Federal prisoners in Texas ate meat intended for pets

Federal prisoners in Texas unknowingly ate pet food due to problems with the resale of meat from an East Texas food company that specializes in fajita meat, according to federal authorities.

The Dallas Morning News reports John Soules Foods, Inc. of Tyler has agreed to pay $392,000 to settle a case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

It involved raw “beef trimmings” that were intended for pet food cans but ended up being eaten by humans.

The government’s three-year investigation found that the problems occurred in late 2006 and early 2007.

John Soules Foods had problems “getting some of their beef trimmings product to freeze properly,” authorities said.

As a result, the company sold some boxes of those trimmings to a meat broker who agreed to sell it as pet food, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The boxes were not marked as pet food.

That broker violated the agreement and sold the trimmings to another broker for human food. Some of it ended up being sold to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for human consumption.

327 sick in prison with Salmonella, 2009

What’s worse than being in prison? Being in prison in the middle of a Salmonella outbreak (I can think of other things but this is a food safety site).

In September 2009, an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis affected 327 of 1419 inmates at a London prison. UK health types report in Epidemiology and Infection they applied a cohort design using aggregated data from the kitchen about portions of food distributed, aligned this with individual food histories from 124 cases (18 confirmed, 106 probable) and deduced the exposures of those remaining well. Results showed that prisoners eating egg cress rolls were 26 times more likely to be ill [risk ratio 25·7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 15·5–42·8, P<0·001]. In a case/non-case multivariable analysis the adjusted odds ratio for egg cress rolls was 41·1 (95% CI 10·3–249·7, P<0·001).

The epidemiological investigation was strengthened by environmental and microbiological investigations. This paper outlines an approach to investigations in large complex settings where aggregate data for exposures may be available, and led to the development of guidelines for the management of future gastrointestinal outbreaks in prison settings.

New York convict claims food is killing him, files lawsuit

I ate some bad food in prison: the worst was saltpeter and horse nuts, some sort of canned stone fruit in a syrupy moss.

And this was at the correctional facility that had its own canning plant to ship the horse nuts off to other patrons and guests of the Ontario government.

Guess it wasn’t as bad as a former Rikers inmate who is suing New York City for $80 million claiming that the prison food almost killed him. Michael Isolda, who weighed 460 pounds before he underwent gastric bypass surgery, says he was only given four minutes at a time to eat his measly prison meals—because of his surgery, that speed-eating caused him to vomit after every meal and eventually separated his stomach from his intestine. “For me, Rikers Island is a death sentence,” he said in his lawsuit. “It’s not a matter of surviving and worrying about inmates. I have to worry about the food killing me.”

Not-so-great prison cocktails, pt. II: NZ prisoners drunk on hand sanitizer

Inmates at a Christchurch prison have concocted a toxic home brew out of hand sanitizer, getting drunk off the novel drink.

APNZ reports hand sanitizer was given out to Christchurch residents to help prevent the spread of disease after the deadly February earthquake, and Rolleston Prison bosses decided to do the same.

But three enterprising inmates have used the germ killer as the base for a brew, adding sugar-based products like powdered fruit drink to sweeten it.

Inmate Tuarea Pahi, 24, got drunk and assaulted a prison officer, an attack he says he doesn’t remember.

It came as a shock to the officer because they had reportedly been on friendly terms before then.

An extra 70 days has been added to Pahi’s jail term after admitting the assault at a district court session inside the prison.

The court heard how Pahi and two other inmates were caught "highly intoxicated" on September 4.

Toilet brew strikes Utah prisoners with botulism

The Salt Lake Valley Health Department confirmed Wednesday it is investigating an illness — suspected to be foodborne botulism — in 12 inmates of the Utah State Prison.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports eight inmates, three of whom are in critical condition, are receiving treatment at a local hospital, and four are under medical observation at the prison.

All the affected inmates consumed home-made alcohol brewed inside a cell at the prison, according to a health department news release.

The inmates affected likely came in contact with the bacteria by drinking brew, alcohol made in a cell, apparently in a plastic bag. Inmates often use fruit, water and sugar to craft the brew, which they often hide in the cell’s toilet, and when those foods are in an anaerobic environment they can create a breeding ground for the bacteria.

According to confiscation reports obtained earlier this year by The Tribune, brew is made fairly frequently, with 44 confiscations of the substance occurring between October 2009 and December 2010. However, the prison has not ever had a case of botulism, according to Nicholas Rupp, public information officer for the health department.

But "there’s always a health risk any time there is inappropriate food handling," Rupp added.

Isn’t saltpetre bad enough? Expired school food sent to prisons in Mass

Potassium nitrate has a rich history, in mythology and as the primary component of tree stump remover.

Also known as saltpetre, any prisoner in Canada in the early 1980s would swear it was added to food to induce impotence and, according to wiki, is still falsely rumored to be in institutional food (such as military fare) as an anaphrodisiac. But there is no scientific evidence for such claims.

Who needs science, this is control of sex drive.

The Boston Globe reported today that the state Department of Education recently donated thousands of cases of out-of-date food from the school lunch program to state prisons and a county jail.

The food — more than 11,000 cases of cheese, blueberries, frozen chicken, and other goods — was offered free of charge to kitchens that serve inmates, as education officials removed old products from warehouses that serve schools across Massachusetts. The state had been reviewing its inventory after controversy erupted last month when expired food was discovered in Boston school cafeterias.

The donations to prison facilities, shown in documents obtained by the Globe under the state’s public records law, underscore the breadth of the problem with out-of-date food in the federal school lunch program.

Prison officials defended their cafeterias, while an inmate advocate shuddered at the notion that food unfit for children could be served in jail.

For those who want to know, saltpetre, a primary component of fertilizer, has been a common ingredient of salted meat since the Middle Ages, but its use has been mostly discontinued due to inconsistent results compared to more modern nitrate and nitrite compounds. Even so, saltpetre is still used in some food applications, such as charcuterie and the brine used to make corned beef.

I hate corned beef.
 

UK prisoners suing over salmonella; same place Julian Assange is visiting

The Brits do have a way with words. From today’s issue of The Sun:

Rapists, paedophiles, a killer and drug-dealers may pocket £300,000 after prison sarnies gave them food poisoning.

A group of 164 inmates were all poleaxed after eating egg and cress rolls infected with salmonella.

Their lawyers have filed a High Court claim demanding £1,800 compensation for each convict for "pain, suffering and loss of amenity".

They are almost certain to get some money because the Ministry of Justice has admitted kitchen staff at South London’s Wandsworth Prison failed to cook the eggs properly.

A Whitehall source said: "There is no doubt that compensation will be paid, but the amount of money the prisoners are after will be contested vigorously. There will be very little public sympathy for this."

And now, a message from Julian Assange:

Barfing behind bars: 5 sick with E. coli at Idaho prison

Five inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center, south of Boise, became sick around Dec. 1.

Associated Press reports at least two tested positive for toxin-producing E. coli.

Sarah Correll, staff epidemiologist at the Central District Health Department, said no new cases have been discovered and the inmates who were sickened are recovering.

The Idaho Correctional Center is run by Corrections Corporation of America.

Food poisoners: deliberate or negligent, send them to jail

I’ve screwed up. I’ve done time. Maybe not enough, that’s another discussion.

With Peanut Corporation of America CEO Stewart Parnell back in the nut business after killing 9 and sickening 700, there’s a move afoot for stricter penalties for those who knowingly market unsafe food.

BBC News reports that Ramazan Aslan, the former owner of some hole-in0the-wall takeaway in Walse that was the likely source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened four, will face charges in court.

He will face a number of food hygiene offences.

The National Public Health Service for Wales said in 2009 that the Llay Fish Bar, Llay – now operating under new ownership – was the likely source.

Four people, including a three-year-old girl, had the same strain of E.coli after buying food from the premises in July last year.

E. coli sickens Colorado prisoners

Prison sucks. I know. Been there.

Worse, to have the runs while going to the bathroom without a door.

The Denver Post reports that three inmates of the Four Mile Correctional Center in Canon City have confirmed cases of E. coli.

Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said the outbreak was discovered Thursday. The three inmates are being treated at the infirmary at the correctional center.

Sanguinetti said that eight other inmates are suspected of being infected with E. coli.

The source of the infection is unknown.