Tag Archives: Wkrp

Cook the turkey to 165F, but what about the handwashing? And I thought turkeys could fly – WKRP edition

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Handwashing maven Michéle Samarya-Timm of the Somerset County Health Department (New Jersey, represent), writes:

 Thanksgiving…time for perennial traditions in my home such as laying out the thermometers, refilling the soap dispenser in the kitchen and bath, and gathering some videos for family-friendly viewing. Amidst perennial favorites such as Miracle on 34th Street, and WKRP’s Turkeys Away classic (“as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly…”), I came upon a new gem (new to me, anyway) – The West Wing Season 3 episode Indians in the Lobby.

In preparing for Thanksgiving, President Bartlet calls the Butterball Turkey Talk Line for credible food safety information. This script had the president talking about cooking the stuffing to 165 degrees F, “If I cook it inside the turkey, is there a chance I could kill my guests? I’m not saying that’s necessarily a deal-breaker,” and admitting to owning an accurate thermometer. He raved about the ease of getting food safety information via a phone call – a wonderful, glowing endorsement for the professionals at Butterball.

This Thanksgiving episode did what it was obviously intended to do… it inspired me to call Butterball (1-800-Butterball), and pose my own food safety question. I know that the Talk Line helps individuals with proper cooking directions, but does anyone call to inquire about handwashing? Lots of food being prepared should equate to lots of hands being washed….right? And lots of questions on how to do it safely? With food and dishes migrating in and out of the kitchen sink during the flow of preparations, how does one assure clean hands without lathering up over the food?

The perky lady who answered Butterball Turkey Hotline told me she, too, was a public health professional. Since she started in 1985, she didn’t recall ever receiving a query specific to handwashing. After assuring her I wasn’t a crackpot, she connected me with specialist Alice Coffey, who was happy to chat with me about food safety. Ms. Coffey was wonderfully knowledgeable, and able to seamlessly insert food safety tidbits into the conversation. Handwashing reminders are included with the safe food handling label on the breast, back or butt of every turkey. And Butterball will advise callers to wash their hands when they call to ask about routine and off-the-wall turkey preparations. But calling just to ask about Thanksgiving handwashing? Yup, seems like I’m the first.

I’m thankful that Butterball, bites.ksu.edu, USDA and others are continuing to find ways to provide credible food safety information out to the populace. And I’m thankful this year that I still have a job in public health. But until handwashing questions, knowledge and behaviors become as much a part of our lives as the Thanksgiving turkey, I’ll also thankfully continue as a Clean Hands Pilgrim.

DP says, best part of the turkey scene from WKRP is after the turkeys crash to the ground from the helicopter, DJ Johnny Fever spins  one of my favorite Credence Clearwater Revival tunes, It Came Out of the Sky.
 

Oyster capital of America, in Chattanooga, Tennessee?

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WKRP in Cincinnati station manager Arthur Carlson once asked Andy and Jennifer to pose for a fundraising calendar, or something.

Arthur: This year’s theme? Surf City USA.

Jennifer: In Cincinnati, Ohio?

Similarly, I never thought of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as a beacon for raw oysters. But, the local health unit reports that three unassociated groups of people who ate oysters at The Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar (located at 1011 Riverside Dr.) became ill. A total of 19 people reported illness after eating at the restaurant between Monday, Jan. 12, and Sunday, Jan. 18, and developed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea 12-40 hours after eating. The majority of those ill reported eating raw oysters.

Following standard protocol, the Health Department conducted an investigation to determine the cause of the illness. The establishment fully cooperated with the Health Department’s procedures. Inspection of the restaurant along with interviews with and testing of foodhandlers at The Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar did not implicate those persons or the restaurant as a source of infection.

Seventy-five percent of those tested were positive for norovirus. Confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration, the illnesses have been linked to raw shell oysters harvested off of the coast of Mississippi. Under advisement of the FDA, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is advising consumers not to eat oysters harvested from Conditionally Approved Area 2 “C” Shellfish Growing Waters in Mississippi from Jan. 5-9. These oysters may be contaminated with norovirus. …

Oysters cultivated in coastal areas close to human activities can be contaminated by human sewage, which can spread different types of viruses, including noroviruses.

Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of worms

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WKRP in Cincinnati was always one of my favorite television shows. Although not much of a hit when it originally aired from 1978-1982, WKRP was a blockbuster in syndication, and can still be seen on WGN (tonight at 6 pm Central, Bailey lets Johnny move in). Amy got me the complete first season on DVD.

The episode where station manager Arthur Carlson regrettably takes on the religious right came to mind when reading about the Digestive Table (below, left), created by artist Amy Young who lives in … Ohio.

This homebrew "bio-factory" includes a dense mixture of live Red Wiggler composting worms, sowbugs, shredded paper, food scraps, and other biodegradeable materials. Included in the table structure is an embedded LCD screen and infrared camera so that people dining at the table can catch a glimpse of the decomposition process happening below. Although this reviewer likes the utilitarian aspect of this table concept, I would be hesitant about eating a meal near any kind of decomposition process.

One of WKRP’s long-time advertizers is Harvey, who sells, “Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of worms.” Catchy jingle too. Compost away, I do, but outside, not at the dinner table.

It came out of the sky …

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That’s the song by CCR that plays at the end of this WKRP in Cincinnati skit (below). As part of a station promotion, where the suits take on the dungarees, Les, Herb and Mr., Carlson decide to give away Thanksgiving turkeys – by dropping them from a helicopter at a local shopping mall.

That late 1970s television bit has evolved into Cincinnati’s traditional Turkey Bowl, an annual outdoor event using frozen turkeys in place of bowling balls.

Contestants will try to knock down 10 pins Tuesday by sliding rock-hard birds down a lane on the holiday season ice skating rink on downtown’s landmark Fountain Square.

The person with the highest score after three rounds wins $100 cash and "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVDs including the series’ famous "Turkeys Away" episode.

The frozen birds used in Turkey Bowl are discarded store turkeys not intended for anyone’s table.
 

What is safe food?

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I struggle with that question. Food safety or, safe food, are terms that are bandied about but, like talking with a spouse, maybe we’re talking about different things.

If I’m in front of a group, I usually ask, what does safe food mean to you? The answers run the range of possibilities – nutritious, sustainable, low in fat, welfare-friendly, local and any other slogan that has been popularized and rendered meaningless by fashionable foodies.

The people that publish Consumer Reports came out with some “new national food safety and labeling poll" that even went by the bullshit name, GreenerChoices, yesterday which seemed to cover everything – genetic engineering, labeling, inspections – except the things that make people barf.

I find it all confusing. And, as Less Nessman said on WKRP in Cincinnati, “when I get confused, I watch television. Somehow, television makes things simple.”

But that was 30 years ago. So I checked Wikipedia.

“Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness.”

That’s too simple. Way too simple.

Rhode Island Food Safety Education has a thorough but long-winded definition:

“Protecting the food supply from microbial, chemical (i.e. rancidity, browning) and physical (i.e. drying out, infestation) hazards or contamination that may occur during all stages of food production and handling-growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, preparing, distributing and storing. The goal of food safety monitoring is to keep food wholesome.”

That may be difficult to fit on a T-shirt.

What’s your definition of safe food?
 

Obama needs more food safety specifics

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Barack Obama is generating lots of interest in the U.S. Presidential process. Especially about whether he is too thin to be voted President by fat Americans.

I can’t even vote but, like Tom Hanks, share an interest in presidential history.

On Friday, Obama introduced the “Improving Food-borne Illness Surveillance and Response Act of 2008, which would improve information sharing and collaboration between public and private agencies and other organizations to effectively address food safety challenges. …

“The Obama food safety legislation would strengthen and expand food-borne illness surveillance in order to better inform and evaluate efforts to prevent these illnesses. This bill would also enhance the identification and investigation of food-borne illness outbreaks, which would assist officials to respond appropriately. In anticipation of future challenges, this bill would require a survey of state health departments to determine critical needs as well as the development of strategic plans. …”

Sorry, I must have dozed off there.

Sure Obama is offering up more than McCain. But Obama is creating expectations. Hopefully they are not too unrealistic; he’s already fallen into the safest food in the world rhetoric.

And it’s spelled foodborne, not food-borne.

This sorta reminds me of Les Nessman advising station manager and local council candidate, Arthur Carlson, on how to answer tough questions during an episode of WKRP. Something like:

(Food safety) is an important issue for all Americans. I take this issue seriously and will be appointing a blue-ribbon fact-finding commission, to issue a position paper on (food safety) very soon.

And since there’s not much on youtube about WKRP, I’ll leave you with, The Dungarees versus the Suits.