Tag Archives: Australia

Name and shame bill introduced for Australian capital

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 A day after raw egg in mayonnaise served at a Canberra restaurant was fingered as the source of a salmonella outbreak, the Australian Capital Territory has introduced a name and shame bill to publicly disclose bad restaurant operations.

It’s not conspiracy, it’s coincidence.

The Food Amendment Bill 2011 proposes an amendment also requires businesses in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to display their current registration certificates to have suitably trained food safety supervisors at premises. Additionally, closure notices will have to be displayed at the entrance of a food business served with a prohibition order.

Chief Minister and Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher said today that the ACT Health Directorate has seen an increase in the number of businesses failing to comply with the required food standards over the past year.

“Together these amendments should enhance food safety, increase food regulation transparency and assist in reducing the social and economic costs of food borne illnesses.”

It was raw egg in mayonnaise at a bakery prepared by Colonel Mustard; 13 sick with salmonella, 5 hospitalized in Canberra

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Australia has an egg problem.

Health types have said as much in the past, but once again, salmonella in a raw egg dish has sickened a bunch of Australians, with restaurant owners claiming ignorance, no evaluation of whether people are doing what they say they are doing, and an opaque version of public health transparency with the consuming public.

The co-owner of the Canberra business at the center of a Salmonella outbreak says she is working with ACT (Australian Capital Territory, sorta like Washington, D.C., and home to the federal capital, Canberra) health authorities to ensure the safety of its food.

It is believed raw egg in mayonnaise made at the Silo bakery in Kingston is to blame for the outbreak.

ACT Health has confirmed 13 people have been affected by Salmonella bacteria.
Five were hospitalised with dehydration after suffering severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

The bakery has been closed by health authorities until the source is confirmed.

Co-owner of Silo Leanne Gray says she is scrupulous about food hygiene and is perplexed by the outbreak.

"Until those sub-species [lab] results come back the information is not conclusive," she said.

"But I do understand the Health Department have to take actions if they have suspicions and we have nothing to hide."

"We’ve decided as of Friday, no more mayonnaise and that’s forever."

But the information about the bakery was provided by ABC News. The ACT Health Directorate would only say it is currently investigating an outbreak of Salmonella gastroenteritis linked to a Canberra food business.

ACT Chief Health Officer, Dr Paul Kelly said, “Salmonella has been identified in mayonnaise containing raw egg, with further tests of food and environmental samples pending."

Ms. Gray, the bakery owner with “scrupulous food hygiene” has apparently never heard of raw eggs as a source of salmonella – although she did point out her eggs were free-range.

Hundreds of people have been sickened in Australia in the past five years from consuming undercooked eggs or dishes containing raw eggs, including 111 sick with salmonella from home-made aioli — a garlic mayonnaise that includes raw egg – at the Burger Barn in Albury, Australia last year. Other Australian outbreaks are available at these links.

http://bites.ksu.edu/blog/139189/10/01/25/it-was-aioli-australian-salmonella-toll-albury-rises-111-linked-raw-egg
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/137965/07/12/25/raw-eggs-sicken-50-aussies
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/139946/08/12/29/136-hospitalized-australian-bakery-fined-40000
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/139553/08/02/17/tasmania-rest-australia-wake-raw-egg-risks
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/140014/09/02/08/raw-egg-hollandaise-sickens-20-upscale-retirement-home

In May 2011, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the number of Australians sickened by egg-related salmonella outbreaks rose from 96 to a staggering 753 per year between 2001 and 2008. The rate fell to 358 in 2009, but eggs are still responsible for more than a third of all foodborne outbreaks linked to salmonella in Australia.

Martyn Kirk, a senior lecturer in epidemiology at the Australian National University, said eggs had become the most common cause of food-related disease outbreaks.

Restaurants are responsible for the bulk of poisonings: 40 per cent. And while cooking will kill salmonella, restaurants are allowed to serve foods containing raw eggs.

”Most of the vehicles we see associated with outbreaks are foods where the eggs are completely uncooked; things like chocolate mousse, tiramisu, hollandaise sauce and aolis,” Mr Kirk said.

While egg producers in NSW are now required to be licensed with the NSW Food Authority, no government body conducts regular bacterial tests on eggs, or monitors the presence of salmonella on farms.

A risk assessment commissioned by the Australian Egg Corporation in 2004 found refrigerating eggs could reduce outbreaks of salmonella. The lead author of the report, the microbiologist Connor Thomas, told the Herald salmonella cannot grow in temperatures below seven degrees, and refrigeration reduces the breakdown of protective membranes inside the egg that stop the bacteria’s growth.

But in April 2011, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) introduced changes to the food standards code, omitting any regulations related to temperature control.

A spokeswoman for FSANZ said it chose to exclude refrigeration requirements from the standard, in part, because of ”the substantial cost of implementing such an option.”

Ms. Gray, you can still serve mayonnaise. Use pasteurized liquid eggs, or pasteurize eggs yourself, or buy it commercially.

Salmonella reappears at Australian beach playground

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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.??

Over three years later, and once again, part of the popular children’s playground at Winnererremy Bay has been closed after testing revealed the presence of salmonella bacteria in the surface bark.

Pittwater Council general manager Mark Ferguson said the part of the playground that tested positive would remain closed while the bark was replaced.

Dr Michael Staff, of the Public Health Unit, who conducted the testing, said there had been no cases of gastroenteritis linked to the most recent contamination.
 

At least they didn’t say safest food in the world; ‘Aussie food is perfectly safe to eat, says regulator’

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The ‘perfectly safe’ headline came from ABC News (that’s Australian, not American) riffing on a slightly more modest government press release, “Study confirms safety of Australia’s food supply.”

Unfortunately, the study had nothing to do with microbial food safety.

What it did have to do with was the 23rd Australian Total Diet Study, which examined the dietary exposure of the Australian population to 214 agricultural and veterinary chemicals, 9 contaminants, 12 mycotoxins, and 11 nutrients. A total of 92 foods and beverages commonly consumed in the Australian diet were sampled during January/February and June/July 2008 by Government food agencies in each state and territory in Australia. Foods and beverages were prepared to a table-ready state before being analysed.

Dietary exposure was estimated by determining the concentration of the substance in the foods and beverages multiplied by the amount of food consumed by various age and gender groups, as reported in the two most recent Australian national nutrition surveys (NNS). The dietary exposure to agricultural and veterinary chemicals, contaminants and nutrients was assessed against available reference health standards to determine any potential human health and safety risks. Where there were no Australian health standards, internationally accepted reference health standards or Margins of Exposure (MOE) were used.

The ATDS found that for agricultural and veterinary chemical residues estimated dietary exposures were all below the relevant reference health standards. This is consistent with the findings from previous ATDS. In addition, there were no detections of mycotoxins in any of the foods analysed.

Estimated dietary exposure for contaminants were below the relevant health standards for all population groups at both the mean and 90th percentile consumption levels (high consumers).

The 23rd ATDS confirms the current safety of the Australian food supply in terms of the levels of agricultural and veterinary chemicals, contaminants, selected mycotoxins and nutrients.

Thanksgiving possum

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 We opted for a low-key Thanksgiving last night (today in the U.S. is tomorrow in Australia) with steak, prawns, mushrooms, potatoes, homemade rolls and, in a nod to our favorite American holiday, glazed carrots.

Although summer officially begins next week with temperatures in the humid 80s (F, 27s C) it gets dark about 6:30 p.m. because there’s no such thing as daylight savings in Queensland. Windows and doors are usually kept open to capture summer breezes, but closed as the nocturnal wildlife emerges at dusk.

I was slow.

Finishing a final prawn, a possum scampered by the patio door but instead of entering the dining area, high-tailed it across the deck and dove into a tree.

Those possums look cute but can be nasty. Two women in Tasmania became ill this year with tularaemia, in both cases linked to possum bites, the first time that strain of the disease had been found in the southern hemisphere.

Public Health Director Roscoe Taylor said there was a very small risk the disease could be spread through tank water.

"In theory, wildlife feces can accumulate on a roof and get flushed into your rainwater tank. But we believe the risk of getting tularaemia this way to be very low. Water treated with chlorine is safe to drink.”

1994 Australian E. coli O111 food poisoning legal fight ends

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In Feb. 1995, four-year-old Nikki Robinson died in Australia from E. coli O111 after eating contaminated mettwurst, an uncooked, semi-dry fermented sausage; 173 others were sickened, 23 of whom developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

The company, Garibaldi, blamed a slaughterhouse for providing the contaminated product, while the State’s chief meat hygiene officer insisted that meat inspections and slaughtering techniques in Australian abattoirs were "top class and only getting better."

By Feb. 6, 1995, Garibaldi Smallgoods declared bankruptcy. Sales of smallgoods like mettwurst were down anywhere from 50 to 100 per cent according to the National Smallgoods Council.

The outbreak of E. coli O111 and reverberations fundamentally changed the public discussion of foodborne illness in Australia, much as similar outbreaks of VTEC or shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. subsequently altered public perception, regulatory efforts and industry pronouncements in those countries.

Now, 16 years later, Adelaide Now reports that all 23 HUS victims of the Garibaldi mettwurst saga have been compensated and will receive free health care for life.

After 16 years of illnesses, hospital treatments, coronial inquests and legal negotiations, counsel for the victims today told the District Court all cases had at last been settled.

All that remains is for the final "second wave" victims and insurer QBE – who inherited the disgraced company’s debts and obligations – to sign off on settlement papers.

Outside court, lawyer John Doherty – who has represented the victims throughout – said QBE had paid out "multi-millions of dollars" but declined to give specifics.

He said the State Government would continue to provide ongoing medical care for each child.

"One child had an organ transplant, only for it to fail and for him to need another one," he said.

"Another boy was just six months old when he was infected – his mother donated her kidney for a transplant a few months ago.

"This is not like a broken arm or leg – these are conditions that these children will have for the rest of their lives."

A coronial inquest would rule Nikki was killed by toxins in the meat that attacked her brain and caused a fatal stroke.

Her death was the result of Garibaldi’s failure to upgrade its processes and standards.

The company had been a serial food-safety offender, responsible for poisoning 100 wedding guests with salmonella in 1990.

During the epidemic, doctors and nurses came to refer to the emergency department of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital as "a battlefield’ as children were admitted on a daily basis with severe symptoms.

Scott Granton (right,in 2005, with Nikki Robinson in background) was left with 50 per cent kidney function, developed type 1 diabetes and had to learn to walk again.

Previously, the District Court has heard 20 of the claimants fell ill during the "first wave" of the epidemic, reporting to hospitals within days of consuming the goods.

Mr Doherty said the hospital and the media deserved thanks for their efforts throughout the saga.

"The Women’s and Children’s Hospital is truly a venerable institution. The media really has been instrumental in brokering this result because of the pressure it has put on QBE and the State Government.

 

$236,000 fine for listeria-tainted chicken wraps on Australian flight

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A company that provided listeria-contaminated chicken to the airline Virgin Blue, sickening 29 passengers and causing two premature births in 2009, has received the largest fine of its type in New South Wales.

Directors of GMI Food Wholesalers pleaded guilty to 26 charges relating to the production, handling and sale of unsafe food.

They were fined $236,000 plus legal costs, in the Downing Centre Local Court. Details of the case will be published on the NSW Food Authority’s website today.

Hepatitis A case diagnosed at Canberra school cafeteria

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A canteen worker at a Canberra (that’s the capital of Australia) high school has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, sparking a mild health scare.

ACT Health says there is a very low risk to the 1,000 students and 100 staff and Lyneham High School but as a precaution is offering vaccines to anyone who might have eaten from the canteen between October 17 and November 4.

"It can potentially be transmitted through food … (but) the risk to people who have eaten at this canteen is also very low," acting ACT chief health officer Andrew Pengilley told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Food safety improvements in Aussie (NSW) restaurants

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Restaurants and food outlets in New South Wales (that’s the Australian state where Sydney is) have improved their food safety standards, at least according to the state government.

More retail food businesses are complying with laws that protect consumers from foodborne illnesses, Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said on Monday.

The annual local government activity report for 2010/11 put the overall compliance rate at 94.2 per cent, an increase of two percent on last year.

It means the rate of non-compliance has decreased from 10 per cent in 2008/09 to 5.8 per cent in 2010/11, Ms Hodgkinson said.

"It’s clear that food businesses are trying harder to comply with food safety standards but there is a small group that aren’t taking their responsibility to diners seriously. Enforcement penalties such as penalties, seizures and prosecutions are still necessary.

"We’re expecting that the introduction of the Food Safety Supervisors initiative will further encourage businesses to comply. To date 28,720 Food Safety Supervisors have been trained, dramatically improving food safety knowledge and awareness in food businesses across NSW. In addition, our Scores on Doors scheme will help to reward businesses that meet the food safety standards by giving them a way to show their customers how well they have performed.”

The 2010-11 Local Government Activity Report showed that:

Councils undertook a total of 61,046 inspections of the 38,475 high and medium risk retail food businesses across NSW that required inspection.

5.8 per cent of businesses inspected required ongoing intervention from their council – a decrease from 7.8 per cent in the previous year.

Councils issued 6,914 warning letters and 1,455 improvements notices during 2010-11.

Councils issued 1,374 penalty notices, a decrease of 32 per cent on the previous year.

Councils investigated 98.8 per cent of the 4,341 food complaints received by consumers.

The full Local Government Activity Report is available on the NSW Food Authority website – http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/industry/audits-inspectionscompliance/ localgovernment/activity-reports/

Natural cyanide found in apricot kernels forces recall

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One person has been hospitalized in Queensland, Australia, leading to a recall of ChiTree apricot kernels after samples were found to contain high levels of a naturally occurring cyanide.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young warned that ingesting the product could pose a serious health risk.

“Anyone who has purchased ChiTree apricot kernels are advised not to eat them as it is unsafe,” Dr Young said.

ChiTree apricot kernels are distributed by a Victorian-based company, which has begun a voluntary recall of the product.

All retail sales have been suspended, including those online.

According to the company, raw, bitter apricot kernels contain a substance called, amygdalin, believed by some to be of therapeutic value. A constituent of amygdalin is hydrocyanic acid, which is naturally occurring and found in the seeds of common fruit and berries. Cooking the kernels destroys the amygdalin content.