Fw: [BITES-L] bites Oct. 3/10
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From: Doug Powell <dpowell@KSU.EDU>
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Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 20:16:52 -0500
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Subject: [BITES-L] bites Oct. 3/10
bites Oct. 3/10
Buddy's gourmet meals
Call for mandatory display of food grades in Wales
Sports bar in FLORIDA Keys closed because of lotsa mice poop
GAZA: 40 pupils ill from food poisoning
INDIA: Over 200 workers in hospital after food poisoning
NEW ZEALAND: New sheep and lamb inspections to be trialled
CALIFORNIA: Amid mounting safety concerns, technology helps track food from farm to table
OHIO: Restaurant inspections
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Buddy's gourmet meals
01.oct.10
barfblog
Sol Erdozain
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/144340/10/10/01/buddy's-gourmet-meals
Buddy is my new roommates' pet snake. It is an albino something-breed and his once-a-week nutrition consists of Gourmet Rodent meals (I am not making this up, that is the actual name on the bag of frozen rats).
Being aware of the dangers associated with frozen foods for reptiles – and reptiles themselves – every Friday (and Saturday just to be safe) I thoroughly wipe down the area where my roommate thaws out the poor little rat for the weekly feed.
Today, I came across a warning from the Public Health Agency of Canada regarding a salmonella outbreak from frozen rodents that may be associated to the outbreak in July here in the U.S.
The warning says all the usual things about cleaning reptile-areas and washing hands, but I have some problems regarding some of their tips, such as:
"Sealing frozen reptile food products in a plastic bag and place in a covered garbage can."
How is the frozen food supposed to stay frozen in a garbage can? Or, if they mean the empty bag, why would it be important to seal it up before throwing it away?
Another thing they might want to include on their advice list is how exactly to clean "surfaces that come into contact with reptiles." Will regular soap and water work? And what should be used on non-hard surfaces such as couches or carpets?
For us newly-introduced-to-the-world-of-reptiles people, information like this is important and needs to be clear.
http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/frozenrodents/index.html
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/01/salmonella-pet-reptile-food-rodents.html
Call for mandatory display of food grades in Wales
03.oct.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144382/10/10/03/call-mandatory-display-food-grades-wales
Even the BBC is realizing that asking food businesses in Wales to voluntarily display the results of their inspection rating is, uh, hopeless.
The public will be able to access ratings through a searchable database, which will be overseen by the Food Standards Agency.
Food safety campaigners like Maria Battle, a senior director of Consumer Focus Wales, welcomed the principle of the scheme but said it was under-mined by the practice of voluntary display
"And if it is a low food rating - below three - then it's very, very rare that they display their rating. And they're the businesses that people would choose not to eat in."
However Battle and others overstate their case when they say that "Mandatory display in Los Angeles resulted in an immediate 20% reduction in food-related illnesses - people being hospitalized. That saved hundreds of thousands of pounds and also a lot of preventable human suffering."
That's become an oft-quoted stats, especially as New York City has gone through the angst of going public, but the paper is so full of holes I'm not sure how it got published.
The real benefit of public displays of food service inspection grades is the public shame and embarrassment, which may force operators to do better, and that people talk about it, so it enhances the overall microbial food safety culture. We've written a couple of papers about the topic based on research we did, but they're not published yet, so I won't violate my own advice and do science by press release.
Professor Hugh Pennington, who chaired the inquiry into the 2005 E.coli outbreak in South Wales which claimed the life of five-year-old schoolboy Mason Jones, five years ago this week, said,
"In principle I'm a believer in having this system as a mandatory system because it is self-evident that commercial pressure on a business - like fewer customers going in - is a very strong incentive for them to up their game."
The U.K. Food Standards Agency, which also told consumers they should cook raw sprouts until they are piping hot to avoid salmonella, is confident that voluntary display will work as consumers will draw their own conclusions when businesses choose not to display their Food Hygiene Ratings.
There is no published research that I know of which supports this statement.
We have published a review of why restaurant inspection disclosure is important. And there's a few more things coming out.
Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2009. The use of restaurant inspection disclosure systems as a means of communicating food safety information. Journal of Foodservice 20: 287-297.
Abstract The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from food or water each year. Up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food prepared at foodservice establishments. Consumer confidence in the safety of food prepared in restaurants is fragile, varying significantly from year to year, with many consumers attributing foodborne illness to foodservice. One of the key drivers of restaurant choice is consumer perception of the hygiene of a restaurant. Restaurant hygiene information is something consumers desire, and when available, may use to make dining decisions.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/143137/10/07/16/will-restaurant-grades-new-york-mean-fewer-people-barfing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11458645
Sports bar in FLORIDA Keys closed because of lotsa mice poop
03.oct.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144383/10/10/03/sports-bar-florida-keys-closed-because-lotsa-mice-poop
As I continue to search out my inner Jimmy Buffet or Keith Richards, I was saddened to hear that a Duval Street bar and restaurant in the Florida Keys was busted by state authorities on Thursday for having a dirty kitchen.
The Big 'Uns Sports Bar and Grill at 218 Duval St. was closed after inspectors found fresh rat droppings, everywhere.
That included 27 "fresh" and "semi fresh" rodent droppings under the cook line, reach-in coolers, pizza oven and a prep table.
Big 'Uns remained closed and shuttered on Friday, missing out on 2,000-plus cruise ship passengers flooding the lower end of Duval.
http://www.keysnet.com/2010/10/02/264124/state-finds-rodent-droppings-shuts.html
GAZA: 40 pupils ill from food poisoning
03.oct.10
Maan News Agency
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=320430
GAZA CITY -- Dozens of school children in Gaza City were hospitalized on Sunday after eating milk and biscuits distributed by the World Food Programme in coordination with the Gaza government Ministry of Education.
Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Silmiyya said 40 pupils from the Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan School in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood were transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital after complaining of nausea.
INDIA: Over 200 workers in hospital after food poisoning
02.oct.10
sify news
http://sify.com/news/over-200-workers-in-hospital-after-food-poisoning-news-national-kkcw4cbidcc.html
Raipur -- Over 200 workers associated with a road construction firm fell ill Saturday after eating at the company canteen and were taken to a government hospital here, officials said.
'Some 1,000 male and female workers had eaten at the canteen of the company at Mandir Hasod area on outskirts of Raipur and most of them starting vomiting afterwards. Over 200 people have been brought to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Government Hospital here with up to 30 of them are in critical condition,' health officials here told IANS.
NEW ZEALAND: New sheep and lamb inspections to be trialled
01.oct.10
NZFSA
http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/publications/media-releases/2010/2010-09-21-ovine-pm-trial-announcement-media-release.htm
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) plans to run a trial on several sheep processing chains. The trial will likely start in November and will run for about six months in three meat processing facilities.
The trials are part of government's continuing push to get the export industry into line with global best practice outlined in the internationally-accepted Codex Code of Hygiene Practice for Meat, and outcomes that are consistent with New Zealand's domestic processing requirements, Carol Barnao, Acting Deputy Director-General (Food Safety), says.
A number of trading partner countries share this approach and, on several aspects of meat hygiene, trials are progressing in Australia, the USA, UK and EU.
Carol Barnao says that the general thrust of the trial is to create a situation where industry takes more responsibility for suitability issues. NZFSA's current quality and food safety performance criteria will be applied continuously during the trials. Extra controls by onsite NZFSA staff will be put in place during the trial to ensure continued safety and suitability of product.
Carol Barnao says that meat will continue to undergo food safety inspection by government officials during the trial, and into the foreseeable future no matter the outcome of the trial.
Trial results will be fully evaluated before any proposals to change current requirements for sheep and lamb inspections are made. There is more on the trials on the NZFSA website at: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/subject/ovine/index.htm
CALIFORNIA: Amid mounting safety concerns, technology helps track food from farm to table
03.oct.10
Los Angeles Times
P.J. Huffstutter
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-food-safety-tracking-20101003,0,699198,full.story
San Jose -- Inside a Silicon Valley company's windowless vault, massive servers silently monitor millions of heads of lettuce, from the time they are plucked from the dirt to the moment the bagged salad is scanned at the grocery checkout counter.
That trail can be traced in seconds, thanks to tiny high-tech labels, software programs and hand-held hardware gear. Such tools make it easier for farmers to locate possible problems — a leaky fertilizer bin, an unexpected pathogen in the water, unwashed hands on a factory floor — and more quickly halt the spread of contaminated food.
This Dole Food Co. project and similar efforts being launched across the country represent a fundamental shift in the way that food is tracked from field to table. The change is slow but steady as a number of industry leaders and smaller players adopt these tools.
Much of the farming community has yet to follow suit, and federal food-safety legislation is stalled in Congress. But proponents of this digital transformation said it was inevitable given public outrage over the recent scandal over contaminated eggs. They said technology could simplify the nation's highly complicated food-safety system, helping prevent or contain the harm caused by recalled food.
"The driving force in all this is the recalls," said Ashish Chona, chief executive of InSync Software in San Jose, whose technology is used by Dole in Salinas Valley. "A recall can bring a company to its knees. Everyone knows it."
It's also a potential economic bonanza for California, which has been on the leading edge of this convergence between two of the state's largest and most powerful industries: technology and agriculture.
IBM Corp. is in talks with a leading growers association in California to roll out a computerized tracing system for its members. This week Intelleflex Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., is attaching tracking labels to plastic food bins so the Hawaii Department of Agriculture can keep an eye on tomatoes, pineapples and other produce grown and sold on the islands.
OHIO: Restaurant inspections
03.oct.10
Coshocton Tribune
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20101003/NEWS01/10030325/RESTAURANT-INSPECTIONS
Editor's note: The following information is provided as a public service from the Coshocton City and County health departments.
Sept. 21
# Keene School: Repair warewasher and provide handwashing sink in convenient location.
Sept. 22
# Ron's Restaurant, Warsaw: Clean prep cooler; provide thermometer; service refrigerator; provide hand soap; improper cold holding temperature.
# Black Bear Pizza, Warsaw: Provide sanitizer bucket; improper storage; repair handle of deli slicer; replace gaskets on deli case.
# Loyal Order of Moose 935: Improper cold holding temperature; discard outdated foods; improper food storage; clean storage room.
Sept. 23
# Subway 2418: Improper sanitizing methods and datemarking.
# Pizza Point: Clean cobwebs; improper food storage.
# Damon's Pizza: Previous violations corrected.
Sept. 24
# Senior Citizens Center: No violations.
# Wayne's Dariette: Previous violations corrected.
# The Yard Expansion Corp.: Previous violations corrected.
# Conesville School: No violations.
# Village Market, West Lafayette: Improper food storage; repair trunk cooler; weatherstrip door.
# West Lafayette Fire Department: Approved to operate.
# Subway 19309: Improper sanitizer levels; clean under serving island.
# Thomas Steak House: Shield light in walk-in cooler; provide handwashing signage; clean dust from hood; improper food scoop storage; place disclaimer of raw or undercooked foods on menu.
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