Chinese fish ball factory crawling with centipedes, cockroaches ordered shut

I live in Brisbane, so when I eat fish it’s golden snapper, scallops or big fat prawns. All from our local shores.

It ain’t cheap, but damn it’s good.

In China, they have something called fish balls which sounds as gross as I imagine they are. Penang Health Department inspectors ordered the closure of a 50-year-old fish ball factory after vermin were found contaminating products at its premises.

Food Safety and Quality Division (BKMM) environmental health officer, Mohd Wazir Khalid, said the factory has 14 days to improve cleanliness after flies, cockroaches and centipedes were discovered on the food and in storage containers; while rat droppings were found in the storeroom.

“Although it is not a halal product, we still have a responsibility to protect the non-Muslim community,” he said of the Ops Tegar that was conducted yesterday.

He told reporters that the product was found on the floor, covered in flies and cockroaches, which could cause food poisoning.

He said they also found a fish ball product mixed with a pork-based product that was not labelled in Malay, violating Regulation 10 of the Food Act 1983, which could cause consumer confusion because it is sold at wet markets around Penang.

Mohd Wazir said the factory was raided twice last year and given a verbal warning for the same violations.

He said BKMM also issued three compound notices under Regulation 32 of the Food Act 1983 because employees were not wearing aprons or shoes, and many had not been immunised against typhoid.

Barefoot in fish balls is food I don’t want to think about.  I had the privilege of seeing Dutch live in small Canadian clubs several times over the years. Great entertainer.

One way to control vermin….

Shoot them.

Richard Allison reports
Milling wheat growers are being reminded not to use shotguns to control vermin in grain stores, as some flour mills have reported increasing amounts of lead shot being found among grain intakes.
Martin Savage, trade policy manager at the National Association of British and Irish Millers (Nabim), says while some shot can be screened out, a significant quantity may remain to contaminate end-products.
“Despite many attempts, it is impossible to determine whether the shot results from farmers shooting within grain stores or if it comes from shooting over standing crops,” he said.
See also: New significant wheat yellow rust strain is identified
He pointed to a recent case where a grower’s crops became contaminated after a neighbouring farmer operated a simulated “driven-game” clay shooting operation on adjacent land and the shot fell onto the nearby wheat crop.
However, Mr Savage added that it is difficult to understand how significant quantities of shot can result from this practice, and survive the harvesting process.
“Therefore, most of us believe that in the majority of these contamination cases, the shot comes from pest control within farm grain stores. Farmers should certainly never shoot within grain stores.”
Live cartridges
Of greater concern for some mills is the recent discovery of live ammunition.
“Flour millers have not only detected lead shot in wheat, but also found spent .22 cartridges and even live .410 cartridges at intake,” Mr Savage said.
He explained that the problem is that the milling process flattens the shot to paper-thin proportions that cannot always be found by the existing in-line metal detection systems.
In the past, there have been recalls of finished baked products which are not only very costly, but potentially damaging to the reputation of the food producer.
“We will always attempt to identify the loads containing shot and will not hesitate to seek compensation where problems occur,” Mr Savage said.

Of course food safety is your top priority; dancing rats at Manhattan Dunkin’ Donuts

Oh iPhone cameras and youtube.com; how do I love thee?

And Dunkin’ Donuts, you’re no Tim Hortons.

Two videos uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday show rats crawling around a New York City Dunkin’ Donuts location in the Garmnet District.

In the first video, uploaded by user ‘Pjayone’, a rat is seen making its way from the top of a display rack, touching croissants, bagels and other Dunkin' Donutsbaked goods in open tubs.

The second video shows yet another rat crawling up a window curtain at the same location on 37th Street and 8th Avenue.

In an email to Gothamist, the YouTube user explains that this is a normal occurrence  at the location.

‘At two-thirty [in the morning] every [day] the workers load the shelves with the morning’s wares. Shortly thereafter like clockwork the rats come out and party.’

‘My phone ran out of power, or I would’ve filmed the outright nine deep rat assault which followed the action above,’ he added.

‘The items in the video that are being besieged upon by the rats were to be sold for that mornings breakfast rush.’

The location captured in the video has an ‘A’ rating from the city’s health department, despite getting a citation for vermin-related issues in November 2013.

The citation called the facility ‘not vermin proof. Harboarge or conditions conductive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowed vermin to exist.’

When contacted by Gothamist, the location manager said simply: ‘We don’t have an issue like that.’

Dunkin’ Donuts’ corporate offices issued their own statement, saying ‘food safety is a top priority’.

‘We have stringent food safety and quality standards, and we take great pride in the food and beverages we serve to our guests every day.

$3500 fine; Melbourne market sold food contaminated with rat feces, court hears

The Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne is a sprawling enterprise that I always visit when in town; but I have no delusions about food safety.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court has, according to the Herald Sun, heard six inspections over a six-month period revealed stallholder Robert Dinardo, 47, had food on display containing rodent droppings and packaging that had been gnawed at and shredded by rats.

An environmental health officer also found incorrectly labeled items and food for sale containing dirt, insects and feathers.

Dinardo pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including failing to comply with relevant legislation and selling food unsuitable for human consumption.

Dinardo was convicted and fined $3,500 and ordered to pay costs of $2,100.

Perfect for attracting vermin: Bar’rique restaurant closed by NYC health department

The Bleecker Street restaurant and wine bar Bar’rique was shut down by the Health Department Friday after failing a health inspection.

DNA info reports the Health Department found evidence of mice and conditions that were perfect for attracting vermin, according to the city’s website.

Inspectors also found that the 263 Bleecker St. restaurant’s kitchen kept hot foods at insufficiently high temperatures and cold foods at insufficiently low temperatures.

Bar’rique did not immediately respond to inquiries about its plans.