Tag Archives: France

Botulism in Companeros enchiladas … in France

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I didn’t know French people had discovered enchiladas, and much less those you can buy in the grocery store. That’s one food I often crave when traveling for an extended period in France, and it’s my standby order at my first visit to any Mexican restaurant. But obviously someone in France is buying enchiladas because two people are now reported in serious but stable condition in a French hospital after eating Companeros brand chicken enchiladas. Several of the national ministries have issued a recall of all enchilada and fajita products from Companeros, regardless of the expiration date. Apparently the source of the Clostridium botulinum bacteria is not yet completely identified as the recall requests that people do not discard the meals. Instead, they should be returned to the store so that further analysis can take place.

In case you’re paranoid, like I am, about getting botulism or other illnesses, there are a few facts you should know…
 

  • Symptoms occur on average between 6 and 36 hours (and not more than 15 days) after consumption of the contaminated food
  • Botulism can cause serious complications such as paralysis and death
  • Common symptoms include difficulty swallowing or speaking, facial weakness, double vision, trouble breathing, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and paralysis 
  • Botulism commonly grows at room temperature in an anaerobic environment – that means when food is deprived of air. Risky foods include potatoes left in aluminum foil at room temperature
  • In 2006, 7 people were stricken due to botulism in bottled carrot juice
  • Botulism cannot be transmitted between humans

Check out the FDA’s Bad Bug Book for more detailed botulism information.
 

French food porn – burger chic

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The New York Times reports that,

As French chefs have embraced the quintessentially American food, they have also made it their own, incorporating Gallic flourishes like cornichons, fleur de sel and fresh thyme. These attempts to translate the burger, or maybe even improve it, strongly suggest that it is here to stay.

The story has a lot of food porn about $50 burgers and nothing about food safety. Or thermometers.

Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, consulting chef at the Champs-Élysées boîte Black Calvados, said,

“A hamburger is the architecture of taste par excellence. The meat needs to be a mix of fatty and lean. Not raw, not rare. It must be medium rare. At the same time the bread needs to be smooth, tepid, toasted on the sesame side. I like to brush the soft side with butter. There needs to be a crispy chiffonade of iceberg lettuce. Everything plays a role.”

Rare, medium-rare, these terms are too subjective. Use a thermometer, and stick it in.

How to cook hamburger – more from France

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A correspondent in France has provided a July 2, 2008, document published by the French Ministry of Agriculture regarding meat food safety.

From cooking ”a hamburger to the center” (page 21) to “well-cooked” (page 12), the document is short on specifics, and absolutely wrong when speaking to an audience I particularly care about these days – pregnant women.

“For sensitive consumers (pregnant women, children, the elderly…) eat any meat (beef, poultry, pork) “well done” (that is to say at 65°C = disappearance of pink color), and avoid the consumption of raw meat, of some cold cuts (charcuterie) or tripe product.” (p. 15)

The temperature – 65 C or 149 F – is too low for any ground meat or poultry, and simply does not equal the disappearance of pink.

Color is a lousy indicator of doneness. So is well-cooked, cooked to the center, and, as the Brits prefer, piping hot. Use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer. And stick it in.

Camembert Wars: if this is progress, I’ll take mine pasteurized

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The AFP is reporting today that “real” camembert makers can rejoice. In addition to reducing the geographic boundaries of the camembert region, now the only camembert makers that will be recognized with the prestigious AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) label will:

–    use only raw milk;
–    have at least half of the cows providing the milk from Normandy origin; and,
–    ensure that their cows graze on Normandy pastures for at least 6 months of the year and fed hay the remainder of the time.

The grazing restrictions are new to the AOC conditions. I find them particularly surprising as research has shown that grass-fed or not, all cows can carry E. coli O157:H7.

The “real camembert” supporters apparently found the decision to be “undeniable progress.” Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mère, two large companies that previously produced more than 80% of AOC Camembert, decided last year to begin heat-treating their milk as a safety measure.

Francophiles, can read today’s original story for themselves. The French clearly articulate that the raw milk camembert has a velvety taste compared to the pasteurized version, but that the traditional methods are more onerous because they require various testing measures to avoid pathogens such as listeria. According to my favorite food safety advisor, you cannot test your way to safe food. The new and improved camembert will have enhanced risks.

Color is crap — no matter what the French government says

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A FSnet reader sent along a Feb. 2007 inter-ministerial memo for food service professionals from France’s General Director of Health, Didier Houssin and the General Director of Food, Jean Marc Bournigal.

Amy translated parts of the document, which stated,

“I would especially like to point out the simple method of control described in the memo that consists of visually verifying that the meat is no longer pink in the center to assure that the temperature range is respected.”

Amy’s best translation of another part of the document is:

Cooking the ground beef patties through to the center eliminates the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. This method of cooking can be considered as a kill-step according to the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA). This corresponds to an internal temperature of 65 C. While elaborating control procedures for the cooking temperature of ground beef patties, a simple method for assuring that the temperature range is sufficiently respected is to visually verify that the meat is no longer pink in the center. This can provide a sure and practical control procedure for personnel preparing the meals in institutions that do not have means to continually measure the internal temperature of finished products.

It is important to make the food service staff aware of these measures that allow the prevention of the risks of E. coli O157:H7. These measures are not incompatible with the good quality of the dishes served.

If eating habits cause certain French consumers to prefer ground beef patties that are pink in the center, recent organoleptic studies seem to indicate that the taste for rare meat develops with age and that young children appreciate well-done meat. The same has been found by a recent ad hoc study recently directed by a committee from the AFSSA.

Color is a lousy indicator of doneness in all kinds of meat, especially hamburger. The references are all here, along with a video.

Stick it in. Use a digital, tip-sensitive thermometer.

Hamburgers contaminated by E. coli O157:H7 in France

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A FSnet reader provided a link to the French Ministere de l’Agriculture and we’re going to start trying to translate the significant microbial warnings and outbreaks.

Amy, the French professor partner took a crack at this one:

"On March 25, 2008 the press conference held by DGS, DGAL, InVS and AFSSA made precisions on the available information on the contamination of hamburger by the bacteria E. coli O157:H7 on which the shelf life has expired.

This outbreak was revealed by analyses that were undertaken at the producer’s initiative, conforming to communal and national hygiene rules.

It remained to be clarified the levels of contamination of these products because the first analyses were conducted without a microbial count. The official count analyses performed on the same hamburgers confirmed an important contamination on two samples and a weaker one on two others.

Since beginning informing consumers on March 21, 2008, there have been no human cases confirmed tied to this outbreak. In specific, no hemolytic uremic syndrome cases have been found.

Recommendations for consumers:
You are reminded that if you bought or are storing in your freezer the lots of hamburgers in question (fresh ground steak or ground meat, 5-15% fat, Monoprix or Carrefour brands, expiration date March 17 or 18, 2008, sanitary check number FR 50.147.02), you are formally recommended to not consume them and to bring them back to the store where you bought them.

In case digestive problems arise within a maximum of 10 days after consumption of the hamburgers from the incriminated lots, you are recommended to consult your physician and indicate your consumption to him."

And in what I’ve learned to love about the French, the press release says,

If you have not consumed any of the hamburgers from the incriminated lots or if you have no symptoms, it is useless to worry or to consult anyone.

The release also says to cook hamburger to the center. Whatever that means. What is French for piping hot?

Generally, it is advisable to remember that cooking the hamburgers through to the center prevents the consequences of such an outbreak, as the bacteria are destroyed by a temperature of 65°C.

Here’s our advice.

‘Real Camembert’ wins war against pasteurized posers

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Small producers of France’s creamy raw milk Camembert cheese claimed victory Tuesday as they said a government-run institute is set to rule that Camembert made with pasteurised milk cannot carry the coveted Appelation d’Origine Controllee (AOC) label.

Two of France’s top lait cru Camembert producers, Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mère, announced last year they were forgoing the status of “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée” and switching to cheese made exclusively with heat-treated micro-filtered milk (not quite pasteurized but still an affront to purists).

Lactilis’ spokesperson, Luc Morelon said that although they recognize the importance of Camembert traditions, they’re making the change,

“[b]ecause consumer safety is paramount, and we cannot guarantee it 100 per cent. We cannot accept the risk of seeing our historic brands disappearing because of an accident in production."

In response to his critics Morelon added,

“I don’t want to risk sending any more children to hospital. It’s as simple as that."

Lactalis and Isigny-Sainte-Mere had argued for dropping the requirement that raw milk be used in the production of Camember to qualify for the AOC label.

Doggy Dining

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Pictured: Restaurant in Nîmes, France

In France dining with your dog is a part of every day life.  Dogs go in restaurants, grocery stores, and even on trains with their owners.  The other night at dinner at a table next to us, a couple sat with their ‘tween son and a tiny doggy that they passed from person to person until the food came.  Then he was expected to sit calmly under the chair.  He started yelping quickly afterwards when a very big dog came wondering around the restaurant’s terrace looking for handouts (see above photo).

We are the owners of two dogs and two cats who live with us in Kansas.  Our lives would be more convenient if we could live like the French and both walk our dogs and sit in restaurants with them on the patio.  We used to be able to do this at one of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan, but the management there recently changed and they told us we would have to attach the dogs on the outside of the railing rather than have them at the table with us.  They even brought us cups of water for the pooches so they wouldn’t get too hot.  Sadie, who was a puppy at the time, dug up their herb garden, and we decided we’d better leave.

Around the same time that rule changed last fall, a reporter called Doug and asked what he thought about the doggy dining laws in Florida.  My reaction was that I would frequent a restaurant that allowed me to bring my dog, but if I were a restaurant owner, I would not allow dogs on the patio.  Beyond the liability issues of “What if a customer’s dog bit one of my staff or other clients?” I see people do all sorts of strange things with their pets.  I confess, I too am guilty of letting my dog lick my plate, but some people even share their food while they’re eating it.  As a restaurant owner, knowing I am liable if someone gets sick in my restaurant, and knowing that dogs do often eat poop and live to …err.. tell about it, I wouldn’t trust that a customer wouldn’t sue me for their E. coli poisoning if they got sick from their dog’s germs.  The U.S. has strict liability laws when it comes to food safety.  If I served the food with poop, I’d be hard pressed to prove where it came from.