Australian politicians decided to be good politicians, not leaders – because pioneers get arrows in their back – and threw the issue of same-sex marriage to a public mail-in vote. The yes side won by a 2:1 margin, thereby undermining the foundation of Western society (or so some say).
I say, who cares, let same sex people enjoy the benefits and grief of marriage like the rest of us.
Australian food safety week is Nov. 11-18, 2017.
The organizers have been to my church, and the theme is not hockey, but, “Is it done yet? Use a thermometer for great food, cooked safely every time.”
Stick it in.
The theme last year was“Raw and risky.”
Uh-huh.
These PR thingies are increasingly meaningless.
Chapman is coming over in Jan. or so, once our renovations are done.
Bring another batch of thermometers, buddy.
If a group wants to promote thermometer use, give them away.
According to a self-reported bullshit survey, 70% of Australians don’t know that 75°C is the safe cooking temperature for high-risk foods such as hamburgers, sausages and poultry. 75% of Australians surveyed also reported that there wasn’t a meat thermometer in their household and only 44% of those with a thermometer reported using is over the previous month.
Eugene Boisvert of Au News writes that more than 40 per cent of ready-to-eat meals tested by South Australian health types contained an unsatisfactory level of bacteria, according to survey results published in the Eastern Health Authority’s annual report this month.
The SA Health survey said one of the tested meals contained 310 times the safe level of Bacillus cereus, and another had almost 13 times the safe level of E. coli, which comes from feces.
Out of 98 meals bought at local supermarkets and shops with a shelf life of 10 or more days, 42 had an unsatisfactory microorganism count.
Eastern Health Authority chief executive Michael Livori said more small businesses were trying to capitalise on the growing popularity of ready-to-eat meals without understanding the health risks involved.
“Most manufacturers who are normally in this business will (understand the risks) but there’s an increase in small businesses or retailers getting into this realm but not without risk,” Mr Livori said.
The SA Health survey and subsequent report, published in June, was sparked by Eastern Health Authority concerns about the standard of manufacturing processes of ready-to-eat meals.
The SA Health report recommended measures to prevent bacteria growing in ready-to-eat meals, including that they be heated to at least 90C for 10 minutes when being cooked.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Health Authority issued 10 businesses with prohibition orders in 2016/17, banning them from preparing, selling or transporting food until they cleaned up their act, compared with three in the previous two financial years.
Three Sydney noodle manufacturing businesses have been collectively fined more than $150,000 in relation to various food safety and hygiene failures under the Food Act 2003 and the Food Standards Code following a targeted project by the NSW Food Authority designed to address a high-risk food sector where compliance was less than satisfactory.
The “Fresh Noodle Manufacturers Project” was designed to improve standards in the fresh noodle industry after the Food Authority became aware of compliance issues within the sector.
Over a period of four months NSW Food Authority officers conducted 25 inspections where they considered the use of preservatives, process and hygiene control, product labelling and temperature control.
The resulting enforcement activity included three prosecutions where one company was fined $11,000 and its director fined $2,800, a second company was fined $27,000 and the most recent result saw a Sydney manufacturer plead guilty to 19 charges and fined $113,000.
Dr Lisa Szabo, NSW Food Authority CEO, said while the wider community may not recognise noodles as a high-risk food, the intrinsic properties of fresh noodles mean that if they’re not kept within careful temperature control they become a breeding ground for the growth of microorganisms that can cause food poisoning.
“The NSW Food Authority is committed to ensuring people buying and eating food in NSW can do so with confidence and certainty that what they’re eating is safe,” Dr Szabo said.
“We target our efforts of investigation and risk management to where they are most needed in order to best protect the public and also reduce regulatory burden on those industry sectors who have a proven record of doing the right thing.”
The NSW Government’s Food Safety Strategy 2015-2021 has a goal of reducing foodborne illness by 30% by 2021 and a compliance target of 95% for all food businesses with food safety requirements.
The family business in Minto, NSW, has reassured the community the rat’s appearance was a freak incident after a resident’s video was shared hundreds of times in the space of hours, reported the Macarthur Chronicle.
Restaurant owner Emily Tang said the rat likely rushed through the door from the street at the start of the day.
“I opened the door and it maybe came from the streets, trying to get into the kitchen,” she said.
“Every night we close the door, put down material at the door to stop the rats. We have never ever had any rats like this before.
“We called the pest control man straight away and got rid of the rat. We have always had a good record with the health inspector.”
The NSW Food Authority has issued an alert for diners of a top Sydney restaurant after a food handler employed there contracted Hepatitis A.
Any diners who ate at Sokyo restaurant in the Star Casino complex during September and October are being advised to contact their GP if they have any concerns.
The food handler, who works in the ‘hot food area’ in the restaurant’s kitchen, contracted the virus whilst travelling overseas. After being admitted to hospital with symptoms, hospital staff contacted the NSW Food Authority to advise of the issue after learning where the food handler worked.
NSW Food Authority performed a review the next day and concluded that processes and hygiene at the Sokyo restaurant are robust and that there there was a low risk of anyone being infected with no ongoing risk to other diners.
This Hepatitis A warning is unrelated to the current Hepatitis A outbreak occurring throughout Sydney.
Like any good Canadian, I spent my Australian day watching hockey (Detroit at Toronto) with the volume off and the Tragically Hip blaring in the background, applying to renew my Canadian passport along with one for Sorenne, and watching concrete being poured as we stop our house from sliding down the hill.
(Should make to a good shooting gallery for Sorenne and Amy to improve their puck skills.)
Excited to have Canadian daughter 4-of-4 arrive with her boyfriend on Tuesday.
Leafs won, 6-3, to go to 5-1-1.
My friend Steve is already planning the June parade, and I said I would return to Canada for that, since the Leafs last won the Cup in 1967, when I was 5-years-old, and started receiving pucks to head.
Parents complained the episode encouraged their children to play with the dangerous creatures and gave the “inappropriate” message they were harmless, The Sunreports.
The 2004 episode Mister Skinny Legs has been taken down for a second time after it was first removed from the internet in 2012.
The Evening Standard reports how in the episode a terrified Peppa Pig is told by her dad that spiders “can’t hurt you”.
The cartoon pig picks the spider up and tucks it into bed before Peppa says: “We are all going to have tea with Mister Skinny Leg.”
The ABC banned the show but it was aired again on Nickelodeon channel Nick Jr on August 25 this year, although they have since agreed to remove the show.
While Australia is home to some of the most deadly spiders on earth the UK — where Peppa Pig originates — has almost no spiders that are dangerous.
Paternal age increased across the country: the oldest fathers lived in the Northeast, and the youngest in the South. There were average age increases across all educational levels, races and ethnicities. The report appears in the journal Human Reproduction.
In 2015, fathers with college degrees were 33.3 years old on average, compared with 29.2 for those with only a high school diploma. Asian fathers were the oldest on average by ethnicity, and blacks and Hispanics the youngest.
My first kid was born when I was 24.
I’m 54 and have an 8-year-old.
I get to go watch my daughter play hockey this afternoon, and will sit in the stands and enjoy the moment – mindfully.
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Panhellenic Council has postponed sorority recruitment due to an outbreak of norovirus-like symptoms for a “significant section of the Greek community,” according to an email sent to students Thursday.
The council said it has taken the recommendation of Campus Health and the Orange County Health Department to cancel at least Thursday and Friday’s planned events.
“Please go to Campus Health immediately if you are showing any symptoms,” the Panhellenic Council said in an email.
In Australia as we welcomed the first day of spring, hundreds of people have been struck down by gastroenteritis with New South Wales Health urging affected people to stay home and follow medical advice.
NSW Health said at least 348 people were affected by the bug in these outbreaks, which is more than double the previous five-year weekly average number of outbreaks for August.
And the bug finally has a name.
Director Communicable Diseases, NSW Health, Vicky Sheppeard said it appeared the outbreaks were caused by viral gastroenteritis including rotavirus and norovirus which spread easily.
“If your work involves handling food or looking after children, the elderly or patients, do not return to work until 48 hours after symptoms have stopped.
“The best defence against gastroenteritis is to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and running water for at least 10 seconds before handling and eating food, and after using the toilet, changing nappies or assisting someone who has diarrhoea or vomiting.”
10 seconds? In the U.S. it’s 20. How can all these scientists come up with different recommendations when looking at the same data. Values. And I agree with 10.
Winter has been a bad season for gastro in Australia; 1900 people attended NSW emergency departments with the bug in early August.
Brisbane has also been affected by an outbreak, with 51 childcare centres hit in the eight weeks to August 14.
NSW Health said all children should receive the rotavirus vaccine for free as part of the National Immunisation Program.
These figure come after NSW Health data showed there were 35,670 confirmed flu cases in NSW last month, making it the worst month on record for flu cases in NSW.
In this study, the authors observed student compliance with hand hygiene recommendations at the height of a suspected norovirus outbreak in a university residence in Ontario, Canada. Data on observed practices was compared to post-outbreak self-report surveys administered to students to examine their beliefs and perceptions about hand hygiene. Observed compliance with prescribed hand hygiene recommendations occurred 17.4% of the time.
Despite knowledge of hand hygiene protocols and low compliance, 83.0% of students indicated that they practiced correct hand hygiene during the outbreak. To proactively prepare for future outbreaks, a current and thorough crisis communications and management strategy, targeted at a university student audience and supplemented with proper hand washing tools, should be enacted by residence administration.
I say, who cares, let same sex people enjoy the benefits and grief of marriage like the rest of us.
