Fancy food ain’t safe food: Three Brit kids hospitalized after sickness bug outbreak at 5-star Menorca hotel

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Douglas Powell

Charlotte Nisbet and Neil Murphy of the Mirror write that three British children have been hospitalised after a ‘frightening sickness bug’ outbreak at a five-star resort.

Louise Hunter, of St Helens, Merseyside, booked a family holiday to Insotel Punta Prima Resort & Spa, Menorca, Spain, with her husband Steven, 44, and their children Rosie, four, and Sarah, two.

Their trip quickly turned ‘hellish’ when Sarah woke in the early hours of the Sunday morning, May 3, having spent just one full day at the resort.

Louise, 36, says the toddler ‘projectile vomited in her sleep’ before both children became unwell with diarrhoea.

She claims both her children were later taken to a local hospital and given intravenous fluids and medication.

They consulted holiday illness compensation lawyers Hudgell Solicitors on their return after spending £2,000 on their all-inclusive holiday.

The legal specialists are now working with another family who have claimed they suffered a similar ordeal.

Jade Fulbrook, 33, booked her husband Dave and their family, a break for £2,800 between May 6 and 13 with their children, Zachary, 12, Buddy, six, Oscar 10 and three-year-old Bella, from Dorset.

Jade claims both herself and Oscar were hospitalised with acute gastroenteritis and dehydration after contracting a sickness bug at the resort.

The cause of the sickness bug is unknown, but solicitors are now investigating.

A TUI UK spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to hear of these customers’ experiences on their holiday. As this is now a legal matter, it would be inappropriate to comment further.

“We’d like to reassure customers that we regularly audit all of our hotels in respect of health and safety, including hygiene.”

Stickshifts? Uber driver arrested for stabbing 2 passengers for vomiting in her car

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Douglas Powell

An Uber driver from Augusta, Georgia has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault after allegedly stabbing two passengers, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office tells People.

On Sunday, 29-year-old Shaunisha Danielle Brown was arrested after she allegedly stabbed two of her passengers after someone threw up in her car, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Passenger Daniel Millard, who was using the rideshare with two other female passengers, told WRDW-TV it was just your average ride until Brown allegedly got offended by something one of the riders said, rather than one of them getting sick.

“The Uber driver showed up we all get in. Everything is fine and dandy. We are like we’re going home. Great,” Miller told the television station.

“She went down another wrong road and Amber just said, ‘Just get us where we are going please,’ and the driver got offended by that I’ll take it,” Millard explained.

Millard then said Brown allegedly made an abrupt stop and yelled, “What did you say to me?”

“Then, Amber said ‘just get us home please,’” Millard told WRDW-TV. “Then Amber said ‘we paid 100% for the ride so we want 100% of the ride.’ [Brown] slammed on her breaks again, and she said she doesn’t need this, ‘get out of my vehicle.’ Amber is still demanding ‘please take us to our house, please take us to our house,’” Millard continued.

Authorities claim “the women were intoxicated, and one began to vomit in the car,” and that’s what allegedly prompted Brown to get physical.

According to the Augusta Chronicle, Brown attempted to kick the riders out, but when they didn’t oblige she allegedly pulled out an X-Acto knife and stabbed the women multiple times. Millard was not harmed.

At least 40 sick with Shigella after ‘eating food contaminated with feces at potluck birthday party’ in North Carolina

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Douglas Powell

I’m not a big fan of the potluck.

Sure I get social aspect, the trying different foods and experiencing different cultures.

But do I trust the different food prep places, proper temperatures, storage and cleanliness.

Jane Wester of the Charlotte Observer reports at least 40 people are sick after eating contaminated food at a potluck birthday party in east Charlotte Saturday, Mecklenburg County health department officials said Monday.

Someone who prepared food for the party did not wash their hands well enough, Health Director Gibbie Harris said. Some partygoers are infected with a “highly contagious” disease called shigella, which causes diarrhea and is spread through feces, Harris said.

About 100 people attended the birthday party, and more may still get sick, as symptoms of shigella can take one to three days to show up after someone is infected, Communicable Disease Control director Carmel Clements said. It’s possible, however, for some people to get sick a whole week later, Clements said.

Most patients called 911 from the Forest Hills apartment complex, near where the party was held, according to Medic.

Health officials are sure that the contaminated dish was prepared in someone’s home rather than a restaurant, Harris said, because the only outside food at the party was the birthday cake.

Raspberry mousse cakes recalled due to norovirus; are those berries frozen?

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Ben Chapman

Doug and I share recipes sometimes; we’ve talked about roasting chicken, turkey stock and earlier this summer we shared ideas on good veggies to grill. Today we chatted about something neither of us have made: raspberry mousse. We weren’t sure if the raspberries were heated at all – all of this to reason out how norovirus got into raspberry mousse cakes and other baked goods that are making people sick in Canada. Not sure how many, or where. Because, you know, going public is tough.

From CFIA,

Industry is recalling various raspberry mousse cakes from the marketplace due to norovirus. Consumers should not consume and retailers, hotels, restaurants and institutions should not sell, or serve the recalled products described below.

Retailers, hotels, restaurants and institutions are advised to check the labels of raspberry mousse cakes or check with their supplier to determine if they have the affected product.

These products may also have been sold frozen or refrigerated, or clerk-served from bakery-pastry counters with or without a label or coding. Consumers who are unsure if they have purchased the affected product are advised to contact their retailer.

This recall was triggered by findings by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) during its investigation into a foodborne illness outbreak.

I figured the raspberry mousse out, most recipes are some variation of blend up a bunch of raspberries (fresh or frozen), strain them, set some gelatin, add the raspberry juice and whip. Not a whole lot of noro control.

Oh, and frozen raspberries have been linked to (as the title of this article suggests) multiple norovirus outbreaks. Including these, that were recalled in June in Quebec.

I will survive, even hockey

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Douglas Powell

I survived 90 minutes of pickup hockey today, first time I’ve played goal in a year.

If the pavement is going to rise up and bash me on a bicycle, I might as well let people shoot a hard rubber disk at me and get told by a 15-year-old that my technique sucks (paraphrased).

It ain’t Guelph, I was the oldest on the ice, but it doesn’t suck to go to the arena in shorts year round, at noon.

Two grandsons, two birthdays, proud papa from afar

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Douglas Powell

I had coffee with a friend this morning after dropping Sorenne off at school.

She was interested in psychology and I shared with her what I thought was relevant.

But it was watching the women in my life skating last night, and I just sat there with a shit-eating grin on my face.

Amy and Sorenne, playing hockey and wanting more ice.

Go figure.

Daughter 1 (Madelynn) and daughter 2 (Jaucelynn) both have children of their own now, with birthdays within a week.

Gabe turned 4, and Emerson turned 2.

They both apparently like cake

I miss them but it was best I leave, however painful that was.

And it was a long time ago.

Yes, your cat is trying to kill you: Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella found in Australian cat

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Microbiology is not a Marvel comic strip: Not every bacteria is a superbug.

Resistance is not futile.

But it is normal.

A drug-resistant salmonella strain that could infect humans and livestock has been found in Australia for the first time.

The salmonella superbug was discovered in an infected cat after it was taken from a shelter to a Sydney vet last year with a suspected gut infection, ABC News reported.

The ‘highly transferrable’ bacteria is resistant to carbapenems- a life-saving drug used in Australian hospitals.

This rare drug resistance could pose a serious threat to public health, experts believe.

‘This is the first time that a salmonella strain with resistance to most drugs has been reported in any Australian domestic animal and it is a significant concern to public health, Dr Sam Abraham told the publication.

Mr Abraham led a study into the risks of the dangerous salmonella strain with a team of veterinary and medical researchers.

He describes the bacteria as a ‘superbug’ because it has picked up a piece of DNA that gives it ‘super powers or resistance to about nine classes of drugs that we usually use to treat humans and animals’.

The study led by Abraham has been accepted for publication in Scientific Reports.

So what? It’s not like other mortals can see it. Publication before press release. Otherwise, Cake has it covered (NSFV).

Same with the U.S. election.

Oregonian newsroom staffers sickened by Norovirus at morale booster

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Douglas Powell

A May 31 cake-and-coffee gathering to recognize outstanding staff performance at The Oregonian went awry according to Williamette Week.

The Multnomah County Health Department is now investigating a potential norovirus outbreak after at least 14 people came down with stomach pain and severe diarrhea after the event.

The county sent samples of the cake to a laboratory for testing, according to health department spokeswoman Julie Sullivan-Springhetti. “One person did test positive to norovirus,” Sullivan-Springhetti says, referring to the stomach-flu-like ailment sometimes called “cruise-ship disease.”

As The Oregonian has reported, norovirus and other foodborne disorders are increasingly common.

“It was definitely unfortunate,” Oregonian Editor Mark Katches says in an email. “But it won’t stop us from doing these types of celebrations in the future.”

I will survive: Salmonella in filled cracker snack thingies

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A study was done to determine the rate of inactivation of Salmonella in cookie and cracker snack sandwiches.

Two cookie bases (chocolate and vanilla) and cheese crackers, along with high-sugar chocolate and peanut butter–based crème cookie fillings and peanut butter– and cheese-based cracker fillings, were obtained from commercial sources.

Fillings and sandwiches containing fillings that had been dry- or wet-inoculated with Salmonella were stored at 25°C for 1, 6, 21, 35, 70, 112, and 182 days (6 months). At initial populations of 3.4 and 3.6 log CFU/g of cookie sandwiches containing chocolate crème and peanut butter crème fillings, respectively, Salmonella survived for at least 182 days; initially at 0.36 log CFU/g, the pathogen survived for at least 35 and 70 days.

Initially at 2.9 and 3.4 log CFU/g of cracker sandwiches containing peanut butter– and cheese-based fillings, respectively, Salmonella survived for at least 182 and 112 days; initially at 0.53 log CFU/g, the pathogen survived for at least 6 and 35 days. Inactivation of Salmonella was more rapid in wet-inoculated peanut butter crème cookie filling than in dry-inoculated filling but was less affected by type of inoculum in peanut butter–based cracker filling. Chocolate cookie base (water activity [aw] 0.39) and chocolate crème filling (aw 0.30) components of sandwiches equilibrated to aw 0.38 within 15 days at 25°C; vanilla cookie base (aw 0.21) and peanut butter–based crème filling (aw 0.27) equilibrated to aw 0.24 between 50 and 80 days. Cheese cracker (aw 0.14) and peanut butter–based filling (aw 0.31) or cheese-based filling (aw 0.33) components of sandwiches equilibrated to aw 0.33 in 80 days.

The ability of Salmonella to survive for at least 182 days in fillings of cookie and cracker sandwiches demonstrates a need to assure that filling ingredients do not contain the pathogen and that contamination does not occur during manufacture.

Survival of Salmonella in cookie and cracker sandwiches containing inoculated, low–water activity fillings

Journal of Food Protection®, Number 10, October 2015, pp. 1776-1924, pp. 1828-1834(7)

Beuchat, Larry R.; Mann, David A.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2015/00000078/00000010/art00007

Low water activity, but gross: US couple eats bite of unrefrigerated wedding cake each year for 60 years

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A couple who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last week have revealed one secret to keeping their marriage from getting stale: eating cake that is very, very much so.

Ann and Ken Fredericks of Satellite Beach, Florida, celebrate their anniversary by eating a bite from their wedding cake every year — the remains of which they’re now keeping covered in plastic wrap inside a metal coffee can, Florida Today reports.

But they don’t store it inside a refrigerator or freezer. The cake’s actually sitting inside a closet at room temperature.

Ann Fredericks, 81, said their children are “appalled” they’re still eating the decades-old dessert, but said the dark fruit cake will keep indefinitely. They pour brandy over the cake to moisten it before digging in, and usually break open a bottle of champagne to go with it, she said.

“Believe me, it’s quite tasty, as long as it’s got enough brandy on it. And it’s never made us sick,” she told Florida Today.

She did tell ABC News that “it’s a little dry.”

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