In Australia, eggs bigger source of food poisoning than chicken

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Douglas Powell

As some of the 140 sickened with Salmonella linked to raw egg mayonnaise in Canberra prepare for legal action, The Canberra Times confirms that Australia has an egg problem (that’s what the headline says).

There has been an average of 100 cases a year of salmonella poisoning – or salmonellosis – in the ACT since 1991, but the number is actually higher as not everyone affected seeks medical attention.

Last year, there were 241 cases in the ACT, well above the 23-year historical average.

Rising national rates of salmonella infection led to the introduction of a national food standard for egg producers late last year to address the risk of egg products in salmonellosis. The national standard prohibits the sale of cracked and dirty eggs, and requires individual eggs to be stamped with the producer’s unique identification so they can be traced, but they say it is too early to tell whether it has had a positive effect.

The measures do not answer all the issues either, as it is up to individual jurisdictions to enforce the standard, although NSW has had an Egg Food Safety Scheme in place since 2010 for anyone producing more than 20 dozen eggs a week.

And with the largest-ever salmonella outbreak in the territory determined to be from the mayonnaise at the Copa Brazilian Churrasco restaurant, there is a lesson for all in food safety.

“I think there’s a pretty good awareness of food safety risks in general,” said John Hart, national chief executive of the Restaurant and Catering Association, “but this area and the risk that eggs pose is showing up to be an area where there isn’t sufficient education as to the risks.

“We’ve had two outbreaks of that nature in the ACT in recent times, and it’s certainly an area in which we need some significant education to stop these sort of outbreaks occurring. It seems that most of the incidents and significant incidents we’ve had in recent times have all been around eggs.”

The Restaurant and Catering Association says it’s going to do more education about raw egg risks, but for budding chefs who fancy some homemade aioli or nanna’s tiramisu, the buck stops with them.

Australian National University professor of infectious diseases and microbiology Peter Collignon said last year that distinguishing between egg providers was not necessarily enough.

”Any egg, whether it’s commercial or free range, can be an issue,” Mr Collignon said.

”My view is whatever egg I get from whatever source, it’s too hard to know, so I cook it.”

A table of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

‘Problem fingered’ but will anything change? Raw egg in mayonnaise source of Salmonella that sickened over 140 in Canberra

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Australia still has an egg problem; and it seems no matter how many outbreaks there are, how many people get sick, and how much business is lost, the cooks I talk with are fiercely committed to continue the use of raw eggs in mayonnaise, aioli and custards.

Expect more outbreaks.

Especially when the lede from the national Australian Broadcast Corporation is that the restaurant at the center of Canberra’s worst food poisoning outbreak is keen to reopen, not, why did such a large restaurant sicken so many people by relying on food safety fairytales?

More than 140 people became ill after eating at The Copa Brazilian Churrasco restaurant in Dickson at the weekend.

Fifteen people were admitted to hospital for treatment.

ACT Health found salmonella bacteria in mayonnaise used at the eatery.

Chief health officer Dr Paul Kelly says the restaurant could reopen within days.

“Now that we’ve really fingered the problem, we can actually work with them towards that in the coming days,” he said.

Dr Kelly says the use of raw eggs in restaurant food can be a problem.

“There are products on the market that pasteurize eggs, that may lead to a slightly less ‘foody’ answer to the problem, but it’s certainly safer,” he said.

“When you’re making mayonnaise at home then you’re taking your own risk. When you’re making six litres at a time using 30 raw eggs, then you just increase the chances I think to an unacceptable level. It’s a common practice in many restaurants across Australia.”

The case toll in that other, unrelated Canberra outbreak has now reached 90.

A table of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

Woolworths caught selling out of date food in Adelaide

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Douglas Powell

This is not your parent’s Woolworths. In Australia and New Zealand, Woolworths, related in name only, is the largest retailer. The other big supermarket is Coles. They both suck at food safety, based on personal observation, public talks full of sanctimonious nonsense that anyone could see through, and crap food.

Recently, Woolworths was cited for selling foods that were well past their use-by dates. Two different incidents were noted of Asian lamb and rice pre-packaged meals that were purchased almost two weeks after their use-by date. The store responsible for the sales is located in Adelaide.

According to food safety law, all foods must contain a sell-by or use-by date. Any items that could become dangerous to consume from bacteria or other contamination after a certain amount of time must contain a use-by date for consumer safety. All other foods should include a sell-by date. This date will only say the food may not be as good. It doesn’t indicate any danger or contamination.

In this instance, with Woolworths, the food had a distinct use-by date, indicating that consumption of the pre-packaged meals could result in danger to the consumer health. This means that the supermarket giant was in breach of food safety codes 1.2.5 set forth by the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Commission. According to Australian law, this breach of code can result in fines up to $250,000 total.

Woolworths used two different methods of defence while admitting their error: no one became ill from eating the two packages of expired foods and the problem was a result of staff error. Woolworths went on to explain that the staff of the store in question has since undergone intensive training on the proper way to handle any expired foods. The company admitted to the wrong doing but explained how they worked to handle the matter quickly.

The magistrate judge who handled the case stated to the press that the company would be the subject of seriously negative publicity and he felt this was a much better punishment than any fine he could charge. While Woolworths was not charged with any conviction, they were forced to pay the minimal fine to show that they committed wrongdoing.

‘MasterChef Australia’ ad achieves new low in sexism

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Douglas Powell

If Colbert doesn’t see color, I don’t see gender (and Colbert said much the same thing when interviewing NASCAR driver and Go-Daddy spokesthingy Danica Patrick last night.

According to Huffington Post, people never seem to tire of discussing the role of women versus men in the kitchen. There are books, columns and incessant panel discussions on the subject. While there are some hard truths — such as the fact that the restaurant industry is largely dominated by males — there are obviously many talented, hardworking and dedicated female chefs. That last sentence shouldn’t even have to be written, except for the fact that a new ad for “MasterChef Australia” seems to have set feminism back at least several decades. But it isn’t just females that should be offended by this ad — males are also reduced to silly, out-of-place archetypes as well.

Before we moved to Australia, I told Amy, it’s a lovely place, but it incredibly sexist and racist. Far more than you’d expect. The racism thing got covered by John Oliver last week, when he observed, “Australia turns out to be a sensational place, albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I’ve ever been in. They’ve really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper.”

Now one of those shows I refuse to watch because cooking is something to be done, with sons and daughters, and not watched while developing a lard–ass., MasterChef, has taken care of the sexism bit.

“The average woman cooks 1,000 meals per year. Men can’t compete with that.”

“All the top chefs in the world have one thing in common. They’re all men!” So it’s pretty clear from this line and the previous one that the women competing in this show are considered home cooks, whereas men are given the loftier title of “chef.” Also note that the men appear to be barbecuing, because nothing says “I’m a talented chef” like throwing some raw meat on the grill.

“Men are more experimental. A woman can multitask.”

Exact opposite in my family.

And in true Aussie fashion, MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan has promised the new series, Girls v Boys, has not gone down the path of being a reality soap opera that appeals to “bogans.”

War sucks but sometimes necessary: Anzac day in Australia

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Today (or tomorrow, depending on your time zone) is Anzac Day, which is supposed to celebrate the Australia New Zealand Army Corp.

It’s sorta grim, because Anzac Day commemorates the battle of Gallipoli in World War 1, between April 25, 1915 and Jan. 9, 1916, which was a colossal failure.

The campaign, says wiki, was the first major battle undertaken in the war by Australia and New Zealand, and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries.

Anzac Day remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand, surpassing Armistice Day/Remembrance Day

Chapman and his girl and me were in Sydney in 2002 at Bondi Beach, on an unseasonably warm Anzac Day, after hanging out with some food safety folks.

We didn’t understand why everyone had the day off and was partying, but didn’t mind.

The song Waltzing Matilda is Australia‘s most widely known bush ballad and has been referred to as “the unofficial national anthem of Australia.”

The title is Australian slang for travelling by foot with one’s goods (waltzing, derived from the German auf der Walz) in a “Matilda” (bag) slung over one’s back. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or “swagman“, making a drink of tea at a bush camp and capturing a sheep to eat. When the sheep’s owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker for the theft, the worker commits suicide by drowning himself in the nearby watering hole, after which his ghost haunts the site.

The original lyrics were written in 1895 by poet and nationalist Banjo Paterson. It was first published as sheet music in 1903. Extensive folklore surrounds the song and the process of its creation, to the extent that the song has its own museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, Queensland.

“And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971, which resonates more with folks who don’t remember swagmen (that’s me, above right, in one year).

The song describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticizing those who seek to glorify it.

In Brisbane, the mood in Anzac Square in Brisbane’s inner city is quiet and reflective as flags are lowered at half-mast.

I’d rather be there than Kansas.

Australia to irradiate tomatoes for pest control; and comfortably racist

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Douglas Powell

It was the only food hook I could find.

I miss Amy. I miss Sorenne. I even miss Australia.

But as noted by Daily Show correspondent (and Brit) John Oliver in a podcast that is stirring up more coverage than Aussie Adam Scott’s win at the Master’s golf tourney on Sunday, Australia is “a coastal paradise surrounding a rocky hell.”

Oliver was filming in Australia last week. Can’t wait for those shows to air.

In his Bugle podcast, he said: “Australia turns out to be a sensational place, albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I’ve ever been in. They’ve really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper.”

Oliver said he noticed that much vitriol was reserved for Australians of Lebanese origin.

“You can say what you like about Australian racism; it is undeniably specific,” he said.

“I had a couple of Australians – more than one – complain to me about all the ‘Lebos’ in the country, referring apparently to the Lebanese. Who the f— is annoyed by Lebanese people?

“In a way you have to admire the attention to detail. Not just all those Arabs, but the Lebanese. That’s like saying ‘You know who I can’t stand? Sri Lankans. Malaysians not a problem. Bangladeshis, lovely people, but Sri Lankans – I’ve got no time for them, Jose.’

“How many Lebanese people can there actually be in Australia? There’s only just over four million of these people in f—ing Lebanon.

“The one thing Australia cannot argue is: ‘There’s no room here in this country’, because that land is f—ing gigantic. That aside: fantastic place, can’t wait to go back.”

Oliver also interviewed former prime minister John Howard, describing the encounter as “an experience he didn’t seem to enjoy to his maximum capacity.”

One listener commented, “Where did you go in Aus? On the Bugle it sounded like you only met bogans and John Howard. No wonder you think we’re racists!”

(A bogan I’ve learned, through regular usage and Wikipedia, is a term that allegedly emerged in Melbourne‘s outer-Western and outer-Eastern suburbs in the late 1970s and is now commonly used Australia-wide to identify a person who wore acid wash jeans, ugg boots, and band t-shirts; had mullet style haircuts; and lived in the suburbs.)

The Daily Show is America’s leading fake news show. That means satire.

And Food Standards Australia New Zealand has declared irradiation safe for fresh tomatoes and capsicums (peppers) to destroy insects and bacteria.

458 sick: Calls for sanitation after Australian crypto outbreak

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Bendigo residents are being reminded about the importance of good personal hygiene after a state-wide spike in gastro cases.

The Department of Health has confirmed an increase in the number of cases of gastro caused by the cryptosporidium parasite which is found in the feces of humans, cattle and other animals.

There have now been 458 cases of cryptosporidiosis notified to the department this year, compared to 88 for the same period last year.

The Department of Health did not have a region by region breakdown of the figures but Bendigo Health confirmed a central Victorian was recently affected by a small gastro outbreak.

Bendigo Health’s infection control manager Jane Hellsten said the best way to prevent highly contagious gastro was through good personal hygiene.

“Hand hygiene, hand hygiene, hand hygiene – I can’t emphasize that enough,” she said.

But handwashing is never enough. Sick people should stay at home, isolating susceptible animals from public swimming areas as much as possible, and don’t eat poop.

Toilet-to-tap: don’t drink poop, unless it’s treated really, really well

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Don’t eat poop, and if you do, cook it.

Australians may be trying out don’t drink poop, unless it’s safely treated.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australians will be encouraged to embrace treated sewage for drinking in the largest-ever bid to overcome the ”yuck factor” and push the contentious option onto the national agenda.

A $10 million drive, partly funded by the federal government, aims to convince the public that introducing recycled water to drinking supplies is a palatable, cost-effective alternative to measures such as desalination.

The ”engagement strategy” will target households, students, politicians and the water industry.

Public scepticism and fears over health risks have traditionally kept the toilet-to-tap concept off the political agenda.

The chair of the project’s research advisory committee, Ian Law, said recycled water for drinking should be examined before crisis loomed ”when dams are full … so we have the ducks in a row when the next drought comes”.

The project, led by the University of NSW, will develop a national engagement program to show that recycled water is safe and reliable. It will include devising education programs, a social media campaign and demonstration projects where the public could see wastewater being treated. Similar schemes overseas allow visitors to sample the water.

The Brisbane-based Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence is co-ordinating the project, which will also examine recycled stormwater.

In a terrible example of risk communication, Mr Law said, ”There is nothing more powerful than an informed public,” he said, adding those who drank recycled water wouldn’t ‘”grow five heads.”

The target audience will remember the five-heads bit.

Crypto outbreak in Victoria, Australia pools

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Victorians could be in the poo, literally, if they sought relief at the local pool.

Victoria’s chief health officer Dr Rosemary Lester said there has been a three-fold increase in gastro cases after hot weather sparked people seeking to cool off at public swimming pools.

She urged those who have had diarrhea not to go into a swimming pool for at least 14 days after symptoms had stopped for fear of passing on the bug.

There were 155 Victorian cases of gastro caused by the cryptosporidium parasite last month, three times the February average of 53.

8 sick with Salmonella in Coffs Habour, Australia

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Coffs Harbour is, I’ve heard, a lovely beach town in northeast New South Wales on the Pacific Ocean, not too far south of the Gold Coast.

The Coffs Coast Advocate reports a total of eight cases of salmonella poisoning in the Coffs Harbour region have been reported.

“Four people were admitted to the Coffs Harbour Base Hospital and another two received treatment at the Emergency Department and were discharged,” said Paul Corben, director of the Public Health Unit.

“A further two people received treatment at home from a general practitioner.”

No idea what caused this, but given Australia’s history with raw-egg related outbreaks, and the prevalence of mayo and aioli made with raw eggs, especially at seafood places, it’s where I’d start.

A table of raw egg related outbreaks specific for Australia is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

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