Mr. Cheese sickens up to 2100 with bathtub queso fresco, gets off with a fine

Fidel Gomez — initially dubbed "Mr. Cheese" by state regulators — was issued a citation and ordered to pay a $500 fine for violating the Utah Dairy Act for producing and selling homemade queso fresco that was the source of an outbreak of Salmonella Newport in Utah going back to 2009.

Reports have placed the number of confirmed cases between 40 and 80, but have said the unreported cases may be in the thousands.

The news release states that Gomez was producing the cheese in his West Valley City home without the proper sanitation equipment or a license or permit. At least one Salt Lake Valley restaurant, in turn, was selling the cheese.

The cheese probe took three years, involved a criminal investigator and extended to a fast-food franchise where Mr. Cheese’s wife worked.

Cricket bats are not stirring spoons

South Shropshire Journals reports that rat droppings, a cricket bat used to stir vats of curry sauce which was later gnawed by rats, and various holes used by the pests were found at a Chinese restaurant in Knighton.

Inspectors found evidence of rat activity at the Mandarin House Take-away at 50 Market Street when they carried out routine checks on March 5 last year.

On Friday, Chun-Hung Cheung was fined a total of £2,000 and ordered to pay £500 costs and a £15 victim surcharge after admitting five charges under the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006.
 

Montana mom brings rabid bat to school, 90 kids to get rabies shots

About 90 children at Stevensville Elementary School in Montana have started a series of six shots of anti-rabies vaccine after a local schoolmom gave show-and-tell-and-touch presentations in five classrooms involving a dead bat.

The bat was subsequently confirmed to be diseased.

School officials say they will use liability insurance to pay up to $70,000 for the exposed children to be vaccinated. The overall cost could surpass $150,000.

The school has since set a policy requiring that anyone visiting the school obtain a visitor pass.

Restaurant sinks are not bathtubs

An Ohio man is in hot water for taking a hot bath in a Burger King bathtub. The video shows a man sitting in the sink, while other employees look on laughing. At one point the employee with the camera goes to ask the manager if she wants to come watch. The manager declines, but also fails to take any action. The video was then posted on Myspace. The fast food restaurant has fired all employees involved. They added that the sink was sanitized twice and all utensils were thrown out. Health officials are working with prosecutors to see if charges will be filed. However the health department has declined to issue any fines. If bathing in a kitchen sink isn’t worth a fine, what is?

The video contains some not safe for work language.
 

Burger King Employee Takes Bath In Sink – Watch more free videos

Cheese should not be made in a bathtub

The California Department of Food and Agriculture said that a Southern California couple is facing criminal charges after allegedly being caught with 375 pounds of “bathtub” cheese at an open-air market in San Bernardino County, says.

The illegal soft cheese products are known to cause serious illness such as listeria, salmonella or E. coli.

The 375 pounds of seized illegal cheese included panela, queso fresco and queso oxaca varieties, the CDFA says. It was a significant find, the department says.

Infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are the most susceptible. Expectant mothers should be especially guarded, as the listeria organism can cause miscarriages.