FSnet Aug. 19/08 -- II
EDITORIAL:
Sold on food safety
BARFBLOG:
Marketing food safety: take control or the following (gross)
images will proliferate
SATIRE: CDC
powerless to stop spread of virulent mayonnaise-borne
pathogen
BARFBLOG:
‘I’m not sending officers down to enforce the making of your
cheeseburger’
ILLINOIS: Man
gets nearly 10-foot tapeworm from seafood restaurant: suit
BARFBLOG: A
typical Michael Phelps breakfast
MARLER BLOG:
Student sickened by E. coli-tained lettuce files suit
US system to
pinpoint food contamination sources 'slow, inaccurate, and
difficult' – Rabobank
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EDITORIAL:
Sold on food safety
19.aug.08
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-salmonella19-2008aug19,0,6834326.story
If more than 1,400 people were sickened by a nationwide
outbreak of salmonella, could a lawsuit be far behind? A
Colorado man has sued Wal-Mart, claiming that he was sold a
tainted jalapeno pepper even though the retailer leads its
customers to believe that the food it sells is wholesome.
Lawsuits on the outbreak that started in the spring and
dragged into summer will probably be rare. Although it's
known that jalapenos contributed to the food poisoning, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't figured out whether
tomatoes might have as well. The rare Salmonella Saintpaul
bacterium implicated in the illness was never found on any
tomatoes, though it was found on peppers. That leaves
victims in the position of proving that they ate poison
vegetables. The Colorado case is exceptional because the
plaintiff's wife reportedly brought the pepper to health
officials, who found the strain of salmonella on it.
Wal-Mart, of course, would have had no way of knowing
whether its peppers were tainted, if the store was indeed
the source, but that's not an excuse under strict product
liability laws, which hold anyone who profits from the sale
or production of an item responsible for it.
Considering how amorphous food production is under modern
agribusiness practices -- with processors and distributors
commingling and shipping produce from hundreds of farms, and
the FDA unable so far to monitor this situation in a
meaningful way -- retailers represent the consumer's best
chance of being compensated for food poisoning. Because of
that, they also might turn out to be the strongest force for
safer agricultural methods.
Some big retailers already show signs of embracing such a
role. Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Tesco, the parent company of
the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain, contract with a
private food regulator, GlobalG.A.P., that sets higher
standards for their suppliers than those imposed by the
federal government and carries out its own inspections. FDA
inspections are notoriously rare; the agency visits fields
perhaps once every 10 years. If the latest allegations
against jalapeno peppers prove true, the private system is
far from perfect, but it can be modified and strengthened
more quickly than FDA or U.S. Department of Agriculture
operations.
Whether this kind of involvement by retailers is forced by
civil lawsuits or is the result of enlightened
self-interest, it's a welcome development. Retailers have
both the clout to compel high standards and better tracking
in agriculture and a direct reason to worry about consumers'
concerns.
BARFBLOG:
Marketing food safety: take control or the following (gross)
images will proliferate
19.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/marketing-food-safety-take-control-or-the-following-gross-images-will-proliferate/index.html
Found this on youtube. Apparently it’s a promotion for
“growth hormone free beef” by NaturalMarket.com and won the
2006 Young Directors Award.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9RURZV-OuY
For everyone who says consumers need to be educated about
things like growth hormones, or raw milk, or food safety,
this is an example of the competing image. This video is
marketing food safety.
http://foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=1018
Retailers and manufacturers need to get beyond old-school
thinking about food safety and start marketing directly to
consumers.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2007/05/articles/culture-of-food-safety/marketing-food-safety/
SATIRE: CDC
powerless to stop spread of virulent mayonnaise-borne
pathogen
18.aug.08
The Onion
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/cdc_powerless_to_stop_spread_of
ATLANTA -- Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention announced Tuesday that despite continued efforts
to halt the multistate outbreak of an intensely noxious,
mayonnaise-borne virus, they have been unable to combat its
deadly progress.
The first known case of the viral strain, which thrives in
the delicious, creamy environment of mixed egg yolks,
vegetable oil, and vinegar, was recorded by the CDC just
three weeks ago and may be the strongest and most infectious
contagion ever detected in mayonnaise or a
mayonnaise-related substance. The agency's leading
scientists have determined the epicenter of the growing
pandemic to be an infected roast beef sandwich in the St.
Charles suburb of Chicago.
Despite the best efforts of the CDC, an estimated 40 million
Americans have already been affected by what the media has
dubbed the "White Plague."
"We have identified the popular condiment mayonnaise as the
sole carrier of this highly contagious and deadly viral
strain," said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the CDC.
"There is no known cure, and for now, all citizens must
seriously examine their mayo-eating habits in order to avoid
contracting the disease. Maybe you could try eating your
turkey club with mustard, or perhaps a small helping of
relish."
"Most importantly, do not panic," Gerberding continued. "We
assure you that normal mayonnaise consumption will resume as
soon as we clear the dead and contain this lethal pathogen."
According to information released by the CDC to all major
television and radio stations, ingestion of the
mayonnaise-borne virus results in shooting body pains,
headaches, fevers, internal bleeding, abnormal gait, loss of
muscle control, dementia, and, in its final stages, a slight
decrease in one's desire to consume mayonnaise. Death
generally occurs within 48 hours, by which time the virus
has completely liquefied the host's gastrointestinal tract.
Although officials originally hoped direct appeals to the
American public would curtail the spread, two simultaneous
educational campaigns and a series of warning labels have
proved ineffective, and experts are now estimating the that
death toll will surpass 100,000.
"All citizens within the affected zones please be advised:
If you absolutely have to put mayonnaise in your potato
salad, at least use a clean knife," said Gerberding,
specifically referring to those living in Iowa, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio,
Virginia, and Pennsylvania—the region commonly known as the
"Mayo Belt." "And I cannot stress this enough: If a glob of
mayo comes in contact with your skin, do not lick it off."
Gerberding also cautioned that there is no "safe"
mayonnaise, and that adding flavors such as chipotle will
not counteract the virus's effect.
Thus far, the public seems unfazed by the rapidly
disseminating, initially tasty pathogen, with many brave
citizens saying they will continue buying and consuming the
condiment regardless of its potential health risks.
"I don't want a dry sandwich," said Salt Lake City native
Scott Hagens, 42. "That's no way to eat."
"If I get it, I get it," said Louisville resident Debra
Rothman, 56. "I'm not going to change my whole life around
every time they come on TV and say something is bad for
you."
With the virus claiming more victims each day, the CDC has
utilized all available outlets to urge citizens to avoid
such mayonnaise-heavy foods as deviled eggs, tuna salad, and
coleslaw. But new figures suggest the rampant media images
of mayo-enhanced products may have backfired. Sales of the
creamy sandwich topping have increased 55 percent since the
public service announcements began.
"Thankfully we didn't warn people not to eat spoonfuls of
mayo straight out of the jar," one anonymous CDC official
said.
As the nation's top microbiologists feverishly work to
develop a vaccine for the virus, they continue to face
setbacks, as many of the mayonnaise samples procured for
analysis have disappeared from the laboratory. Fortunately,
doctors have found some success using heavy doses of
antibiotics to combat the virulent disease.
"Left unchecked, Hellmansviridae could potentially wipe out
all human life in North America by the end of lunch on
Friday," said Dr. Derek Patterson, an infectious disease
specialist. "But tests show it can be treated with
antibiotics when patients reduce their daily intake of
mayonnaise to three tablespoons or less per 12 hours."
"Sadly, only one in 100 Americans has effectively been able
to reduce personal mayo consumption to these levels,"
Patterson added.
Upon successful development of a vaccine, CDC officials had
planned to administer the preventative treatment through a
hummus-based delivery system, but initial testing showed
high levels of human resistance to any potential medicinal
chickpea spread. The public health organization is now
seeking FDA approval for a mayo-based mayo vaccine.
"I pray my colleagues will be able to find a cure before
it's too late," Dr. Gerberding said. "But, at the moment, it
seems all we can hope for is a Miracle Whip."
BARFBLOG:
‘I’m not sending officers down to enforce the making of your
cheeseburger’
19.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/im-not-sending-officers-down-to-enforce-the-making-of-your-cheeseburger/index.html
After a man in Jacksonville, Florida, called 911 because the
Subway sandwich he ordered was not made to his liking, other
similarly ridiculous calls to authorities have surfaced.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/wacky-and-strange-but-true/sandwich-rage-man-calls-911-over-garnish-error/
In this 2007 youtube audio posting, a woman calls local
police because Burger King employees apparently didn’t make
the proper hamburger for this woman and her kids. So the
woman decides to stay put in the drive-thru until officers
arrive.
The dispatcher at one point asks, “Is this a harmful
cheeseburger?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7WsZZzDUHc
ILLINOIS: Man
gets nearly 10-foot tapeworm from seafood restaurant: suit
19.aug.08
Chicago Sun-Times
Sun-Times News Group
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1114041,worm081808.article
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/lawsuit-alleges-man-gets-9foot-tapeworm-from-seafood-restaurant/index.html
A tapeworm almost 10-feet long passed through a man after he
ate at a high-end seafood restaurant in the Loop, according
to a lawsuit filed Monday.
Anthony Franz is suing the parent company of Shaw’s Crab
House for causing him to become “violently ill” after eating
undercooked salmon at the River North restaurant.
The suit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, claims
Franz ate periodically at Shaw’s at 21 E. Hubbard St.
between May and August 2006.
For several days, Franz became violently ill and eventually
passed a nine-foot long tapeworm, the suit said.
A suburban doctor he visited in late August said he got the
tapeworm from eating undercooked fish.
Franz started eating at the restaurant as part of a
healthier diet, the suit said.
He claims in the two-count suit that the restaurant failed
to supervise employees in safe food handling and allowed
customers to eat food that was not safe to consume.
The suit, which seeks in excess of $50,000 in damages, is
against Just B. Claws, Inc.
BARFBLOG: A
typical Michael Phelps breakfast
19.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/wacky-and-strange-but-true/a-typical-michael-phelps-breakfast/index.html
An increasingly pregnant Amy and I were strolling along
Venice Beach this morning, marveling at the complete lack of
a storm – Fay fizzled – and Amy said she was hungry for
bacon and eggs and French toast. She had eaten an hour
earlier.
This is normal in pregnancy.
uber-Olympian Michael Phelps isn’t pregnant, but consumes
8,000 to 10,000 calories a day.
Serious Eats reports that Phelps' typical breakfast order
from Pete's Grille in Baltimore, Maryland, as is recounted
in autobiography Beneath the Surface, is:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/08/what-does-michael-phelps-eat-for-breakfast-more-than-you-eat-all-day.html?utm_source=Serious+Eats+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=597431ec39-Serious_Eats_Weekly_Newsletter_August_18_2008&utm_medium=email
“Start with three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce,
tomato, fried onions, and mayonnaise; add one omelet, a bowl
of grits, and three slices of French toast with powdered
sugar; then wash down with three chocolate chip pancakes.”
Maybe the U.S. track team should have been hanging out with
Phelps. The N.Y. Times reported Saturday that several
members of the United States track team became ill at the
team’s pre-Olympic training center in Dalian, about 300
miles east of Beijing, and food poisoning was the likely
cause.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/sports/olympics/16food.html?_r=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
MARLER BLOG:
Student sickened by E. coli-tained lettuce files suit
19.aug.08
Marler Blog
E. coli Attorney
http://www.marlerblog.com/2008/08/articles/legal-cases/student-sickened-by-e-colitainted-lettuce-files-suit/index.html
Blog Release:
A victim of the June 2008 lettuce E. coli outbreak in
Thurston and Pierce counties filed suit today in the
Superior Court of Washington, King County. Heather Whybrew
of Federal Way, Washington was a student at Pacific Lutheran
University in Parkland when she was infected with E. coli
O157:H7. The lawsuit was filed against Northwest Fruit and
Produce Inc and “John Does,” Growers, Shippers and Suppliers
by attorney William Marler and Marler Clark, a Seattle law
firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness.
Ten people were sickened in the outbreak, which was traced
to bagged, commercial romaine lettuce manufactured and
distributed by Northwest Produce to food service locations
including Pacific Lutheran University (PLU). Ms. Whybrew
fell ill on May 16, after taking all of her meals at PLU.
She experienced cramping, nausea, and diarrhea, which became
bloody the next day. In extreme pain, she went to the school
health center, and was told to go to the emergency room. She
was admitted to the hospital in Federal Way, Washington
where she tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Ms. Whybrew
battled the E. coli infection over the next week, developing
pneumonia as well as blood clots in her extremities and IV
insertion sites, for which she required Heparin, a blood
thinner. When kidney irregularities emerged, she was
transferred to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, where she
remained until June 6. She was hospitalized for 20 days. She
continues to recover from the infection and its
complications—she must give herself two Heparin shots daily
in the abdomen to keep blood clots at bay.
“Leafy greens from California are the sleeping giant,” said
Whybrew’s attorney William Marler. Once E. coli O157:H7 gets
on—or into—the product, it is almost impossible to wash off.
A tiny number of bacteria can sicken or even kill. Positive
changes were made after the terrible spinach E coli O157:H7
outbreak in 2006, but this outbreak and others indicate that
there are still problems in the system. Salinas, California
is again suspected as being the source of the lettuce that
sickened Heather and nine others, and that is where
regulation is the tightest. There’s clearly a great deal of
work still to do.”
“I have a very high tolerance for pain,” said Ms. Whybrew in
a statement. “I have experienced sports injuries, undergone
reconstructive surgery, and have had a crainiotomy to remove
a brain tumor. I have had chemo and a difficult rehab from
partial paralysis—but I have never experienced anything like
the pain from E. coli O157:H7 infection.”
E. coli O157:H7 is often contracted by consuming food or
beverage that has been contaminated by animal (especially
cattle) manure. The majority of food borne E. coli O157:H7
outbreaks has been traced to contaminated ground beef;
however leafy vegetables that have been contaminated in
fields or during processing have been increasingly
identified as the source of outbreaks.
US system to
pinpoint food contamination sources 'slow, inaccurate, and
difficult' – Rabobank
19.aug.08
Rabobank
http://www.flex-news-food.com/pages/18570/FDA/Food-Safety/Tomato/USA/us-system-pinpoint-food-contamination-sources-slow-inaccurate-difficult---rabobank.html
Without a nationwide traceability system in the U.S. for
fruits and vegetables, identifying food contamination
sources has been slow, inaccurate and difficult. Recent
outbreaks have threatened public health and damaged the
image and sales in the fresh produce industry, according to
Rabobank's 'U.S. Food Safety in Fresh Produce'report.
“Several factors play a role in the severity and awareness
of food contamination outbreaks in the fresh produce sector:
media, increasing consumption, imports of fresh produce and
changing population demographics,” said Rabobank Analyst
Marieke de Rijke who examines U.S. food safety in the report
and podcast.
Tomato scare
Much of the recent attention on food safety was brought on
by an outbreak between April and July where more than 1,300
people in 43 states were infected with salmonella. For two
weeks in June, retailers and restaurants did not serve the
tomato varieties believed to be the cause of the outbreak.
Tomato wrongfully accused
However, in mid-July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) announced that they had wrongly linked the outbreak to
tomatoes. Instead, Jalapeño and Serrano peppers grown in
Mexico, caused the salmonella outbreak.
Tomatoes rebound
While loss to the tomato industry has been significant, it
is expected to rebound relatively quickly. In the 2006
spinach outbreak, it was more difficult for spinach to
recover because consumers chose other leafy vegetables. It
is hard to replace the tomato.
“Another difference between this year’s outbreak and the
2006 spinach outbreak was that barcodes on the spinach bags
allowed the FDA to locate the outbreak in four days,” said
Analyst de Rijke.
Country of Origin Labeling
As of Sept. 30, mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)
for fruits and vegetables will come into effect, which means
fruits and vegetables will have to be labeled at the retail
level. “A positive side-effect of this U.S. government
regulation would be an improved ability to trace food back
to the source of contamination,” said de Rijke.
Improvements in traceability, such as a nationwide
traceability system, would help the FDA locate and contain
outbreaks more quickly and more accurately. In addition, it
would minimize health risks and help maintain consumer
confidence in the safety of fresh produce.
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: CropLife
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Affairs , New Zealand Food Safety Authority, Monsanto
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Fsnet is supported at the Silver-plate Fork level by: The
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The Food Safety Network presents a unique opportunity to
bring together all those associated with agriculture and
food, to enhance the safety of the food supply. To provide
financial support to the Food Safety Network, please visit
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information on collaboration or fee-for-service
opportunities, please contact Dr. Doug Powell: dpowell@ksu.edu
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