Ambulance Blues: Farewell Promed Jack

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Back in the old, folky days, I ran into Jack Woodall a couple of times and we kept up an Internet-based chat of mutual respect.

First time I met him, about 1995, Jack said to this kid, So you’re that guy who does Food Safety Network. How’d you start?

Jack and his Promed listserv were always more professional than the deadline-based approach I took to informing the world about food safety stuff.

This was 1995. It would be another year before Al Gore would invent the Internet, my fourth daughter had just been born (she’s 21 and living in Vancouver, doing fine, having survived her mother and me) and I was a student trying to get my PhD.

So it was with sadness and continual respect that I read of Jack Woodall’s death on Monday evening, 24 Oct 2016, London time.

To say that Jack was critically important to ProMED-mail’s birth, growth, and successes would be a vast understatement. His creativity and foresight led to ProMED’s creation, to building it from its 40 original members to the over 80 000 we have today. On his watch, ProMED grew from a handful of dedicated volunteers in 1994 to more than 50 professionals in 35 countries today.

Jack articulated and focused the guiding principles that remain integral to our philosophy today. He understood that transparency in disease reporting is necessary for the early discovery of outbreaks. In an era when the International Health Regulations only required a handful of diseases to be reported by the member countries, Jack prided himself on beating the official sector in the public dissemination of outbreak reports. The One Health concept underpins all of our efforts at ProMED. Jack saw early on that so many emerging pathogens were zoonotic and that you could not begin to understand emerging infectious diseases without understanding the health of agricultural animals, wildlife, and the environment. Finally, Jack believed that ProMED should be seen as a complement to the traditional public health system, not an antagonist. That we should not criticize the action (or inaction) of governmental health authorities, but through our example, encourage them to make the right decisions, especially toward transparency.

Love, Actually sucks (as a movie); Love is great in real life

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

I hate myself.

Amy loves herself.

Maybe that’s why we get along.

High school was sorta traumatic, what with me killing a couple of friends in a car crash, doing jail time, and then going to university and hiding myself in my studies so that I eventually became a prof.

But I was always an asshole.

Over the years I’ve reconnected with some of those Brantford friends – facebook can be wonderful – and am grateful to learn what I never expected.

My high school friend Bob, who was always there for me, sent me a note the other day, saying, “And that’s why you are loved. If it helps I now cook all bbq with a thermometer-because of you-and the food is better; cross contaminated perhaps, but better tasting.

What an unexpected and kind thing to say.

Changing the world, one thermometer at a time (Chapman, I’m running out).

It’s really hard for me to accept love, for whatever reason.

But if I can coach hockey and be lineman for my first game, with people screaming at me, then maybe I can welcome some love too.

Vote

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

With the help of my technologically-enabled partner, I voted in the U.S. election today.

I’m now an Australian citizen and mandated by law to vote in Australia; Canada doesn’t seem to care much for my vote because I’m not a resident (and Justin’s cute, but can he deliver?) but the U.S. sorta matters.

So I voted.

Everyone who’s eligible should vote too.

NZ food safety laws stopping early childcare centres from giving kids food, charges Council

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Scientists, and other mere mortals, get lost in their public voice when they speak about things they have no clue about.

I agree with the active citizen, participatory democracy, but there are people who take some (rudimentary) form of training, like food servers and hockey coaches, which is much more than the critics ever do, and the posers should just shut the fuck up.

So when Early Childhood Council boss Peter Reynolds says, new rules have made early childhood education centres less safe because most food poisoning and allergic reactions in ECEs are as a result of food prepared at home, I gotta say, you got a source for that?

New food safety laws are forcing childcare centres to stop providing food for kids, or increase fees, the Early Childhood Council says.

Centres were now finding themselves facing bills into the thousands of dollars in inspections and compliance fees, which is likely to be passed onto parents,

The Food Act 2014 came into force in March, and was designed to ensure all food sold in New Zealand is safe.

Many centres have “had enough”, he said, and were now opting out of providing food.

Good choice. You’re not a certified kitchen, and stop feeding kids. Or this NSFV.

Pinto defense: We meet all standards, after 1 dead and six sickened at Perth childcare

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

In the Aussie form of see, hear and speak no evil, evidence has emerged that a child has died following an outbreak of gastro at a lower North Shore (Perth) childcare centre.

Six children at Little Zak’s Academy in Artarmon — aged between 11 months and four years — developed high fevers and vomiting over the past week caused by rotavirus gastroenteritis, health authorities have confirmed.

But a seventh child died, with the causes so far unknown, although the death is not being directly attributed to the outbreak.

Northern Sydney Public Health Unit director Dr Michael Staff said four of the sick children had to be admitted to hospital.

“Tragically, another child who also attends the centre died in hospital on October 23, but at this stage it appears unrelated to the gastroenteritis outbreak,” he said.

He said they were working with specialist paediatricians to understand the cause of the child’s death.

Parents were tonight in shock over the news of the death.

An email from the local health district informing them of what had happened was only sent through this afternoon.

Michael Kendall, father to five-year-old Charlotte, said that he was “furious” and would not be bringing his child back to the child care centre.

He said the centre should have been shut down during the outbreak — and that he only just found out about what had happened.

“It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard in my life, I only found about it 15 minutes ago, I just heard that a child has died.

“If I knew my child wouldn’t have been here.

“I used to run a big centre down at the snow and our first priority was to take care of people especially kids, once you have an outbreak you’re supposed to tell the parents and shut the premises down.”

A spokesman for the centre said Public Health Unit advice was that “the outbreak appears to be under control and it is safe for children to continue to attend the Centre.”

Little Zak’s said in a statement, “Please be assured our Artarmon Centre is fully accredited and compliant with all health and regulatory requirements, and we endeavour at all times to operate to the highest standards of care and hygiene. As confirmed by the Northern Sydney Local Health District, we will continue to work closely with its Public Health Unit to ensure these high standards are maintained.”

Pinto defense.

Food Safety Talk 111: The Meat Spot

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Food Safety Talk, a bi-weekly podcast for food safety nerds, by food safety nerds. The podcast is hosted by Ben Chapman and barfblog contributor Don Schaffner, Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers University. Every two weeks or so, Ben and Don get together virtually and talk for about an hour.

They talk about what’s on their minds or in the news regarding food safety, and popular culture. They strive to be relevant, funny and informative — sometimes they succeed. You can download the audio recordings right from the website, or subscribe using iTunes.

Episode 111 can be found here and on iTunes.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food fraud is a reoccuring problem; expired milk powder resold

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Substituting for cheaper, or expired inputs, or adding supplemental ingredients isn’t new in the food world. As long as there have been food, there has been food fraud.

Melamine in dog food, horse meat in beef lasagne or seagull meat mixed with other protein sources have all garnered attention and research. Food manufacturers in China, a huge and still growing food export market, have been fingered in multiple fraud cases. The latest incident, according to Stuff, centers around reselling expired milk powder.

Chinese police on Monday (NZT) arrested 19 people in Shanghai for selling about 300 tonnes of expired Fonterra milk powder, Shanghai Daily reported.

The suspects were allegedly managing a company, which was packaging expired products of the New Zealand dairy company – one of the most popular brands in China – into smaller packages for resale below market prices, according to media reports.

After a months-long investigation, the police discovered that one of the suspects sold the expired products to another company, who in turn allegedly resold almost 200 tonnes to distributors in Shanghai and in the Jiangsu, Henan and Qinghai provinces, who sold them on e-commerce platforms or in wholesale.

The authorities have seized 100 tonnes of these products and have shut down the websites selling them.

Fonterra spokeswoman Maree Wilson said on Monday night it supported the enforcement steps taken by Chinese officials.

“The Chinese authorities have acted strongly and swiftly to investigate and arrest the people they believe are responsible for this and we fully support their actions.
“Food safety is our top priority and we are committed to providing safe and high quality dairy products.

“We work actively with our direct customers to ensure the integrity of our products. This includes providing guidelines on how to manage expired product in a responsible way.

“In this case there appears to have been criminal activity much further along the supply chain.

“While we believe this is an isolated criminal incident, we are reviewing the case internally.”

Wilson said that, to Fonterra’s knowledge, the milk powder was not being resold with Fonterra packaging.

Bigger the brag, bigger the burn: Chipotle Q3 income tanks as food safety issues take toll

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

I have a cousin who has carried on the family tradition and makes a living growing asparagus.

In Ontario.

The family biz has gotten into all sorts of asparagus by-products and the farm has a large, devoted crowd of customers.

He proclaims his stuff is GMO-free.

Without going into the nuances of that statement, I said to him a few years ago while visiting, what happens if a super-great genetically engineered asparagus comes out that is beneficial to your farm, your income, and your customers?

He was too busy thinking about the present, and that’s fine.

But consumers’ attitudes can change in a heartbeat – or an outbreak.

Chipotle, the purveyors of all things natural, hormone-free, sustainable, GMO-free, dolphin-free and free from whatever apparently wasn’t free from the bacteria and viruses that make people sick.

And when food folks go out on an adjective adventure to make a buck, they sometimes get burned by the realities of biology.

And the bigger the bragging, the bigger the burn.

So it’s no surprise that the depth of the damage from Chipotle Mexican Grill’s food safety issues showed up in yet another quarterly earnings report Tuesday in which net income fell 95% and missed estimates compared to the same quarter in its high-flying days a year ago.

The Denver-based company reported third-quarter net income of $7.8 million, a dramatic fall from $144.9 million a year ago. Per-share earnings totaled 27 cents, compared with $4.59 a year ago. That was well short of the $1.60 estimated by analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Revenue sank 14.8% year-over-year to $1 billion during the quarter despite even though the fast-casual dining chain opened 54 new restaurants with only one closing.

To me, the amazing thing is that people still spend $1 billion a year at calorie-laden faux Mexican food.

Shares of Chipotle fell 2% in after-hours trading to $397.56. The stock has fallen about 38% in the last 12 months.

Chipotle restaurants are clearly struggling from the food safety issue that sickened customers last year and forced the temporary closure of some restaurants. Comparable restaurant sales — or sales of restaurants that have been opened at least a year — tumbled 21.9%. Comparable restaurant sales are estimated to fall again “in the low single-digits” in the fourth quarter, it said.

The company’s management is more optimistic for 2017, partly due to the lower base of comparison. Comparable restaurant sales will increase “in the high single digits,” it estimated Monday. And the company will open 195 to 210 new restaurants next year, after opening more than 220 this year. Per-share earnings next year will be $10, it estimated.

“We are earning back our customers’ trust, and our research demonstrates that people are feeling better about our brand, and the quality of our food,” Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement.

Not quite.

YouGov BrandIndex, a firm that tracks a brand’s reputation, regularly asks this survey question: Is Chipotle high or low quality? Before all the bad food outbreaks, Chipotle scored a very healthy 25 (on a scale of -100 to +100) for quality. It plunged to -5 by February. It has recovered to 9 recently, but that’s still far from where it was.

Translation: Customers don’t see Chipotle as the golden brand it was before the E. coli outbreak.

Be careful, cuz.

Posting restaurant inspection grades creates a dialogue

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Estimates suggest up to 70% of foodborne illnesses are acquired outside of the home. Every week there is at least one restaurant-related outbreak reported in the news media somewhere. Cross-contamination; lack of handwashing; and, improper cooking or holding temperatures are all common themes. These are the same things Peel Region (that’s in Canada) inspectors are looking for, according to the Mississauga News.

There are 50 health inspectors assigned to monitor conditions in the almost 5,700 food establishments operating in Peel Region.

Depending on what public health staff uncovers, those establishments are issued either green pass signs, yellow conditional passes or red closure orders.

Operators are required to post those colour-coded inspection notices at entrances to their businesses for the public to see.

According to Peel director environmental health Paul Callanan, the person in charge of the region’s health inspector corps, the vast majority of establishments in Peel pass regular inspection and are issued green signs.

“There’s about six per cent of food places that are considered that have a conditional pass or closed sign at any point and time,” he estimated.

In 2015, the region issued 9,656 pass signs, 319 conditional passes and closed 16 premises due to unhealthy conditions, while laying 189 food safety charges under public health protection legislation.

The public is free to view the most recent inspection results for food service establishments in Peel on a website portal maintained by the health department.

Surveying that database, it’s clear most restaurants have Peel Public Health’s approval to conduct business.

The health department’s disclosure website gives the public a window into restaurant kitchens, Callanan suggested.

It empowers the public by allowing them to make more informed choices about the establishments they wish to patronize, he said.

“You can log onto whatever your favourite restaurant is and look at the inspection history and if it varies between a green sign and yellow sign, I would wonder about that kind of establishment,” Callanan said.

I’m a fan of posting grades, regardless of the type of food business. While grades represent a snapshot, and don’t correlate well with outbreaks, they create dialogue and can lead to greater public discussion. There are limitations to a grade system because an inspection only reflects conditions at one point in time; the information collected by environmental health folks, no matter how limited, needs to accessible and clear so the public can make informed decisions.

NAACP members sue California hotel over ‘humiliating’ norovirus outbreak

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

NAACP members are suing an international hotel chain over a norovirus outbreak that sickened 127 people — everyone who ate the salmon — at the NAACP’s annual California conference at the upscale Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City in 2014.

Civil rights attorney John Burris listens as Alice A. Huffman, President of the California NAACP, talks about her experience with the staff at the Hotel Sofitel at the law offices of John Burris in Oakland Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Civil rights attorney John Burris announces the filing of a lawsuit against Sofitel Corporation on behalf of 127 NAACP members including Alice Huffman. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Civil rights attorney John Burris, one of the conference attendees who didn’t eat the fish, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, on the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 25, 2014 gala of around 300 black dignitaries, community leaders and youth. Attendants described brunch the next morning as a “humiliating” “horror scene” with NAACP members age 5 to 80 getting violently ill in the hotel lobby while hotel staff ignored them and provided no aid.

A spokesperson for Sofitel Corporation could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

California NAACP President and conference organizer Alice Huffman said the members were treated “like dogs” by hotel staff.

“I get very sad when I think about what happened to our people and then I get very annoyed at the hotel and the indifference that they showed us,” said Huffman, who said she had enough problems with the hotel before the conference to make her wonder if race was an issue.

Former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, who said he was in a coma for two days after being struck by the virus, was among more than three dozen attendees who were hospitalized.