Silence of the goats; traditional slaughter in South Africa

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimated in 2012 that there were 2.033 million goats in the country.

Of these animals, less than 0.5% are slaughtered at registered abattoirs. Although informal and traditional slaughter of goats for home consumption is permitted under the South African Meat Safety Act 40 of 2000, the responsibility for ensuring that products are safe is left to the traditional or ritual slaughter practitioners. The objective of the present study was to assess whether preslaughter activities associated with traditional or ritual slaughter promote or reduce food-associated risks and to recommend mitigation strategies for potential food safety hazards.

Structured interviews were conducted with 105 selected respondents (in and around Tshwane, South Africa) who had been involved in traditional goat slaughter. Approximately 70% of goats slaughtered were obtained from sources that could be traced to ascertain the origin of the goats. None of the respondents were aware of the need for a health declaration for slaughter stock. Some slaughter practitioners (21%) perform prepurchase inspection of stock to ascertain their health status. However, this percentage is very small, and the approach is based on indigenous knowledge systems.

The majority of respondents (67.6%) travelled 1 to 11 km to obtain a goat for traditional slaughter. Although approximately 70% of slaughter goats were transported by vehicles, the vehicles used did not meet the legal standard. More than two-thirds of goats were tied to a tree while waiting to be slaughtered, and the rest were held in a kraal. The holding period ranged from 1 to 72 h, but more than 70% of the animals were slaughtered within 36 h.

This study revealed that traditional and ritual slaughter involves some preslaughter activities with potential to mitigate the risk of slaughtering animals that are not fit for human consumption. Such activities include prepurchase inspection, obtaining goats from known and traceable sources, and ensuring that animals have sufficient rest before slaughter. However, given the rudimentary nature of these activities, they may not offer adequate protection to consumers of such meat.

The lack of understanding of the importance of a obtaining a health declaration certificate and minimizing stress in animals waiting to be slaughtered should be addressed to minimize the potential for propagation of foodborne diseases. The Meat Safety Act 40 of 2000 should be enforced where it applies and should be reviewed to provide guidelines that would help mitigate human health risks associated with traditional slaughter of goats.

Assessment of food safety risks associated with preslaughter activities during the traditional slaughter of goats in Gauteng, South Africa

Journal of Food Protection, Number 6, June 2014, pp. 872-1042, pp. 1031-1037(7)

Qekwana, Nenene Daniel; Oguttu, James Wabwire

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2014/00000077/00000006/art00024

Lack of inspection prompts recall in US; similar to Ontario case a decade ago

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Transatlantic Foods, Inc. of Andover, N.J., is recalling roughly 222,000 lbs. of pork and poultry products that were not inspected, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reported. FSIS launched an investigation into the company following an anonymous tip.

Jim Romahn of Canada writes that the owners of the plant, which has no federal meat inspection licence, were using inspection labels from another plant they own in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The cheating is reminiscent of Richard (Butch) Claire who used federal meat inspection labels from a closed packing plant in Kitchener for products from his Aylmer Meats plant.

Some of the product from Aylmer Meats came from deadstock butchered when there were no provincial meat inspectors around.

As with Aylmer Meats, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it doesn’t know the food-safety status of the meat from the Andover plant because it had no inspectors there.

It says no illnesses have been traced to the pork, poultry and duck fat sold from the plant.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began investigating after it received an anonymous tip.

That, too, is similar to what unfolded at Aylmer Meats.

Abattoir owner in Ireland jailed for food safety offences

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Douglas Powell

In Ireland, if you screw up food safety, you go to jail.

A former poultry slaughterhouse owner has been jailed for four months for food safety offences.

Nigel Wilson was convicted three years ago of nine breaches of food regulations at Upper Erne Lakes Poultry in Newtownbutler.

A warrant for his arrest was issued after he failed to appear in court, but he was convicted in his absence.

He appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday, having recently returned to NI from abroad.

The Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland (FSA), which brought the case, said it welcomed the sentencing for the serious breaches of regulations and hoped it “sends a strong message to those who try to operate food businesses outside the law”.

“The investigation found decaying animal by-products infested with maggots, old and drying blood stains on the floor and no cleaning process in operation,” said Michael Jackson, the FSA’s head of food safety and operations.

Disclosing inspection results: Voluntary or mandatory?

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Ben Chapman

My philosophy on disclosing restaurant inspection information hasn’t wavered much in the past 10 years: Make inspection results public and communicate them meaningfully to help patrons make decisions. There’s a patchwork approach to disclosure throughout the world: happy faces, letter grades, number grades or the not-well-used barf-o-meter.

barf.o.meter_.dec_.12-216x300

Whatever the system is, it’s necessary to pull back the curtain on what happens when inspectors are around. The transparency not only builds trust in the system, but also allows folks to choose businesses based on their own risk tolerance.

According to Australia’s Fraser Coast Chronicle, businesses will be provided with a rating score but will not be required to post it. The hope is that businesses receiving a stellar score will see the marketing advantage and will voluntarily post the ratings – while those not posting due to less-than-ideal ratings will raise their level of attention to get the higher rating.

Branded Scores on Doors, the program’s aim is to encourage food safety across the Fraser Coast.

Businesses will not be forced to display their ratings but the thinking is those with better scores will display to gain customer trust and improved trade.

A report showed those with a lower rating would be made to pay more fees, while the businesses that scored better paid less because fewer inspections were needed.

Joep Dekker from Wild Lotus in Hervey Bay said he would proudly display his score.

He said he was confident of a strong rating because he knew his business had high standards when it came to cleanliness.

“It is something to be proud of, a good score,” he said.

According to the Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne-Allen County (Indiana) health department is taking a different path to disclosing inspections: Moving to a risk-based rating and a corresponding smartphone ap.

Ann Applegate, director of the health department’s Food and Consumer Protection Division, said her department is considering programs from across the country to find a good match for the county.

“We have been looking at several different models of these restaurant grading systems and seeing how we can implement those into what we currently have,” Applegate said.

The new grading scale or points system would place more emphasis on risk-based violations, making it easier for the public to understand the severity of the violation.

[Mindy] Waldron said the department is also in the process of developing an app for smartphones that would allow people to view public documents such as food and beverage inspections.

Food safety in Lebanon: experts emphasize need for measures after scandals

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Lebanon is in need of effective food safety measures in light of the series of food scandals that the country has witnessed, ministries and experts say.

The Lebanese food industry is rife with serious issues, said AUB Professor Zeina Kassaify. “Mislabeling is the key issue and the fact that we don’t have proper law or enforcement mechanism.”

“Part of the law says we should be monitoring. … In the U.S. they have the FDA. If they find something that is not up to standard, they penalize people. Here it’s not like that, someone says something on TV and everyone gets outraged without there being any credibility.”

Pierre Abu Nakhoul, an engineer with the Industry Ministry who also carries out inspections, said a lack of resources had hampered monitoring efforts. The ministry must follow up on certain food safety aspects with 2,000 food companies. With the available staff, it could check up on 5-10 each day.

Furthermore, about 30 percent of those food companies are operating without permits, an issue that has also affected food safety monitoring.

The real problem is the overlapping authorities of different ministries with respect to monitoring food processing activities, according to Mounir Bissat, president of the Syndicate of Food Industries.

Tofu yum: liquid effluent, stagnant water and mice infestation found at illegal UK tofu factory

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Douglas Powell

An illegal tofu factory in Erith has been busted by Bexley Council twice in a month after it was found to be infested with mice.

Food safety officers first visited the business, Soy, in Hailey Road on March 18 following a tip-off and found the illegal production of tofu.

The unregistered property was not only operating unlawfully but found to be unhygienic, ridden with mice and full of “stagnant water and liquid effluent”.

The officers ordered the owners to close it immediately and had the food destroyed.

However last week, officers were suspicious and did a follow up visit with police and discovered the factory still operating.

A Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order and a food Condemnation Order has since been granted by Bromley Magistrates’ Court for the premises. All food and equipment was seized from the premises.

Bexley Council will now pursue further legal proceedings against the business owners.

Las Vegas’ Firefly has food safety problems again

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Ben Chapman

In June 2013 Las Vegas’ Firefly Tapas Kitchen and Bar was linked to over 250 cases of salmonellosis. Investigators fingered cross-contaminated chorizo as the likely source. At the time of the outbreak owner Tabitha Simmons was quoted as saying, “It’s just sad because we’ve been vilified and we did not want anyone to get hurt. We certainly weren’t managing our restaurants poorly.”

Uh huh.

According to Fox 5, Las Vegas health inspectors gave another Firefly location 38 inspection demerit points resulting in a C grade in March.

The owners of Firefly Tapas Kitchen and Bar acknowledged on Tuesday it received a “C” rating when inspectors for the Southern Nevada Health District inspected the eatery at 11261 S. Eastern Ave. in Henderson on March 31.

Of the 38 demerits it incurred, Firefly was flagged for violations including those for handwashing, improper refrigeration of food, food improperly cooked at the proper temperature and failure to properly store food from potential contamination, according to SNHD’s website.

In a statement from Firefly owners John and Tabitha Simmons, the March 31 inspection was random. The owners also said the eatery was cited for 1-day-old expired food in the refrigerator.

The owners went on to say they corrected the violations within hours of the inspection. A subsequent inspection the following Friday, April 4, brought the restaurant’s rating back up to an “A,” the owners said on Tuesday.

Sure looks like they are managing their restaurants poorly, food safety-wise.

Why are inspectors there? Ottawa wants power to fine meat plants for food-safety problems

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The Canadian government is proposing to give itself the power to fine meat-processing plants that break hygiene and other operating rules meant to protect human health.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the regulatory change would give it another enforcement tool to help protect consumers.

But meat industry representatives and a food safety expert are skeptical. “These proposed new fines demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that Canada’s stringent food safety requirements are being followed,” Lisa Murphy, a CFIA spokeswoman, wrote in an email from Ottawa.

Inspectors already have the power to issue written warnings to companies when problems at meat plants are found. In serious cases, the CFIA can suspend a plant’s licence and shut it down.

The CFIA said the proposed fines range from $2,000 to $15,000 for violations. They could be imposed on a company that was regularly identified for not following food safety rules.

The Canadian Meat Council represents federally inspected meat-packing and processing companies. Spokesman Ron Davidson said such fines are not needed.

“The meat industry does not believe there is a necessity for yet another enforcement tool,” he said.

Davidson wonders why the federal government isn’t seeking to apply such fines to the entire food-processing sector. He suggests Ottawa is singling out the meat industry.

Rick Holley, a University of Manitoba food-safety expert, said issuing fines won’t make the meat-processing sector any safer.

Holley said the main challenge the government needs to grapple with is ensuring that food-safety inspectors are rigorously trained to a uniform standard — and that the training is ongoing.

“I don’t think that this attempt is going to improve the safety of food in Canada by one iota,” Holley said.

“The real issue here is the performance of the inspectors in terms of appropriately identifying where problems are that are of significant health impact and then doing follow up.”

Allegheny County PA to post restaurant grades

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Ben Chapman

A couple of years ago a colleague at the vet college shared a story with me about restaurant grades. He and his son went into a local sushi place and it was dead – they had no problem getting a seat during the usually busy lunch rush. He asked the manager what was up and she said that business had been down since they had been given a low score during a routine inspection. That made my friend pause a bit; they still ordered lunch and ate, but hadn’t been back.

I guess some folks do make choices based on posted restaurant grades.

Allegheny County Pennsylvania is debating a new restaurant inspection disclosure system, including a magical matrix for what will generate an A, B or C. According to TribLIVE, excellent food handling procedures will net an A, a B represents generally good procedures, and potential risks will generate a C. Tough to evaluate without the specifics – but risk factors matter more to me than “good procedures.”

The county’s Board of Health on Monday will hear initial plans for a program to post A, B or C grades outside restaurants starting in September, said Jim Thompson, deputy director of environmental health. “There will be a significant number of Bs and Cs,” Thompson said.
About half of the county’s 7,200 permitted establishments had at least one violation last year, and about 5 percent have three or more violations, Thompson said.

“The inspection itself is the same. The food regulation is the same, but we are translating what we find into a format that the customers really understand,” said Dr. Lee Harrison, the [Allegheny Board of Health] chairman.

John Graf, owner of The Priory in the North Side and president of the Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, said a C grade posted outside some restaurants would shut them down and B grades could cause confusion among customers.
“Based on the matrixes I’ve seen, a surprising number of restaurants will end up with Bs,” Graf said. “What does a B mean? What does it mean for the customer? Is it safe?”

Joe Bello, executive chef and general manager at The Wooden Nickel Restaurant in Monroeville, said he sees positives and negatives to a grading system. He worries that something unforeseeable or uncontrollable during an inspection could drop a restaurant’s grade unfairly. But he thinks grades could motivate restaurants to pay closer attention to health and safety regulations.

Braden Mackey, 23, of Mt. Washington welcomes the idea of letter grades posted outside restaurants. He typically relies on Internet reviews when investigating restaurants. A grade of C, he said, would not deter him from ordering from a menu.

Arkansas couple arrested for using deer meat at tamale stand

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Douglas Powell

A White County couple was arrested Thursday after reportedly illegally using deer meat in their tamales.

A press release from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission stated that wildlife officers arrested the couple on several wildlife violations. The pair allegedly used wild animals, such as deer, to make tamales in their roadside stand.

Fred Thomas Atkins III, 49 and his wife Betty Louise Williams, 28, were arrested at their tamale stand on Arkansas Highway 16 between Searcy and Pangburn. AGFC said the couple was issued citations for several game violations including buying and selling wildlife. If convicted, Atkins and Williams would face fines up to $5,000 on each count and up to a year in jail. The two were taken to the White County Detention Center in Searcy.

The six-week investigation targeted the couple after undercover wildlife officers sold several deer to Atkins. The wildlife officers also purchased tamales suspected of being made with deer meat. Officers from the White County Sheriff’s Office and investigators with the Central Arkansas Drug Task Force, along with the AGFC, were involved in the investigation.

Capt. Bill Howell of the AGFC said the individuals were gathering as many illegal deer as they could get. “It was not only the wildlife violations that we were concerned about, but also the health concerns. It was a great team effort by several agencies to protect Arkansas’s valuable natural resources and allow the public to safely enjoy them,” Howell said.

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