Tag Archives: Pita Pit

Mixed messages from Guelph during E. coli O157:H7 outbreak

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There are now seven confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7, all University of Guelph students, and 43 probable cases, as part of a larger Ontario outbreak believed to involve romaine lettuce.

Cameron Clark, health protection program manager with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health said the outbreak served “as a reminder for anyone who ate at the campus from that date on, or has experienced symptoms of extreme diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting to contact public health.”

I thought it would be a reminder for food service to check their suppliers of lettuce and ask what is being done to ensure the microbial safety of fresh produce.

Clark also said it’s important to continually remind people to wash their hands to prevent human-to-human spread and to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables.

Does continual reminding work? Or is it nagging? Is washing the lettuce in a Pita Pit wrap — believed to be the Guelph source — an effective consumer strategy?

E. coli O157:H7 hits Guelph, again

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Three months after University of Guelph spokesthingy Chuck Cunningham said, "It seemed to me like it was business as usual," after an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak struck 20 people, the same bug has struck again.

The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health unit says that four confirmed cases of E. coli O157 are all U of G students. To date, the only commonality among the four students is that they ate at the Pita Pit in the University Centre, so as a precaution, the University is voluntarily closing the UC Pita Pit until Public Health completes its investigation.

In Aug., Cunningham said, "It’s a surprise and a shock to us that this has happened.”

So what is it now?

The great food safety school seems to have a lot of poop in their food.

In Aug., a  press release from the University said,

“Although health officials said it’s unlikely that the source of the outbreak will ever be identified, they believe it’s an isolated incident.”

How do they know it’s an isolated incident if the source of the outbreak is never identified?

For a self-proclaimed food safety school, Guelph really sorta sucks. Sorry for the sick kids.