Tag Archives: France

Hundreds sick as outbreaks of gastroenteritis linked to lettuce, Denmark, January 2010

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Eurosurveillance reports at least 11 linked outbreaks of gastroenteritis with a total of 260 cases have occurred in Denmark in mid January 2010. Investigations showed that the outbreaks were caused by norovirus of several genotypes and by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. Lettuce of the lollo bionda type grown in France was found to be the vehicle.

From 18 to 20 January 2010, a series of outbreaks of gastroenteritis were reported to Danish authorities. Outbreak investigations were initiated by the Danish food control authority in cooperation with Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the National Food Institute, the Food and Veterinary Administration as well as the medical officers and several clinical microbiological laboratories in Copenhagen. The epidemiological, microbiological and food investigation are still ongoing; here we report on the current status of the investigation of these outbreaks.

The link between lettuce and illness was discovered in the fourth week of January 2010 based on an analysis of five outbreaks. These outbreaks had been reported during week 3 to the regional food control authority, which covers the eastern part of Denmark. As of 8 February, 11 outbreaks have been included in the cluster. A further eight outbreaks in Denmark which are currently under investigation may also be associated with lettuce. Taken together, the 11 outbreaks comprised approximately 480 potentially exposed persons and approximately 260 cases with symptoms of gastroenteritis . The 11 outbreaks all took place in the eastern half of the country (on the islands of Funen and Zealand). Norovirus was initially suspected as the aetiology, but the Kaplan criteria were not fulfilled in all circumstances and attack rates were sometimes higher than expected for norovirus, indicating the possibility of the presence of more than one disease agent.
 

Over 200 sick with norovirus (Roskilde virus in Danish) linked to lettuce from France

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You can’t name a girl Sorenne. That’s what my Danish friends and colleagues told me when I asked about potential names for our daughter. Soren is too masculine in the Scandinavian world.

The Danes also can’t trust French lettuce.

Fodevarestyrelsen reports that Futura Copenhagen A/S initiated a recall of Lollo Bionda lettuce produced in France in Jan. 2010 and sold to wholesalers, restaurants and consumers in Denmark.

“There is a suspicion that the lettuce is contaminated with norovirus (Roskilde virus) and thus may be the cause of more than 200 people the past 14 days has been ill with sickness Roskilde.”
 

The need for food packaging: The French fight back

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When I was on The Dr. Oz show for 30 seconds a couple of months ago, I noted that leading supermarkets are taking steps to minimize contact between the thousands of sniffling, sneezing and wheezing customers who daily rifle through bread bins, climb on piles of plantains, and snort olives.

Albert Amgar alerted me to a new spot from the French Plastic and Flexible Packaging Association, highlighting the need for food packaging. I’m looking at you, Whole Foods. 

I could eat a horse

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In the wake of news that some in south Florida are taking to butchering horses, here are some tips from Australia on how to eat horse.

Horse Steaks
The world’s most famous horse steak eaters, the French, have only gained that reputation since the 1789-1799 revolution simply because the horses of aristocrats were an easy source of protein for a country in turmoil. Its popularity was reinforced during food shortages post World War II. Traditionally, horse meat is sold from boucheries chevalines (horse butchers), although now it can also be bought from supermarkets. In French-speaking Quebec, in Canada, horse meat is also popular (above, right, a horse butcher at the Toulouse market, 2007).

Chips Cooked in Horse Fat

Horse with Noodles

Pastissada de Caval
In northern Italy, the traditional horse meat stew from Verona known as Pastissada de caval is made with wine and paprika. Legend has it that the dish originates from the town’s inhabitants marinating the meat from dead horses in the local Valpolicella wine and herbs and spices after a battle between the Ostrogoths and Barbarians in AD489. In Italy, horse – and donkey – meat has traditionally been cured to make bresaola or carpaccio.

The Original Steak Tartare
Needless to say with horses being central to life on the central Asian steppes, so it is central to their diet. For those magnificent horsemen the Tartars, the most famous being Genghis Khan and his army, the horse was also a living meal. They would slice meat from the horses’ hindquarters for sustenance, sewing-up the wound, and continuing on their rampage. Another legend has it that the Tartars tenderized their meat under their saddles, the origins of the classic French raw meat beef dish steak tartare.

Alcoholica Mare’s Milk
This reliance on the horse on the central steppes also means a reliance on mare’s milk. Fermented, mare’s milk becomes a mildly alcoholic yoghurt-like drink known as Kumis or Airag. When visiting Mongolia in 2005  President Bush was apparently offered Kumis although there is no record as to whether or not he actually consumed it.

Horse Jerky
Commercially produced packets of horse meat jerky is an easy introduction to horse meat for squeamish tourists in Kazakhstan. For the locals though, horse flesh is a real treat and made into sausages including Kazy and the smoked sausage Shuzhuk.

Horse Sashimi
In Japan, barbecued, horse is simply called horse meat: baniku; or skewered horse: bagushi. But raw horse meat is poetic, named after its cherry-red colour and known as sakura (cherry blossom) or sakuraniku (cherry blossom meat). Sakura served sashimi-style with soy sauce and ginger is known as basashi.
 

Air kissing or ‘la bise’ discouraged in France because of H1N1 flu

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It was so confusing when I was in France: do you kiss anyone on the cheek or just friends; two pecks or three (the further south, the greater the frequency of the tri-peck). I usually defaulted to a handshake, but after a fabulous lunch with tons of great wine at a chateau near Bordeaux where I had unlimited Internet access for the first time in two weeks, I gave the dude a bi-peck at the train station – we had just met, and he was a little taken aback (that’s me and the dude at a wedding in Montreal a couple of months later 2007, right, below; look at that suit).

Now, according to  Associated Press, the French tradition of "la bise," the cheek-to-cheek peck that the French use to say hello or goodbye, has come under pressure from a globalized threat: swine flu.

Some French schools, companies and a Health Ministry hotline are telling students and employees to avoid the social ritual out of fear the pandemic could make it the kiss of death, or at least illness, as winter approaches.

For kids in two schools in the town of Guilvinec, in France’s western Brittany region, the first lesson of the year came from local officials: no more cheek kisses to teachers or other students.

The national government isn’t calling for a ban. But the Health Ministry, on its swine flu phone hotline, recommends that people avoid "close contact — including shaking hands and giving the bise."
 

Mon dieu: There’s a mouse in my pizza

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France Info reports that a Parisian Pizza Hut, where a consumer had found a dead mouse on his pizza last May, was closed by the Prefecture yesterday due to persistent hygiene problems.

A local union representative said there was an “ongoing problem with mice for several years” in this store on the Ledru-Rollin avenue in 7th district of Paris. Management denies the accusations and claims “an act of malice.”
 

France: Recall of Carrefour Discount brand frozen hamburger patties

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The bites/barfblog French team of correspondent Albert Amgar and Manhattan (Kansas) translators Abby Herald and Amy Hubbell have provided news of the latest E. coli related recall from France, this time in Carrefour Discount Frozen Hamburger Patties (right).

Product recalled by: Carrefour

Department: Food and Drinks

Brand: Carrefour

Product: Lot Number/Serial Number: The aim of this recall is for lot number IE 565 EC with a “best by” date of August 5th, 2010.

Reason for recall: Discovery of contamination by the E.coli bacteria

Recommendation: Consumers having bought this product are asked not to consume it.

Place of recall: Consumers who have purchased the product are asked to bring it back to the store where they will be reimbursed.

Additional information: Carrefour states that they have received no consumer complaints. According to the distributer this bacteria is destroyed at a temperature of 65° C (149° F) and the hamburgers are of no risk if they have been thoroughly cooked. The products related to this recall have been removed from Carrefour, Carrefour Market and Champion stores.

Consumer Hotline: For more information, call the toll free hotline 0 805 90 80 70

Again, the recommended cooking temperature seems low, and it’s really risky to say there’s no-risk with any product. Cross-contamination in any food preparation area is a huge issue. That’s why everyone tries to get the pathogens out, rather than blaming the cook.
 

25 people sick with Salmonella Muenster from unpasteurized goat cheese, France, March 2008

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Eurosurveillance reports today on a March 2008 outbreak of Salmonella Muenster in 25 laboratory confirmed cases in France.

Four patients were admitted to hospital. … S. Muenster was isolated from both cases and the incriminated goat’s cheese. …

The place of purchase of the goat’s cheese was known for 10 cases: Seven cases had purchased unpasteurised goat’s cheese at an agriculture exhibition that was held in Paris from 23 February until 2 March, and three cases had purchased this type of cheese at a local market in south-eastern France….  During the same period, a household cluster of salmonellosis involving three cases was reported through the mandatory notification system. The investigation of this cluster incriminated unpasteurised goat’s cheese (consumed on 8 February 2008) as the source of infection. The isolates of these cases were later shown to be positive for S. Muenster.
 

Fantasy cycling and fantasy eating during the Tour de France

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I’ve been following the Tour de France since 2002 when I discovered my former classmate (and 4th grade crush) Levi Leipheimer was competing. Last year I boycotted the race when team Astana was not allowed in the Tour, but this year I kicked it into high gear and even started playing fantasy cycling. (Nerdy, I know.) Leipheimer broke his wrist on Thursday, and, unfortunately, had to leave the race. But his teammates race on, and racing requires amazing sustenance.

According to the New York Times article, “Five-star tour cuisine for guys who eat and ride” the men on the tour require 5000 to 8000 calories a day.

Eating that much demands enticement and Team Garmin-Slipstream (the team of my fantasy cyclists Farrar, Wiggins and Zabriskie) has its own chef, American Sean Fowler. Fowler works with the team’s physiologist to keep the guys feeling good and their bowels running smoothly. Juliet Macur writes:

Every day at the Tour, Fowler cooks exclusively for Garmin’s nine riders, to the chagrin of team management. (…)

On a typical morning, they will gather their cooking gear and take it to the motor home in which they follow the race. They make sure to arrive early at the team’s next hotel, to inspect the kitchen.

If it is not up to Sean Fowler’s standards for cleanliness, which has happened a few times at this Tour, he will cook in the motor home. He takes precautions to keep the riders safe from food poisoning or other gastrointestinal problems, which could be devastating to their performance. In his motor home, he wields utensils and pots and pans like a careful samurai because the space is cramped.

Although Leipheimer’s out, as of this morning my fantasy team still has four of the top ten riders. Let’s hope none of the others are injured or downed with foodborne illness.

Belgica mussels under the microscope; is New Zealand better than Old Zeeland?

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A year ago Amy and I were sitting in a Wellington, New Zealand restaurant overlooking the harbor, pulling mussels from the shell (it was a holiday complete).

Consumers in Belgium are just beginning to enjoy the annual harvest of so-called Belgica mussels. According to a report forwarded by our European safe food correspondent, Albert Amgar:

Last year there was a lot of hubbub around the so-called presence of toxic substances in Belgica mussels. This toxin would provoke Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning, characterized by gastric and intestinal problems, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and intestinal cramps. Counter analyses could not confirm the presence of this toxin.

The mussels cultivated in Belgian waters underwent bimonthly bacteriological testing conducted by the Federal Agency for Food Safety. Weekly tests were also taken in order to detect the possible presence of toxins in mussels and the presence of toxin-bearing algae in the water where the mussels are raised. French authorities are responsible for testing the mussels raised in France.

Belgica was the name given to a Roman province encompassing parts of modern Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. These Belgica mussels are 20 per cent from Belgian waters and 80 per cent from French waters of the North Sea. Apparently, the less-fleshier Zeeland mussels, from the Zeeland waters of the North Sea – Zeeland is a southern province of The Netherlands – compete with Belgica mussels for the food dollars of Belgian consumers (apparently American and Canadian country-of-origin labels aren’t the only confusing – and largely meaningless – labels out there).

To continue on with the wiki-ized history, the name New Zealand originated with Dutch cartographers – Dutch explorers being the first Europeans to arrive — who called the islands Nova Zeelandia, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.

Katie, enjoy some NZ mussels; cause as the poster says, New Zealand: Better than Old Zealand.