Fancy food ain’t safe food, but neither are favorite cheap eateries

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Some of Sydney’s most popular cheap eateries have, according to Daily Mail Australia, been named on the The New South Wales Food Authority’s latest ‘name and shame’ file.

It seems cheap eats are so for a reason as many of the state’s fast food outlets, including a number of Nanods, Domino’s and Subway stores have been shamed for failing to meet hygiene standards.

Nando’s in Liverpool was fined twice last year for failing to ‘maintain at or near each hand washing facility a supply of single use towels’, and not complying with food safety standards, a total of $1760.

Marrickville’s Minh Vietnamese Restaurant, Jasmin 1 in Bankstown and Petersham’s popular Frango’s Portuguese Charcoal Chicken also feature on the list, some of them on multiple occasions for varying offences.

The New South Wales Food Authority publishes lists of businesses that have breached or are alleged to have breached the state’s food safety laws.

Publishing the lists gives consumers more information to make decisions about where they eat or buy food.

Famed chicken outlet Frango’s was fined $440 in March.

The Petersham favourite failed to ‘maintain at or near each hand washing facility a supply of soap and single use towels.’

‘They never disappoint’ Australian bakery reopens after 151 sickened in Salmonella outbreak

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Seven weeks after dodgy chicken schnitzel and pork rolls landed 27 people in hospital, Sylvania’s popular Box Village Bakery reopened today and the message from locals was a resounding ‘welcome back’.

Returning regulars turned out to offer their support to the family-owned business, shut down by the NSW Food Authority in the wake of the infamous salmonella outbreak in January.

As many as 150 people were struck down with food poisoning, resulting in the owner leaving an apology note on the front door of the business before closing temporarily.

One former regular, Sylvania local Alison Banks, said she chose to return to the shop today to reassure the operators they were accepted among “most” in the area.

“I’m not even here to buy anything I just wanted to tell them that they have our support,” Mrs Banks said.

“I had a friend who ended up in hospital and I can understand why they might not want to come back but think overall this is a business that is really loved.

“The food is great. It’s always looked clean to me. They will certainly have my support.”

Sylvania’s Jack Schilling and Jarrod Dwyer — both 17 — said they had been monitoring the shop since its closure in anticipation of returning for their famous chicken schnitzel roll.

“They never disappoint,” Schilling said.

Clearly not everyone is a fan however, with one man slowing down in his car to shout “salmonella” from his vehicle before speeding off.

Australian mayor pushes for mandatory food safety rankings to be displayed at NSW eateries

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

There are many benefits to restaurant inspection disclosure or grades.

Those benefits are negated when the public display is voluntary.

Get 2-out-of-5 stars, don’t post the sign.

Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and hundreds of other cities have mandatory disclosure.

Mayor Khal Asfour in the southwest Sydney suburb of Bankstown says food safety ratings should be mandatory.

Scores on Doors, launched by NSW Food Authority in 2010, rates eateries out of five based on their annual food safety audits.

They are then handed a slick certificate to post up in view of customers.

However Bankstown is pushing for the scheme, which is currently voluntary, to be mandated across all eligible food outlets.

A similar push is on by local councils England.

The Food Authority falls under NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair’s portfolio.

However The Express’s request for comment was directed to Food Authority chief executive Dr Lisa Szabo.

When asked whether she would support mandating Scores on Doors state wide, Dr Szabo said the authority preferred to keep it voluntary.

“Displaying a Scores on Doors certificate can be a marketing advantage for businesses that comply with food safety legislation because it can provide a point of difference from competitors,” she said.

Fifty three of 152 councils in NSW have signed up to implement the program.

In south west Sydney only Bankstown and Liverpool are currently members.

The authority’s NSW Food Safety Strategy has set a target of 75 per cent business participation by 2021.

Bankstown Council has signed up 33 retail food businesses out of about 600 this financial year.

The scheme excludes supermarkets, delicatessens or greengrocers, service stations, convenience stores, mobile food vans and temporary markets.

Which further undermines the system.

Chicken Heaven owner Paul Hong, who proudly displays a five star rating in the window of the Chester Hill takeaway, agreed the program should be compulsory.

“Yes. Based on the individual [business] keeping up their cleanliness, hygiene and all that required in the food industry,” he said.

It’s like Australians are marketing food safety: ‘Scores on doors is a fantastic marketing tool’

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The New South Wales Food Authority Scores on Doors program (that’s the state that includes Sydney, in Australia) sees shops judged on hygiene and safety.

They then receive a score out of five — five being the best — which is displayed on the shop window.

So far, 40 businesses throughout Wollondilly have signed up including Royal Char-Grill Chickens at The Oaks.

Owner Jim Tzortzis believed the program would help attract customers.

‘‘It’s a no-brainer that the business with a five star safety rating hanging over the front door will be the one most attractive to customers,’’ he said.

‘‘We know how hard we work to have high food hygiene and safety standards and now everyone else does too.’’

Mayor Col Mitchell urged all eligible food businesses in the shire to get on sign up to the program.

‘‘The scoring system is based upon the inspections that are already conducted by council’s environmental health officers,’’ he said.

‘‘This rewards businesses who do the right thing, and encourages others to aspire to do the same.

“The Scores on Doors initiative is a fantastic marketing tool for each of the areas within our shire to promote the standard and quality of the hygiene and food safety of local food businesses.’’

Nosestretcher alert: Australian food scientist says just wash raw sprouts, they’re safe and great choice

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Douglas Powell

And why just pick on the Brits. Misuse of science by allegedly science-based agencies is rampant, owing to personal and political preferences.

According to the New South Wales Food Authority (that’s the state where Sydney is located, that’s in Australia), “Science plays an important role in everything we do here and as this week marks National Science Week across Australia, our scientists are getting in on the action and inviting you to learn about the important role science plays in food safety and protecting you from food poisoning.”

Chief Scientist Dr Lisa Szabo was online yesterday from 1pm to 2pm to bust some food furphies and give you the low down on any food safety myths (who writes this stuff?).

In response to a question, Dr. Liz wrote, “You’re right when you say sprouts are healthy, they are a great choice. Just be sure to wash them thoroughly as they can be contaminated as seeds as well as during growth and processing with bacteria such as E.coli, Listeria, and Salmonella.

“If you’re under 5, over 70, are pregnant or already have a low or compromised immune system its better to be safe than sorry and avoid any type of raw or lightly cooked sprouts.”

Nonsense.

You ain’t gonna wash bacteria off sprouts, especially if they are internalized in seed.

Raw sprouts are one of the few foods I won’t eat, yet they are ubiquitous in Australia.

Erdozain, M.S., Allen, K.J., Morley, K.A. and Powell, D.A. 2012. Failures in sprouts-related risk communication. Food Control. 10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.08.022

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713512004707?v=s5

Nutritional and perceived health benefits have contributed to the increasing popularity of raw sprouted seed products. In the past two decades, sprouted seeds have been a recurring food safety concern, with at least 55 documented foodborne outbreaks affecting more than 15,000 people. A compilation of selected publications was used to yield an analysis of the evolving safety and risk communication related to raw sprouts, including microbiological safety, efforts to improve production practices, and effectiveness of communication prior to, during, and after sprout-related outbreaks. Scientific investigation and media coverage of sprout-related outbreaks has led to improved production guidelines and public health enforcement actions, yet continued outbreaks call into question the effectiveness of risk management strategies and producer compliance. Raw sprouts remain a high-risk product and avoidance or thorough cooking are the only ways that consumers can reduce risk; even thorough cooking messages fail to acknowledge the risk of cross-contamination. Risk communication messages have been inconsistent over time with Canadian and U.S. governments finally aligning their messages in the past five years, telling consumers to avoid sprouts. Yet consumer and industry awareness of risk remains low. To minimize health risks linked to the consumption of sprout products, local and national public health agencies, restaurants, retailers and producers need validated, consistent and repeated risk messaging through a variety of sources.

Proper handwashing requires proper tools

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The state government in New South Wales – that’s where Sydney is – has come out with a new push for handwashing as a cornerstone of food safety.

I agree. But proper handwashing requires proper tools – vigorous water-flow, soap and paper towels.

Almost no Australian restaurants have all three components, based on my anecdotal but extensive observation (and wet shorts because I don’t use blow-driers).

NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson visited the NSW Food Authority’s stand at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and said, “Handwashing is the most simple and yet the most effective means of reducing your risk of food poisoning.”

If it was simple, so many people wouldn’t get sick; proper handwashing requires access to proper tools.

Worst food safety failures in NSW grocery stores

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Rodents, bugs, filth and expired food have caused nearly 300 supermarkets, greengrocers and delis to be slapped with fines over the past six years, data from the New South Wales Food Authority shows.

The IGA Plus Liquor store in East Lindfield is the biggest repeat offender, receiving 11 fines totaling $5,280 for breaching food safety rules since 2009.

Despite being penalised two years ago for displaying food for sale past use-by dates, it committed the offence again. In August, it received three fines for peddling expired feta cheese, quince paste and steak.

An analysis of nearly 600 penalty notices issued to grocery retailers across the state since mid-2008 revealed one in 10 notices related to the selling of expired food.

Others concerned the failure to eradicate bug infestations and stop rodent activity, the failure to display potentially hazardous food under temperature control, filthy premises and grimy equipment, and the mislabelling of products. Most received prior warnings.

An employee at IGA East Lindfield, who refused to be named, said a Ku-ring-gai Council food inspector had fined them on ”very little things that shouldn’t be an offence,” such as running out of paper towels for the staff’s hand basin.

The fines for selling expired food were unfair, he said.

Since 2008, the state’s councils and the NSW Food Authority collected $400,000 in fines from transgressing supermarkets, groceries and delis. Fairfield Council holds the lion’s share at $45,650, followed by Willoughby Council ($29,150) and Blacktown Council ($18,920).

However, the compliance rate for all food businesses in the three council areas hovered between 89 per cent and 93 per cent in the past financial year.

Among the supermarket giants, 14 Coles stores were hit with 17 fines and eight Woolworths stores received 10 fines. The most recent fine was against the Pemulwuy Woolworths, which displayed barbecue chicken pieces outside the safe temperature zone.

Gavin Buckett, a food safety auditor of 12 years and founder of the consultancy firm Gourmet Guardian, said Woolworths and Coles had better training systems, signage with work instructions and systems to prevent recalled items being sold.

He said smaller businesses were more likely to source products from unaudited overseas suppliers without applying rigorous quality checks.

11 sickened with Salmonella from fried ice-cream prepared with raw eggs in 2010

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Douglas Powell

I’ve never had fried ice-cream; maybe it’s an Australian thing. But Australia does have an egg problem. And in mid-August 2010, the New South Wales Food Authority received a complaint from a member of the public alleging foodborne illness from a restaurant in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. The complaint information was that a family group had been to the restaurant for dinner about two weeks before and 7 individuals had become ill with gastroenteritis. Several people were hospitalized because of the gastroenteritis and stool samples had revealed the presence of Salmonella bacteria.

The food history supplied to the Authority by the complainant indicated that the only person not ill in the party was the one who did not consume fried ice-cream. Officers from the Authority went to the restaurant that evening to interview the management and staff, inspect the kitchen, and take environmental and food samples for microbiological analysis.

The Authority received a second complaint two weeks later regarding another family group that had 4 members ill with gastroenteritis. This family group had attended the restaurant and had also consumed fried ice-cream 5 days prior to the Authority’s inspection for the first complaint. One of these cases had tested positive for Salmonella after seeing a doctor.

The kitchen at the time of inspection had some minor construction and hygiene issues which were the subject of a subsequent Improvement Notice. The restaurant was advised to remove fried ice-cream from the menu until further notice.

Authority officers interviewed the restaurant manager and head chef regarding the processing of fried ice-cream from preparation to serving to customers. The uncooked fried ice-cream coating was found to be made with raw eggs which is a potential source of Salmonella. The cooking of the frozen coated ice-cream ball involved putting the food into hot oil in a wok and turning the ice-cream ball to ensure the egg coating is set before serving.

Authority officers took environmental swabs of selected areas of the kitchen and equipment. Food samples were also taken of the frozen uncooked ice-cream balls, uncooked coating fragments, a ‘test’ cooked fried ice-cream ball from the same uncooked batch and raw eggs present at the premises.

The sample of uncooked fried ice-cream balls stored for sale found in the freezer on the Friday night were most probably from the same batch as the ones that were consumed by the second group 5 days prior to the inspection. They were possibly from the same batch as those consumed by the group which first complained.

The samples of coating fragments, uncooked coated ice-cream balls and ‘test’ cooked ice-cream ball were all positive for the same strain of Salmonella. indicating that the wok frying to set the coating was inadequate to kill the bacteria. Further, DNA fingerprinting (MLVA) of the salmonella strain by the laboratory showed a match between the clinical samples taken from the Salmonella cases for both groups and the strain of Salmonella isolated from the food samples taken from the restaurant, strongly supporting the ice-cream balls with the egg coating being the culprit food.

The brief cooking in the wok of egg coated fried ice cream is insufficient to destroy Salmonella and is designed only to set the outer layer of the coating as any longer will melt the ice cream. Further cooking also darkens the coating making the food unappetizing and undesirable.

The Authority findings, including Salmonella-positive food sample results, support previous investigations both locally and overseas regarding the food safety risks of fried ice-cream prepared using raw eggs. If the Salmonella bacteria is present either on the outside of the shell or inside the egg, then pooling eggs for a coating will spread the bacterial contamination throughout the batch.

What should the business have done?

As well as other food safety practices: use pasteurised egg product or an alternative binding agent for the coating mixture instead of raw whole eggs.

The world is our oyster – shellfish safety in Sydney

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Douglas Powell

I got to deliver an opening keynote chat at the 9th International Conference on Molluscan Shellfish Safety in Sydney yesterday, with my usual refrain about how the best producers should be marketing their safety investments directly to consumers and retailers.

The crowd was an eclectic group of 200 producers, scientists, policy types and retailers from 30 countries, several of whom approached me and said, I read barfblog; they don’t say, “you look younger than I expected” anymore.

And after she officially opened the conference I got to stalk chat with New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, about restaurant inspection disclosure in the state, including the Name and Shame website, and the voluntary posting of Scores on Doors, and whether the postings should become mandatory.

The NSW oyster industry is the State’s largest fishery by value employing more than 1500 people directly, and is primarily in regional areas contributing greatly to those economies.

“The NSW Government is a strong supporter of the State’s shellfish industry, through the provision of research and support services, by protecting water quality and by overseeing industry food safety programs,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

“We have a robust food safety management program for shellfish in place that has been in operation since 2000.

“As a result the shellfish industry in NSW has a good safety record,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

7 million hits on Australian state Name & Shame register

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Douglas Powell

The New South Wales Food Authority has announced the popular Name and Shame register which publicly names businesses that fail to meet food safety standards has received more than 7 million hits online.

“This sends a clear message to food businesses that consumers expect high standards and are scanning the list of restaurants and other food outlets before deciding where to dine out,” said Katrina Hodgkinson NSW Minister for Primary Industries.

“A penalty notice on the register not only acts as a potential deterrent to would be diners it also serves as a deterrent to food businesses against making food safety breaches.”

There were almost 1.25 million views on the Name and Shame register in 2012 alone and more than 7.1 million since the register was established in 2008.

The most common food safety breaches under the Food Act 2003 are;

Cleaning and sanitation (35%)

Temperature control (13%)

Pest control – infestations, droppings (13%)

Hand washing offences (13%)

Protection from contamination – storage, personal hygiene (11%)

“The number of food businesses appearing on the register has almost halved in 3 years which shows the campaign is having the desired effect with more food outlets adhering to the rules,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

To view the Name and Shame register visit: www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/penalty-notices.

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