Tag Archives: Folklorama

Mancini speaks: new effort in food safety training

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In 2010, the Russian pavilion at Folklorama in Winnipeg (or, as the Guess Who were always introduced, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), was implicated in a foodborne outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 that caused 37 illnesses and 18 hospitalizations.

The ethnic nature and diversity of foods prepared within each pavilion presents a unique problem for food inspectors, as each culture prepares Rob_Mancini_001food in their own unique way.

The Manitoba Department of Health and Folklorama Board of Directors realized a need to implement a food safety information delivery program that would be more effective than a 2-h food safety course delivered via PowerPoint slides. The food operators and event coordinators of five randomly chosen pavilions selling potentially hazardous food were trained on-site, in their work environment, focusing on critical control points specific to their menu. A control group (five pavilions) did not receive on-site food safety training and were assessed concurrently. Public health inspections for all 10 pavilions were performed by Certified Public Health Inspectors employed with Manitoba Health. Critical infractions were assessed by means of standardized food protection inspection reports.

Rob Mancini, a MS graduate of Kansas State University, a health inspector with the Manitoba Department of Health, and someone who seems perpetually young with cinematic good looks (bit of a man-crush) led a study of how to improve food safety at Folklorama and the results were published in the Oct. 2012 issue of the Journal of Food Protection.

He’s at it again, and will be reporting on follow-up research he subsequently conducted with almost no help from me and Chapman at the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspector Conference in Winnipeg, on June 24th, 2013.

250 sick with Salmonella linked to Newcastle food festival

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According to the U.K. Health Protection Agency, the number of people who have reported suffering from symptoms including diarrhea and abdominal pain after attending the Street Spice festival has reached 250, with eight testing positive for salmonella.

This is the result of tests carried out by a multi-agency team in conjunction with the City Council’s Environmental Health officers and the Health imagesProtection Agency.

Environmental health officers are continuing to investigate and are talking to businesses and suppliers to try to identify the source of the outbreak.

The results of further tests will be known next week.

It is estimated that 12,000 people from across the region attended the event, which took place in Times Square between 28 February and 2 March.

Anyone who attended the event, whether they have been ill or not, are being advised to complete a confidential online questionnaire, available at http://tinyurl.com/streetspice.

Temporary food events bring their own food safety challenges. We have experience with this.

Investigating the potential benefits of on-site food safety training for Folklorama, a temporary food service event

06.oct.12

Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 75, Number 10, October 2012 , pp. 1829-1834(6)

Mancini, Roberto; Murray, Leigh; Chapman, Benjamin J.; Powell, Douglas A.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2012/00000075/00000010/art00014

Abstract:

Folklorama in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is a 14-day temporary food service event that explores the many different cultural realms of food, food preparation, and entertainment. In 2010, the Russian pavilion at Folklorama was implicated in a foodborne outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 that caused 37 illnesses and 18 hospitalizations. The ethnic nature and diversity of foods prepared within each pavilion presents a unique problem for food folklorama.infosheet.10inspectors, as each culture prepares food in their own very unique way. The Manitoba Department of Health and Folklorama Board of Directors realized a need to implement a food safety information delivery program that would be more effective than a 2-h food safety course delivered via PowerPoint slides. The food operators and event coordinators of five randomly chosen pavilions selling potentially hazardous food were trained on-site, in their work environment, focusing on critical control points specific to their menu. A control group (five pavilions) did not receive on-site food safety training and were assessed concurrently. Public health inspections for all 10 pavilions were performed by Certified Public Health Inspectors employed with Manitoba Health. Critical infractions were assessed by means of standardized food protection inspection reports. The results suggest no statistically significant difference in food inspection scores between the trained and control groups. However, it was found that inspection report results increased for both the control and trained groups from the first inspection to the second, implying that public health inspections are necessary in correcting unsafe food safety practices. The results further show that in this case, the 2-h food safety course delivered via slides was sufficient to pass public health inspections. Further evaluations of alternative food safety training approaches are warranted.

40 sickened; Folklorama, site of 2010 E. coli outbreak, sued

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One of the individuals hospitalized following an E. coli outbreak at Folklorama two years ago is suing the organization and the Russian Pavilion.

Trudy Andrew, 52, of Oakbank, is seeking damages for lost wages and pain and suffering she endured after eating contaminated food at the Russian Pavilion.

"If I hadn’t gone to the hospital when I did, I wouldn’t have made it," Andrew told the Winnipeg Free Press. "I ended up seriously ill and in hospital."

Andrew is suing Folklorama Inc., the Folk Arts Council of Winnipeg Inc., the umbrella organization that oversees the popular two-week Folklorama festival and the Russian Pavilion, which health authorities identified as the source of the outbreak.

There were 40 reported cases of E. coli between Aug. 9 and Aug. 30, 2010; 34 of those cases were individuals who ate at the pavilion, and three others were children at a daycare who were infected by a person who visited the pavilion and spread the germ.

Seventeen people went to emergency and five individuals were hospitalized, including a two-year-old boy who suffered acute renal failure and was put on dialysis in pediatric intensive care.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority concluded a locally made juice, known as kompot, was the source of the outbreak, speculating the juice had somehow come into contact with contaminated ground beef.

Health inspectors had found deficiencies in the pavilion’s kitchen on Aug. 1, the first day the venue opened, including improperly stored raw hamburger meat and a fridge with an operating temperature that was deemed too high.

Sofia Barklon, co-ordinator of the Russian Pavilion, maintains the pavilion was not the source of the outbreak — the position it took two years ago, despite the findings of the WRHA.

Debra Zoerb, executive director of Folklorama, said she would not comment on the legal action but said it was the only one stemming from the E. Coli outbreak two years ago.

Fruit compote likely suspect as Winnipeg Folklorama E. coli outbreak fells 37

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Fruit compote may be the most likely culprit which sickened visitors to the Russian pavilion at Folklorama this past August, according to a report published by the Winnipeg Health Region.

The report details the probable cause of the verotoxigenic E-coli and its effect on 37 people who either attended the pavilion or who fell victim to secondary spread of the E. coli bacterium. Only three of the total 40 cases were not linked to the pavilion. In addition, the report offers a number of recommendations designed to reduce the risk of E-coli outbreaks in the future.

According to the "VTEC Outbreak 2010 Report," each person who was treated was interviewed to find the common connection with the pavilion. A study was then undertaken to determine the identity of the specific food item which was contaminated with E-coli, with 33 out of 34 people who attended the pavilion taking part.

Five patients were hospitalized with one case admitted to ICU and seventeen people visited an emergency room. There was one case of hemolytic uremic syndrome. VIP tour group attendees who had not been ill were asked to volunteer to be controls in the study.

The study looked at foods such as borscht, meatballs, a rice dish, and Russian juice (fruit compote). These four items were served together on the "Russian Combination platter." Analysis narrowed down the mostly likely choice to the compote over other sources, partially because the compote was served with both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian platters.

The most plausible source of contamination of the compote juice could have either been from cross-contamination from raw or undercooked ground beef – which is the most common source of E. coli in food products – which was also being handled at the same time in the kitchen or from E. coli contaminated apples used to make the compote.

Interviews with the kitchen staff revealed that most of the food was cooked in a pressure cooker. However, the compote juice was cooked in a separate pot. It was prepared by adding washed, unpeeled apples, blueberries and blackberries to boiling water. The fruit was bought fresh from a supermarket in Winnipeg.

Once boiled for five to 10 minutes, the compote juice was decanted into large 10-litre plastic pails. The boiled compote was then refrigerated until served cold. A new batch of compote was made every day. The only other food item that may have been cooked in the same pot was rice. The fruit was washed before boiling, kitchen staff wore gloves and practiced proper hand washing, and pots were washed and sanitized between use.