Tag Archives: Australia

Sea World slammed for selling seafood

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Do fish tire of eating seafood?

Do fish like seafood as long as it doesn’t taste too much like fish?

Do fish care if seafood is served at Sea World?

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Australia thinks so, and wrote to Sea World manager Jeff Hughes asking for all fish dishes to be removed from the Main Beach marine park’s menu, claiming it is akin to "serving poodle burgers at a dog show."

PETA Asia Pacific campaign co-ordinator Claire Fryer said the educational marine park was hypocritical for selling flake, calamari and shrimp at the Dockside Tavern and cod burgers at the Top Terrace Food Court.

Ms Fryer said the way in which fish were caught for fish farms and confined to "cramped, filthy tanks before being violently killed," was inhumane.

Sea World refused to comment and has not replied to PETA.

1 child ill; Australia’s salmonella playground closed again

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In May 2008, children’s playgrounds were closed on Sydney’s Northern Beaches after a rare form of salmonella, paratyphi B var java, normally linked to tropical fish, sickened 23 toddlers. The sand was replaced at a cost of $140,000 but subsequent testing showed the same salmonella had returned.

In Sept. 2011, the park was again closed after 4 children were stricken with gastroenteritis and salmonella java was found in bark. And it was closed again in Dec.

The Manly Daily reports today that Winnererremy Bay’s Flying Fox Park has been closed for a third time in six months after a child fell ill from salmonella.

Pittwater Council temporarily closed the flying fox and climbing net area on advice from NSW Health, resulting from tests coming back positive for salmonella java in the playground’s bark soft fall material.

NSW Health confirmed a child was diagnosed with salmonella java after visiting the playground last month.

According to council, which received the unit’s advice on Tuesday, the child used the playground on January 10.
Testing was conducted in mid-January as a follow-up to bacteria being found at the playground in December.

According to council, two samples of eight were found to have the bacterium in the latest tests. The playground bark will be removed and replaced in the next few days before the area is reopened.

Food safety and public hygiene officers in decline in Australia too

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Public health is often on the front-line of budgetary restrictions.

And there’s indifference.

Same in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that students seeking to work for local government as environmental health officers to monitor public health laws such as food safety, water contamination and hygienic practices, are in decline, according to Curtin University.

The trouble has been competition with the mining sector, according to a university spokeswoman (the money sector, in Australia).

Environmental Health Australia’s state president Vic Andrich acknowledged the decline, saying local government as the prime employer of environmental health graduates had not provided competitive salary packages and promoted careers in environmental health.

He said the lack of action by the Department of Health in maintaining local government EHO numbers was questioned by the Auditor General in 2004 in the Food Safety Report, and raised again at the EHA WorkForce Summit 2007.

Mr Andrich however argued that any removal of Western Australia’s only fully accredited environmental health degree course will further compound the shortage of degree qualified EHOs to safeguard public health in WA.

The university has been reviewing the need to run the environmental health major in its bachelor of science (health, safety, and environment) course, as well as the health and safety major.

"At this stage Curtin University can confirm that there is no final decision to cancel this major," the spokeswoman said.

"The university is currently investigating the feasibility to review the content of the two majors to develop a single degree that may meet the standards of the professional bodies.

The university has also not accepted any new enrolments for the master of environmental health and postgraduate diploma in environmental health this year.

Class action filed against Australian bakery that sickened 22 with salmonella; ‘I won’t use commercial mayo, it’s foul’

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Maybe a legal jolt will prod Australians out of food safety complacency, but that’s especially challenging in a politico town like the national capital, Canberra.

ABC News reports 10 people are taking legal action against a Canberra bakery after allegedly contracting food poisoning.

Silo Bakery at Kingston was forced to shut for three days in December after ACT Health detected salmonella in mayonnaise used in a chicken roll.

It is believed raw egg in the mayonnaise was to blame for the salmonella outbreak which allegedly affected more than a dozen people.

Gerard Rees from Slater and Gordon in Canberra says some of those who were affected are seeking compensation for pain and suffering induced by the allegedly spoiled sandwiches.

"For five or six of the individuals I understand it ended up in hospital and a couple for relatively lengthy periods of time, weeks rather than days. So obviously people who were seriously affected would be entitled to far greater compensation for general damages or pain and suffering. Those who were off work as a result would be entitled to receive compensation for the time off that they had and if they had medical expenses they’re entitled to compensation for the medical expenses they’re paid as a direct result of the poisoning.

"What’ll happen is we’re investigating a claim in negligence. The claim will allege that Silo bakery was negligent in the way it stored and prepared the food. There is an ACT Health investigation underway as well that is looking into this. What we will do is look at each case individually."

At least 22 people were sickened with salmonella in Dec. at the Canberra bakery. In the aftermath of the outbreak, Silo co-owner Leanne Gray said officials have advised buying commercial mayonnaise or using pasteurized eggs. Her response: “That’s the foulest thing you’ve ever seen, so I said no, I won’t.”

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

Barbecued snags with side of salmonella

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I was going to bring along my tip-sensitive digital thermometer and help-out at a sausage sizzle for the kids today before tomorrow’s national holiday, but days of rain have thwarted any plans for the barbie.

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia, commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove on Jan. 26, 1788, and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland. The Brits viewed the settlement as necessary because of the loss of the 13 colonies in North America. The locals didn’t think it was that necessary.

The Aussies have fabulous parks everywhere, especially in Brisbane because so much of the city is in a flood plain. And there are free electric and wood-burning grills at almost every park.

So someone thought to test the cleanliness of the BBQs.

Of eight public barbecues across Melbourne surveyed by an accredited food safety specialist, all cooking surfaces were deemed safe at the time, but not so for benchtops around communal barbies.

Port Phillip Council acting mayor Frank O’Connor, whose municipality takes in St Kilda, said barbecues were cleaned twice a day between November and March with operation checked weekly. Contractors also regularly checked their heat output.

Australian sprouts recalled again

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There’s been another recall of mung bean sprouts grown in Victoria (that’s where Melbourne is).

For the second time this month, mung beans and mung bean and alfalfa sprout mixes have been recalled due to E. coli contamination. The salad mixes were grown in two separate locations, one in Flowerdale north of Melbourne, and the other in Gippsland in Victoria’s south east.

ABC News reports that “last year 46 people in Germany died from eating E. coli contaminated sprouts, however this is a different strain of the bacteria and considered unlikely to make people sick.”

Fifty-three people died in the German E. coli O104 sprout outbreak. And again, no details on what kind of E. coli, or if anyone is sick.

A table of sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.

Australian sprouts recalled for E. coli

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Gippsland Sprout Co has, according to Food Standards Australia New Zealand, recalled Gippsland Sprout Co Mung Beans and Flowerdale Farm Mung Sprouts due to microbial contamination (E.coli). These products have been available for sale from Melbourne Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market (Footscray), small grocery stores (including Inverloch Foodworks ) and green grocers in Victoria.

No details on how this E. coli was detected, what kind of E. coli, or if anyone is sick.

 

Politicians as epidemiologists: local council tries to pull rank on health department

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As accusations of secrecy and confusion continue over the salmonella outbreak at a Ballarat pizza joint (that’s in Australia, state of Victoria), that sickened 18 and killed one, another local council has said an eatery was incorrectly named and shamed by the health department and the Herald Sun for a food poisoning outbreak.

The Warrnambool Standard reports council staff yesterday declared that the Department of Health got it wrong in its attribution of a salmonella outbreak to Warrnambool’s Sushi & Noodle Canteen.

“Our guys don’t believe that place was the source of the outbreak,” council chief executive Bruce Anson said.

“They reckon (Sushi & Noodle Canteen) is the cleanest place in town. It’s where our health guys buy their sushi. Our guys just don’t believe it’s him … and it could put this poor bloke out of business. We’re seriously concerned this bloke’s been unduly blamed when there was no direct evidence.”

Mr Anson called the health department’s reporting of the Sushi & Noodle Canteen a “statistical issue (rather) than an error”, but unfortunately for the eatery’s owners, that report was used as the basis of a story in Saturday’s Herald Sun. The matter stems from an incident in January last year when seven people from one family contracted salmonella and presented at hospital.

As per protocol, the hospital informed the health department and, according to Mr Anson, informed them that three of the seven people had eaten noodles.

“Not all seven had eaten noodles (but) our guys went through the place from top to bottom, tested all this stuff, looked at all his food storage, cooking processes, checked temperatures … but they found no evidence to say it was him,” Mr Anson said.

“This name and shame stuff is fine … when it’s someone who’s done it 27 times … and is clearly crooked. But we think they’re wrong here (and) it affects this guy and his business.”

In an official statement yesterday, Warrnambool council’s health and local laws manager Murray Murfett said “council investigated an outbreak of salmonella in January last year and found no conclusive evidence linking the outbreak to the Sushi & Noodle Canteen.”

“Council advised the Department of Health that it could not establish a link between the outbreak and any local food outlet,” Mr Murfett said.

But health department senior media adviser Graeme Walker yesterday said the department stood by the report.

“Our public health people found there was direct evidence of the place identified being involved in a small cluster of food safety issues,” Mr Walker said.

Sushi & Noodle Canteen owner Steven Wei said he was perplexed by the Herald Sun article.

“In my shop, everything is clean and the council people come here and double check,” Mr Wei said. “They say everything is good. My shop being in the newspaper like that is not good for business.”

Eggs once again likely source of Australia salmonella outbreak

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Australia still has an egg problem.

So much so we made up a table of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia (thanks Gonzalo and Sol) available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

A month after 22 were sickened at a popular Canberra café from raw egg in mayonnaise, it now appears some sort of raw egg thingy is responsible for up to 19 illnesses and possibly one death linked to a Ballarat pizza joint.

Melbourne’s The Age reports tonight that eggs are the suspected source of a salmonella outbreak at Rizzo’s Pizza in Ballarat, which was closed for one week.

A department spokesman today confirmed there were 14 confirmed cases of salmonella poisoning linked to the restaurant, and another five suspected cases.

The man who died tested positive to salmonella and had eaten at the pizzeria, but the precise cause of his death was yet to be determined by the man’s doctor, the spokesman said.

The state Department of Health, local council types and the restaurant have been less than forthcoming with information.

The department spokesman said eggs were the likely cause of the outbreak, although it was unclear whether the outbreak was related to their storage or food handling.

The restaurant declined to comment.

An update: The Herald-Sun added some more details.

The salmonella outbreak has been traced to undercooked pizzas containing egg.

 

One man who claims he ate the pizzas, Matthew Campbell (right, photo from Herald-Sun), allegedly lost 8kg from severe food poisoning and is calling for the shop to be closed down permanently.

 

"I was sick for two weeks. That’s how I spent my Christmas break, on the toilet. It felt like I’d swallowed a ball of thumbtacks.”

 

Another Ballarat resident claims she was faced with a $500 vet bill after her cat’s organs began to fail after it was fed a bit of pizza.

 

Customers were still unwittingly buying pizzas from the shop tonight, unaware health officials ordered it be shut down for a week on December 30 after it began investigating a salmonella cluster in the regional city.

 

The Ballarat City Council is now responsible for pursuing any penalties against the pizzeria and has refused to rule out the possibility of charges of breaching the Food Safety Act.

18 sick, 1 dead in Australian salmonella outbreak

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A restaurant in Ballarat, northwest of Melbourne, was closed for a week on Dec. 30, 2011, after a cluster of salmonella infections including one death, were linked to the eatery.

A Health Department spokesman confirmed 13 cases of salmonella linked to the eatery, plus another five suspected cases.

Investigations are continuing into whether the death of an elderly man on December 30 is connected to the case.

Health officials said the premises required “a thorough clean-up” and they ordered an extensive overhaul of the business’s food-handling procedures.

Staff were also ordered to undertake more training in food handling.

In another example of repetition-doesn’t-make-it-right, he owner of the business said yesterday he was shocked by the incident.

“We’ve been using the same procedures for 21 years and never had such a thing. We don’t know what caused it but we have done everything the Health Department has asked us to do – everything – but we don’t know if it’s our fault or not.”

The owner said he had changed his supplier of eggs.

While the restaurant has reopened for business, it is still being monitored by Ballarat City Council.

Acting chief executive officer Jeff Pulford declined to say whether charges were pending.

“The matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation in conjunction with the Department of Health and as such it is inappropriate to make any comment,” he said.

If people were getting sick in Dec., the place was shut on Dec. 30, and almost two weeks later the restaurant is reopened with no more details than we’ve changed our egg supplier, it is more than appropriate to make a comment. How are consumers to know whether they should eat at the place or not?