Tag Archives: Food

How long does norovirus last on surfaces and foods, and is norovirus easily transferred?

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Leading lights of Britain’s food safety junta have issued a call for research into norovirus, specifically how the virus continues to survive when it comes into contact with the surfaces that food is prepared upon or with food itself.

They should have just given the money to LeeAnn.

As in LeeAnn Jaykus of North Carolina State University, who was one of the authors of a paper in this month’s issue of my favorite bath time reading, Journal of Food Protection. The authors write:

“Foods become contaminated with HuNoV by direct contact with fecal matter on the hands of food workers who have not practiced adequate personal hygiene and by transfer of virus via contact with contaminated surfaces. Intuitively, this makes sense, as HuNoV are shed in high numbers in the feces and vomitus of infected individuals, and shedding can precede illness, occur in asymptomatic individuals, and/or be prolonged for days to weeks after symptom resolution.

Our results confirm that HuNoV can persist on commonly used food contact surfaces and on a model food for long periods, as evaluated by the only reliable method to detect these viruses, RT-qPCR. This our work confirms that moisture, pressure, and recipient surface were key factors influencing transferability (reviewed in (24) ). For example, transfer of HuNoV and MNV-1 from stainless steel surfaces to lettuce was more efficient when the virus inoculum was still wet (time 0), an observation consistent with previous studies using FCV (8) and rotavirus.

Persistence and transferability of Noroviruses on and between common surfaces and foods
02.may.12
Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 75, Number 5, May 2012 , pp. 927-935(9)
Escudero, B.I.; Rawsthorne, H.; Gensel, C.; Jaykus, L.A.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2012/00000075/00000005/art00016
Abstract:
Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are the leading cause of foodborne disease, and poor personal hygiene practices of infected workers are the most common mode of contamination. The purpose of this study was to characterize the persistence and transferability of representative noroviruses Norwalk virus (NV), Snow Mountain virus (SMV), and murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1) on and between solid surfaces and foods. Changes in virus concentration on artificially inoculated solid surfaces (stainless steel, ceramic, and Formica) or lettuce were monitored over a period of 14 to 42 days. Virus transfer was evaluated from donor (solid surface) to recipient (food, e.g., lettuce and sliced turkey deli meat) for up to 2 h postinoculation. Viruses were recovered by elution and titered with reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and/or infectivity assay, as appropriate. Based on RTqPCR, the concentration of NV and SMV on surfaces dropped gradually over time, with an average reduction of 1.5 to 2.0 and 1.8 to 2.3 log, respectively, after 42 days, with no statistically significant differences by surface. When inoculated onto lettuce stored for 2 weeks at 4°C and room temperature, the titers of NV and SMV dropped by approximately 1.0 and 1.2 to 1.8 log, respectively. Comparatively, the RT-qPCR signal associated with purified HuNoV RNA placed on the same surfaces was more rapidly lost to degradation. Transfer efficiency ranged from 0 to 26 % for lettuce and from 55 to 95 % for sliced turkey deli meat, with statistically significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in transferability as a function of contact pressure (100 and 1,000 g/9 cm2) and inoculum drying time. When similar experiments were done with MNV-1, infectious virus failed to be detected on solid surfaces after storage day 21, although the virus did persist on lettuce. This study provides much needed quantitative data for use in risk assessment efforts intended to characterize the transmission of HuNoV during food preparation and handling.

Sabotage: Woman gets 3 years for tampering food at Calgary supermarket with pins, needles

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A Calgary woman was sentenced to three years in prison for repeatedly sabotaging food at a Calgary Co-op supermarket by repeatedly placing needles, pins and other sharp objects into food products two years ago.

Judge Gerald Meagher told Tatyana Granada, 45 (right), during sentencing, "This was mean and malicious behavior. It goes beyond the victim. It could have caused danger to members of the public."

Granada, 45, was convicted on Feb. 17 of four counts of mischief and four counts of trespassing in connection with the incidents at Oakridge Co-op in southwest Calgary on Jan. 13, Jan. 18, Feb. 17 and March 10, 2010.

The judge said the woman’s actions were vindictive for having been charged with shoplifting at the store on Dec. 18, 2009 — just under a month before the spree of food-tampering incidents began.

Granada, who defended herself for the sentencing hearing, responded, "You got it wrong. I have children you must think about it. Shameful."

Calgary Co-op manager Al Madsen testified in Dec. 2011 that from the first discovery of food products with pins and nails in them, on Jan. 18, 2010, until Granada was arrested on March 16, 2010, about a dozen surveillance cameras were installed to go along with the two or three cameras in place in January.

He said some cameras were installed with the knowledge of staff after the January incidents and several more strategically located cameras were "installed surreptitiously after staff left," following further tampering incidents on Feb. 17.

Madsen said the cost of the new cameras was between $35,000 and $40,000.

He told Crown prosecutor Martha O’Connor at Granada’s trial that the store was closed at least twice to conduct entire grid searches for tampered products.

Madsen said the pattern of tampering was consistent through January, where pins and nails were placed in fresh foods in the cheese, deli, bakery and produce sections.

Madsen said undercover security officers were hired to be on the lookout at all times for possible tampering by customers or staff.

Following yet another rash of discoveries of food items with pins in them on March 11, 2010, the manager said it was decided not to close the store again, but to have cashiers inform all customers at checkouts to be vigilant about checking any food products for tampering.

That day, the bulk food bins were dumped out and because the store could not ensure safety of customers, $9,000 worth of food was thrown out.

It was around that time that assistant manager Chris Goode identified Granada as having been barred from the Co-op stores in December 2009 for shoplifting.

Madsen said he reviewed video surveillance of Granada’s entire shopping trip from March 10, 2010, and outlined her route and where she stopped.

US Marines will do better than ‘subsist’ on Australian food

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They will stay for years, number up to 2500, possibly have their own aircraft and artillery, train with the Aboriginal-dominated Norforce unit and drop in to help in Asia-Pacific disaster zones alongside Australia’s Diggers.

But whatever you do, don’t call the Marine Rotational Force in Darwin, Australia, part of a U.S. base.

”No, no again,” said Lieutenant-Colonel AnDroy Senegar when pressed on how much his operation looked like the forerunner of an official base.

”We will build no infrastructure. We will subsist on Australian food. We will be part of the community. It will be a partnership. We will not be intrusive.”

No worries, here’s our dinner from a couple of days ago: Moreton Bay sand crabs with stuffed shells. Whatever the Marines eat, there will be choices aplenty.

When the Marines arrived in early April for the first of their six-month rotations, then federal Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, justified their presence by saying: ”The world is moving in our direction. It is moving to the Asia-Pacific.

”It is not just the rise of China, it is the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the ASEAN economies combined, the emergence of Indonesia, not just as a regional influence but as a global influence,” he said at a welcoming ceremony in Darwin.

Tracking device found in NZ chocolate; ‘sounds like a lunatic friend with personal issues’

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A high-tech tracking device embedded in a slab of chocolate is among hundreds of bizarre complaints about foreign objects found in food.

Among the most unsavoury items was a condom found in a KFC meal, worms and maggots on supermarket pork and a sticking plaster on pizza.

Information obtained by the Herald on Sunday revealed 201 complaints of food safety breaches had been investigated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) since January last year.

Paragon Investigations director Ron McQuilter said the tracking device would have been highly technical and expensive because devices that tiny were difficult to find.
"Something that small isn’t normal," said McQuilter. "I’m imagining it would be very high-tech which means it will be expensive."

He suggested it could have been taken from animal researchers or made at home then placed in the chocolate to trace the woman’s movements.

"It sounds like a lunatic friend with personal issues going on as opposed to someone at Whittaker’s doing it," said McQuilter.

A KFC customer claimed to have found a condom in their quarter pack meal from Hamilton’s Frankton store in February last year, Restaurant Brands spokeswoman Jo Bell said.

As a result, KFC has installed cameras in all of its stores’ kitchens, serving and customer areas.

Food Safety New Zealand consultant Suresh Din encouraged customers to inform authorities about foreign objects in their food, poisoning or a lack of hygiene.

Withdrawal sucks: Oregon City man lied to consumer hotline about contaminated water his mom drank, blames opiates

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An Oregon City man who told a government hotline last summer his mother had been harmed by bottled water has pleaded guilty to making a false report of consumer product tampering, a federal crime that carries a potential five-year prison term.

He may have been stoned.

The Oregonian reports Curtis A. Purdy, 34 (right, exactly as shown), acknowledged in court papers that he lied last summer to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Consumer Complaint Line about how his mother came to be injured after drinking a bottle of Crystal Geyser water.

Purdy reported to the FDA hotline on Sept. 1 that the water, purchased from an Albertson’s grocery, had caused burns to his mom’s mouth, throat and stomach and that she had vomited and suffered diarrhea, according to a criminal complaint affidavit.

He later told investigators that he had put in the bottle some rubbing alcohol, which he kept around to clean his marijuana pipes. His memory of the incident was hazy, according to the complaint, because he was undergoing opiate withdrawal.

Eat it, don’t tweet it; gratuitous food porn video shot of the day

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As the usual suspects weigh in with ol’ timey public relations strategies and superficial observations of social media in the , it’s good to poke fun at all things foodie. Satirical takedowns of the pretentious and pompous never go out of style, regardless of the medium.

From Eater, a cautionary tale for this modern life: the below anthem from The Key of Awesome! warns against the perils of tweeting before eating. A send up of Pet Shop Boys songs, it features "culinary paparazzi," a lobster and a cupcake posing like super models, and an unhappy ending. For the next time you think, "it’s unthinkable to dine out and not record it/Want the world to know I can afford it."
 

Lemon juice is icky too; be honest with consumers and disclose what’s in any food

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“There’s an ick factor to almost all food."

That was my short-take on the pink slime smearfest, which has now dragged retailers, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, into the murky morass where public opinion intersects with scientific evidence.

This is nothing new.

Me, I find E. coli and salmonella in raw sprouts icky.

Other people find ammonium hydroxide, or pink slime, icky. People may soon discover they find citric acid icky because that’s what Cargill uses to yield finely textured beef and reduce the pathogen load.

It’s pink, it’s meat, it’s lean finely textured beef – LFTB yo – versus pink slime in public opinion, and processors, retailers and government spokesthingies are acting like they’ve never encountered a food-related, or any risk-related issue where public opinion is different from scientific advice.

It’s theatre, like a Mike Daisey production.

Mike Hughlett of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes today that Supervalu Inc., one of the nation’s largest grocery chains, will no longer sell hamburger containing an ammonia-treated beef filler dubbed "pink slime" by some food critics and a growing chorus of consumers.

The Eden Prairie-based company, which owns local supermarket leader Cub Foods, on Wednesday joined several fast-food chains and other major grocery operators in removing the controversial beef filler from hamburger sold in its outlets.

"This decision was due to ongoing customer concerns about these products," said Mike Siemienas, a Supervalu spokesman.

While ammonia-treated hamburger filler has gotten most of the popular attention, Supervalu also said its ban on so-called "finely textured beef" includes meat treated with citric acid, which is made by Minnetonka-based Cargill Inc.

California-based Safeway Inc., another national grocery chain, also Wednesday said it nixed sales of both ammonia-treated and citric acid-treated ground beef fillers. Cargill spokesman Mike Martin acknowledged that some of its grocery industry customers have eliminated finely textured beef.

"There have been customers who have contacted us because they have been contacted by consumers who are interested and concerned," Martin said.

Did Safeway and Supervalu stores get eggs from those nasty DeCoster farms in Iowa that sickened some 2,000 people with salmonella in 2010. Did they rely on crappy food safety audits to make their decision. If they are so concerned about consumer concerns, why won’t they provide information on egg suppliers? Or any other food?

Choice is a good thing. I’m all for restaurant inspection disclosure, providing information on genetically-engineered foods (we did it 12 years ago), knowing where food comes from and how it’s produced.

But I want to choose safe food. Who defines safety or GE or any other snappy dinner-table slogan drop? Removing pink slime hamburgers reduces my choice to buy microbiologically safe food.

USDA and the companies that previously outlawed pink slime acted expediently to manage a public-relations event. But they unwillingly undercut other efforts to provide safe, sustainable food.

What is USDA going to do about school lunch purchases containing genetically-engineered ingredients, hormones, antibiotics, and a whole slew of politically-loaded ingredients or production practices?

If consumers want to become food connoisseurs and safety experts, more power to them. I view my job, and the job of farmers, processors, distributors and retailers, regardless of political leanings, to make evidence-based information available and let people decide.

Market microbial food safety and hold producers and processors – conventional, organic or otherwise – to a standard of honesty. Be honest with consumers and disclose what’s in any food; if restaurant inspection results can be displayed on a placard via a QR code read by smartphones when someone goes out for a meal, why not at the grocery store? Or the school lunch? For any food, link to websites detailing how the food was produced, processed and safely handled, or whatever becomes the next theatrical production – or be held hostage.

Norovirus rampant in Wisconsin

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Norovirus is making the rounds in Madison, Wisconsin, with five food-related outbreaks since last November.

Dane County health officials are still waiting for test results from the most recent outbreak. It took place Jan. 29 when at least 16 people had vomiting and diarrhea after eating sandwiches and other food at the Mandrake Road Church of Christ in Madison.

Also last month, 28 people got sick after eating at Erin’s Snug Irish Pub in Madison. The other outbreaks took place at a drama-filming session at Madison West High School, the Pyle Center at U W Madison, and a Madison art show.

Health department epidemiologist Amanda Kita-Yarbro says the five outbreaks in a three-month period are a first for her agency. She said it could have been spurred either by food workers or people attending the various events.

Food allergies linked to hygiene hypothesis? ‘If fewer allergies is more infection, no parent would expose their child to more infection’

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People from well-educated families are almost twice as likely to suffer from some dangerous food allergies as others — possibly because their bodies’ natural defences have been lowered by rigorous hygiene and infection control, suggests a new Canadian study.

The research from McGill University also found that immigrants were about half as likely to be afflicted by the allergies, perhaps reflecting differences in diet and environment between their countries of origin and Canada.

The study, just published in the Journal of Allergy, was meant to address an enduring medical mystery: Why have so many people in certain industrialized countries developed violent reactions to peanuts, shellfish and other foods in recent decades?

The link to higher education may be explained by what is called the hygiene hypothesis, the unproven idea that smaller families, cleaner homes, more use of antibiotics to treat infections and vaccines to prevent them have curbed development of the immune system, said Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, who led the research. That in turn could make some people more susceptible to allergy.

If the hypothesis does actually explain some food reactions, though, parents may not be able to do much about it, admitted the allergist at Montreal Children’s Hospital. The benefits of such health products as antibiotics and vaccines easily outweigh the risk of children developing serious allergies, said Dr. Ben-Shoshan.
“We can’t suggest we become dirtier and expose our children to more bacteria,” he said. “If the price of having fewer allergies is more infection, I don’t know any parent who would expose their child to more infection.”

The study’s findings are far from conclusive but they, and the hygiene hypothesis as an explanation, seem plausible, said Dr. Stuart Carr, president of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He also cautioned, however, that translating the knowledge into preventive action would be complicated.

Tragic: New Zealand sportsman chokes to death at dinner

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The captain of the New Zealand men’s netball team has died after choking on a piece of food while eating dinner with his wife.

Mike Siave, 35, was at the dinner table in his Canterbury home with his wife of 10 years, Amanda, on Friday when he collapsed to the ground unable to breathe.

He died at the scene from what the coroner later ruled was asphyxiation caused by a food blockage.

Ms Siave told the New Zealand Herald she’d lost "the love of my life" and the "wonderful" father of their two sons, Jackson, seven, and Cooper, five.

Mr Siave was also a senior salesman at Telecom and a long-term member of the Canterbury men’s netball team, which has pledged to dedicate its 2012 season to him.

Netball is similar to basketball and was first developed in England in the 1890s.