Over 300 sickened: State knew Chobani yogurt was tainted months before recall, FDA says

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Whether it’s food, automobiles, consumer goods, whatever – selling deficient product and trying to cover it up usually backfires.

People and corporations are found out over time: so suck it up and go public early and often.

In response to continual mold problems, Chobani, the Greek yogurt people, made staff changes at its Twin Falls plant and corporate headquarters in New York, hired one new public relations firm and one advertising firm during the recall, and fired Nicki Briggs and “other in-house PR staffers” in November after “a broad refocusing of its resources.”

Chobani official said those PR changes had nothing to do with the mold outbreak and resulting recall.

Chobani may have been focusing on the wrong problem.

MagicValley.com reports the Idaho Department of Agriculture saw moldy yogurt during a routine inspection at Chobani two months before the company issued a voluntary recall, says a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report obtained by the Times-News under a Freedom of Information Act request.

The state denies the FDA claim.

More than 300 people got sick after consuming the moldy Greek yogurt from Twin Falls.

The state inspection was conducted in July. But not until September did Chobani issue a voluntary recall of 35 varieties of its tainted yogurt, advising the public it was contaminated with Mucor circinelloides, a mold commonly associated with yogurt production.

A report summarizing five separate inspections by the FDA in September gives this account of the state’s inspection:

“In July the routine Grade A sampling and testing samples taken by the Idaho Department of Agriculture (ISDA) from the Chobani Idaho Inc. production were visually noted, by the laboratory technician, that surface defects were present and additional testing was conducted noting a yeast like growth developing in the yogurt samples.”

The FDA inspections also prompted Chobani to clean various pieces of equipment at the Twin Falls facility. After some “minor deficiencies” were reported, the FDA did not issue a mandatory recall or take further action.

ISDA spokeswoman Pamela Juker said state regulators never took note of any mold during the July inspections, and she’s unsure where the FDA got its information.

“All of the raw and finished product-testing results met the requirements of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance,” Juker said. “All of the tests we’ve done met the requirements.”

Chobani repeatedly has declined to provide details on the issue. But Weber Shandwick, a third-party public relations firm, emailed a company response Wednesday.

“Our goal is to ensure our Idaho facility is not just a leader in size, but also in cleanliness, quality and safety,” a Chobani official wrote. “To accomplish this, we have brought in significant resources and are working with internal as well as outside experts to put together one of the most advanced food safety and quality systems in our industry.”

Uh-huh.

And I prefer science as an enhancement of nature.

Food Safety Talk 67: John Bassett

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Ben Chapman

Food Safety Talk, a bi-weekly podcast for food safety nerds, by food safety nerds. The podcast is hosted by Ben Chapman and barfblog contributor Don Schaffner, Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers University. Every two weeks or so, Ben and Don get together virtually and talk for about an hour. They talk about what’s on their minds or in the news regarding food safety, and popular culture. They strive to be relevant, funny and informative — sometimes they succeed. You can download the audio recordings right from the website, or subscribe using iTunes.

In episode 67, Ben is on hiatus and Don talks with John Bassett. The scene opens with a vivid description of a picturesque English village with pigeons pooping on the eaves and birds chirping in the background.

John starts by telling the listeners a bit about his background. He is a veterinarian by training, having earned his degree in New Zealand. He spent seven years as a veterinary practitioner; a bit like that depicted inAll Creatures Great and Small in Epsom (that’s in England). John returned to New Zealand and began a small animal practice but quickly transitioned to work for a government biosecurity laboratory inWellington (that’s in New Zealand) where he solved problems during extended coffee breaks taken in trendy cafes. John got his start in risk assessment using the OIE approach. John’s next career move was to industry as a risk assessor with Unilever; this took him back to England (that’s in the United Kingdom). The guys got sidetracked and discussed the sole-crushing bureaucracy that can be found in big industry (not that there’s anything wrong with that). John’s latest career change finds him in a new mode as food safety consultant.

The guys discussed the recent Chobani mold incident. From here the conversation jumped into tea. Iced tea with added sugar was discussed as a possible growth medium for generic E. coli (special concern was expressed for sun-brewed tea) and the potential for herbal (pronounced ‘erbal’ by some) tea as a source of bacteria and maybe pathogens.

John talked about some of his current risk assessment work, and the difficulty of making risk management decisions for low-frequency events. John explains his recent interest in Gael Risk assessment techniques. This approach can be used for semi-quantitative risk assessment, and may have value in preventing problems like the recent horse-meat food scandal. The value of audits in science-based food safety was questioned and discussed, and Don and John disagreed about the value of semi-quantitative risk assessments.

Bandwidth on John’s end starts to suffer (perhaps due to John’s kids arrival home from school) so the conversation is paused briefly, while John (the poopy-head) sorts it out.

The show resumes with a discussion on whether HACCP is risk based or not. John notes that one key to “selling” a risk assessment might be based on saving money in the long run, perhaps from a reduced need for testing and auditing. A discussion of the Elliott Review takes place before the guys re-iterate the need for using computerized systems for effective traceback in the food supply chain; especially ones that do not need to be linked via paper documents.

John mentions that he will not be at IAFP 2014 due to lack of a wealthy sponsor; but he does plan to attend the IAFP European Symposium in Cardiff in 2015. Don reveals his IAFP presidential party plans (Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ), while John contemplates pork ribs somewhere closer to home.

John mentioned the use of the sear and shave technique to produce safer raw burgers in the UK. Don didn’t seem convinced, and will continue using his iGrill and tip sensitive digital thermometer, as suggested for use in previous Food Safety Talk episodes, “because everyone’s gotta have a hobby”. Both guys reminisced over outbreaks of Campylobacter jejuni from seared chicken livers that occurred in the UK and USA.

In the After Dark portion, Don transitioned into talking about Doctor Who, and John explained he was late for the podcast meeting because of a meeting with McDonald’s own Bizhan Pourkomailian.

Food Safety Talk 65: All My Ports are Engaged

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Ben Chapman

Man who thinks he’s European perplexed by maths.

In this episode, Ben is absent, but Don is not alone. Mike Batz, Assistant Director of Food Safety Programs, Emerging Pathogen Institute at the University of Florida, is a guest on the show. He appeared not once, but twice on the podcast before.

Don and Mike start by talking a little about their travels, then, they quickly move to a discussion on the Chobani Yogurt recall. The news article leaves Mike unsure whether Mucor circinelloides was pathogenic to both animals and humans. A brief digression about podcast listening speed reveals that Batz listens at 1.5 speed while Don is more civilized. Returning to yogurt, they discuss the originalmBio article. Don concludes the study did not provide enough evidence to show M. circinelloides is truely pathogenic to humans.

Don asks Mike about a psychology experiment done by Facebook where they manipulated users feeds. Mike was disappointed by Facebook’s methodology since the study never requested an informed consent from the users. They then rambled about again about their various and sundry international travels. Mike resided close to the Rijks Museum (that’s in Amsterdam) for a while and Schaffner shared his experience in Finland (including reindeer tartare) and New Zealand (and beef tartare).

Next, they talked about a document from the FAO marketed as providing a list of the top 10 foodborne parasites ). To continue, they discussed seasonal food safety tips. While Mike confessed to not always follow his own food safety recommendations, Don revealed he is reluctant to eat a cut cantaloupe by a stranger.

Soon after, the discussion shifted to antibiotics in meat. Both agreed that the issue is quite complicated and there is not a straight forward answer.

They concluded the show with a discussion on cross contamination including cutting boards, artisanal cheese and the 5 second rule. Don recommended plastic cutting board for meat and wood cutting board for any other food types.

Chobani yogurt mold not so harmless in animal models

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Douglas Powell

That mold in Chobani yogurt that most said was harmless even though over 200 people reported getting sick? Not so harmless.

A team of medical researchers led from Duke University reports in mBio, the open access journal of the American Society for Microbiology:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that yogurt products were contaminated with M. circinelloides, a mucoralean fungal pathogen, and >200 consumers complained of symptoms, including vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. The manufacturer voluntarily withdrew the affected yogurt products from the market. Compared to other food-borne pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, less focus has been placed on the risk of fungal pathogens. This study evaluates the potential risk from the food-borne fungal pathogen M. circinelloides that was isolated from the contaminated commercial yogurt. We successfully cultured an M. circinelloides isolate and found that the isolate belongs to the species M. circinelloides f. circinelloides, which is often associated with human infections. In murine and insect host models, the isolate was virulent. While information disseminated in the popular press would suggest this fungal contaminant poses little or no risk to consumers, our results show instead that it is capable of causing significant infections in animals.

Analysis of a food-borne fungal pathogen outbreak: virulence and genome of a Mucor circinelloides isolate from yogurt

mBio vol. 5 no. 4 e01390-14

Soo Chan Lee, R. Blake Billmyre, Alicia Li, Sandra Carson, Sean M. Sykes, Eun Young Huh, Piotr Mieczkowski, Dennis C. Ko, Christina A. Cuomo, Joseph Heitman

http://mbio.asm.org/content/5/4/e01390-14.executive-summary

Veg growers slam Woolies’ Jamie Oliver fee in Australia, as they should

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Maybe celebtard chef Jamie Oliver has some sort of chromosomal disorder: regardless, he knows shit about food safety and freely admits he doesn’t read.

So why Woolworths would hire him to be their spokesthingy in Australia is beyond baffling.

Ausveg says growers have received requests from Woolworths to voluntarily pay a charge towards the costs of the new “Jamie’s Garden” promotion, equal to 40 cents a crate of produce sold to the supermarket.

While Woolworths says the request is voluntary, Ausveg national marketing manager Simon Coburn says growers are not in a position to say no.

“The growers feel like they are in a position that, if they were to say no, they are worried that their contracts would be reduced or terminated completely,” Mr Coburn said.

He said growers already paid a charge of 2.5 per cent to five per cent of their sales back to Woolworths to cover marketing costs, and the 40-cent charge was in addition to that.

The cost would range from a few thousand dollars to $250,000 for a grower, depending on the size of their contract, he said.

“Some are telling us they don’t have 40 cents left in their margins,” Mr Coburn said.

Woolworths said it was disappointed Ausveg and Senator Xenophon had not contacted the supermarket before going public.

In other celebtard news, Gwyneth Paltrow says that water has feelings and can purify itself if you talk real nice to it.

And Greek yogurt giant Chobani says there’s no science in their yogurt; just mold that causes recalls.

What have the Romans ever done for us? Sanctimonious Super Bowl adverts

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Chobani yogurt suffered some serious quality issues in Aug. 2013, and persistent consumer complaints has led the company to respond to declining sales with a full public accounting of quality control measures with a Super Bowl ad.

On Feb. 2, when Fox broadcasts Super Bowl XLVIII, two brands of Greek-style yogurt, Chobani and Dannon Oikos, have bought commercial time in the game.

A 60-second Chobani commercial — in the first Super Bowl appearance for the No. 1 brand of Greek yogurt — is scheduled for the third quarter. The spot, featuring a new theme, “How matters,” is the start of a multimedia campaign that includes ads in digital and social media, events and a public relations effort. The “How matters” campaign is to continue after the Super Bowl with elements like commercials during the Winter Olympics and the Academy Awards.

What Chobani believes it offers is summarized by an announcer’s declaration: “A cup of yogurt won’t change the world. But how we make it might.”

Especially if it has mold that makes people barf.

Post-Super Bowl, Chipotle Mexican Grill will release “Farmed and Dangerous,” a four-part comedy series on the TV-streaming service Hulu that takes a satirical look at industrial-scale farming.

“Farmed and Dangerous,” billed as a “Chipotle original series,” hopes to promote the company’s concerns about sustainable agriculture and the humane treatment of animals used for meat. This stealth marketing strategy, Chipotle executives say, is not about “product integration,” but “values integration.”

Food safety would be an important value.

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