Tag Archives: Australia

10K bill for Australian shellfish company convicted of selling E. coli infected pipis

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A pipi is apparently a small, edible saltwater clam found in parts of Australia, not something newly potty-trained children scream as they run to the toilet, as in, “Mama, I’m starting to go peepee.”

The New South Wales Food Authority reports a Warilla company, Lavender Investments Pty Ltd, was convicted in the Chief Industrial Magistrate’s Court in Wollongong on 16 September 2011 for selling pipis that were found to contain an unacceptable level of Escherichia coli.

The NSW Food Authority conducted random sampling on the company’s shellfish for sale at a fish market in Sydney on 27 May 2010.

Subsequent analysis of the company’s pipi samples found that they contained Escherichia coli above the acceptable level for the food, as listed in the Food Standards Code

On 18 November 2010 the company was issued with a penalty notice for an offence under the Food Act 2003. The company elected to have the matter dealt with at Court.

The company or its representative failed to appear at the proceedings on 16 September 2011, so the Court convicted and sentenced the company in its absence. The company was convicted and fined $6,500 plus costs of $3,500.

The Court considered the company’s breaches of the Food Act 2003 to be not merely technical but namely about the protection of the public, determining that it was clear that the company failed to carry out its obligations under its license.

Shellfish such as pipis must only be bought from licensed seafood businesses.

Commercial shellfish businesses are licensed by the NSW Food Authority.

Further information on shellfish handling is available from the NSW Food Authority at www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/industry/industry-sector-requirements/shellfish/.

South Australian restaurant worker has hepatitis A

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A worker at the Yakatori Takumi restaurant in North Adelaide has tested positive to hepatitis A, potentially exposing diners to the disease.

Health officials said they believed the worker picked up the infection while overseas.

Chief Medical Officer Paddy Phillips said the risk to customers was considered low, adding, "However, it is possible that patrons who ate at the restaurant between September 21 and October 4 may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus. An alert has been issued to all GPs to be aware of the case and to arrange for appropriate testing for any patients presenting with possible hepatitis A infection."

A (thermometer-verified) Canadian Thanksgiving in Australia

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 I’ve got turkeys wandering around the yard but I can’t buy one at the grocer or butcher.

Paul the butcher in Annerley, Brisbane, Australia, took pity on me and gave me – gave me for free – a frozen turkey breast he had in his freezer.

“If it sucks, throw it out.”

I threw it out.

Paul says he does a lot of turkeys for Christmas, but Thanksgiving just isn’t an Australian thing.

And it’s sorta weird, with spring strawberries and asparagus abundant rather than the traditional North American harvest foods.

Was even weirder prepping food all morning while Amy played with Sorenne and listened to the K-State football game on Internet radio.

But, we continued our tradition and had some 15 Aussies over for a Canadian Thanksgiving feast.

And instead of North American football, there was the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarterfinals: yeah Wales (suck it Ireland); France will lose next weekend to Wales; yeah Australia (suck it South Africa), and in a few hours it should be yeah New Zealand (suck it Argentina).

Not-so-great prison cocktails, pt. II: NZ prisoners drunk on hand sanitizer

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Inmates at a Christchurch prison have concocted a toxic home brew out of hand sanitizer, getting drunk off the novel drink.

APNZ reports hand sanitizer was given out to Christchurch residents to help prevent the spread of disease after the deadly February earthquake, and Rolleston Prison bosses decided to do the same.

But three enterprising inmates have used the germ killer as the base for a brew, adding sugar-based products like powdered fruit drink to sweeten it.

Inmate Tuarea Pahi, 24, got drunk and assaulted a prison officer, an attack he says he doesn’t remember.

It came as a shock to the officer because they had reportedly been on friendly terms before then.

An extra 70 days has been added to Pahi’s jail term after admitting the assault at a district court session inside the prison.

The court heard how Pahi and two other inmates were caught "highly intoxicated" on September 4.

A digital thermometer for Father’s Day – a love story

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 As Father’s Day comes to a close in Australia – it’s celebrated the first Sunday in Sept., after the first day of spring, Sept. 1 – I tried out my gift, a digital thermometer Amy found for me at the Big W for $18.

Somewhat pricey, but everything in Australia is, the Ekco digital thermometer performed well on the basa fillets I baked for dinner along with sweet potato and corn on the cob. Future improvement: list on packaging whether the thermometer is tip-sensitive or not. How’s a consumer to know?

Red Rooster fined $50,000 for dirty kitchen

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A Brisbane outlet of Australian fast-food joint Red Rooster has been fined $50,000 after pleading guilty to food standards breaches based on 2009 inspections – the third such conviction for the store.

Prosecutor Luke Godfrey said, "It’s clear there is a large degree of non-compliance particularly regarding cleanliness.”
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But defense counsel Richard Perry said none of the matters before the court were likely to lead to the contamination of food.

He added that since the time of these offences in 2009, Red Rooster’s Moorooka store had gained a four-star rating from Brisbane City Council for food standards.

Chief Magistrate Brendan Butler accepted some charges seemed less serious than others, and that there was a significant improvement in the cleanliness of the store between council’s two inspections.

"However the extent of uncleanliness on the first occasion can’t be trivialized," he said.
 

Latex glove found in Australian late-night stir fry

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A Darwin, Australia couple was outraged this week to find a glove buried in a beef noodle dish they bought from a 24-hour take-away outlet.

Evelyn Nicholson and Rod Jockway told the NT News they made the discovery at Uncle Sam’s in Darwin.

"I thought it was a tough piece of meat," Mr Nicholson said.

"I pushed it to one side and said I’d tackle it later.

"It turned out to be a glove."

The couple reportedly complained to Northern Territory health authorities after confronting the manager, who denied ever serving them the beef meal.

NT News reporter Conor Byrne, who wrote the story, said the glove was an indication the restaurant had made attempts to be hygienic.
 

Live rat found in loaf of bread in Austrlalia

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Authorities are investigating how a live rat was allegedly able to find its way into a loaf of bread at a Townsville supermarket (that’s in Northern Queensland, Australia) before being sold to an unsuspecting customer.

The gruesome find was made by a shopper who bought a loaf of Helga’s Bread from Coles at Centro in Aitkenvale on Sunday.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was unloading her shopping into a car with a friend when she noticed the slices had holes in them.
 

If ya don’t get at it when ya get to it, 

ya won’t get to it to get at it again

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Thoughtful words from Canadian philosopher, poet and plywood enemy, Stompin’ Tom Conners (he also wrote tomes such as Bud the Spud, The Hockey Song, and Sudbury Saturday Night).

The Australians apparently took pity on me and granted me a tourist visa in the absence of Canadian documentation (Canada is hopeless) so I’m headed out to rejoin my family. I will continue teaching by distance – this semester, which winds up today with a flurry of skype presentations by students scattered around the U.S. and elsewhere has been the most satisfying in years – and doing that research, writing, extension professoring thing. Just in a different time zone.

And I’ll be racking up a lot of frequent flier miles.

Amy was looking for something and she may find it in Toronto Brisbane. I hope there’s a Yonge St. like in Toronto.
 

Scores on Doors trial set for New South Wales

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The NSW Food Authority has announced a year-long voluntary trial of the Scores on Doors program will be rolled out across the Australian state of NewSouth Wales.

"Scores on Doors offers businesses a fantastic opportunity to show customers just how seriously they take food hygiene and the results they have achieved," said Katrina Hodgkinson, Minister for Primary Industries.

"Certificates from the voluntary program will be displayed near doorways of participating retail food outlets so customers will be able to see just how well restaurants, cafés or other outlets have performed during their food safety inspection."

Under the Scores on Doors trial program, participating retail food outlets are assigned a star rating dependent upon their level of performance. Top rating businesses receive a five star rating, with four and three stars also awarded to businesses that perform well and comply with the requirements of the Food Standards Code.

Participation is voluntary though through the program businesses will have the opportunity to promote and advertise their food safety performance.