‘MasterChef-itis’ leading to Australian restaurant staff shortages (and dumb food safety)

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Young Australians are attracted to the “rock star” chef lifestyle depicted in reality cooking shows, but don’t want to put in the hard graft to get there, Good Food Guide editor Myffy Rigby says.

rockstar-chefRigby has just released the latest annual Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and said while the food industry was going strong, many restaurants were still having a tough time finding staff.

A Deloitte Access Economics report last year found a current gap of 38,000 staff across the tourism and hospitality sector, a shortage predicted to increase to 123,000 by 2020.

The report predicted demand would be strongest for chefs and restaurant managers.

However, Rigby said young people in particular just weren’t prepared for the years of physical toil it required to make it to the top.

“I think there’s a little bit of MasterChef-itis, I’m going to call it.”

Meanwhile, the Guide announces 11 café trends they’re glad are going away.

Here’s another: No more raw eggs in mayo and aioli.

But that’s a food safety thing and can’t compete with food porn.

Until people get sick.

Amy Schumer and beau hospitalized with food poisoning during Paris vacation

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Amy Schumer revealed via her Instagram that she was hospitalized in Paris on Monday after suffering from food poisoning.

amy-ben-435However, the Trainwreck star appeared to be in happy spirits despite the ordeal.

“Thanks for everything Paris! Except the food poisoning. #nooooooooooo #balmain #nyfw,” she wrote.

Another post saw Schumer and her boyfriend Ben Hanisch, who also had food poisoning, in bed wearing white shirts, with Schumer’s saying: “NO COFFEE NO WORKEE.”

Later in the day, she posted a video of her sitting near a window with a view of the Eiffel Tower, eating soup with a ladle from a large bowl.

10 sick: Unpasteurized, this time ‘green for life’ camel milk in Israel

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Ten additional people have come down with brucellosis after consuming camel milk, it was revealed today (Thursday, 8 Sep 2016) when the Ministry of Health extended the administrative closure of a business dealing with this product. A month ago, it was reported that 2 children were hospitalized in mild to moderate condition at the Ichilov Hospital [Tel-Aviv] with brucellosis resulting of drinking the said milk.

camel-milkConcurrently, the Be’er Sheva Magistrate indicted E.L., the manager of an enterprise engaged with the storage and marketing of milk and milk products “Green for Life” or “Genesis Milk” in Moshav Sitria, Shefela district. Prof. Shmuel Rishpon, Acting District Medical Officer [DMO] – Center District, signed today the extension of the closure order of the business, issued by the DMO/Center, Dr. Ofra Havkin, on 11 Aug 2016, for 30 additional days.

The Acting DMO’s decision stated that the closure order was extended because during an inspection/control visit to the enterprise, performed about 2 weeks ago, it was found that — in breach with the previous order — camel milk was encountered in the premises. Even worse, since the decree was issued last month, information on 10 additional brucellosis patients, infected by the consumption of the milk, has been obtained. “This situation is indicative of continued immediate danger to public health from the consumption of the camel milk,” Prof Rishpon stated in the issued order.

Would I lie to you: Reducing risk of disease in dogs (and humans)

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Approximately 35% of households in the United States and Canada own 1 or more dogs, totaling an estimated 75 million dogs in the United States and Canada. Despite continuous development of health promotion and disease prevention products and strategies, infectious disease remains an important contributor to disease and death for dogs. Hundreds of pathogens infectious to dogs have been identified, with more emerging over time.3 Some of these pathogens can also cause disease in people, leading to published recommendations to reduce the risks of human disease associated with animal settings.

sadie-dog-powellMany opportunities for transmission of infectious disease are amplified when dogs are brought together in a shared environment. Settings that involve the temporary congregation of numerous dogs for competition, play, or boarding (often from various geographic locations) are of particular infectious disease concern. Such canine group settings are popular; some of these activities may involve thousands of dogs attending events over several days. Infectious agents introduced into these group settings may lead to disease outbreaks, with the potential for further spread into the communities where the dogs reside, putting many dogs (and potentially humans) at risk.

The process of preventing or reducing the transmission of infectious diseases is complex. Disease agents vary in environmental stability, transmission modes, infectivity (ability to spread between hosts), pathogenicity (ability to cause disease), and virulence (ability to cause severe disease). Additionally, a combination of individual-, population-, and environment-level factors influences the development of infectious diseases in dogs. Individual-level factors include age, immune and health status, acquired immunity (previous infection or vaccination), diet, preventive care (eg, ecto- and endoparasite control), and hand hygiene by the people that handle them. Population- or event-level factors include herd immunity, dog density, event cleaning and disinfection practices, and degree of direct and indirect dog-to-dog contact. Environment-level factors include exposure to infectious agents through pathogen-infected vectors (influenced by geography, time of year, and degree of contact with vector-dense locations) or wildlife or their contaminated environment (eg, urine- or feces-contaminated water).

Some factors have individual- and event-level components requiring an integrated approach to risk management. For instance, to reduce indirect pathogen spread, individual efforts, such as the practice of hand hygiene between handling of dogs and use of effective disinfectants, must complement event-level procedures, such as policies and availability of disinfectant and hand hygiene products.

Given the complexity and importance of integrating individual- and event-level efforts, effective disease prevention in canine group settings would be facilitated by evidence-based guidelines that could be widely disseminated and flexibly applied to create disease prevention, risk mitigation, and control programs. In human group settings, disease prevention programs involving standards, recommendations, and regulations are commonly used; similar programs are also being applied in equine group settings. On the other hand, limited standards, guidelines, recommendations, or regulations currently exist regarding infectious disease prevention for canine group settings. For instance, the American Kennel Club has limited rules for addressing infectious disease opportunities during its dog events, and although policies have been developed for many dog parks and privately owned boarding facilities, no standard set of recommendations exists to guide such policies.

Animal shelters house concentrated populations of dogs and have developed resources to guide disease prevention and control programs in their facilities; however, such settings involve a largely unowned population, necessitating somewhat different strategies. The objectives of the literature review reported here were to identify the specific risks of infectious disease transmission among owned dogs in transient group settings in the United States and Canada and use this information to develop prevention and control recommendations.

Risk reduction and management strategies to prevent transmission of infectious disease among dogs at dog shows, sporting events, and other canine group settings

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

September 15, 2016, Vol. 249, No.6

Stull et al

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/full/10.2460/javma.249.6.612

Uber lawyers for Uber food?

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I never liked Ikea.

The stuff looks great in the showroom but is a pain to assemble and never quite looks the same.

ikea-is-testing-diy-food-at-one-of-their-stores-allen-wrench-not-included_1IKEA is opening a “Do-It-Yourself Restaurant”, in which diners will be the chefs. Anyone attending IKEA’s ‘Dining Club’ will be able to cook a meal for up to 19 pals under the supervision of a head chef.

According to an Ikea statement, “diners will orchestrate an intimate foodie experience in a homely kitchen environment to mimic an actual dinner party, but one where diners can host many more guests than usual.”

No mention of liability.

I don’t want a do-it-yourselfer who only knows about food safety from cooking shows – fail – preparing meals for anyone.

We’re gearing up to host Canadian Thanksgiving for a few dozen people at a park so the kids can run around and the parents can chill. I cook the bird. I’ll transport it safely and I’ll serve it safely. Who knows what other microorganisms the others will bring.

Danielle Bowling of Hospitality Magazine writes that Australia has welcomed a new food delivery service, FoodByUs, where home cooks – not chefs – are the ones preparing meals.

After receiving a $2 million investment, the concept launched in late August and is the brainchild of Ben Lipschitz, Menulog co-founder Gary Munitz and Tim Chandler, ex-Menulog lead developer.

foodbyus_2-jpgFoodByUs allows consumers to order meals or snacks prepared by home cooks, and either pick it up from their house, or have it delivered for an additional $5.

Lipschitz said consumers need not be concerned about the fact that the meals aren’t prepared in a commercial kitchen.

“Food safety is taken very seriously at FoodByUs. There’s absolutely nothing illegal about selling food that’s made from your home. It’s very clearly regulated by councils and at times, state government. So we make sure that the cooks are compliant and we help them in understanding those processes,” he told Hospitality.

Pinto defense: we meet all government standards. Flashing red light warning.

Depending on the food being prepared, local councils may or may not inspect the cook’s kitchen, Lipschitz said, and FoodByUs – which has recruited 80-odd cooks, including ex-chefs and MasterChef contestants – doesn’t require food to be prepared in its test kitchen before making it available to consumers.

Ex-chefs and MasterChef contestants know shit about food safety in Australia (see any of the post entitled, Australia still has an egg problem).

“There’s no need to watch them prepare it, and in fact the requirement in terms of their premises always falls back on the council, so from our perspective there would be no point having them prepare it in our kitchen.

“The application process simply involves the cook bringing their food into a tasting centre and allowing us to do a quality and taste test. At that point we also take identification so there’s accountability and then they’re able to sell food on the network. The third thing we do is that every single buyer must review their purchase; they actually can’t continue using the service or app until they’ve reviewed their purchase. That means that we’ve got live, up-to-date feedback,” he said.

Maybe they have those groovy bacteria-sensing goggles.

From the advert:

Experience

Not Applicable

Job description

Cook, bake and create family meals in your area – flexible hours, great income

Earn over $500 / week, reaching thousands of buyers

Create Your Own Products, Schedule & Pricing

Free to Join, No Contracts

https://www.foodbyus.com.au/maker-registration/

Are you a quality cook looking for additional income? Turn your kitchen (home or commercial) into dollars by selling food to a huge community of hungry local buyers looking for quality meals to feed their families. FoodByUs (www.foodbyus.com.au) is actively looking for passionate cooks to make authentic food. Aussie favourites, food from back home and food specially crafted for different dietary requirements are all welcome. Our part-time food makers earn over $500 / week and it’s free to join.

FoodByUs.com.au allows cooks to sell quality food online. No one who sells food on our site is a restaurant or big producer – rather we enable passionate cooks who make food from home or a commercial kitchen to independently sell their own food! You can make anything from delicious lunches and dinners through to sauces, cakes, cookies, pies or even empanadas if you like. Create your own products, your own cooking schedule and your own prices. We have appeared on national media like The Today Show, Channel 10, news.com.au, Grazia and more – we’re well known and ready to get you customers.

Not a mention of food safety.

Lawyers, sharpen your pencils.

It’s hard to get Hep A off of frozen berries

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Berries are a staple of my diet; I go through about 2 lbs a week of raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. When fresh berries are too expensive (or don’t look great) I substitute with frozen ones – and often cook them before eating to control for viruses.
Last year, following a hep-A-in-berries outbreak in Australia, we made a food safety infosheet and included the following risk management steps:foodsafetyinfosheet-2-27-15-2
•Consider getting vaccinated. There is a vaccine for hepatitis A that can provide protection from the pathogen from frozen berries and other potential sources.
•Cook frozen berries. They have likely not been heat treated. The science is complicated but the best guess is, boiling berries can inactivate hepatitis A.
•Clean and sanitize. Cooking doesn’t address cross-contamination risks – thawed berries release juice that could contain the virus.
•Know your suppliers and ask questions. Find out how they address risks with the products they buy; ask about how good agricultural practices (GAPs) including employee hygiene safe water sources are implemented and assessed
•Wash your hands. Good handwashing, especially in food service, can protect patrons if you or another food handler is shedding the virus.
Sorta the same stuff I told Sara G. Miller of Live Science when she called to chat about the virus and berries.
Nearly 90 people in seven states have become sick in an outbreak of hepatitis A linked to frozen strawberries imported from Egypt, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But how does the hepatitis A virus get into strawberries?
Berries of all types are actually a common conduit for viruses, said Benjamin Chapman, a food-safety specialist and an associate professor at North Carolina State University. 
One of the reasons for this is that berries are very delicate, and so unlike other, hardier fruits and vegetables, berries need to be harvested by hand, Chapman told Live Science.
Because hepatitis A is spread through the “fecal-to-oral route,” if workers picking berries were infected with hepatitis A and had not properly washed their hands, they could transfer the virus from their hands to the berry, Chapman said. In parts of the world where hepatitis A is more common, this is definitely a risk, he added.
It’s more likely, however, that the water used to irrigate the strawberries was the source of the virus in this outbreak, Chapman said (I based this guess on the size of the outbreak, but who knows -ben). And, yes, because of that fecal-to-oral route, that means sewage-contaminated water.
And once a berry is contaminated, it’s unlikely that the virus will be washed off, Chapman said. Because berries are more delicate than other fruits, they’re not washed as often, he said.
The next step, freezing the berries, only further preserves the virus, Chapman said. And because frozen berries are sold as “ready to eat,” people are unlikely to heat them before eating, he said. This is especially likely if the berries are being used to make a smoothie, as occurred in the current outbreak, he added.
Chapman said that he actually microwaves all of his berries before eating them or refreezing them, though he added that his method of heating them to above 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees C) might be overkill.
Still, there’s not enough data to suggest that just rinsing the berries would sufficiently remove a virus, he said.

Fermented seal flipper may be causing botulism in Nunavut

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Last week a friend told me about about her introduction to pruno – the legit kind, not the the stuff used to impress your Orange is the New Black fan friends. My friend’s sister, who is in prison for meth fabrication just had time added to her sentence for fermenting jailhouse hooch.superthumb

To make pruno, a sugar source (like fruit acquired from a prison lunch) is put into in a bottle or bag, the naturally occurring yeast should convert the carbs into alcohol – creating some low-cost wine. If the sugar source is acidic fruit, the low pH will suppress the germination of C. bot spores. If a potato is added by the amateur microbiologist it can raise the pH enough to allow toxin formation.

The same sorta thing happens with seal flipper the traditional method of making the northern delicacy usually includes burying the appendages. It used to be directly in the ground but plastic containers are generally used now – which can turn the fermentation into an aerobic type. If the pH drop is incomplete, coupled with no oxygen, there’s a botulism risk.

According to CBC News some folks in Nunavut (that’s in Northern Canada) might have been exposed to the deadly toxin through fermented (or semi fermented) seal

bc2ac88a60fce1c8d95363f4a9d4dbdaNunavut’s health department is warning people in Sanikiluaq not to eat fermented seal, after it received reports of people becoming sick with botulism after consuming the meat.

In a news release, the department says it’s investigating the reports.

Anyone with symptoms should contact the health centre in Sanikiluaq.

The Department is also asking anyone with leftover fermented seal that could be used for testing to call their regional environmental health officer.

10 sick: E. coli strain that closed Matador restaurant found elsewhere

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JoNel Aleccia of The Seattle Times reports that an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that closed the Matador restaurant in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood last week appears to be linked to more illnesses in Washington and three other states, health officials said Monday.

matador-seattleIn addition to the five illnesses linked to the Matador, two more Washington cases — one in Skagit County, one in Snohomish County — have been detected that have no connection with the Matador, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Health said Monday.

And three cases with the same genetic fingerprint have been detected in three other states, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated. One of those people visited Seattle and ate at the Matador in Ballard.

That’s a total of 10 cases of what are known as STEC infections — but just six of those cases appear related to the restaurant.

Such dispersed illnesses indicate that the problem might not lie entirely with the Matador in Ballard. The restaurant closed Friday after inspectors with Public Health – Seattle & King County said they temporarily suspended the firm’s food business permit to allow thorough cleaning and sanitizing.

“It’s looking more like a potential source, a contaminated product,” said Dr. Meagan Kay, a medical epidemiologist with King County.

State and federal officials have taken over the probe, she added.

Restaurant owner Zak Melang, who runs 14 sites in several states, said the problem may lie with an outside vendor. He urged health officials to investigate quickly to clear his name.

“It’s our reputation on the line,” he said Monday. “The questions aren’t stopping.”

Since 2010, the Matador has been cited 10 times for food-handling practices linked to higher risks of food-borne disease, according to public-health records. Six of those violations were for failure to keep food at the proper cold holding temperatures, which keeps bacteria growth in check, the records show.

Blame Australia: 3 new noroviruses cause gastro outbreaks across Australia

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University of New South Wales scientists have identified three new strains of highly contagious norovirus that are responsible for a major new epidemic of viral gastroenteritis that has affected hundreds of thousands of Australians over winter.

keep-calm-and-blame-it-on-australiaScores of outbreaks of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea have occurred in Sydney, the Hunter region and the ACT, mainly in closed settings including aged care facilities, hospitals, childcare centres and cruise ships. More cases are expected.

In 2012, Professor Peter White and his team in the UNSW Faculty of Science discovered a new strain of norovirus named Sydney 2012, which caused a worldwide pandemic of gastro, including major outbreaks in Australia.

This strain dominated cases of norovirus infection until this year, when it declined from 75 per cent of cases to 18 per cent of cases in Australia. Similar trends have also been seen in the US and New Zealand.

“Now that Sydney 2012 has declined, three new strains of norovirus have emerged as a new major health concern,” says Professor White.

“They are responsible for a big increase in the number of gastro cases in Australia in the past two months, and this new spate of infection is likely to continue to cause a wave of sick leave that will affect businesses and schools already reeling from the effects of the current influenza epidemic.”

UNSW PhD student and molecular virologist Jennifer Lun worked out the genetic typing of the new viral strains.

“I was surprised to find three new viruses, rather than a single one,” she says.

“Two of the viruses are hybrid strains that evolved from the previous pandemic Sydney 2012 strain, while the other new strain is likely to have come from Asia. It occurred to me immediately that there was a potential for them to cause an increase in outbreaks this winter, because people have not been exposed to them before.”

norovirus-2Each year, norovirus infects about two million Australians and kills about 220,000 people worldwide. The nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea usually last for two to three days.

“Norovirus is highly infectious and can spread through aerosol particles when people vomit,” says Professor White, of the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Molecular Sciences.

“During the past 20 years there have been six global epidemics of norovirus, in 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2012. Only time will tell how widely these three new strains will spread.”

The research on the new strains was carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Westmead Hospital, Canberra Hospital, the NSW Public Health Unit and medical testing service Douglass Hanly Moir.

Professor White established the Australian and New Zealand Norovirus Surveillance Network of testing laboratories in 2006, which has links with two similar organisations in Europe and North America to form a global surveillance network.

Churchill’s secret plan to stink bomb the Nazis

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Further to the on-going discussion of farts comes word that of all the hideous weapons devised during World War II — Little Boy, the Doodlebug, the bouncing bomb — the British secret service came up with the silliest.

mallrats-brodie-bruce-stink-palm-jared-svenning-michael-rooker-jason-lee-pretzels-reviewDeclassified letters in an American archive reveal that the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Winston Churchill’s cherished forerunner to MI6, set up a program to undermine German and Japanese officers in occupied countries by squirting them with stinking fluid.

Concealed in brass perfume sprayers or little gelatine grenades, the devices were designed to contaminate enemy officers with a “highly persistent smell suggestive of personal uncleanliness”.

In an exchange that could have been taken from a Monty Python sketch, a British military intelligence officer sent one of his US counterparts the complete plans for an olfactory weapon known as “S liquid”. The S was short for “stench”.

Based around skatole, a compound with an intense faecal reek produced by bacteria as they break down meat in the gut, it was intended to make Nazi officers the objects of mockery and contempt and sow alarm and confusion in their meetings.

On August 4, 1943, as the SOE was ramping up its campaign of sabotage in German-occupied France, Wing Commander TR Bird told Stanley Lovell of the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a predecessor to the CIA, how to make the obscene formula.

“Up to the present, our employment of evil-smelling substances has been mainly for the purpose of contaminating individuals’ clothing,” he wrote. “Since the air in any ordinary public meeting room is generally free from smell, almost any strange smell which cannot readily be accounted for would arouse suspicion which might easily culminate in fear or even panic.”

The officer appended sketches of an antecedent to the modern joke-shop stink bomb, which would release a gust of skatole when pierced with a pin, and a miniaturised cologne atomiser to be “carried about secreted in the hand or pocket”.

He also discussed the smell given off by the “stinking ant” found in South Africa, whose smell was thought to induce extreme nausea.

The papers were uncovered in the OSS archives near Washington by Mary Roach, a Californian science writer, during her research for Grunt, her book about science and the American military.