Fw: [BITES-L] bites Sep. 18/10
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Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:25:17 -0500
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Subject: [BITES-L] bites Sep. 18/10
bites Sep. 18/10
Infant formula tampered with; 1 sick in OTTAWA
Salmonella in sprouts sickens 73, separate salmonella in duck eggs sicken 63; UK bureaucrats blame consumers
Restaurant inspection grades in NY; C becomes A, B is Best
CALIFORNIA: Fresh from the truck
Targeted microarray analysis of stationary phase Escherichia coli O157:H7 subjected to disparate nutrient conditions
Salmonella not just for humans; 2 tigers in INDIA critically ill
US: Handwashing more common in public restrooms than in hospitals
Clean up dog poop or this woman will throw it through your screen
UK: Morrisons recalls its Mini Coconut Bites
Continued risk management of the diminishing bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak in the UK
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Infant formula tampered with; 1 sick in OTTAWA
18.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144182/10/09/18/infant-formula-tampered-1-sick-ottawa
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Nestlé Canada Inc. are advising the public that some cans of powdered infant formula found in the Nepean, Ontario area have been tampered with.
Three cans of Nestlé Good Start Iron Fortified Infant Formula, 900g size,
UPC: 0 65000 36614 3, have been found to contain a powder which appears to be flour. These cans were found at the following retail locations: Your Independent Grocer on Strandherd Drive and Sobeys on Greenbank Drive in Nepean, Ontario.
There has been one reported illness associated with the consumption of this product.
Consumers using powdered infant formula products should look under the plastic lid of the cans and ensure the metal/foil top is sealed properly. The CFIA is conducting an investigation and the case has been referred to the police.
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2010/20100917e.shtml
Salmonella in sprouts sickens 73, separate salmonella in duck eggs sicken 63; UK bureaucrats blame consumers
17.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144176/10/09/17/salmonella-sprouts-sickens-73-separate-salmonella-duck-eggs-sicken-63-uk-bureauThe U.K. Food Standards Agency had a busy day reminding consumers they are the critical control point when it comes to food safety and everything would be fine as long as they cooked things.
Just cook it don't cut it.
"The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today reminded people of the importance of good hygiene practice when handling and cooking raw bean sprouts."
"The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today reminded consumers and caterers of the importance of good hygiene practice when cooking with and consuming duck eggs."
There's some innovation going on in crafting those food safety messages.
The real news is later.
An investigation into an outbreak of salmonella by the Health Protection Agency and Health Protection Scotland has identified possible links to raw bean sprouts. There have been 58 cases reported in England since the start of August and 15 cases in Scotland.
An investigation by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) into an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium DT8 indicates that from 1 January 2010 to date, 63 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium DT8 infection have been reported in the UK.
Two cases are known to have resulted in people being hospitalised and one death has been reported (although at present it is uncertain whether the death is directly related to the Salmonella infection). Evidence from investigations carried out by the HPA and FSA supports a link between the consumption of duck eggs and this outbreak.
How do British taxpayers feel funding a government agency that seems to spend most of its communications efforts telling taxpayers to do more in a piping-hot-sorta manner?
Consumers have a role; so do the producers, processors and distributors not mentioned in these taxpayer-funded reminders.
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/beansprouts
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/duckeggs
Restaurant inspection grades in NY; C becomes A, B is Best
17.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144178/10/09/17/restaurant-inspection-grades-ny-c-becomes-b-best
Grub Street New York reports that Le Bernardin has scored an A after reinspection, but can't figure out what the original C was for because, "the Health Department's fancy new inspection-results site is constantly, constantly down. Every other time we've tried to access it in the past month, we've gotten a "taking too long to respond" page.
Meanwhile, "midtown sandwich joint Cer Te is rolling with the B it got from the Health Department — they're the "BEST" (photo from Metropolis/WSJ).
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/09/le_bernardin_is_now_a-okay_aft.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nymag%2Fgrubstreet+%28Grub+Street+-+nymag.com%27s+Food+and+Restaurant+Blog%29
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/09/cer_te_makes_the_best_of_its_b.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nymag%2Fgrubstreet+%28Grub+Street+-+nymag.com%27s+Food+and+Restaurant+Blog%29
CALIFORNIA: Fresh from the truck
18.sep.10
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-lunchtrucks-20100918,0,859033.story
Don't call them "roach coaches" anymore. If the county Board of Supervisors approves a proposal suggested by health officials to apply letter grades to lunch trucks, Angelenos will have to come up with a new nickname for the popular mobile eateries. "Spic-and-span vans?" "Bugless buggies?" "Hygiene machines?"
Nomenclature aside, it's past time to apply the same successful grading system used to asses sanitary conditions at brick-and-mortar restaurants to mobile food vendors. There are nearly 10,000 such vendors —everything from hot dog and ice cream carts to full-service catering trucks — operating in the county, but because they're on wheels, it's hard for health inspectors to keep track of them. Under the proposal, vendors would have to file travel routes and times with the county so the Health Department could conduct unannounced twice-yearly inspections. They would get a letter grade from A to C depending on their compliance with health rules, and unacceptable vendors could be shut down.
The plan wouldn't just be good for public health; it would be good for the vendors. Although gourmet lunch trucks have become increasingly popular in recent years, some customers are still doubtless put off by the thought of eating something prepared in what looks like a Winnebago with vents. A seal of approval from the Health Department might put them at ease. Supervisors may vote on the measure as soon as next week, and they should approve it.
Targeted microarray analysis of stationary phase Escherichia coli O157:H7 subjected to disparate nutrient conditions
17.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144181/10/09/17/targeted-microarray-analysis-stationary-phase-escherichia-coli-o157h7-subjected
Getting graduate students to publish their research in peer-reviewed journals is often painful. As a supervisor, I sucked at it for years, but am now more draconian.
I'm pretty sure Kevin Allen (right, exactly as shown) got some award for this research at the International Association for Food Protection meeting in Baltimore in 2005, so good to see the hockey goon finally got it published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. (And if these details are wrong, write in and correct them; it's a blog.)
K.J. Allen, D. Lepp, R.C. McKellar, M.W. Griffiths
Abstract
Aims: To determine how stress response and virulence gene expression of stationary phase (SP) Escherichia coli O157:H7 are affected by nutrient levels.
Methods and Results: A targeted microarray (n = 125 genes) was used to determine the impact of nutrient deprivation [15 min in 3-(N-Morpholino)propanesulfonic acid buffer] on SP E. coli O157:H7. In total, 24 genes were significantly affected (>1·5-fold; P < 0·05) with 17 induced and seven attenuated. Additionally, 11 genes belonging to significantly affected stress response regulons were significantly induced (P < 0·05), though <1·5-fold. Induced genes included global and specific stress response regulators, the mar operon, iron acquisition and virulence genes. In contrast, transcript for major porins and replicative genes were repressed. Comparison of the nutrient deprived transcriptome to that derived from nutrient replenished cells revealed a disparate transcriptome, with 44 genes expressed at significantly elevated levels in nutrient replenished cells, including all queried global and specific stress response regulators and key virulence genes. Genes expressed at elevated levels in nutrient deprived cells were related to σS. The microarray data were validated by qRT-PCR.
Conclusions: SP E. coli O157:H7 were affected by nutrient deprivation, with both starvation-related and unrelated networks induced, thereby demonstrating how the E. coli O157:H7 stress response transcriptome is fine-tuned to environmental conditions. Further, by comparison of starved cells to cells provided with fresh nutrients, it is clear starved E. coli O157:H7 undergo massive physiological reprogramming dominated initially by stress response induction to adapt to a nutrient rich environment.
Significance and Impact of the Study: This study demonstrated how σS-induced SP E. coli O157:H7 remain highly sensitive and adaptable to environmental conditions. Further, by examining how starved cells respond to nutrient-rich conditions, we show preliminary adaptation to a nutrient rich environment is dominated by the induction of diverse stress response networks. Combined, this provides E. coli O157:H7 stress physiology-based knowledge that can be used to design more effective food safety interventions.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/141080/10/03/01/canadian-olympic-gold-hockey-post-doctoral-fellowship-opportunity-ubc
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2010.04843.x/abstract
Salmonella not just for humans; 2 tigers in INDIA critically ill
17.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144179/10/09/17/salmonella-not-just-humans-2-tigers-india-critically-ill
DH News Service: reports that an 11-year-old white tiger Arya and four-year-old Minchu have shown no improvement after suffering from severe bout of diarrhea following salmonella infection after eating meat.
This has forced veterinary doctors to change the course of antibiotics on Friday. Since the time they fell ill, both the tigers have not eaten anything.
M N Jayakumar, IFS officer and Member-Secretary of Zoo Authority of Karnataka, said eight tigers were unwell. But 41 tigers, which are in the safari area have no health problems. There are 22 lions and none have health complications although they were fed with chicken supplied by a particular contractor for Shivajinagar.
On the affected tigers, he said, E. coli and Salmonella bacteria present in chicken were the culprits.
The blood samples of nine tigers sent by BBP to the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinarian Biologicals (IVHVB) on Thursday reported salmonella bacteria for few samples, few samples had E. coli and in the rest had both bacteria in them.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/97417/2-tigers-still-critically-ill.html
US: Handwashing more common in public restrooms than in hospitals
17.sep.10
Fierce Healthcare
Sandra Yin
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/handwashing-more-common-public-restrooms-hospitals/2010-09-17
People who use public restrooms are more likely to wash their hands than physicians in America's hospitals, a leading scholar reports. Michael Millenson, a visiting scholar at the Kellogg School of Management, compared data from a recent survey of public bathroom hygiene in the U.S. to hand hygiene compliance rates in U.S. hospitals, and found that "the guy who just used the toilet at Grand Central Station is ... way more likely to have clean hands than the guy walking up to your bed at the local hospital." Writing on The Health Care Blog, Millenson noted that a recent survey by the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute found that on average, 85 percent of adults washed their hands after using a public restroom.
He compared that rate with a finding from a 2009 American Journal of Medical Quality study, which measured a dismal 26 percent hand hygiene compliance rate for ICUs. FierceHealthcare notes that findings from a 2010 Applied Nursing Research study said that 34 percent of healthcare workers wash their hands. The numbers certainly give one pause. But there's a glimmer of hope. A select group hospitals involved in a Joint Commission quality improvement project managed to raise hand hygiene compliance rate from a baseline of 48 percent to a sustained average of 82 percent between April 2009 and June 2010.
Clean up dog poop or this woman will throw it through your screen
17.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144180/10/09/17/clean-dog-poop-or-woman-will-throw-it-through-your-screen
NBC Chicago reports a woman finally had enough after she stepped in her neighbor's dog's poop. Again.
Susan Miller first took the offending poop off her shoe, and wiped it on her neighbor's porch.
Police report that Miller next "threw dog feces at the [dog owner's] sliding patio screen."
On the grounds was a sign informing dog walkers to pick up after their pets.
Miller reportedly "uprooted it and placed it on the dog owner's patio."
As if that weren't enough, the angry woman topped it all off by allegedly placing several small, green plastic bags of dog poo "on various places on the patio," reports the Naperville Sun.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Woman-Violently-Reacts-to-Neighbors-Dog-Poop-Police-103143064.html
UK: Morrisons recalls its Mini Coconut Bites
17.sep.10
FSA
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/coconutbites
Morrisons has recalled its own-label Mini Coconut Bites because they might be contaminated with small pieces of thin metal.
The Agency has issued a Product Recall Information Notice.
Product information
The affected product is:
Product: Morrisons Mini Coconut Bites
Best before: 6 October 2010
Morrisons has recalled the affected product from consumers and is displaying notices in its shops to explain to customers why the product has been recalled. If you have bought the affected coconut bites you can return them to Morrisons for a full refund.
No other Morrisons products are known to be affected
About product withdrawals and recalls
If there is a problem with a food product that means it should not be sold, then it might be 'withdrawn' (taken off the shelves) or 'recalled' (when customers are asked to return the product). The Food Standards Agency issues Product Withdrawal Information Notices and Product Recall Information Notices to let consumers and local authorities know about problems associated with food. In some cases, a 'Food Alert for Action' is issued. This provides local authorities with details of specific action to be taken on behalf of consumers.
Continued risk management of the diminishing bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak in the UK
18.sep.10
International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 2010 - Vol. 14, No.1/2 pp. 3 – 16
Michael G. Tyshenko, Daniel Krewski
http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=35242
The UK was the first country to detect bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 1986, and has reported the vast majority (over 97%) of the world's BSE cases. BSE resulted in large economic losses, disbanding of the lead government agency responsible for managing the outbreak and a loss of public trust in government. Despite a World Organization for Animal Health designation of 'controlled BSE risk', and the near eradication of BSE in the UK, over 100 countries still maintain live cattle and beef bans against the UK. A review of the evolution of outbreak from 1986 to 2008 shows that risk assessment, risk management and risk communication efforts changed markedly over that time. Early management in the UK was confounded by high degrees of uncertainty and notable delays when implementing appropriate risk assessment, management and communication policies. Later, BSE management efforts were characterised by a greater reliance on science-based risk assessments, coupled with improved risk communication, transparency in decision making and public outreach.
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