when I’m drinking whatever convenient cold beer is available in a particular place, and not drinking the best beer out there. You know, I haven’t made the effort to walk down the street 10 blocks to the microbrewery where they’re making some fucking Mumford and Sons IPA.”
“I like cold beer. And I like to have a good time. I don’t like to talk about beer, honestly. I don’t like to talk about wine. I like to drink beer. If you bring me a really good one, a good craft beer, I will enjoy it, and say so. But I’m not gonna analyze it.”
I’m not really into Bourdain or other celebrity chefs — if you think Trump is a low-water mark, what about the 200-year-old industry of food hucksterism and porn telling us what to consume — but I gotta agree with the beer thing.
I have an internal guffaw every time I see some hipster in Canada or Australia drinking Corona from Mexico, renowned for its drinking water quality. That’s why beer is made — to ferment all the nasty shit out of whatever water is around. It doesn’t need to be shipped halfway around the world.
You may also want to avoid the Original Brock St. Brewing Company brand Blonde Beer which has been recalled in Ontario because the cans have a tendency to swell and burst.
This recall was triggered by the company. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products.
Charcuterie Parisienne is recalling Charcuterie Parisiennebrand cured meats from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.
If you think you became sick from consuming a recalled product, call your doctor.
Check to see if you have recalled products in your home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased.
Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick. Symptoms can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness. Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Although infected pregnant women may experience only mild, flu-like symptoms, the infection can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn or even stillbirth. In severe cases of illness, people may die.
This recall was triggered by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) test results. The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other high-risk products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated Food Recall Warnings.
The CFIA is verifying that industry is removing recalled product from the marketplace.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
Whitney Filloon of Eater writes tech bros everywhere – wait, what about tech sisters? What about talking about people who are barfing and not some hipster slang — had their dreams of a utopian future in which humans subsist solely on weird meal replacements dashed recently: Soylent halted sales of both its powdered beverage mix and its newer solid food bars after dozens of customers fell ill earlier this month.
Now, as Bloomberg reports, the company says it’s identified the culprit that was causing all that nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea: algae — or more specifically, algal flour, which is made from dried pulverized algae and frequently used “as a vegan replacement for butter and eggs.”
The LA-based startup says it’s working on new versions of both its drink powder and bars that do not contain algal flour, set to be launched in early 2017. But the supplier of the algal flour, a company called TerraVia, denies that their product was the culprit — though as Bloomberg notes, an energy bar company called Honey Stinger also had customers report nausea and vomiting earlier this year after eating their product which contained an algae-based ingredient from TerraVia.
Jobeth Devera of Hawaii News Now writes the state is investigating 14 cases of salmonella on Oahu that are believed linked to tainted limu from an Oahu seaweed farm.
In a news release issued Monday, the Department of Health said officials have ordered the farm to halt operations and advise its customers to remove its product from sale immediately.
The problem seaweed came from Olokai Hawaii, a seaweed farm in Kahuku. The owner, Dr. Wenhao Sun, said tainted water used in aquaponics may be to blame.
“I was really surprised,” he said. “I don’t know how this could happen.”
The state said the cases of salmonella were in children and adults. All of the cases developed diarrheal illness from mid- to late October.
Four patients required hospitalization.
Dr. Sun says in 10 years of operations, his farm has never experienced problems like this.
“We will learn more and we will find the problem,” he said. “Then we can move on so we will satisfy our customers and make sure all the food is safe.”
Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL
The 1984 movie Starman is one of my favorites, not because of the actors, who are all consistently great, but because of what it says about humanity and ice hockey (at least in mythologies): You are at your very best when things are worst.
The results of the U.S. election feel like awaiting the results of a group project in school: Amy and I did our part, but I think the rest of youse might have really fucked this up (modified from facebook).
What can be done to make this better?
Sure the Canadian immigration site has been collapsing all night, Australia is a long ways away, and those countries have their own problems.
But for now, at this moment, I’ll go back to the humanity of Starman, and tomorrow worry about how I will chat with my five daughters, the girls I coach in hockey, and people generally around the world who are writing and saying, WTF? How did a lying, misogynist, racist, financial idiot huckster and game show host win the U.S. presidency?
Mark Shermin: Have people from your world been here before?
Starman: Before? Yes. We are interested in your species.
Mark Shermin: You mean you’re some kind of anthropologist? Is that what you’re doing here? Just checking us out?
Starman: You are a strange species. Not like any other. And you’d be surprised how many there are. Intelligent but savage. Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you? [Shermin nods] You are at your very best when things are worst.
On 4/19/2016, the Wood County Health Department (WCHD) notified the Wisconsin Division of Public Health (DPH), Communicable Diseases Epidemiology Section (CDES) of two ill individuals who had both attended a company (Company A) banquet event at the Hotel Marshfield in Marshfield, WI on 4/16/16.
Onset of gastrointestinal symptoms in these individuals began early morning 4/18/2016. Appetizers, snacks, and entrees served during the event were prepared by Hotel Marshfield staff. Cupcakes were purchased from Bakery A, and cookies were provided by Company B. Leftover entrees from the banquet were boxed up immediately after the event and donated to Organization A (12 boxed meals total) where some were eaten by staff and residents of that organization.
Upon recognition of a suspected outbreak, Organization A was asked by WCHD to hold the leftover food in their refrigerator and not serve it to anyone. WCHD collected a list of food and drink items served at the banquet from both the Hotel Marshfield manager and the Employee Relations Officer for Company A. CDES began creation of an investigation questionnaire, as well as an online survey to collect food and hotel exposure information from attendees. WCHD began dissemination of stool kits to ill banquet attendees and Hotel Marshfield employees to submit for laboratory testing.
This investigation identified a foodborne outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis associated with consuming food from a banquet event held at the Hotel Marshfield banquet facility in Marshfield, WI on 4/16/2016. The causative agent was Norovirus genogroup II.17B (Kawasaki). Confirmed and probable cases were identified among banquet attendees and employees of Hotel Marshfield.
Based on the epidemiologic, laboratory, and environmental evidence gathered during this outbreak, improper food handling by a Hotel Marshfield employee who was infected with norovirus is the most likely cause of this outbreak. Because specific food items were identified that were associated with higher risk of illness and all of these items were served on the same plate, this suggests the ill employee was a chef rather than a server or bartender. The challenge of being short-staffed in the banquet kitchen on the day of the banquet may have contributed to a breakdown in hand hygiene or glove use.
The pattern of illness onset dates and times in the epidemic curve supports the conclusion that exposure to the virus occurred at the same time among banquet attendees and hotel staff. This means that the virus was not introduced to the hotel by an ill banquet attendee. Although one banquet attendee reported becoming ill during the event, the epidemic curve indicates a point source exposure consistent with a foodborne outbreak, rather than the pattern of illnesses typically seen with person-to-person transmission from an ill attendee. Since ill attendees do not come in contact with kitchen staff, outbreaks where both food workers and attendees are ill at the same time generally indicate the food worker was the source, rather than a victim.
Additionally, the same strain of norovirus, norovirus GII.17B (Kawasaki) was isolated from both food workers and banquet attendees. The Kawasaki strain is a rare strain of norovirus only recently introduced to the United States in the last five years.7 In Wisconsin, it tends to be associated with foodborne outbreak settings rather than person-to-person transmission in the community; during 2015- 2016, 62.5% of the outbreaks caused by the Kawasaki strain in Wisconsin were foodborne.8 The rarity of the strain, its recovery from both employees (including Chef A) and attendees, and the fact that the same strain was identified in all norovirus positive specimens support the conclusion the illnesses were all acquired from a single source.
Chef A reported illness onset at 1:45am on the night of the banquet (4/16/16) while the majority of other illnesses began in the evening of the next day. The length of Chef A’s incubation period (time between exposure and start of symptoms) was 7.75 hours, which is shorter than the range of 10‐50 hours observed during volunteer studies of norovirus infection where exact time of exposure is known,9,10 as well as the median incubation period length of 32.5 hours observed in this outbreak. Assuming the onset date and time of Chef A’s illness was accurately reported, this indicates Chef A was likely exposed to the virus 1-2 days prior to the banquet (not at the same time as banquet attendees and other staff). Although Chef A’s symptoms did not begin until after the banquet was over, shedding of norovirus in the stool of infected asymptomatic individuals has been documented11 and it was likely Chef A was shedding virus at the time he/she was preparing and plating the food for the banquet. Additionally, carriage and shedding of norovirus has been documented in individuals who never develop symptoms.12 It is also possible that an unidentified asymptomatic shedding employee could have served as a source of contamination during food prep, or that an ill employee did not accurately disclose his/her illness status and onset date/time.
While Front of House staff were involved in adding croutons to salads, none of these items were statistically associated with illness. Only items that were prepared and finished in the kitchen were statistically associated with illness, increasing the likelihood the contamination event occurred during banquet meal preparation. If a banquet server was the source, we would expect to see no statistically significant association with a specific food item because all types of entrée plates would be handled by the ill individual.
Results of the case-control study showed that individuals who consumed the New York strip steak (served with a red wine reduction), buttery garlic chive mashed potatoes, and glazed carrots were more than two times more likely to become ill than those who did not. These three items were plated together on the same plate. A significant statistical association with illness existed for each item individually and for all three items combined. No other food or beverage items were statistically associated with illness. The fact that all food items with a significant association with illness were cooked items (except the chopped parsley garnish and honey glaze) suggests that contamination occurred after the items were cooked. Foodborne norovirus outbreaks commonly involve food items that are handled and served raw, such as salads and fruit. The only raw ingredients on the steak plates reported by the establishment were chopped fresh parsley used as garnish and the honey squeezed onto the carrots after reheating. Since the chef stated that the same parsley was used as garnish for all three entrees, if the parsley was contaminated at its source (in the field), we would expect to see no statistically significant food item, since all entrees would have contained the same parsley. However, the fact that only the steak plate was statistically associated with illness suggests contamination by food worker during kitchen prep is more likely than contamination in the field. Contamination could have been introduced if parsley was chopped while wearing gloves, but then added to the steak plates by an ungloved hand. Alternatively, the parsley may have only been added to the steak plates. Also, contamination could have also been introduced if the honey squeeze bottle or bottle nozzle was contaminated with norovirus.
Although no additional illnesses were reported among attendees of subsequent banquets, one secondary case occurred in an employee, suggesting person-to-person transmission or transmission from contact with contaminated environmental surfaces also occurred among staff the day after the banquet. Chef A continued to work the next couple days while symptomatic with diarrhea and could have contaminated surfaces or transferred the virus via contact, serving as the source of infection for the secondary case identified among staff. Hotel employees with primary cases who became ill but did not consume banquet food may have been exposed to contaminated food during serving, table clearing, or cleaning, or to contaminated surfaces such as tables in kitchen prep areas, sinks, bathrooms, or door handles.
Several contributing factors were identified during this outbreak investigation, and multiple violations of Wisconsin Food Code which could contribute to the likelihood of an outbreak occurring were observed during the on-site assessments conducted by WCHD sanitarians. Bare-handed contact of ready-to-eat food items by food workers was observed multiple times during the same visit, suggesting that bare- handed contact occurs frequently during routine food prep activities at the facility. The facility did not have any formal written employee illness, hand washing, or glove use policies. Review of the employees’ work schedules in conjunction with their illness onset and resolution dates indicated that Chef A worked preparing food for more banquets at the facility while symptomatic with diarrhea, which violates Wisconsin Food Code. Additionally, hotel employee restrooms did not have functioning fans and are located near (approx. 15ft) food preparation areas. While the case-control study results point to contamination of specific food items as the source of illness during this outbreak, the close proximity of the employee bathrooms to prep areas could contribute to kitchen contamination and future outbreaks.
RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the CDC, while there is no vaccine to prevent norovirus infection, illness can be prevented through proper hand hygiene; washing fruits and vegetables and cooking seafood thoroughly before consuming; avoiding food preparation and caring for others when sick; cleansing and disinfecting contaminated surfaces; and carefully washing laundry.
Individuals who work in the food service industry should be aware of practices that can prevent the spread of noroviruses:
It is particularly important for food establishment employees to inform their manager when they are ill and to not work while sick with gastroenteritis and for at least 48 hours following recovery. Complying with this recommendation means that employees need to be both aware of it and have the motivation and responsibility to comply with it.
The following recommendations were developed for Hotel Marshfield following the assessment conducted on 4/20 and 4/21/2016:
Consider installing negative pressure ceiling fans in employee restrooms to minimize movement of aerosolized particles into the kitchen, or, discontinue use of the employee restrooms in the kitchen area.
As a result of these recommendations, the hotel has reviewed their procedures for reporting illness, glove use, and hand washing with all staff. The sick leave policy has been reviewed with all staff, and the fact that all staff that earn paid time off (sick leave) has been reinforced. The WCHD conducted an onsite food safety training at Hotel Marshfield that discussed personal hygiene, glove use, and employee illness, as well as other risk factors for foodborne illness. The information provided during the training presentation and via brochures has been incorporated into the hotel’s employee training program.
The employee restroom fans were verified operational (low-flow, constant-on fans) and the employee restroom doors have had spring hinges installed to self-close and keep closed. Ready-to-use spray bottles of bleach solution have been added as an additional option for sanitizing in the kitchen.
Norovirus Outbreak Associated with a Banquet at Hotel Marshfield
4.nov.16
Wood County Health Department , Wisconsin Division of Public Health Bureau of Communicable Diseases