Fw: [BITES-L] bites Sep. 8/10
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From: Doug Powell <dpowell@KSU.EDU>
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Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 04:46:10 -0500
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Subject: [BITES-L] bites Sep. 8/10
bites Sep. 8/10
Peanut-man Parnell back to work as nut consult
Lady Gaga wears raw meat bikini, risks E. coli outbreak
Crisis, what crisis? Food safety and the cycle of crisis
Cheater alert: NEW YORK restaurant caught posting fake grade
Dry hands or spread bacteria; paper towel better than blowers
UK: Two more E. coli cases confirmed
WISCONSIN: Salmonella victim still can't stand the sight of eggs
US: FDA nears approval as food of genetically altered salmon
UK: Imported heifer aged over 30 months not tested for BSE
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Peanut-man Parnell back to work as nut consult
08.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143992/10/09/08/peanut-man-parnell-back-work-nut-consult
Associated Press reports that Stewart Parnell, former president of the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp. of America whose filthy processing plants were blamed in a salmonella outbreak two years ago that killed nine people and sickened hundreds, is back in the business.
Parnell is working as a consultant to peanut companies as the federal government's criminal investigation against him has languished for more than 18 months, The Associated Press has learned.
Parnell, who invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before Congress in February 2009, once directed employees to "turn them loose" after samples of peanuts had tested positive for salmonella and then were cleared in a second test, according to e-mails uncovered at the time by congressional investigators.
In an interview with the AP, Parnell expressed exasperation and said he wants the pending criminal investigation resolved — one way or another.
"They just say we're still investigating," Parnell said. "I feel like I wish they'd come on and do what they're going to do. I'd like to get this behind me."
Parnell also said he has been directed by his lawyers not to discuss his case with family members of the nine people who died in the salmonella outbreak blamed on his processed peanuts.
"My God, when are we going to hold anyone responsible?" said Jeff Almer, whose mother, Shirley Almer, was the first known death from the outbreak in Minnesota. "So far to this day, nothing's happened to this man. I think every person in America who was affected by this, every family who lost someone, deserves to hear the truth from this guy."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hS6YRieGSTEkqWTPIFNANcvotEQwD9I3JH001
Lady Gaga wears raw meat bikini, risks E. coli outbreak
08.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143991/10/09/08/lady-gaga-wears-raw-meat-bikini-risks-e-coli-outbreak
Lady Gaga graces the September cover of Vogue Hommes Japan wearing an ensemble of thinly sliced cuts of presumably prime beef (kobe?) that barely covers her body.
Connecticut News recommends that if you are not vegetarian and do happen to eat meat once worn by Lady Gaga, be sure to cook it thoroughly and use a meat thermometer to ensure it reaches an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees F.
http://blog.ctnews.com/hottopics/2010/09/07/lady-gaga-wears-raw-meat-bikini-risks-e-coli-outbreak/
Crisis, what crisis? Food safety and the cycle of crisis
08.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143990/10/09/08/crisis-what-crisis-food-safety-and-cycle-crisis
Supertramp was always big in Canada. Their 1975 album, Crisis-What Crisis set the stage for the megasellers of the next few years. I didn't really go for Supertramp, but have to admit their music holds up much better than most – Journey is so awful – over the years.
Julia Stewart of the Produce Marketing Association offers some food safety crisis communication tips in the From Field to Fork blog. It ain't rocket surgery, but groups screw this up all the time (today I'm looking at you, egg industry; tomorrow, who knows).
Don't stonewall
There can't be any holes in the food safety net, folks – so large, local, conventional, organic, everyone must get on the food safety bus.
Don't settle for status quo
Your grandfather or great-grandfather's farming practices are no longer good enough. The modern food safety reality necessitates risk assessment and risk management, GAPs, audits, and the courage to not harvest that suspect block.
Don't blame victims
Consumers (rightfully) expect the food industry to work hard to produce safe foods, so we shouldn't blame them when they get sick because they didn't treat our foods like hazardous materials.
Do consider the return on investment
A food safety program is an insurance policy. Causing a foodborne illness outbreak can literally cost you the farm. Investing in food safety can help reduce the risk.
Do have a long-term view
The food safety landscape is perpetually changing, so strive for continuous improvement.
http://fieldtofork.pma.com/?p=1501
Cheater alert: NEW YORK restaurant caught posting fake grade
08.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143989/10/09/08/cheater-alert-new-york-restaurant-caught-posting-fake-gradeAny system designed to deliver safer food is going run up against some form of hucksterism – food and fraud have always gone together. That doesn't mean a system is hopelessly flawed, it means make it better to weed out the cheats.
The New York Daily News reports that just weeks after city officials started forcing eateries to post sanitary letter grades in their windows, the News spotted a suspicious-looking letter A at a restaurant that didn't look grade-A.
Ming's Chinese take-out on 9th Ave. at 33rd St. had a "Sanitary Inspection Grade" on the wall beside its counter that looked like the ones that have started to crop up in restaurant windows. It had the city seal, the Health Department logo and a helpful reminder to call 311.
But a check of city records found that - sure enough - Ming's hadn't earned the prized mark.
To the contrary, though the take-out's last inspection in January came before the city started issuing letter grades, inspectors found serious health code violations. Among them: Evidence of mice, roaches and flying insects.
Inspectors also discovered that some hot food was stored at too low a temperature to be safe and that some equipment was poorly maintained.
A manager at Ming's refused to say where he got his fake grade, saying that a company came in and then sent the letter to him. He refused to name that company - or to explain why he posted a grade he hadn't earned. He also refused to give his name.
City officials say they haven't received any complaints of restaurants posting fake grades, adding they'll crack down on anyone caught cheating. Those restaurants could face a fine of $1,000.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/05/2010-09-05_chop_suea_restaurants_dishing_up_phony_grades.html#ixzz0yqsZWVHp
Dry hands or spread bacteria; paper towel better than blowers
08.sep.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143988/10/09/08/dry-hands-or-spread-bacteria-paper-towel-better-blowers
Another meaningless survey relying on self-reporting has found 50 per cent of 1,053 U.S. respondents said they "wash their hands more thoroughly or longer or more frequently" in public restrooms as a result of the H1N1 virus - that's up from 45 percent in 2009 when the same question was asked.
But even if people think they are vigilant about washing their hands – observational studies say they aren't – are people washing and drying hands in a way to lower bacterial loads? Not drying hands thoroughly after washing them could increase the spread of bacteria, and rubbing hands whilst using a conventional electric hand dryer could be a contributing factor. Frequently people give up drying their hands and wipe them on their clothes instead.
That's what I observed anecdotally when I first visited Kansas State University in 2005 and saw these groovy all-in-one hand units that are terrible for hand sanitation; paper towels were subsequently installed so people could at least dry their hands properly.
A study by researchers at the University of Bradford and published in the current Journal of Applied Microbiology evaluated three kinds of hand drying and their effect on transfer of bacteria from the hands to other surfaces: paper towels, traditional hand dryers, which rely on evaporation, and a new model of hand dryer, which rapidly strips water off the hands using high velocity air jets.
In this study the researchers quantified the effects of hand drying by measuring the number of bacteria on different parts of the hands before and after different drying methods. Volunteers were asked to wash their hands and place them onto contact plates that were then incubated to measure bacterial growth. The volunteers were then asked to dry their hands using either hand towels or one of three hand dryers, with or without rubbing their hands together, and levels of bacteria were re-measured.
Dr Snelling and her team found that rubbing the hands together whilst using traditional hand dryers could counteract the reduction in bacterial numbers following handwashing. Furthermore, they found that the relative reduction in the number of bacteria was the same, regardless of the hand dryer used, when hands were kept still. When hands are rubbed together during drying, bacteria that live within the skin can be brought to the surface and transferred to other surfaces, along with surface bacteria that were not removed by handwashing.
The researchers found the most effective way of keeping bacterial counts low, when drying hands, was using paper towels. Amongst the electric dryers, the model that rapidly stripped the moisture off the hands was best for reducing transfer of bacteria to other surfaces.
http://www.sys-con.com/node/1521979
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100907/Researchers-quantify-effects-of-drying-to-measure-bacteria-after-hand-wash.aspx
UK: Two more E. coli cases confirmed
07.sep.10
BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11221653
A further two cases of the E. coli infection linked to an outbreak near Lurgan have been confirmed by the Public Health Agency.
The agency has said it is continuing to investigate the source of the outbreak which struck children who attend Holly House nursery in Dollingstown.
In a statement, a spokesperson said further cases may occur due to household transmission of the bug.
Families have been advised how they can reduce the risk of spreading infection.
On Monday, it was announced that 12 children who attend Holly House had the bug.
WISCONSIN: Salmonella victim still can't stand the sight of eggs
27.aug.10
msnbc
JoNel Aleccia
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38873532/ns/health-food_safety
Weeks after contracting a serious salmonella infection tied to a nationwide recall of tainted eggs, Tanja Dzinovic hasn't fully recovered.
Sure, the 27-year-old saleswoman from Pleasant Prairie, Wis., is over the worst symptoms that developed within days of eating a Cobb salad at a Kenosha, Wis., restaurant now linked to an Iowa egg farm.
The crippling stomach cramps have stopped and she's no longer dehydrated. She's done feeling like she has a killer case of the flu, and she's no longer making endless trips to the bathroom.
"It was just unbearable," said Dzinovic, who got sick in mid-June and was briefly hospitalized. "It lasted for a week."
But Dzinovic, who filed the first lawsuit in connection with the outbreak, still gets queasy at the sight of eggs, and she can't seem to keep anything down.
Worse than that, though, is the feeling that she was only one of thousands of people possibly sickened by businesses that shipped out 550 million bad eggs.
"I think it's disturbing," said Dzinovic. "It's in their hands, what society is eating."
US: FDA nears approval as food of genetically altered salmon
07.sep.10
Washington Post
Lyndsey Layton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/06/AR2010090603223.html?wprss=rss_print/asection
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve the first genetically modified animal for human consumption, a highly anticipated decision that is stirring controversy and could mark a turning point in the way American food is produced.
FDA scientists gave a boost last week to the Massachusetts company that wants federal approval to market a genetically engineered salmon, declaring that the altered salmon is safe to eat and does not pose a threat to the environment.
"Food from AquAdvantage Salmon . . . is as safe to eat as food from other Atlantic salmon," the FDA staff wrote in a briefing document. Those findings will be presented Sept. 19 to a panel of scientific experts that will advise top officials at the FDA whether to approve the altered salmon. The panel is holding two days of meetings to hear from FDA staff members, the company behind AquAdvantage and the public.
AquAdvantage is an Atlantic salmon that has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, which allows the salmon to grow twice as fast as a traditional Atlantic salmon. It also contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon.
AquaBounty, the Massachusetts company that first applied to the FDA for permission to sell its fish in 1995, said the modified fish is identical to the Atlantic salmon, except for the speed of its growth.
"We've been studying this fish for more than 10 years," said Ronald L. Stotish, the company's president and chief executive. "In characteristics, physiology, behavior, this is an Atlantic salmon. It looks like an Atlantic salmon. It tastes like an Atlantic salmon."
The team of scientists at the FDA that reviewed AquaBounty's application seems to agree. "We have found no biologically relevant difference between food from [AquaBounty salmon] and conventional Atlantic salmon," the briefing document said.
UK: Imported heifer aged over 30 months not tested for BSE
07.sep.10
Food Standards Agency
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/otmbsesep10
The Agency has been notified that meat from an over thirty month (OTM) heifer imported from Switzerland has entered the food supply without being tested for BSE.
It is very unlikely that the heifer was infected with BSE and as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low.*
The heifer had been imported into the UK in December 2009 and was slaughtered at Woolley Bros (Wholesale Meats) Ltd's abattoir in Holbrook, Sheffield, on 14 July 2010, at just over 42 months of age. BSE testing is mandatory for cattle born in Switzerland if slaughtered for human consumption at over 30 months of age. The missing BSE test result was discovered on 23 August during routine cross checks of slaughter and BSE test data.
According to BSE regulations, the animal slaughtered before the untested heifer and the two animals slaughtered after the heifer should also have been removed from the food chain. However, by the time the failure was discovered, all of the associated carcasses had left the premises. Three of the four associated carcasses had been exported to the Netherlands and the authorities there have been informed. Subsequent checks indicate that the meat from the other associated carcass is no longer in the food supply chain.
*SRM is that part of the animal most likely to contain BSE infectivity.
bites is produced by Dr. Douglas Powell and food safety friends at Kansas State University. For further information, please contact dpowell@ksu.edu or check out bites.ksu.edu.
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