FSnet Sept. 17/07 CFIA: Health Hazard Alert - Dole Brand Hearts Delight Lettuce salad may contain E. coli O157:H7 bacteria PAKISTAN: Food laws violation goes unchecked US: Food makers get appetite for regulation JORDAN: Shoarma ban in Jordan to be lifted NEW HAMPSHIRE: Birch Hill dad complains water company did not notify adequately about contamination IRELAND: 'Water boil' notice set to be lifted for e-coli residents FLORIDA: 'Zero-tolerance policy' amended Marvin Norcross; worked for USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service how to subscribe CFIA: Health Hazard Alert - Dole Brand Hearts Delight Lettuce salad may contain E. coli O157:H7 bacteria 17.sep.07 from a press release http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=770180 Ottawa, Ontario -- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts) described below because this product may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. The affected product, Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts), produce of USA, is sold in 227 g packages bearing UPC 0 71430 01038 9, BIUB (Best If Used By) date 07SE19 and lot code A24924B. This product may have been distributed nationally. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product. Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this bacteria may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Some people may have seizures or strokes and some may need blood transfusions and kidney dialysis. Others may live with permanent kidney damage. In severe cases of illness, people may die. The CFIA is working with the importers to have the affected product removed from the marketplace. The CFIA will be monitoring the effectiveness of the recall. For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday). For information on E. coli O157:H7, visit the Food Facts web page athttp://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/cause/ecolie.shtml For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.   top PAKISTAN: Food laws violation goes unchecked 17.sep.07 Daily Times Fazal Sher http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C17%5Cstory_17-9-2007_pg11_2 Islamabad -- Most of the shopkeepers of Aabpara and Melody markets and Faizabad do not, according to this story, cover food items properly at their shops, especially in Ramazan in violation of the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) food laws. A visit of different markets by Daily Times on Sunday was cited as finding that due to the negligence of the CDA Food Directorate, a majority of the shopkeepers are running their businesses without following the Authority’s rules and regulations. The story says that under the Authority’s food bylaws, every shopkeeper is required to keep his shop clean and cover all food items properly to protect them from flies and dust. A majority of the meat shop and bakery owners have displayed meat and confectioneries without any proper cover at Aabpara, Faizabad and other markets in different sectors of the federal capital. According to the food bylaws, people working at food shops must be medically fit and clean and they should not sleep in the shops. Despite tall claims, the CDA has so far failed to implement these laws to protect the citizens from different diseases. Various shopkeepers said that CDA’s food inspectors visit markets after months. Most of the shopkeepers were also not aware of the CDA’s food laws, as the CDA officials have not taken any step in this regard. When contacted, Dr Saeed Ahmad of CDA Directorate of Health was cited as saying that strict action would be taken against those violating the CDA food laws, adding, "For Ramazan, we have constituted special teams and divided the federal capital into 14 zones."   top US: Food makers get appetite for regulation 17.sep.07 Wall Street Journal Jane Zhang http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118998508806429191.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the industry's largest trade group, tomorrow will, according to this story, unveil a proposal to beef up federal oversight of imported food and ingredients. The story says that under a public-private partnership, the system would require the industry to adopt food-safety measures such as product tests and checks on foreign suppliers. Representing companies ranging from Kraft Foods Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. to smaller, family-owned companies, the GMA is also lobbying Congress for more funds for the Food and Drug Administration, and it is working with federal and state officials and other groups toward a model regulation for farms and packing houses around the country. GMA President Cal Dooley, a former California congressman, was quoted as asying, "It's in our interest to have a strong FDA. We need to have consumer confidence in the food products." Several other grower and processor groups are seeking tighter oversight. In Florida, tomato growers such as Tony DiMare, who fought numerous government attempts over the years to intervene in his industry, helped persuade the Florida legislature to change the law so the state can regulate growers and packers. The story says that these efforts mark a sea change for the traditionally regulation-averse food industry. Behind the shift is an increasing awareness among industry executives that, with several major food-contamination cases recently shaking consumer confidence and damping sales, their push for greater deregulation is hurting themselves. In the vacuum of strong national regulation, states, food processors and retailers are imposing their own rules and requirements to ensure product safety. Complying with the resulting web of rules is proving expensive and difficult for many food makers, however.   top JORDAN: Shoarma ban in Jordan to be lifted 17.sep.07 World Poultry http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/id2205-30215/shoarma_ban_in_jordan_to_be_lifted.html Restaurants in Jordan will, according to this story, be able to resume selling shoarmas again if they gain approval from health authorities. The sale of chicken shoarmas was banned by the government on 12 August following a salmonella outbreak. The popular dish caused 247 people to contract salmonella poisoning from eating chicken shoarmas at a local restaurant in the Baqaa Palestinian refugee camp close to Amman. The Jordan Association for Restaurant and Sweet Shops Owners recently met to amend a list of conditions set by the government that restaurants must meet if they are to serve the dish. Costs to the industry from the ban have been estimated between JD100,000 (€102,500) to JD250,000 (€256,200) a day.   top NEW HAMPSHIRE: Birch Hill dad complains water company did not notify adequately about contamination 16.sep.07 Mount Washington Valley.com Nate Giarnese http://www.mountwashingtonvalley.com/LocalNews.lasso?-database=WWW_CDS_Article&-layout=WEB&-response=Story.lasso&-recordID=12645557&-search Conway -- A father in Birch Hill, where the state ordered residents to boil its water, was cited as saying water supplier Pennichuck Water has been lax about warning families of a potentially harmful E coli. contamination. Forbes Road resident Bob Metz said the company sent phone messages when a water use ban was placed months earlier, but when the state declared Monday that tap water must be boiled because of fecal bacteria contamination, “We didn't even get a phone call,” he said Thursday. Metz said houses got rolled-up paper notices stuffed in doors. But, the area teacher said, while renters in his in-law apartment got one, his young family did not; neither did his neighbors, who also have kids.   top IRELAND: 'Water boil' notice set to be lifted for e-coli residents 17.sep.07 Independent Online http://www.independent.ie/national-news/water-boil-notice-set-to-be-lifted-for-ecoli-residents-1081756.html People living in Galway city's largest suburb are keeping their fingers crossed that the latest water supply crisis will end this week. Still reeling from five months of having to boil all tap water as a result of an outbreak of the bug cryptosporidiosis in the city supply, up to 15,000 residents of the Knocknacarra area have been back on kettle duty again since last week. This time it is because of the much more serious e-coli organism. Every home in Knocknacarra was issued with formal instructions by the City Council to boil all water for human consumption, as well as for brushing teeth. Furious city councillors demanded answers from Council officials at a special emergency meeting on Saturday. The under-fire officials said it was hoped that, in consultation with the HSE, the 'water boil' notice could be lifted as early as today. Successive tests of the Knocknacarra water supply over the weekend have all been negative for e-coli.   top FLORIDA: 'Zero-tolerance policy' amended 17.sep.07 The Miami Hurricane Karyn Meshbane http://media.www.thehurricaneonline.com/media/storage/paper479/news/2007/09/17/News/Recently.Fired.Chartwells.Workers.Rehired.After.Three.Weeks-2971219.shtml Victor Chacon and Bernard George, two Chartwells employees recently fired, were reinstated last Wednesday and both will receive pay for their time away from campus. The Miami Hurricane reported Sept. 6 that the two employees were fired because of zero tolerance regarding the "Associate Return to Work" policy, which is specific to the University of Miami. The policy was enacted in 2004 after about 200 students living in Stanford and Hecht fell ill before winter break due to the spreading of a norovirus, a highly contagious disease. Since then, workers have been required to notify the university when they plan to return to work, and wait for the university to return the call and set up an appointment for a "Return to Work" authorization form. This form is required for every returning employee prior to their re-entering of any on-campus foodservice establishment. Alan Fish, vice president of Business Services, was quoted as saying, "A lot of folks just want to work, and they'll come in. We want to make sure they don't come in as long as they have symptoms that relate to Gastroenteritis or noroviruses." Although Chacon and George did not set up an appointment with an attendance manager, neither employee had re-entered a food service establishment before they were fired; they returned to the business office. The story explains that the two workers both have spouses with medical conditions and that without a job, neither would have health insurance to pay for medical bills. After reviewing the policy, Fish said the university decided to instate modifications and allow workers three warnings, instead of treating everyone with zero tolerance. Subsequently, workers returning to work with norovirus symptoms and no regard for the "Associate Return to Work" policy will continue to be treated with zero tolerance. University President Donna E. Shalala was quoted as saying Friday, "I can come into work with a cold or still recovering from an illness, but someone who handles food or has contact with food cannot. Food service workers should have different procedures."   top Marvin Norcross; worked for USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service 16.sep.07 Washington Post, Page C07 Patricia Sullivan http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/15/AR2007091501510.html Marvin Norcross, 76, former deputy administrator of science and technology for the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, died of multiple myeloma and prostate cancer Sept. 11 at his home in Darnestown. Dr. Norcross was responsible for planning, coordinating, directing and evaluating the field laboratories and scientific development programs during the 12 years he worked in the science and technology program. He was also the first full-time U.S. coordinator for Codex Alimentarius, an international organization that develops food standards and guidelines. He retired in 1996. He was born in Tansboro, N.J., and served in the Army field artillery in Korea from 1952 to 1954. He attended Rutgers University before receiving a degree in veterinary medicine in 1959 from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1966, he received a doctorate in pathology from Penn. He worked for Merck, Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories before moving to Rockville in 1975. Dr. Norcross worked for the FDA's Center for Veterinary Research Medicine from 1975 to 1982. He then moved to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, where he rose from the position of associate director for human food safety to executive assistant to the administrator. He served in the Army Reserve Veterinary Corps until 1983, when he retired as a colonel. He was inducted into the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame at Fort Sill, Okla., in 2000. He received the FDA's Merit Award in 1978 and the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award in 1989. Dr. Norcross was a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.   top Fsnet is produced by the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University, and is supported at the Gold Fork level by: Marler-Clark. Fsnet is supported at the Sterling Fork level by: Monsanto Canada, CropLife Canada, National Restaurant Association, Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Fsnet is supported at the Silver-plate Fork level by: National Pork Board, Canadian Animal Health Institute, Syngenta Crop Protection Canada, Ontario Farm Animal Council, Pritzker Ruohonen Law Firm, Casco Inc., Sholl Group/Green Giant Fresh, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, American Air Liquide, Feedlot Health Management Services, University of Florida Pesticide Office, and Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (Ontario Branch) Inc. 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