Tag Archives: restaurant inspection

‘You are going to have food outbreaks’ Fewer restaurant inspections bad for Mississippi

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According to this editorial from the Sun Herald, Robert Travnicek had a more than 20-year run as the head of the local Health Department, so we listen when he issues a warning.

RestaurantInspectionGradeCReporter Mary Perez contacted Travnicek for her front-page story Tuesday about budget cuts at the Mississippi Department of Health. The state is cutting 20 food inspector positions, which will result in some restaurants being inspected only once a year.

“Food inspection, if I was there, is the last thing I’d cut,” said Travnicek, who can speak more freely now that he’s no longer employed by the state. “Who knows what could happen in a year? You are going to have food outbreaks.”

Two positions were cut on the Coast and three Coastal inspectors were moved to wastewater-related duties.

The decision is troubling for our health, our businesses and our tourism industry in South Mississippi.

Restaurants want to put out a quality product. We get that. But the fear of frequent restaurant inspection ensures there are no corners cut. For comparison purposes, say you knew there were no highway patrolman on the interstate. Would you then drive well above the speed limit?

The inspection process protects you, the consumer.

Fewer inspectors also means restaurants are going to have a more difficult time getting open. Previously, inspectors would typically go out several times to a new facility and help the owner work through the process, Perez reported.

Now, a health department spokeswoman said, “we’re just not funded to do that because of the budget cuts.”

Bad food and bad business is nothing to mess around with.

US federal court orders rice noodle company to stop selling

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On April 27, 2016, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Kun Wo Food Products Inc., located in San Francisco, and its co-owners, Zi Xing Liu and Zi Chen Liu (“Kun Wo”), after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration documented violations of federal food safety laws. The U.S. Department of Justice handled the case on behalf of the FDA.

UnknownAccording to the complaint filed with the consent decree, FDA inspections at Kun Wo in 2015 and 2016 found unsanitary conditions in which noodles may have become contaminated. Listeria monocytogenes (L.mono) was found in the environment, and the company’s rice noodles were also at risk of contamination from Bacillus cereus, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus.  L. mono is a bacterium that can cause serious illness or even death in vulnerable groups including elderly adults and those with impaired immune systems (such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and transplant patients). In pregnant women, listeriosis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor, and serious illness or death in newborn babies. The FDA investigators observed that company allowed employees to touch food without cleaning their hands after handling dirty machinery and equipment. The company also failed to take adequate measures to protect food against the risk of contamination from other sources, including pests and condensation.

“The FDA has an obligation to protect public health, and we will take action when we see a company repeatedly violating food safety regulations,” said Melinda K. Plaisier, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.

After the FDA’s 2015 inspection, Kun Wo made inadequate and unsuccessful corrections to its processes and facility issues. The FDA conducted an additional inspection in 2016 and found continuing and ongoing violations of current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations.

As a result of this court action, Kun Wo was ordered to cease processing and distributing food. Under the consent decree, if Kun Wo intends to resume operations, it must give the FDA at least 90 days’ advance notice and fulfill other requirements before the company can begin operating. Kun Wo must, among other things, retain an independent expert to develop a pathogen control program, retain an independent laboratory to conduct analyses of both the environment and food products, and provide employee training on sanitary food handling techniques. If Kun Wo is permitted to resume operations, the consent decree requires the company to obtain independent audits to ensure ongoing compliance.

Food porn: 32,000 sign up for nude dinners at UK naked restaurant

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How bored are Westerners that Bunyadi, a pop-up restaurant billed as London’s first “naked food experience” has a waiting list of 32,000 people?

naked.diningSanitarians have e-mailed me in abject microbiological horror.

The butt is covered for a reason.

Opening in June, the central London venue will offer gowns, changing rooms and lockers to guests wanting to digest the sight of their own exposed skin while getting their chow on.

Only 42 diners a time will fit in the restaurant — at an as-yet-undisclosed location — meaning that many of those hoping for a naked lunch, or dinner, will be disappointed.

“I’m both surprised and excited by the response,” Seb Lyall, whose company Lollipop is behind the venture, tells CNN.

“People want to be naked. Whether it’s on a beach or in a sauna, if the opportunity is there to be in a natural state, they will take it.”

Semi-nude staff

Paying up to $95-a-head for food and drinks, diners will be able to choose between clothed and “naked and pure” seating areas, where they’ll be served by semi-nude staff.

Selfies, mercifully, will be impossible as guests will have to leave their devices behind when entering the candlelit restaurant.

Lyall says to create a completely natural environment, both the restaurant and its kitchen will be run without electricity or gas.

Instead, its menu of vegan and non-vegan dishes will be prepared using wood fires by chefs who will, hopefully, be wearing more than just hairnets and aprons.

Food will be served on earthenware crockery and eaten with edible cutlery.

If you email to get on the waitlist, you get this response:

“The ethos behind The Bunyadi is ultimate freedom and liberation from any impurity.

You will enter a creatively designed space where you will dine under a canopy of candlelights, carefully partitioned with bamboo and wicker, as you recline on wood-hewn furniture. In this space, everything is handmade and natural. 

Think edible cutlery, handmade clay plates and a cooking done with only the basic utensils available (The spatula used in the kitchen is a piece of tree branch…)

Please note, although we would like everyone to experience this, tickets are limited and are only released on a first come first served basis.

Meanwhile, please visit us on our facebook page”

Microorganisms are natural, even the kind that will make people sick, and don’t care about marketing hucksterism.

Ask Chipotle.

15 sickened with E. coli from butcher: Council says no action to be

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In June and July, 2015, 15 people were sickened with E. coli O157 from Robinson’s Butchers and Caterers in Billingham, UK.

Tia Donaldson, e.coliYesterday Durham County Council decided it would take no action against the butcher even though cross-contamination was the likely cause.

Stockton Council is continuing its inquiry into the conditions at the Billingham branch which has remained closed since the incident.

Joanne Waller, Durham County Council’s head of environment, health and consumer protection, said: “Officers from Durham County Council’s food safety team took all appropriate enforcement actions during the course of the investigation, to ensure that suitable and effective control measures were put into place by the food business operator at the Wingate premises. Any identified contraventions of food safety law were rectified at the time, and all recommendations were fully implemented without delay. Accordingly, there is no intention to pursue any further formal enforcement action in respect of this incident.”

Some of those affected contracted illness from food supplied by Robinson’s butcher’s to Northfield School in Billingham.

A report by Public Health England’s outbreak control team in December found the outbreak did come from Robinson’s, and said the likely cause was “cross-contamination from raw meat to ready-to-eat food within the Billingham branch and to a lesser degree at the Wingate branch.”

Robinson’s butchersOf the 15 people affected, 10 needed hospital treatment of which seven went on to develop haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a serious condition affecting the kidneys.

One of these was 12-year-old Tia Donaldson, of Billingham, who was left in a critical condition having suffered kidney failure, a series of mini strokes and a dangerously inflamed bowel.

Philadelphia: Post inspections in restaurant windows

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Following up on UK calls for mandatory posting of inspection grades in restaurants, letter writer Joseph Mcaffrey tells Philly.com he recently walked by a barf.o.meter.dec.12restaurant near Philadelphia City Hall that had 19 illness-risk and retail violations, yet it was doing a booming lunch business.

Food poisoning is horrendous to recover from, and I urge the Inquirer to continue publishing restaurant inspection reports. But City Council must do more to protect the public. Council and Mayor Kenney should mandate the placement of the most recent food-inspection reports in all restaurants’ front windows.

With the coming Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia cannot risk the bad press involved in food poisoning and other adverse health events.

Fancy food ain’t safe food: Brits pushing for full restaurant grade disclosure, including Michelin starred

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Australia take note: Even though Toronto, Los Angeles and New York City have all figured out mandatory disclosure of restaurant inspection grades on the door – you know, when people might actually make a decision – the Brits and Aussies opted for a voluntary system, so if a restaurant gets a 2-out-of-5 it’s just not posted.

wtf_mate_ornament_roundWales already has a mandatory system and Northern Ireland will have one in October.

But not England or Scotland.

The Telegraph reports that the UK government came under pressure last night from council leaders who called for a change in the law to force high-class establishments – even Michelin starred ones — to publicise their hygiene rankings in a bid to reduce the risk of diners eating unsafe food and becoming ill.

The change would affect all restaurants but those with Michelin stars are set to be hit particularly hard, as research by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) shows their rankings are generally lower than many familiar chain restaurants.

I repeat, Michelin-starred restaurants generally rank lower than chain restaurants.

Fancy food ain’t safe food.

In December, FSA found 83pc of high street chains were given the best rating of five out of five, compared to just 55pc of Michelin star restaurants.

Michelin stars, a mark of exceptional quality food, are awarded to businesses by mystery shoppers and are judged independently of the official hygiene ratings.

Safety and quality are altogether different measures.

(Safety and quality are different measures, see below.} 

The FSA said all businesses should be able to reach this top rating of five.

But Bruce Poole, owner of Chez Bruce, a Michelin star restaurant in Wandsworth with a hygiene rating of lower than five, defended top restaurants which did not score top marks.

fancy.food.shitHe said: “It is very difficult for restaurants like ours as unlike high street chains which have restricted menus, we have fresh food coming through the day – sometimes up to 70 different items. We have to be able to show that all these pieces of produce have been handled correctly. For example we were downgraded from five stars because we couldn’t prove that we had frozen some fish at the correct temperature.” 

Simon Blackburn, Blackpool councilor and chairman of the Local Government Association safer and stronger communities board, said: “It’s not always easy for people to judge hygiene standards simply by walking through the front door of a premise and know whether they are about to be served a ‘dodgy’ meal that could pose a serious risk to their health.”

An FSA spokesperson said: “We very much favour making this system compulsory in England too, as we believe this will be better for consumers. It will also be better for businesses that achieve good standards as they will get more recognition and it will increase the spotlight on those not meeting the grade.”

“Anyone in England who sees a business without a hygiene rating sticker currently has to decide if they want to eat or buy food there without knowing what’s going on in the kitchen” said councillor Simon Blackburn, the chair of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board.

“It’s not always easy for people to judge hygiene standards simply by walking through the front door of a premise and know whether they are about to be served a ‘dodgy’ burger or kebab that could pose a serious risk to their health.

“Councils always take action to tackle poor or dangerous hygiene and improve conditions and see first-hand what shockingly can go on behind closed doors at rogue food premises.

smiley.faces.denmark.rest.inspection“Businesses have recently been prosecuted for being riddled with mice or cockroach infestations, rodent droppings on food and caught with a chef smoking when preparing food.”

Mandatory display of food hygiene ratings is supported by the consumer organization Which?, the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health and many environmental health officers.

Last year Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant in Mayfair, London, scored just two out of five after inspectors found cockroaches on the premises. Immediate steps were taken and Maze now scores top marks.

The LGA released details of recent food safety breaches, including in Croydon where more than 100 food outlets failed to meet expected hygiene standards last year, including 22 on a single street.

Over to you, Australia.

Poop, not spices: UK chef prepared food after wiping bottom with bare hands; it’s a culture thing

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A takeaway chef wiped his bottom using his hands before preparing food because he does not use toilet paper for ‘cultural reasons’, a court heard.

mahbub.chowdhuryMahbub Chowdhury, 46, from Swindon, was found to have a filthy bottle in the kitchen of Yeahya Flavour of Asia, which inspectors concluded was covered in faecal matter.

When questioned, he said he filled the empty milk bottle with water from the kitchen taps before using it to clean his backside after going to the toilet. ‘He did not use toilet paper for cultural reasons. Inspectors concluded the brown finger prints was faecal matter.’

Chowdhury prepared meat and fish curries at the takeaway, which was run out of a rented kitchen at the Nine Elms pub.

The chef, who no longer works at the takeaway, pleaded guilty to ten counts of breaching food hygiene regulations at Swindon Magistrates Court.

He was fined more than £5,000 last year for ten similar offences relating to food hygiene.

Mark Glendenning, defending, said the milk bottle was never examined and the marks could have been spices.

 

‘We grind our patties in store every day’ so they’re safe, and other hamburger myths

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Not sure who is worse here: the celebrity chef or the government regulators.

But they’re both wrong on the topic of shiga-toxin producing E. coli in hamburgers.

meatwad.raw.hamburgerThe stories pitch it as a “bun fight between health bureaucrats and burger bars over what makes a safe hamburger.”

And both sides are using erroneous information.

I don’t really care what people eat, other than what they feed to their kids, and that accurate information is provided.

A NSW Food Authority spokeswoman said council officers had approached the watchdog in recent months “concerned about the increase in businesses serving rare/undercooked burgers” and potential health risks.

The authority has sent revised “Hamburger Food Safety” guidelines to Environment Health Officers, attached to the state’s 152 councils.

“Mince meat should be cooked right through to the centre,” the instructions say, citing a temperature of 71C.

“No pink should be visible and juices should run clear.”

Color is a lousy indicator, as is juices running clear. The only way to tell if a burger is safe is to use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer.

Regulators, with all their talk of science-based activities, should know better.

The spokeswoman said if businesses wanted to cook using an alternative temperature, “they must be able to demonstrate that their cooking process is safe”. Burger bars that don’t meet the new guidelines face penalties up to $1540 per offence “for the preparation or sale of unsafe food”.

Sydney chef Neil Perry, who plans to open four Burger Project stores this year, cooks his patties to medium — about 60C. But he said the big difference is staff at his outlets grind meat fresh every day, making it safe.

“We can do medium-rare, which is about 55C, but we rarely get asked for that,” he said. “About 10 per cent of orders are for ‘well done’.”

Perry said the food guidelines serve as a “worst-case scenario” safety net.

“Those guidelines from the health department are important because a lot of burger places have their patties supplied by butchers and have already been minced,” he said.

Perry said bacteria starts growing as soon as meat is minced so chefs need to mince and cook on the same day and keep meat refrigerated at the right temperature:

“We grind our patties in store every day.”

So what?

Shiga-toxin producing E. coli are generally found on the surface of meat cuts (unless that meat has been needle tenderized). The process of mincing moves the outside to the inside, so rare is risky.

Those dangerous E. coli are also especially infectious, with as few as 10 cells thought to cause illness.

hamburger-safe and unsafe-thumb-450x138-175

Saying the wrong thing, celebrity chefs more than others

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In grade 12, I ran for high school president (we had grade 13 back then, and that’s me, right, exactly as shown).

napoleon-couchThere were two assemblies, one for the juniors followed by one for the seniors, in which my opponent and I laid out our vision for the next school year.

I had been one of the entertainment co-ordinators on the previous council, and somehow exceled at bringing in bands and making money (a little).

There was this thing called live music back then.

Our high school, I’m told, hosted early versions of Rush and Max Webster, and I brought in local stalwarts, Goddo, and, the best named band in the area, Teenage Head.

My worthy opponent spoke first at the junior assembly, and I followed with my band-a-month pitch, and a proposal to paint the school logo over the centre of the basketball court.

The senior assembly began with the same speaking order, and I was stunned – flummoxed – when my competition lifted the school-logo idea.

I mumbled something in my pitch about how she had lifted the idea, and quickly realized no one cared.

It didn’t matter who was first, it mattered that the idea was out there (I won, barely).

So I’ve watched with mild bemusement as the various outlets fall over themselves to claim they broke the Dole-knew-about-Listeria-in-its-lettuce-plant story.

lettuce.skull.noroNo one cares, just that it’s out there.

What matters more is what Dole is going to do about it.

And they’re not talking (I’ll have some suggestions this week).

In a similar vein, researchers have updated our 2004 Spot-the-Mistake study about the food safety foibles of celebrity chefs.

That’s 14 years after we did the original work and 12 years after we published the results.

Now that it’s out there, I can say the new analysis fails for two reasons: The researchers cite dubious references about how the majority of foodborne illness happens in the home; and they use FightBac’s severely limited cook-clean-chill-separate mantra as a tool for scoring, ignoring the World Health Organization’s extra warning of source food from safe sources.

Anyone who has ever watched a TV or web-based cooking show knows that most of the content consists of a host gassing on about the small, sustainable, organic, natural, dolphin-free farm where the ingredients were acquired.

Food safety behaviors observed in celebrity chefs across a variety of programs

Curtis Maughan, Edgar Chambers IV, Sandria Godwin,

J Public Health, doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdw026

http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/08/pubmed.fdw026.abstract

Background Consumers obtain information about foodborne illness prevention from many sources, including television media. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a variety of cooking shows with celebrity chefs to understand their modeling of food safety behaviors.

Methods Cooking shows (100 episodes) were watched from 24 celebrity chefs preparing meat dishes. A tabulation of food safety behaviors was made for each show using a checklist.

Results Proper modeling of food safety behaviors was limited, with many incidences of errors. For example, although all chefs washed their hands at the beginning of cooking at least one dish, 88% did not wash (or were not shown washing) their hands after handling uncooked meat. This was compounded with many chefs who added food with their hands (79%) or ate while cooking (50%). Other poor behaviors included not using a thermometer (75%), using the same cutting board to prepare ready-to-eat items and uncooked meat (25%), and other hygiene issues such as touching hair (21%) or licking fingers (21%).

Conclusions This study suggests that there is a need for improvement in demonstrated and communicated food safety behaviors among professional chefs. It also suggests that public health professionals must work to mitigate the impact of poorly modeled behaviors.

celebrity_chefs4 (1)And the original.

Mathiasen, L.A., Chapman, B.J., Lacroix, B.J. and Powell, D.A. 2004. Spot the mistake: Television cooking shows as a source of food safety information, Food Protection Trends 24(5): 328-334.

Consumers receive information on food preparation from a variety of sources. Numerous studies conducted over the past six years demonstrate that television is one of the primary sources for North Americans. This research reports on an examination and categorization of messages that television food and cooking programs provide to viewers about preparing food safely. During June 2002 and 2003, television food and cooking programs were recorded and reviewed, using a defined list of food safety practices based on criteria established by Food Safety Network researchers. Most surveyed programs were shown on Food Network Canada, a specialty cable channel. On average, 30 percent of the programs viewed were produced in Canada, with the remainder produced in the United States or United Kingdom. Sixty hours of content analysis revealed that the programs contained a total of 916 poor food-handling incidents. When negative food handling behaviors were compared to positive food handling behaviors, it was found that for each positive food handling behavior observed, 13 negative behaviors were observed. Common food safety errors included a lack of hand washing, cross-contamination and time-temperature violations. While television food and cooking programs are an entertainment source, there is an opportunity to improve their content so as to promote safe food handling.

2 dead, 30 sickened with Salmonella in 2015: Australian bakery fined $63K,

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From Jan. to March, 2015, two people died and an additional 30 sickened with Salmonella bovismorbificans.

1462144920322-1New South Wales Health traced the Salmonella to a bakery that supplied aged-care facilities across the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and the ACT.

The defunct bakery, Betta Maid, was fined A$63,000 in Wollongong Court last week, plus A$20,000 in court costs, for selling unsafe food and breaching hygiene standards.

NSW Food Authority CEO Lisa Szabo said, “This court result serves as a reminder to all food businesses why food safety systems are crucial, particularly those businesses serving food to the most vulnerable in our community.”

Charges brought against the company director, Udo Boschan, have been adjourned to May 26.

Betta Maid was ordered to shut temporarily in March last year, but announced in April it would close its doors for good and the company was placed into liquidation.