Sushi + bacteria = barf

I was always skeptical when it came to sushi because of hands constantly touching the rice, fish, and other ingredients that go in the roll. Rice is notorious for harbouring bacteria such as Bacillus cereus, a nasty little germ that is capable of forming a spore and can cause one to seriously embark on a journey of barfing. One of the critical control points in controlling the growth of this bacterium is to acidify the rice, that is, attain a pH of <4.6. Synder1 reports that a pH of less than 4.6 will retard the growth of this bacterium and others such as Clostridium botulinum. I remember when I attempted to make sushi at home, I added enough vinegar to the rice that one bite would have given you an instant gastric ulcer, so I stopped. But are food operators’ testing their product to ensure the rice is at a pH of <4.6?

The Arizona Daily Star reports that Sushi Ten was reported in having 11 critical health violations.

Sushi Ten, a midtown eatery specializing in raw seafood, failed its first health inspection with a new owner, Pima County reported Monday.

The restaurant, which for several years held the top spot for sushi in the Tucson Weekly’s annual "Best of Tucson" survey, amassed 11 critical food-safety violations during an inspection last Wednesday. Critical violations are those that carry the risk of spreading food-borne illness, and an eatery receives a provisional rating if a county sanitarian notices five or more of them.

Sushi Ten, 4500 E. Speedway, will be reinspected within 10 days, said Sharon Browning, manager of the county Consumer Health and Food Safety unit.

Sushi Ten’s owner, David Lam, who took over the restaurant in May, said many of the violations stemmed from his employees not being fully aware of Pima County’s health code. He said he plans to attend a county class to learn more about safe food preparation and to educate his employees.

Most of the violations were corrected during the course of the inspection, Lam said.

The violations included employees failing to wash their hands after handling raw food or dirty dishes, food not being kept at the proper temperature, and potentially hazardous food not being properly date-marked.

Source:

1. Synder, O.P. (2000A). Sushi rice HACCP. Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management.

Fish folks say actor Jeremy Piven wet about mercury claims

Seafood overload for dinner Saturday night. Crab legs and lobster tail on clearance in the seafood capital of the Midwest, a decent Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (I’m having a Sideways moment), and corn. Sorenne loves the corn-on-the-cob (below).

Jeremy Piven (right), excellent in The Larry Sanders Show before cable shows became hip, a bunch of movies with childhood friend John Cusack, and now as super-ego agent Ari Gold on Entourage, which has become as boring as E’s personaiitly seems on the show, also likes the seafood. Piven says he’s been eating fish twice a day for 20 years and that contributed to methylmercury poisoning which caused him to leave the cast of a Broadway play in 2008.

The producers said, no way, and took action against Piven. An arbitrator cleared Piven of any wrongdoing.

But the National Fisheries Institute said in a recent statement
to “treat Piven’s statements with skepticism. …

“It is important to note that no peer-reviewed medical journal has ever published any evidence of a case of methylmercury poisoning caused by the normal consumption of commercial seafood in the U.S. This ruling does not change that simple scientific fact.”

Mital Pandya: Dangerous dolphin meat

Mital Pandya writes:

I consider myself a food enthusiast, and I spend a lot of time and effort reading reviews and traveling to seek out the best food out there. However, I don’t eat dolphin, but some people apparently do… Flipper anyone?

In certain regions of Japan, many consider dolphin meat to be a delicacy, though unaware of the dangers associated with the meal. Two elected officials of a Japanese whaling town, Taiji, tested random samples of dolphin meat at supermarkets.

“One dolphin sample had a mercury content 10 times above the health ministry’s advisory level of 0.4 parts per million, with a methylmercury readout 10.33 times over the ministry’s own advisory level of 0.3 ppm.”

The CDC also has an official report on mercury levels warning people of the health hazards of mercury, at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts46.html.

“The form of mercury that accumulates in the food chain is methylmercury. When small fish eat the methylmercury in food, it goes into their tissues. When larger fish eat smaller fish or other organisms that contain methylmercury, most of the methylmercury originally present in the small fish will then be stored in the bodies of the larger fish. As a result, the larger and older fish living in contaminated waters build up the highest amounts of methylmercury in their bodies.”

High levels of mercury can cause severe damage to the nervous system, as well as permanent damage to the brain and kidneys, and children are especially susceptible.

Both the short term and long term damages caused by the consumption of dolphin meat are enough for me to say, “Dolphin it’s not for dinner."

Though this problem has been known for years now, it has recently been highlighted in the high-publicity documentary, The Cove, which won the audience award at Sundance Film Festival this year.

“Flipper was one of the most beloved television characters of all time. But ironically, the fascination with dolphins that he caused created a tragic epidemic that has threatened their existence and become a multibillion dollar industry. The largest supplier of dolphins in the world is located in the picturesque town of Taijii, Japan. But the town has a dark, horrifying secret that it doesn’t want the rest of the world to know. There are guards patrolling the cove, where the dolphin capturing takes place, who prevent any photography.” 

Mital Pandya is a current USDA research scientist in Orient Point, NY. In 2007 she received her Masters degree in Public Health from Ohio State University. She is passionate about food, loves to knit, and travel.

Jack Black vomiting mystery

Dude, the urine sample ain’t going to tell anyone anything. It’s a poop sample you need to give the doctor. Because, as they correctly say on the TV show Scrubs, Everything Comes Down to Poo (see below).

Jack Black
, who’s been in a gazillion movies but is best remembered by me for his scene-stealing effort in 2000’s High Fidelity (right, exactly as shown) has been bedridden for a week – after contracting a mystery vomiting virus.

"Just last weekend, I thought I was knocking on death’s door. I have never had this thing before where it has to go out of you in all directions. I’m not going into the grisly details, but it was explosive. Simultaneous explosions. I was wondering whether it was the sushi I ate or whether I caught it from someone and the doctor said it was the latter."

Black, who was at home with his wife and two young sons, was terrified he might pass on his condition to little Sam, three, and Thomas, 12 months: "It’s harder when you’ve got two babies, because you’re exploding, then you’re washing your hands ’cause you don’t want to get them sick either. It’s a constant battle to stay clean."

And the star admits the most embarrassing incident came after he had seen a doctor, who ordered him to hand over a urine sample for testing.
 

Canada’s governor general eats raw seal heart: EU says too bizarre to acknowledge

Canada’s governor general Michaelle Jean (below, right), the representative of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II – ‘hellooooo little people ‘ — ate a slaughtered seal’s raw heart today in a show of support to the country’s seal hunters.

Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered Monday as Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, Jean turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?"

‘It’s like sushi’

A spokeswoman for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said, "No comment; it’s too bizarre to acknowledge.”
 

Don’t eat poop: Hepatitis A alert for Toronto sushi restaurant

Toronto Public Health has identified a case of Hepatitis A in a food handler at Sushi Haru located at 635 College Street at Grace Street in Toronto. Anyone who consumed food from this restaurant on the following dates may have been exposed to the Hepatitis A virus: September 30; October 1 to 3; or October 6 to 10. …

If you ate at Sushi Haru on October 9, you may still benefit from receiving a vaccination to prevent Hepatitis A infection. The vaccine is effective for up to 14 days after coming into contact with the virus. Today is the last day that the vaccine would be effective. Call your doctor to get the vaccine, or go to a walk-in clinic.

A Fact Sheet on Hepatitis A is available at www.toronto.ca/health.
 

Australian sushi business fined over rats

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Chief Industrial Magistrates Court fined Sushi World’s Camperdown premises more than $60,000 after it heard the business was closed by the New South Wales Food Authority after an inspection in November 2006 revealed it was a "risk to public health.”

Inspectors who toured the premises found rat faeces scattered over the floor, on equipment and in food-processing areas. Two 12.5-kilogram bags of flour had been "gnawed open by rodents" and one of the creatures was seen in the food storage area, the court heard.

The NSW Chief Industrial Magistrate, George Miller, said Sushi World’s failure to adhere to parts of the food standards code indicated "serious shortfalls in basic food handling", and the company’s continued breaches from November 2006 to May 2007 suggested a "disturbing willingness to run a food business without regard for basic hygiene standards".

During the hearing its director, Suk Joon Song, said trade decreased by 50 per cent due to negative publicity after the charges had been made public.

Sushi World no longer operates from the Camperdown premises but has opened a factory in Meadowbank, which has been approved by the NSW Food Authority.