Tag Archives: Scotland

If a child poops in the forest, will anyone catch E. coli?

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An open-air nursery, or forest kindergarten, sounds sorta cool (in German, Waldkindergarten), where the kids spend their days in the woods instead of a building with walls.

But poop could be a problem.

The Secret Garden Outdoor Nursery in Fife, Scotland, which operates in a woodland setting, had been ordered to use soap and water instead of wipes if staff and children visited a farm or walked across a field containing livestock.

The Scotsman reports the nursery argued that carrying up to ten litres of water into Letham Woods where the children play and learn was impractical and that the threat of catching E coli was being exaggerated.

Last night Cathy Bache, the nursery’s founder, welcomed the victory over what she described as Health Protection Scotland’s (HPS) "very unworkable" hand-washing policy, adding,

"It’s fantastic. We can now continue to operate as a nomadic nursery on our woodland site. If we’d had hand-washing imposed on us it would have made things a lot more difficult."

The potential hygiene issue came to light in July last year after concerns about handwashing were raised at an inspection by the Care Commission which regulates Scotland’s nurseries. The nursery complied with a request to use soap and water before reverting to wipes and gels last December.

A spokesman for the Care Commission, said: "The Secret Garden will now follow a ten-step programme of measures with regard to hand hygiene. The practice and procedures should also be approved by the individual parents of all children attending.

"However, we remain clear that children at the Secret Garden should wash their hands with soap and water whenever possible to maintain good infection prevention."

That’s because sanitizers do not work in the presence of organic material – dirt in a forest – and are ineffective against a number of viruses.

Environmental health driven by HR, good people leaving

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Scotland has the highest rate of E coli O157 infection in the world and experts are struggling to maintain the fight against the infection.

Prof Hugh Pennington, who has chaired two public inquiries into major outbreaks of E. coli O157, said he was concerned about the number of experienced personnel being lost due to budget cuts, adding,

"Worryingly environmental health now seems to be being driven by HR departments."

Rod House, president of the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland, said many senior officers were taking early retirement as councils seek to reduce their wage bills, yet fewer trainees are being appointed.
 

If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap, so US planning to relax haggis ban; haggis nachos on the way?

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BBC News reports the U.S. government is planning to relax the ban on imported meats which prevents the sale of haggis, introduced in 1989 because of concerns about the safety of British meat during the BSE or mad cow disease debacle. Haggis contains offal ingredients such as sheep lungs.

Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said,

"I am greatly encouraged to hear that the US authorities are planning a review of the unfair ban on haggis imports. We are in regular contact with the industry on this issue and believe that reversing the ban would deliver a vote of confidence in Scottish producers, and allow American consumers to sample our world renowned national dish. It’s time for the US authorities to deliver a Burns Night (Jan. 25) boost and recognise that Scottish haggis is outstanding quality produce."

Jo MacSween, co-director of Macsween Haggis, said it would come as good news to expats and tourists, and that sales of haggis were no longer confined to the Burns Night season in January — the company has also diversified into products such as haggis nachos.
 

Honey on a dummy could have killed tot

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The Scots have a way with headlines  — and in this case it’s deadly serious.

Call it what you will, a dummy, pacifier, soother, nuk – that’s Sorenne with one of hers a few weeks ago – they should never be dipped in honey.

A child in Scotland has been in hospital for six weeks fighting for his life with botulism and he could have caught it from sucking a dummy which had been dipped in honey, it emerged last night.

Since 1976, over 1,000 cases of infant botulism have been reported worldwide, most of them in America.

Clostridium botulinum can cause sickness in very young children, and infants under the age of 1 years old are most at risk. Honey may contain Clostridium botulinum spores that can grow in the digestive tract of children less than one-year-old because their digestive system is less acidic. The bacteria produces toxin in the body and can cause severe illness. Even pasteurized honey can contain botulism spores and should be not be given to children under the age of 12 months.
 

Scotland’s water coolers teeming with dangerous bacteria

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My friend Dave got into the bottled water biz in the 1980s in Hamilton, Ontario, providing those 5-gallon jugs for water dispensers at home and offices. I never was into that stuff, but the 5-gallon plastic carboys that people haul to the grocery store for a refill are excellent secondary fermentation vessels for home beer production.

But, for those who work in an office, the water cooler is, I’m told, the place for gossip, flirting and bacteria.

The Sunday Herald reports that tests for watchdog organization, Consumer Focus Scotland, found potentially dangerous bacteria in drinking water dispensers in workplaces, schools and care homes. The group says the dispensers need to be better cleaned and maintained, and that the Scottish government, along with the Food Standards Agency, should review existing legislation because it is difficult to enforce.

Environmental health officers found bacterial contamination in 23 out of 87 water dispensers sampled in Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders. They tested for five types of bacteria known to cause illness, particularly in people who are vulnerable due to frailty or ill-health.

Water from bottle-supplied coolers was the most contaminated, with 14 out of 35 samples containing bacteria. Eight samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria, usually associated with faeces, and three contained staphylococcus aureus, which can cause serious illnesses.

Nine of the 52 samples from plumbed-in coolers taking water from the mains were also found to be contaminated, sometimes by more than one type of bacteria.

The contamination is thought to be due to the poor hygiene habits of some drinkers. Unwashed hands, putting mouths to taps and refilling dirty bottles could all be to blame.

Scottish docs told: wash your hands or you’re fired

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My high school friend Dave used to say life is a series of hills and valleys: hills and valleys, Boog (that was my nickname, after Baltimore Orioles baseball great, Miller Lite spokesthingy and mesquite barbecue whiz, John “Boog” Powell).

Dave’s descriptor was insightful, to the point and accurate; or just really dull, I’m never quite sure which. I’m reminded of such adjectives when I find myself saying any approach to modifying food safety behavior requires a mixture of carrots and sticks.

I can be amazingly dull.

The National Health Service in Scotland has decided to focus on the sticks bit to get wayward physicians to wash their damn hands: doctors who don’t wash their hands could be fired.

An aide to Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said it was “unacceptable” for medical staff to flout hygiene rules, adding,

“Hand hygiene is an important part of our drive to tackle healthcare associated infection. We are now adopting a zero-tolerance approach to non compliance.”

Groundhog Day continues for Hugh Pennington; lashes out a delay in E. coli reporting — again (and again and again)

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“In November 1996, over 400 fell ill and 21 — largely pensioners who had attended a church supper — were eventually killed in Scotland from infection with E. coli O157:H7.

Health authorities quickly linked the outbreak to cooked meat sold by family butchers John Barr & Son in Wishaw, who had been in business for 28 years and in September was awarded the title of Scottish Butcher of the Year. … It was concluded by investigators that the contamination occurred probably because knives used to separate raw product were also being used to open packages of cooked product.”

Professor Hugh Pennington was called in to handle a public inquiry.

Then another E. coli O157 outbreak struck, this time in Wales in 2005, killing a five-year-old and sickening some 150 schoolchildren. Another public inquiry was held earlier this year, chaired again by Prof. Pennington.

Then another outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in Scotland killed one and sickened seven in Aug. 2007, again in cold cuts, and again Prof. Pennington said there was no excuse for allowing contaminated cold meat to be sold.

Yesterday, Prof Pennington told the Sunday Mail that a Scottish hospital taking three days to report three cases of E. coli O157 to the local public team was unacceptable, adding,

"I’d only find a delay of hours acceptable. Finding the source must be done quickly, especially after what happened in Wishaw years ago."

Maybe one day the good prof will awaken from this repeating nightmare.

 

Memories of Walkerton: Drinking water in Scotland wells sickens 15 with E. coli O157

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Up to 15 people – including children – were this afternoon being treated for E.coli after an outbreak of the bug near Aberdeen.

Seven cases have already been confirmed with a further eight people showing symptoms.

Public health chiefs believe the source is a shared private water supply to eight homes in South Auchinclech, near Westhill.

Aberdeen-based Prof Hugh Pennington, said the source of the contamination was likely to be cattle manure, adding,

“There is quite a strong possibility it got washed into the water supply by heavy rain. The water purification system probably got overwhelmed. …  Once somebody’s been affected, we’ve just got to keep our finger crossed.”
 

If it’s not Scottish, it’s craaaaapp

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After 19 years, the Scottish government is bent on asking the United States to overturn its ban on Scotland’s traditional and national dish called ‘haggis.’

The U.S. implemented a ban on haggis from Scotland in 1989 amidst the bovine spongiform encephalopathy [mad cow] scare because the dish contains offal ingredients such as sheep lungs. Sheep can suffer from scrapie, which is in the same family of diseases as BSE.

A Scottish government spokesperson told BBC News,

"The market is massive because there are so many expat Scots there and once Americans try a good quality haggis, they can’t get enough of it."

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said,

"We do not allow importation because of the U.K.’s BSE status. Sheep are susceptible to TSE’s and thus the U.S. takes precautions on importing those ruminants from BSE-affected countries."

A spokesman for Britain’s Food Standards Agency said,

"We see no reason at all why people cannot eat haggis safely, so long as manufacturers follow hygiene legislation."

The story says that haggis is traditionally served with tatties and neeps (potatoes and turnips). It usually contains a sheep’s lungs, liver and heart minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt mixed with stock. It is then boiled in the animal’s stomach for approximately three hours.