Tag Archives: Australia

Australian salmonella-in-custard victim: ‘My body felt like it was exploding’

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One of 107 confirmed victims of the recent salmonella outbreak in Australia, 71-year-old Norma Kent, swears she will never eat a Berliner bun again.

Having previously survived a heart attack, she says the food poisoning – which included a week in Wakefield Hospital on an intravenous drip – was "far worse" than her heart scare.

"This is the worst illness I have ever experienced," she said.

"I didn’t know what was wrong with me, it was like my insides were falling out … my body felt like it was exploding."

Mrs Kent said she ate the Berliner bun on January 19 and became ill the next morning while at Glenelg beach with her husband and two grandchildren.

She was violently ill for the next four days suffering severe diarrhoea, nausea and severe headaches. When she went to her doctor on the fifth day, she was immediately admitted to Wakefield Hospital and treated for dehydration.

A South Australia Health spokeswoman yesterday said another 10 cases of salmonella poisoning were reported over the past week, bringing the total in the past five weeks to 107. Investigations were continuing to determine if all victims had consumed custard-filled products from either bakery.

The food poisoning outbreak, the largest since the Nippy’s outbreak in 1999 which hit more than 400 people, will soon enter the legal arena with around 30 of the victims engaging lawyers to launch a class action against the two companies.

Tindal Gask Bentley partner Tim White said only the more serious cases were involved in the proposed class action.
 

Custard count climbs to 97; salmonella in south Australia

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The number of people testing positive to salmonella linked to custard-filled cakes has risen to 97.

Vili’s custard berliners and St George Cakes and Gelati custard eclairs and cannolis were withdrawn from sale on February 4, after SA Health established they were the common link in the reported cases.

SA Health’s director of public health Dr Kevin Buckett said an extensive investigation was yet to identify a common source.

"All of the environmental and product samples from both manufacturing plants have had negative results for salmonella contamination," Dr Buckett said. "We will continue to work with both companies prior to the products returning to the shelves."

Tindall Gask Bentley partner Tim White said the personal injury firm had received more than 30 calls since it placed an advertisement urging victims to come forward to find out their legal and possible compensation options.

"This significantly increases the likelihood of a class action," Mr White said.

Salmonella soars in Canberra

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Salmonella infection rates are skyrocketing across the ACT where more than 200 cases were officially notified in each of the past two years.

The ACT is the Australian Capital Territory, which is sorta like Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Canberra is the federal seat where lots of the federal food safety folks are located.

Apparently they’re barfing with salmonella.

The Canberra Times reports that as the ACT Government considers ”naming and shaming” restaurants and other food businesses which breach food safety standards, it can be revealed there have already been 31 notified cases of salmonella in the ACT this year.

Infections usually linked to poor food hygiene were reported 217 times in the ACT last year and 221 times in 2009.

It is not known what proportion of infections were linked to restaurant food.

There were 131 cases in the ACT in 2008, up from 101 cases in 2000.

It is a staggering increase considering just 18 ACT cases were notified in 1991 and actual infection rates are believed to be much higher this year because many cases are never officially notified to authorities.

The Canberra Times revealed on Saturday that ACT public health officials had issued dozens of warnings to Canberra restaurants and food outlets over the past two years for breaching food safety laws. Unlike other Australian jurisdictions, which publish online registers of businesses which fail hygiene standards, the ACT does not name offending eateries.

Health Minister Katy Gallagher said this week the Government was considering the most effective method for publicly naming food businesses which failed to comply with food safety standards.

Des pâtisseries à la crème (ou costarde au Québec) ont été liées à au moins 73 personnes malades dont 30 hospitalisations

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Translated by Albert Amgar

Des beignets, des éclairs et des cannolis à la crème vendus par deux entreprises australiennes de pâtisseries ont été liés à au moins 73 cas de maladies et 24 autres cas sont en cours d’investigation ; 30 personnes ont été hospitalisées. La maladie, due à Salmonella Typhimurium, a été associée avec des produits vendus auprès de distributeurs à travers le sud de l’Australie.

L’enquête des responsables de la santé a retracé l’éclosion par des tests épidémiologiques et des produits concernés aux deux fabricants, Vili’s et St. George Cake & Gelati. La production des aliments impliqués contenant la crème a été arrêtée et toutes les pâtisseries ont été retirées de la vente. La source de la contamination demeure inconnue.

Ce que vous pouvez faire :

• Parce que des oeufs crus peuvent héberger Salmonella, utiliser des oeufs pasteurisés pour la réalisation de la crème.
• Nettoyer et désinfecter les équipements pour éviter toute contamination croisée lorsque vous travaillez avec des oeufs.
• Apprendre à connaître les produits qui contiennent des oeufs crus et les réfrigérer pour réduire le potentiel de croissance de Salmonella.

Les symptômes de la salmonellose comprennent des nausées, des vomissements, des crampes abdominales, de la diarrhée, des maux de tête, et de la fièvre. Quelques cas peuvent induire une arthrite après guérison.
Il peut être sage de ne pas consommer aussi des cannolis.

Les préparations à base d’oeufs crus comme la crème, la sauce pour salade César, la sauce hollandaise, la mayonnaise, la mousse, le glaçage et la crème glacée maison ont été liés à des éclosions de salmonellose par le passé.

Pour plus d’information, contactez Ben Chapman, benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu ou Doug Powell, dpowell@ksu.edu
www.foodsafetyinfosheets.com
 

Nuevo Folleto Informativo: Facturas rellenas con crema pastelera causan al menos 73 enfermedades; 30 hospitalizaciones

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Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:

– Debido a que los huevos crudos pueden contener Salmonella, use huevos pasteurizados cuando vaya a cocinar algo que requiera huevos crudos.
– Limpie y desinfecte los utensilios entre uso para prevenir la contaminación cruzada.
– Sepa que productos contienen huevos crudos y manténgalos refrigerados para prevenir el crecimiento de Salmonella.

Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
@benjaminchapman y @barfblog.
 

Careful with that cannoli; Australian salmonella sick now at 73; custard at retail tests positive

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Thirteen more people have tested positive for a strain of salmonella linked to custard-filled cakes.

Health authorities will interview each of them to determine whether they had consumed any of the products linked to the current outbreak.

Vili’s custard berliners and St George Cakes & Gelati custard eclairs and cannolis were withdrawn from sale last Friday, after SA Health established they were the common denominator in 60 salmonella cases.

At least 29 of those cases had required hospital treatment.

The 13 new cases would have been sick before the public health warning was issued on Friday but test results were completed today.

SA Health also has confirmed that two custard-filled product samples from St George Cakes & Gelati, purchased at retail stores, have tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium phage type 9, which is the strain found in the current outbreak.

60 sickened, 30 hospitalized with salmonella from custard in South Australia

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Someone finally asked, and when South Australia Health said a lot of people were sick from salmonella in custard, it really was a lot.

ABC news (that’s Australian not American) reports at least 60 people have fallen ill, nearly half of them needing to be admitted to hospital.

SA Health’s investigation has linked the infections to Vili’s custard-filled berliner buns and St George Cakes and Gelati’s custard-filled cannolis and eclairs in Adelaide.

Kevin Buckett from SA Health says they expect more test results later in the week, adding,

"We’re continuing to interview the 60 or so people that were notified to us last week and obviously the more we interview the better chance we have to get a good track on what common foods people have eaten."

Kids, kids, it’s Christmas, who wants stinky ham?

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The Australian discount supermarket Franklins has had to recall a small amount of Farmfresh Half Bone in Leg Hams with use by dates between January 24, 2011 and January 29, 2011 inclusive due to an unpleasant odour that persists after opening.

Franklins have yet to determine the cause of the odour as laboratory testing is not able to be completed until after Christmas.

Star rating system for Brisbane restaurants launched to protect diners

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Brisbane goes it alone, as the Australian city launched a "score on the door" program – except that it’s an electronic door that is only available on-line.

My 2-year-old knows how to navigate the iPod touch. I don’t.

So for us old-timers, why not just actually post a score on the door, rather than expect us to hitch up the stagecoach and find the reading glasses.

Brisbane City Council announced its Eat safe program today, whereby businesses will be rated from two to five stars with those food businesses receiving a three and above encouraged to display their rating in their business’s window.

Those restaurants that receive a two, a poor rating, will be given the chance to fix their problems and change their rating but businesses scoring less than two are likely to be shut down.

79 per cent of Brisbane’s 5500 food businesses received the safe rating of three stars.

Less than half – 2182 businesses – have signed on to display the ratings, which is voluntary.

Scores on doors for all Australia?

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Lord Young told the U.K. government last month that he welcomed the Food Standards Agency’s decision to “drop the unfortunate title ‘scores on doors’” to describe restaurant inspection disclosure.

The POHMEs (Prisoner of Her Majesty’s Exile) have done their own review of the national food safety system and recommended that scores on doors be rolled out across Australia.

Good for them.

The national food safety review states that two-thirds of the 5.4 million cases of gastroenteritis in Australia each year can be attributed to food poisoning from restaurants, takeaway outlets, caterers and cafes (in a population of 21.4 million).

But, according to The Australian, it warns that the existing 2003 guidelines "may not provide the guidance needed to develop an effective food safety management approach for retail/food service."

Under the existing national rules, local councils inspect food outlets to check they are complying with basic standards for food hygiene and preparation. The safety standards are "outcome-based," replacing prescriptive regulations in each state.

But NSW, Victoria and Queensland have since broken away from the national system, imposing "add-on" requirements for staff working in food service and retailing to attend food training courses.

"State and local governments in some Australian jurisdictions are developing or piloting voluntary schemes that assign a ‘food safety rating’ based on routine inspection outcomes," the consultation paper, prepared for the Food Regulation Standing Committee of federal, state and territory food ministers, says.

"These approaches may provide a ‘positive’ incentive by publicising good food safety performance."

NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria already use websites to "name and shame" companies fined over food safety breaches — yet Victoria has only three prosecutions on its website, compared to 1821 penalty notices in NSW.

Restaurant inspection is a snapshot in time and disclosure is no panacea. But it can boost the overall culture of food safety, hold operators accountable, and is a way of marketing food safety so that consumers can choose.