Tag Archives: Ireland

E. coli outbreak at childcare facility in mid-west Ireland

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The Department of Public Health in the Mid-West is handling an E.coli outbreak at a childcare facility and is reminding the public of the danger this bacteria can pose. 

Verotoxigenic E. coli (VTec) is a powerful strain of E.coli bacterium that lives in the gut of healthy cattle and sheep and can cause serious illness in the elderly and in children aged under five. 

The Mid-West public health department said the outbreak was under control but the incidence highlights the importance of hand hygiene and proper water treatment. 

VTec can be a source of food poisoning and can cause bowel inflammation leading to bloody diarrhea and severe stomach cramps. 

A specialist in public health said Ireland had one of the highest incidence rates of VTec in Europe and that the Mid-West region has one of the highest reported rates in the country. 

It underpins the importance of hand hygiene before and after preparing food, after contact with farm animals and their environment, and effective treatment and rehabilitation of private wells. 

Three sushi restaurants closed after Food Safety Authority discover they were being run from the bedroom of a house

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Another reason not to like sushi

Eoghan Moloney of the Independent writes three unregistered online sushi restaurants were ordered to close by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) after it was found they were being run from a bedroom of a house in Dublin.

Koi Sushi, Nagoya Sushi and Kyoto Sushi takeaway restaurants were all registered to the same address of a house in the Santry area of Dublin and were ordered to close after the FSAI found them in breach of numerous laws around food and food safety.

Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI expressed particular concern at the conditions in which the high-risk sushi products were being stored in.

Dr Byrne said the conditions in which the Sushi restaurants were operating in “posed a grave and immediate danger” to consumer health.

“Running a food business that has not been registered and is therefore, not supervised is totally unacceptable and poses a very serious risk to consumers’ health.

“In these instances, the unregistered businesses were producing sushi without any hygiene or temperature controls. Sushi is a very high-risk product because it contains raw fish which must be kept chilled to reduce the growth of dangerous bacteria. It can also contain cooked rice, which is a ready-to-eat product that must be kept chilled.

“In these instances, the absence of a food safety management system, no monitoring of the cold chain and no evidence of traceability of raw ingredients posed a grave and immediate danger to consumer health,” Dr Byrne said.

The FSAI closure orders on the premises detail how food was being produced, processed and distributed in an unsatisfactory and unclean environment.

There was an absence of safe practice when handling raw fish and cooked rice, it says, with the enforcement order noting a lack of access to hand washing facilities in the ‘food prep’ area. There was also no access to hot water, which posed “a serious risk to public health.”

Food fraud is new mob; Illegal horsemeat seized from slaughterhouses in Ireland

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Horsemeat has been seized in raids on slaughterhouses in Ireland as part of a huge international operation targeting food fraud.

Live animals and more than 17t of horsemeat were seized from several slaughterhouses in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

Inspections of the slaughterhouses found that about 20% of the foreign passports used for these horses showed signs of forgery.

 Competition horses with forged documents were also sent to slaughterhouses.

Europol supported national authorities in the clampdown on the “dangerous criminal trend” of illegal horsemeat, which was led by Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The raids were part of Opson 2020, a six-month operation by Europol and Interpol which targeted trafficking of counterfeit and substandard food and drink.

Recall: E.coli O157 found in pepperoni product sold in Ireland

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Co-op Sliced Pepperoni, with a pack size of 70g, is subject to the food safety alert after the bacteria was found in one of its batches.

Escherichia coli (STEC), detected in the batch with a use by date of May 19, 2020, produces a powerful toxin which can cause “severe illness”.

The food safety chiefs said: “Co-op is recalling the above batch of its Sliced Pepperoni due to the detection of E.coli O157. 

“Point-of-sale recall notices will be displayed in stores supplied with the implicated batch.”

Most sushi producers in Ireland fail to meet food safety standards

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I don’t like sushi and don’t eat it, especially the real kind with raw fish.

Andrew Lowth of Spin 1038 reports that checks have found almost every sushi maker and seller in Ireland has failed to meet food safety standards.

Of eleven manufacturers, restaurants and takeaways inspected, just one hadn’t broken food hygiene laws.

The Food Safety Authority found 76 breaches of food law, including poor parasite control and incorrect defrosting of raw fish.

The audit findings also include:

90% of food businesses audited did not have adequate controls in place relating to sushi production and processing activities

75% of food businesses did not meet the requirements of the legislation for  freezing fish for parasite control

Over 90% of the food businesses did not have adequate operational controls for sushi rice production

“Our audit sought to establish if food safety controls were being followed and the findings are very concerning,” says FSAI CEO Pamela Byrne.

“It showed that over three quarters of the food businesses did not have adequate food safety controls in place for this.”

Vanity: Raw egg face masks and risks

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Ireland has an egg and a BS problem.

Miranda Larbi of The Irish Sun reports that experts have slammed beauty bloggers who claim that they have the answer to treating wrinkles –  smearing raw egg whites onto their faces.

The DIY hack, they say, is not only is it totally bogus, but it could also spread harmful bacteria.

Putting raw egg on your face has absolutely no benefit for your skin, experts say

Cosmetic surgeon Christopher Inglefield is concerned that raw egg masks will result in Brits getting harrowing bouts of food poisoning due to contamination from the unrefrigerated foodstuff.

Mr Inglefield, founder of the London Bridge Plastic Surgery clinic, warned: “Not only is this ineffective practice, it could potentially spread harmful bacteria, such as Campylobacter and even salmonella if you’re really unlucky.

“You should always wash your hands after handling raw egg.

“If it’s on your face all day then you are potentially contaminating everything and everyone you touch. Just think of the risks.”

Bloggers like Beauty Vixxen, AKA Lizbeth Eguia, have promoted using raw egg as a face mask, but experts warn it’s not safe

Get used to ‘food authenticity’ Irish minister launches food safety strategy

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Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has launched a three-year food safety and food authenticity strategy, which aims to help guarantee food safety as the agri-food sector grows.

“Our future plans for food safety and food authenticity are ambitious, but we should not fear the breadth of our ambition as we dedicate our resources to improvement,” Minister Creed stated.

The Department will be working closely with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to deliver the strategy.

Dr Pamela Byrne of the FSAI said, “Assuring authenticity, monitoring the food chain, detecting fraudulent and deceptive practices and continually developing the best food safety systems, aligned to new and emerging food safety legislation, is embedded in our organisation’s DNA.”

It’s called barfblog.com for a reason: Ireland flight passenger tells how drunk passenger vomited all over his head and laptop

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A passenger on board a Ryanair flight has shared his story of a nasty booze-filled disturbance involving another customer.

Speaking to RTE Radio One’s Liveline, Conor Lyden revealed the grim details of how another passenger puked on him and his laptop – all while in mid-air.

The incident occurred on a Ryanair flight to Malaga from Cork.

A passenger, in his late 20s to early 30s, had become “heavily intoxicated” – and despite a delay before takeoff – his antics only worsened as the trip went on.

Conor went on to explain his disappointment towards the Ryanair staff in both the build and aftermath of the incident.

He said: “I was heading away on a family holiday with my parents and my brother.

“I noticed that one passenger, in particular, was heavily intoxicated.

The flight took off despite the man causing a delay with his behaviour

“This passenger tried to bring two glasses of vodka and mixer on to the plane and he was told he wasn’t allowed to bring them on by the staff at the gate but he was allowed to just knock them back there and then.

“This particular passenger was very disruptive, shouting and intimidating other passengers.

“A lot of other passengers complained. I was sitting a couple of seats in front of him at this point.

“I think a lot of people thought he was going to be kicked off the plane, he was quite drunk.”

He came stumbling up the aisle behind me and vomited all over my head and down my front and on to my open laptop

Despite receiving a warning from staff, the passenger continued to consume alcohol they had purchased prior to boarding before covering Conor in vomit.

“Ryanair staff had some baby wipes and hand sanitizer, that was all they could give me. I didn’t have a change of clothes because they take your bag off you.

“So I had to sit there for two hours like that.

“As the largest airline in Europe, Ryanair’s number one priority is the safety of our customers, crew and aircraft and has a zero tolerance policy towards alcohol and disruptive behaviour.

“Ryanair does not allow ‘intoxicated’ passengers onboard our aircraft. We operate strict guidelines for the carriage of customers who are disruptive or appear to be under the influence of alcohol.

“It’s completely unfair that airports can profit from the unlimited sale of alcohol to passengers and leave the airlines to deal with the safety consequences.

Uh-huh.

HSE investigates highly contagious and dangerous case of e coli in Laois, Ireland

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The Health Service Executive is investigating a suspected case of E coli in a baby in Laois.

Sinead Moore of RSVP Live reports the HSE launched an investigation late last week after a potentially serious strain of the bacteria was suspected in the Irish infant.

The strain, called VTEC or verotoxigenic E coli, comes from contact with faeces of healthy farm animals. It can be spread through children’s shared toys or during nappy changing.

The child is understood to have since been diagnosed with the less dangerous E coli bacteria, the Leinster Express reports.

The bacteria can cause vomiting and diahorrea.

As part of the investigation, the creche the baby attends, Sonas Community Childcare Centre in Mountmellick Co Laois was contacted last Friday to raise awareness among staff and parents and to examine if other children attending the creche had any similar symptoms.