FSnet Aug. 12/08

CALIFORNIA firm recalls ground beef products due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination

US and CANADA: Beef recalled by Whole Foods fell into regulatory gray area

Recall leads Whole Foods to a change

MEXICO: Amid salmonella scare, UTEP researchers document pepper problems

GEORGIA: Restaurant inspection scores released

MILWAUKEE: Is your favorite restaurant clean or dirty? Check our updated restaurant inspection database and find out

ILLINOIS: County board to weigh hike in health-inspection fees

International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health launches redesigned site; Biosecurity Wiki

Eco-labels on food can cook up confusion

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CALIFORNIA firm recalls ground beef products due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination
12.aug.08
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
Peggy Riek
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_031_2008_Release/index.asp
WASHINGTON -- Renna's Meat Market, a Fresno, Calif., firm is recalling approximately 780 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.
The following products are subject to recall: [View Label, PDF Only]
*Various sizes of ground beef products bearing the establishment number "EST. 27365" inside the USDA mark of inspection.
The ground beef products were distributed to several restaurants and were available for direct purchase to consumers at retail establishments in the Fresno, Calif., area. These recalled products were packaged from Aug. 1, 2008, through Aug. 8, 2008, and consumers may have purchased these ground beef products between Aug. 5, 2008, and Aug. 9, 2008.
The problem was discovered by FSIS routine microbiological testing. FSIS has received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a medical professional.
Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers and discard the product or return the ground beef products for a refund.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.
FSIS advises all consumers to safely prepare their raw meat products, and only consume ground beef or ground beef patties that have been cooked temperature of 160° F. The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.



 
US and CANADA: Beef recalled by Whole Foods fell into regulatory gray area
12.aug.08
Washington Post
Annys Shin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102640.html
It can be legal to sell steaks and roasts that carry a potentially deadly strain of E. coli. But it is not legal to sell that meat if it is going to be used to make ground beef. As meat makes its way from packer to distributor to retailer, those distinctions can get lost, as Whole Foods found out in last week's recall.
The natural food retailer pulled fresh ground beef from some of its stores after seven customers in Massachusetts fell ill with a strain of E. coli that has sickened people in 11 other states, the District and Canada.
The ground beef that Whole Foods recalled was made using primal or intact cuts -- meat typically used for steaks and roasts -- produced by Nebraska Beef under the Coleman Natural Meats brand, Whole Foods said.
Regulators do not monitor meat sold for steaks and roasts as closely as meat sold for ground beef because those primal cuts are less likely to make people sick. For example, if a steak is contaminated, the bacteria are most likely on the outside and killed during cooking. By contrast, with ground beef, the pathogen gets mixed in and can survive if the interior isn't heated to 160 degrees.
Whole Foods grinds its own beef in an attempt to assure quality and safety, said spokeswoman Kate Lowery. In this case, the company said, the cuts used had already been contaminated.
Coleman, a trusted supplier for Whole Foods and many other retailers, had sold its beef business and the right to sell under the Coleman Natural Meat brand on June 1 to Meyer Angus Natural. Coleman said Meyer hired Nebraska Beef to process its meat. Meyer did not return phone calls.
The E. coli strain that sickened the Whole Foods customers matches a strain found in primal cuts that Nebraska Beef produced on July 8, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a result, Nebraska Beef on Friday recalled 1.2 million pounds of beef, its second recall this summer.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has in the past recalled small quantities of steaks and primal cuts. This is the largest recall of components of ground beef, said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington advocacy group. And because of that, she and other consumer advocates are saying it marks a shift in approach. They consider Nebraska Beef's latest recall a sign that the USDA is taking a tougher stand on meat packers that put contaminated meat into distribution.
"The agency is extending the reach of its E. coli recall policy in a way that could have monumental implications in the future and positive ones for public health," DeWaal said. "It is really a smart move by USDA to move their regulatory touch point to earlier in the food chain."
Meat industry leaders, however, said the USDA was exercising authority that it already had.
The agency's food safety unit "has taken the position previously that if intact beef that is intended for ground beef tests positive for E. coli O157, that beef is subject to recall," said Janet Riley, a spokeswoman for the American Meat Institute. "This does not appear to be a new policy."
Whether the USDA should police primal cuts as closely as it does ground beef has been a contentious issue for years.
Earlier this year, USDA officials announced a public meeting to discuss formally expanding the policy on E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef to include primal cuts. They quickly ran into resistance from beef industry representatives such as the American Meat Institute's president, J. Patrick Boyle. Boyle said in a March letter to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer that such a move was "extremely troubling and not supported by science or the law."
After the meeting, which took place in Georgetown in April, some raw beef producers expressed concern that the USDA had already changed its policy by increasing testing of primal cuts, according to public comments submitted by attorney Dennis Johnson.
The resistance has forced the USDA to retreat, at least publicly, and the agency plans to meet later this year to discuss exposing beef carcasses to low levels of radiation as another way to make meat safer.
"Some proposals discussed at the meetings could be accomplished quickly, such as low dose irradiation of beef carcasses, however others such as considering E. coli O157:H7 contamination of primals and other whole cuts require further discussion with all of our stakeholders," Richard Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety said in an e-mail Wednesday. "We understand that in order to have the greatest impact, decisions must not only be science based, but also have the support of our stakeholders and constituents."



 
Recall leads Whole Foods to a change
12.aug.08
The New York Times
Stephanie Clifford
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/business/12food.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Whole Foods Market was cited as saying Monday it would tighten oversight of its suppliers to keep substandard products out of stores, after recalling ground beef that apparently sickened customers in two states.
Scrambling to contain the fallout from a recall that threatens the chain's reputation for quality, Whole Foods acknowledged that it had failed to catch an important change made by one of its suppliers of ground beef, Coleman Natural Beef.
After coming under new ownership, Coleman Natural began using a slaughterhouse in Omaha that had received multiple citations and had fought a long-running battle with the Agriculture Department. The government has said the plant was the source of ground beef that has sickened scores of people around the country.
Most of the beef was sold at grocers other than Whole Foods and recalled this summer. An additional 1.2 million pounds were recalled on Friday by the processor after illnesses in several states were tentatively linked to ground beef sold at Whole Foods and other stores.
Whole Foods acknowledged that a code stamped on beef packages arriving at its stores accurately reflected the change in processing plants. But the grocery chain said it had no procedures in place to watch the codes on arriving meat packages, and therefore failed to notice it was getting beef from a packing plant it had never approved.
Whole Foods will immediately institute new procedures to detect such a change in the future, the chain said. A spokeswoman, Libba Letton, said the company would also undertake a broad review of procedures for approving suppliers and scrutinizing the quality of products.
"It's going to mean going back and examining these other things and making sure there aren't holes, especially in terms of food safety," Ms. Letton said.
In addition to auditing shipments more carefully, Whole Foods will also require E. coli testing of beef that goes beyond government requirements, she said.
The recall is the latest blow for a company already struggling with anemic sales growth because of the economic slowdown.
"The assumption is that for the extra money that you pay for most Whole Foods products, in return you're getting something that's safer, fresher and more nutritious," said Gene Grabowski, head of the crisis and litigation practice at Levick Strategic Communications, who has handled several food-recall cases. "And this damages that perception a great deal."



 
MEXICO: Amid salmonella scare, UTEP researchers document pepper problems
12.aug.08
ABC-7
Martin Bartlett
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8825411&nav=AbC0
NEAR CASETA, Chihuahua -- For a group of local researchers, the recent scare over the safety of jalapeno peppers grown in Chihuahua is no big surprise.
On Friday, the Chihuahua State Health Department announced they found a pepper contaminated with salmonella near Camargo, and urged diners to avoid all jalapenos grown in the state.
A group of University of Texas at El Paso researchers spent much of this summer documenting the working conditions of jalapeno farm workers in Chihuahua.
"The students did find an unhealthy environment," said UTEP School of Nursing Dean Dr. Robert Anders. "There weren't bathroom facilities for them, there wasn't potable water, so if the workers wanted to wash their hands there wasn't anything that allowed them to do such."
Anders says the peppers could easily be contaminated through contact with human waste or unwashed hands. The problem of agricultural contamination isn't new to Mexico and it isn't all that far from your dinner plate, either.
In the farming communities downstream from Juarez, the canals are filled with "las aguas negras" - the black waters - and they have a very pungent odor: similar to that of motor oil and human waste. That's why local farmers said non-food crops like cotton have become king in the Juarez valley; they say the nearest jalapeno production is near Palomas in northwest Chihuahua.



 
GEORGIA: Restaurant inspection scores released
12.aug.08
The Northeast Georgian
http://www.thenortheastgeorgian.com/articles/2008/08/12/news/business/01business.txt
Following are the food service inspections for July 29 by the Habersham County Health Department's Environmental Health Section.
A score of 85 and above is considered passing. Foodservice establishments are required to post their score sheets in public so that customers can review them.
For more information about an inspection, contact the environmental health office at 706-776-7659.
*Taco Bell, 2160 Highway 441 N., Cornelia. Inspection time: 10:45 a.m. Purpose of inspection: routine. Score: 92; current grade: A; last score: 96. Out of compliance with the following: Food-contact surfaces: clean and sanitized. Garbage/refuse properly disposed; facility maintained. Physical facilities installed, maintained and clean. Comments: Clean/sanitize ice dispensers thoroughly and routinely to prevent contamination of ice. Keep dumpster door closed at all times. Clean floors under shelving thoroughly and regularly. Continue fly control program to prevent flies inside.
*McDonald's, 502 Washington St., Clarkesville. Inspection time: 3 p.m. Purpose of inspection: routine. Score: 95; current grade: A; last score: 95. Out of compliance with the following: Contamination prevented during food preparation, storage and display. Utensils, equipment and linens; properly stored, dried, handled. Garbage/refuse properly disposed; facilities maintained. Comments: Do not store ice bucket inside ice machine; store all scoops for dispensing items separately for protection against contamination. Store all employee items separately and properly (label). Make sure all pans are completely air dried before storing. Keep dumpster doors closed at all times; have plugs installed.
*Zanzo, Clarkesville Square, Clarkesville. Inspection time: 2:10 p.m. Purpose of inspection: routine. Score: 99; current grade: A; last score: 99. Out of compliance with the following: Nonfood-contact surfaces clean. Comments: Clean insides of coolers/freezers more frequently, including gaskets; keep all non-food contact areas on routine cleaning schedule. New regulations given.



 
MILWAUKEE: Is your favorite restaurant clean or dirty? Check our updated restaurant inspection database and find out
12.aug.08
Public Investigator Blog
Ellen Gabler
http://blogs.jsonline.com/piblog/archive/2008/08/12/is-your-favorite-restaurant-clean-or-dirty-check-our-updated-restaurant-inspection-database-and-find-out.aspx
If you've eaten at Chester Chicken on North Teutonia Avenue recently, hold on to your stomach. Last week the restaurant was cited for having "many live roaches on the food equipment, coolers ... dishes and other areas."
Welcome to our monthly update of the restaurant inspection database where you can see what's going on in restaurants throughout the city of Milwaukee. We'll be updating this database every month so you can search and make sure the restaurants you and your family eat in are clean and safe.
In the past month, Milwaukee health inspectors visited about 230 restaurants, schools and other spots where food is served. About 130 of those spots had violations.
Here are some of the findings from this month's update:
The gyro meat at Apollo Café on East Brady Street wasn't being kept at a hot enough temperature, a health inspector reported. A walk-in cooler at the restaurant also wasn't cold enough.
You might want to steer clear of the hot dogs and Krispy Kreme doughnuts at the Open Pantry Food Mart at 1624 W. Wells St. The shop didn't have adequate "sneeze protection" for the hot dog unit or the donut case. A health inspector also found outdated milk in the espresso area.
There were more problems a few doors down the street at Papa John's on West Wells Street. Inspectors found a build-up of dirt and food debris on the cutting board as well as a build-up of dust and food debris on the conveyer belt of the pizza oven.
Of course not all restaurants have serious violations or violations that will make your stomachs turn. There are a lot of broken sinks, food being stored improperly and the occasional "slime-in-the-ice-machine," although that's pretty gross when you think about it. And remember, click here to be taken to the searchable database!
Also, since we started posting this data, we've received a lot of requests to post inspections from cities outside of Milwaukee. We'd love to give you inspection reports from the entire state but not all municipalities keep their records electronically.
One final thought - in case you missed it, Public Investigator wrote an article about Milwaukee restaurant inspections in late April.



 
ILLINOIS: County board to weigh hike in health-inspection fees
11.aug.08
State Journal-Register
Dean Olsen
http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x275048411/County-board-to-weigh-hike-in-health-inspection-fees
Restaurants would pay up to four times more in annual health-inspection fees after two years of graduated increases under a proposal that will be considered today by the Sangamon County Board.
"Anything that's for-profit, where we have to inspect it, the county has the philosophy of trying to recover the full cost of providing that service," said Jim Stone, director of the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.
The fee changes being considered by the county board and other fee changes recently approved by the Sangamon County Board of Health would reduce the health department's annual $1.9 million property tax subsidy by about one-quarter, or $450,000, Stone said.
The proposed changes in restaurant inspection fees — part of a range of fees that also include animal-control and waste-hauling license fees — actually reflect revisions adopted by county board committees last week to soften the blow for restaurants.
The board of health originally recommended that the county board institute one-year increases Sept. 1 that reflect the goal of reducing county tax support of certain services based on a consultant's analysis of what those services actually cost to provide.
The health board's proposal would, for example, hike the $200 annual inspection fee for the largest restaurants from the current $200 fee to $785 — a 290 percent increase.



 
International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health launches redesigned site; Biosecurity Wiki
12.aug.08
National Agricultural Library, USDA
Jimmy Liu, Food Safety Information Center
http://foodsafety.nal.usda.gov/
From the FAO:
"The International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health (IPFSAPH) is pleased to announce the launch of its new website, which has been extensively redesigned to incorporate new functionality and make it easier for users to search for official SPS Agreement related information. Although the website address remains the same (www.ipfsaph.org), additional functionality includes RSS newsfeeds on particular topics and a more intuitive and easier to use advanced search option. With over 35,000 records, new data sets recently incorporated into www.ipfsaph.org include WTO's SPS Information Management System (containing all WTO trade notifications and concerns) and IAEA's Clearance of Irradiated Foods Database. Email: ipfsaph@fao.org to leave feedback and comments."



 
Eco-labels on food can cook up confusion
12.aug.08
Democrat and Chronicle
Karen Miltner
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/LIVING/808120303/1032
We want our food choices to nourish and sustain our bodies. But increasingly, consumers are looking for foods produced in ways that are also good for the Earth.
Consequently, farmers, producers and food manufacturers want to communicate these eco-friendlier growing practices so that consumers can decide which products are aligned with their environmental philosophies and whether these products' higher prices are worth it.
Organic is the benchmark of eco-labels, with the federal government backing its definitions, standards and verification process since 2002. But it is by far not alone. Eco-label terms, seals or logos — grass-fed, free-range, bird-friendly and beyond — are showing up more frequently in all food categories.
"Green is the new fad on a lot of levels," says Urvashi Rangan, director of the Greener Choices program at Consumer Reports magazine. "As people grow more conscious about their personal health, you inevitably get to the environment."
Some of these terms have government rules or guidelines prescribing their use. Others are certified by private third-party companies or organizations that have detailed criteria and standards that must be met by the producer. And some have very little meaning at all, except for what the manufacturer or producer assigns to it.
"There are a lot of green traps out there amidst companies and labels that are doing the right thing," Rangan says.
One misleading and overused eco-term is "natural." For meat and poultry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's definition only means that no artificial flavoring, color ingredients, chemical preservatives or artificial or synthetic ingredients were used and the meat and poultry was minimally processed. Beyond those parameters, marketers for other products can use the word however they see fit.
Rangan's advice is to seek out eco-labels that are backed by clear standards and criteria and are verified either by third-party agencies or independent organizations. The more specific the claim, the better. In the case where labels don't exist, such as at farmers markets and farm stands, ask a lot of questions.
Here we introduce some of the more commonly seen eco-label terms and logos, and explain what they mean.
 


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