FSnet Aug

FSnet Aug. 28/08 -- II

CANADA: Manitoba had listeriosis before Maple Leaf crisis

CANADA: Listeria outbreak spurs food safety overhaul

CANADA: What the provinces have done

OTTAWA vows to hire 58 more food inspectors

Health Hazard Alert - Cooked ham and salami sandwiches sold in sobeys, foodland and IGA stores in ONTARIO may contain listeria monocytogenes

OKLAHOMA: Source of illness is E. coli

SCOTLAND: Seven treated in E.coli outbreak

ONTARIO: Seven sick in Legionella outbreak

Bowling alley food worker in NORTH CAROLINA has hepatitis

ESTONIA: Viimsi Spa denies claims it had a salmonella outbreak

US: Lettuce rejoice

EDITORIAL: Safer salad

BLOG: Move makes food safer

US: Foodmakers won't be rushing to irradiate greens

CANADA: Beekeeper can't give away free honey

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CANADA: Manitoba had listeriosis before Maple Leaf crisis
28.aug.08
Winnipeg Free Press
Aldo Santin and Jen Skerritt
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4219162p-4812452c.html
There have been 20 cases of listeriosis reported in Manitoba since 2003. The most recent cases occured in January and February, when two women in Winnipeg -- one in her 60s and the other her 70s -- contracted the disease, according to the Manitoba Health Communicable Disease monthly summary database. The two cases are not believed to be related to each other, or to the recent national outbreak.
The severity of the illness in those two cases is unknown.
Winnipeg hospitals and personal-care homes serve deli meats to patients, despite their vulnerability to the bacteria.
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokeswoman Heidi Graham said health inspectors haven't flagged deli meats as a concern, and there has never been a Manitoba patient who has fallen ill with listeriosis from eating contaminated meat served in hospital.
Graham said a recent investigation into a patient who contracted listeriosis while in hospital revealed the patient's family brought in the contaminated food as a treat.

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CANADA: Listeria outbreak spurs food safety overhaul
28.aug.08
Ottawa Bureau Chief
Bruce Campion-Smith, Robyn Doolittle, Joanna Smith
http://healthzone.ca/health/article/486857#comments
Ottawa will hire more food inspectors and may allow irradiation of meat to reduce bacteria that causes food-borne diseases such as the deadly outbreak of listeria linked to ready-to-eat meats.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced at an Ottawa press conference yesterday that an extra 58 food inspectors will be hired this year. This is on top of 200 new hires in the past two years and a previously announced $113 million in new funding for food safety.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jeff Farber, director of Health Canada's bureau of microbial hazards, said the government is considering approving the irradiation of meats by early 2009.
Ritz also said the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto believed to be the source of the listeriosis outbreak would undergo tough scrutiny when it resumes production. Federal inspectors "will hold and test 100 per cent of the product coming off the lines for four to six weeks," he said.
Still, he echoed Maple Leaf CEO Michael McCain when he said that testing products for listeria is like looking for a "needle in a haystack."
"Having been subjected to three or four complete chemical wash downs, there's very little doubt that there's any listeria there left," Ritz said. "Of course, it can come back at a moment's notice on someone's shoes, on someone's hand. It can be brought back into the plant the day after we say everything is good."
Ritz and other federal officials denied reports that the federal food inspector responsible for overseeing the Maple Leaf Foods plant ñ and other facilities ñ was overworked or tied to a desk.
"That's not true. About 50 per cent of an inspector's time is on the floor of the plant. The other 50 per cent is overseeing paperwork, most of it's scientific in nature, test results," Ritz said.
That paperwork is critical, said Paul Mayers, acting associate vice-president of programs for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
"The review of results from testing, the review of records, the review of the cooking temperatures employed in a plant, in my view, are fundamental to demonstrating that the processes being employed by the plant are in control," said Mayers said. "That scientific review demonstrates the safety and security of the entire process used to produce a food."
He said the inspector would visit the plant daily to oversee the production and ensure "controls are in place." He also said inspectors conduct their own tests.
But former CFIA inspector Bob Kingston, national president of the Agriculture Union, a branch of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, stood by his claims yesterday.
"The inspectors are feeling pretty frustrated," he said.
Earlier yesterday, McCain defended the federal regulations.
He also defended the way his company tests for listeria, which does not involve testing the product.
Maple Leaf officials ship product samples to the CFIA once a month to be tested, but the plant's 10-person inspection team monitors product safety not by testing the meat, but by testing the plant.
McCain said "scientific wisdom" has proven it's more effective to monitor the environment in which the food is prepared.
"If you had a box of cereal and you took one tablespoon of cereal out of that box you would more than likely get a negative result, even though a bacteria may exist at the bottom of the box," he said. "It's like looking for a needle in a hay stack."
Instead, routine swabs ñ about 3,000 each year ñ are taken of the plant, most commonly surfaces along the production lines and the samples are screened bacteria.
It is not uncommon for traces of listeria to turn up in food manufacturing plants, McCain said. He said the Bartor Rd. plant has had positive results in the past, but "there is nothing out of the norm."
Health Canada sets standards for the amount of listeria allowed in food using risk-assessment tests to determine the safe upper limits of listeria. Deli meats are not allowed to contain even one listeria bacterium, said Keith Warriner, professor in food microbiology at the University of Guelph. A positive test should prompt a product recall, he said. The long shelf life of the meats and constant refrigeration put it at high risk of growing listeria.
A ready-to-eat product with a shelf life of five days or less, such as a sandwich, can have one listeria bacterium per 50 grams of food, he said. Products that generally support listeria but pose low risks to consumers, such as ice cream and bagged lettuce, have higher upper limits, he said.
According to Warriner, individual companies have an obligation to meet the federal standards.
"There are recommendations (on how to do this)," he said. "But there are no regulations. It's important to stress that they (the companies) are regulated to ensure that listeria is not present in the product, but it's up to the producer to devise a sampling plan that they think would meet the government regulation."

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CANADA: What the provinces have done
28.aug.08
The Globe and Mail
Karen Howlett, Ian Baily, Ingrid Peritz and Katherine O'Neill, and Matthey Trevisan
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080828.MEATPROVINCES28/TPStory/National
Ontario
David Williams, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, credits an electronic system introduced after the SARS crisis of 2003 - in which 44 people in Canada died - with helping officials in his office realize they were dealing with another deadly disease.
As of yesterday, the listeriosis outbreak had afflicted 40 people in Ontario, leaving 12 dead. But Dr. Williams said the toll would have been much higher without the new electronic system for reporting diseases. Twelve cases were reported by various health units around the province for July alone, up from a monthly average of four or five.
On Aug. 5, public health test results revealed that a sandwich from a nursing home in Toronto where two residents had died was contaminated with listeria. But it would take another two weeks before officials announced that a nationwide outbreak of listeria infection originated in a Toronto meat-processing plant.
British Columbia
B.C.'s provincial health officer said that for three years, hospitals and seniors care facilities have been warned against serving luncheon meats to some patients for fears of listeria, although there was no specific health threat.
Perry Kendall said the Health Canada warning was prudent.
"If you wanted to be totally risk free, you would take that food off your list, and I think we have been under the assumption that, basically, these foods came from an inspected, health-care approved, Health Canada approved, (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)-approved source, that they would be safe," Dr. Kendall said.
Healthy Living Minister Mary Polak, designated to speak for the government on the issue, said there will be an eventual review of how health-care facilities have handled the outbreak to date. She rejected any idea of some kind of ongoing deli-meats ban. "Our focus right now is on contamination from this plant. ... Banning deli meat wouldn't solve the problem of the risk of listeria."
The province has four confirmed cases, with one death under investigation.
Quebec
Quebec health officials have linked one death in the province to listeria contamination in Maple Leaf products. They confirmed a second listeriosis death on Tuesday night near Montreal, but it is still under investigation to determine whether it can be traced to the same bacterial strain found in the Maple Leaf outbreak.
Two people who became ill from the bacteria reported eating the cheeses, officials said.
Agriculture inspectors carried out tests at the Quebec factories where Mont-Jacob and Riopelle cheeses are produced, and found no traces of listeria.
This leaves medical investigators to suspect the contamination developed in the retail outlets.
Alberta
Alberta Health spokesman John Tuckwell said the province's public-health inspectors have been contacting restaurants, grocery stores and public facilities, starting with the "at-risk ones" such as hospitals and seniors homes, to ensure they are aware of and following the recall.
He said notification began Aug. 21, a day after the request for help with the recall was made.
In total, there have been nine confirmed cases of listeriosis in Alberta in 2008. Five of those cases - including two deaths - are currently being investigated to determine if they are linked to the deadly outbreak.
Saskatchewan
On Aug. 20, the day of Maple Leaf's first major recall, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency provincial branch in Saskatchewan contacted the province and requested that the Health Ministry and regional health authorities begin monitoring the effectiveness of the product recall in hospitals and long-term care facilities, said Tim Macaulay, manager of the Health Ministry's environmental health unit.
There has been only one confirmed case of listeriosis in the province: A woman in her 80s died on Sunday.

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OTTAWA vows to hire 58 more food inspectors
28.aug.08
The Globe and Mail
Bill Curry
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080828.MEATPOLICY28/TPStory/National
OTTAWA -- The Conservative government promised yesterday to hire 58 more food inspectors and said discussions are under way about the merits of adopting more rigorous U.S. meat safety measures.
Facing allegations from opposition MPs that federal ministers have been less than forthright in explaining their plans for food inspection reform, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said his government continues to improve food safety.
"We are targeting another 58 people to be on the front lines," said Mr. Ritz, as he and federal officials briefed reporters in Ottawa.
Mr. Ritz also said Canadian plants are free to take added meat safety measures such as pasteurizing ready-to-eat meat products after they have been packaged.
"There is a role - the U.S. have it available [and] we have it available here too, if a processing facility wants to use it - called pasteurization. There's still some scientific discussions going on [as to] whether or not that's 100 per cent effective," he said.
In response to an American listeria outbreak in 1998 traced to hot dogs, many U.S. companies adopted pasteurization, but scientists pointed out this week that Canada has not made the process mandatory.
Mr. Ritz and Paul Mayers, the associate vice-president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, responded tersely to recent assertions by the union representing CFIA inspectors that inspectors are so overburdened with paperwork that they are unable to physically inspect plants.
"Inspectors verify cooking temperatures and observe and validate a company's sanitary practices. The CFIA also directly supervises the sample collection process in the plant," Mr. Mayers said. "And while some might characterize that as paperwork, I characterize that as an important element of an effective inspection system."
Mr. Ritz said the union's claims are not true and that inspectors spend 50 per cent of their time on the plant floor.

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OKLAHOMA: Source of illness is E. coli
28.aug.08
Tulsa World
Kim Archer
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080828_17_A1_TheCou524863
The state confirms the bacteria is behind an outbreak that has sickened dozens, one fatally.
An unusual and virulent type of E. coli bacteria caused an outbreak that killed a Pryor man and hospitalized more than 40 other people in northeastern Oklahoma, the State Department of Health confirmed Wednesday.
Specimens from 10 patients were confirmed to be a shiga-toxin producing form of E. coli, a type of enterohemorrhagic bacteria that can cause illness ranging from mild intestinal disease to severe kidney complications, state epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley said.
"These toxins are responsible for the very severe disease that we are seeing in many persons sickened by this outbreak," she said.
Also Wednesday, Bradley directly linked the outbreak to the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove.
State health officials had noted Monday that most of the sickened patients had eaten there.
Bradley said Wednesday that some of the people infected with the bacteria had not eaten at the restaurant but likely were infected by others who had eaten there.
"We know that something at the restaurant led to this foodborne illness outbreak," Bradley added.
The Moore family said in a statement, though, that the Country Cottage will remain closed indefinitely while the Health Department continues its investigation into the source of the contamination.
In a written statement, the Moores said, "While we feel somewhat relieved in knowing what the cause is, it is difficult to put into words how heartbroken and distraught we are for our entire community, including our close friends and neighbors who are sick or those who have relatives who are sick."
The Moores declined to reveal the suppliers for their meat, produce and other food products.
However, Bradley said Wednesday that "we think it's much less likely that it was a contaminated food item and more likely cross-contamination."
In other words, state health officials think the source likely was not food that came contaminated from a supplier but something that became contaminated after it was in the restaurant.
Bradley also said she believes that officials are "zeroing in on the source" of contamination and could know within the next day or two.
She said the potential for spreading the diarrheal illness to close contacts or household members is high.
"Only a few bacteria can make a person sick, and these bacteria can be easily transmitted person-to-person if infected persons do not wash their hands after using the toilet or changing diapers," Bradley said.
She urged physicians treating patients with the gastrointestinal illness to refrain from using antibiotics and anti-diarrheal medication.

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SCOTLAND: Seven treated in E.coli outbreak
28.aug.08
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/7585940.stm
Seven people, some of them children, have been diagnosed with E.coli O157 in a single village.
A further eight people who share the same private water supply are also being tested for the infection.
The water is shared by eight homes in Auchinclech, near Westhill in Aberdeenshire.
Two of the affected people were treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and have now been discharged. The remainder were seen by their GPs.
Health officials at NHS Grampian said the infection was not affecting public water supplies.
A spokesman said: "None of those affected are currently giving cause for concern." (bet those affected donít feel that way ñ dp).
This outbreak highlights the risks associated with private water supplies
Householders in the affected homes are being advised to boil their water while the inquiry to identify the source of the infection continues.

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ONTARIO: Seven sick in Legionella outbreak
28.aug.08
The Hamilton Spectator
Nicole Macintyre
http://www.thespec.com/article/426157
Public health officials are hunting for the source of a Legionella outbreak that has sickened seven Hamiltonians this month.
But Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the city's medical officer of health, warns officials may never know the source of the respiratory illness.
So far, the only link is that five of the patients suffering from legionnaires' disease live in lower Stoney Creek or lower east Hamilton.
Though the scattering of cases in the community is considered unusual -- most outbreaks are connected to a single exposure point such as a seniors' home or spa -- it is actually "very common," said Dr. Victor Yu, a U.S. Legionella expert.
If everyone with pneumonia were tested for the disease, there would be thousands of cases in Canada and the United States every year, said Yu, a University of Pittsburgh professor.

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Bowling alley food worker in NORTH CAROLINA has hepatitis
28.aug.08
The Virginian-Pilot
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/08/bowling-alley-food-worker-nc-has-hepatitis
A case of hepatitis A has been diagnosed in a food worker at the Nags Head Bowling Center, the Dare County Department of Public Health announced Wednesday.
Anne Thomas, Dare County health director, said in a statement that anyone who ate or drank at the establishment between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Aug. 18 or 19 may be at risk of developing hepatitis A.
People who believe they may have been exposed should contact their health care provider if they develop symptoms of the non-life-threatening disease, which include mild fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, tiredness and jaundice. Early signs typically appear two to six weeks after exposure.
An injection of immune globulin provides temporary protection against infection within 14 days of exposure. The immunization is available for free from the Dare County Health Department at 109 Exeter St. in Manteo.
For more information or to make an appointment, call (252) 475-5003.

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ESTONIA: Viimsi Spa denies claims it had a salmonella outbreak
28.aug.08
Baltic Business News
Toomas Hžbem”gi
http://www.balticbusinessnews.com/Default2.aspx?ArticleID=75c29778-cdc5-48a7-b284-1b6d0780754b&ref=rss
Viimsi Spa in Tallinn has denied claims that it had infected 16 Finnish tourists with salmonella.
Eesti P”evaleht writes that sixteen Finnish tourists who had stayed in the spa at the end of July and beginning of August claimed that they had contracted salmonella.
Executives of Viimsi Spa claim that the spa had nothing to do with the outbreak. Moreover, the Estonian Health Protection Inspectorate said that it continues to investigate the real cause of the outbreak.
Representatives of Viimsi Spa said that since Finnish tourists usually buy the package where they eat some of their meals outside the spa, the salmonella infection could have occurred somewhere else.
Mark Vuuk, CEO of Viimsi Spa, said that the company does not provide its own catering services. ìAfter the complaint the Harjumaa veterinary and food administration inspected the company that provides catering in our facility very strictly, but found no violations,î he said.
Vuuk added that if there had been a salmonella outbreak in the spa then the spaís own staff of 100 people who use the same restaurant would also have contracted it.
Health protection inspectorate has registered 185 salmonella cases in the second quarter. A year ago the figure was only 36.

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US: Lettuce rejoice
28.aug.08
The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121988296138278119.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
These are salad days for the Food and Drug Administration, which announced last Friday that it will let food producers irradiate fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce to kill e-coli and salmonella. The decision wasn't early or broad enough to avert this summer's food scare, but it's a step in the right direction for consumers and producers who want reasonable options to ensure the produce they're taking home is safe.
Under the new regime, the leafy greens can be zapped before they are sent to market to ensure they aren't carrying bacteria that have been the source of major food scares in recent years. The method can prevent repeats of many of the major U.S. E. coli outbreaks in the past two decades in foods ranging from spinach to onions to alfalfa sprouts and jalapenos.
If it sounds like good news, not everyone was celebrating at Naderite groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which sees irradiation as a threat to regulatory oversight on issues like farm cleanliness. In response to the FDA decision, CSPI insisted that irradiation was not a "silver bullet" and "may not be the futuristic cure-all the agency is looking for." They're the moderates. During the tomato scare, a group called Food and Water Watch warned that "irradiating vegetables is impractical and dangerous" and "only serves the food industry's ever-growing appetite to cut costs and increase profits."
This is the same crowd that presumably thinks you can hire enough inspectors to look at every tomato. In the reality of a global marketplace, contamination can be almost impossible to track. On-farm inspections and other regulations have nothing on a distribution network that offers multiple opportunities for contamination at every stop along the food chain, from washing, to packing, to salsa-making.
Irradiation has already been approved in many other consumer products, including dried spices and meats, as well as the recent addition of shipments of Indian mangoes and Hawaiian papaya. The process has long since garnered the blessings of groups like the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization for its ability to limit foodborne illnesses. At the FDA, irradiation of any given food must be proven safe before it can be approved -- the strictest standard available.
In the age of organic food chic, critics may not relent easily, but consumers may soon relieve the suspense. The same arguments and hyperventilation once greeted the introduction of pasteurization for dairy products, now the rule in every American grocery store. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. has cut foodborne illness in half -- and the FDA's latest move will reduce those numbers further.

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EDITORIAL: Safer salad
28.aug.08
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/opinion/28thu3.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Add fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce to the shortlist of foods that companies can zap with radiation to kill off many dangerous pathogens. With concerns about food-borne illnesses rising ó tainted spinach and lettuce in 2006 sickened hundreds of people and killed several ó the Food and Drug Administration has wisely approved the use of ionizing radiation to kill dangerous bacteria and extend the shelf lives of these vegetables.
Consumers often cringe at the very mention of radiation, but the technology is a safe way to eliminate the threat posed by E. coli, salmonella and listeria in the food supply. The F.D.A., the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association all attest to the safety of irradiated foods.
NASA has long fed irradiated meat to astronauts. The F.D.A. has already approved irradiation of meat, poultry, spices, oysters, clams and mussels with no noticeable adverse effect on the small minority of consumers willing to try the products.
Some consumer advocates contend that irradiation could lower the nutritional value of lettuce and spinach and create toxic chemicals within them. But the F.D.A., after a careful review, found little to worry about. The overwhelming majority of studies it reviewed showed no evidence of toxicity. Nor were nutritional values significantly affected. Although some vitamins could be reduced by irradiation, the small losses would have little or no impact on total dietary intake of the vitamins.
Irradiation of greens is still no magic bullet for protecting the countryís vulnerable food supplies. The approved doses will not be strong enough to kill the viruses responsible for many outbreaks of food poisoning. Many food producers may be hesitant to adopt the technology because of consumer resistance and added costs. This country still needs a comprehensive program to keep food products free of pathogens ó from farms through the processing and distribution systems to consumers.

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BLOG: Move makes food safer
28.aug.08
USA Today
Harry F. Hull
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/08/move-makes-food.html
The Food and Drug Administration has had the courage finally to approve irradiation of spinach and lettuce. It's about time. Many people got sick during the eight years that the FDA dithered over this decision ("Your salad soon could be irradiated," Money, Friday).
How devastated would you be if your child died from an E. coli infection that could have been prevented?
Since the Jack in the Box outbreak brought the E. coli problem to national attention 15 years ago, government and industry have worked to reduce E. coli contamination.
They have had some success, but their target has been wrong.
Reduction implies that some contamination is still OK. When lives are at stake, no level of contamination with these deadly bacteria is acceptable.
Outbreaks continue. This year, we have had E. coli outbreaks from romaine lettuce in Washington and millions of pounds of ground beef recalled in several states. Both outbreaks could have been prevented by irradiation.
It may be late, but let's applaud the FDA. Now it's time for the food industry to protect our children by routinely irradiating ground beef, lettuce and spinach.

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US: Foodmakers won't be rushing to irradiate greens
28.aug.08
USA Today
Julie Schmit
Don't expect to find irradiated spinach and lettuce in your supermarket any time soon, even though federal regulators have given the food industry permission to sell it.
Several hurdles will discourage immediate widespread adoption, including cost, lack of irradiation facilities, concerns about how well it will work and whether consumers will buy produce that's been irradiated to kill dangerous bugs such as E. coli.
"Right now, it's not cost-effective," says David Gombas, senior vice president of the United Fresh Produce Association. "It'll take time and money to make it practical."
Foodmakers could build irradiation facilities. But they'd cost millions of dollars ó a big bet for a technology that's been largely shunned by consumers.
"You'll see gradual adoption and early adopters Ö who convince others to try," says Richard Hunter, CEO of Food Technology Service, a 13-employee food-irradiation company in Florida that's considered a food-irradiation leader but which relies on medical devices for 70% of its revenue.
Historically, high radiation doses used to kill all bacteria on fruits or vegetables have produced unpalatable products, researchers say.
But testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has shown that treating spinach and lettuce with relatively low radiation kills 99.9% to 99.99% of E. coli and is slightly less successful against salmonella, says Brendan Niemira, a researcher at the Microbial Food Safety Research Unit of the USDA-ARS Eastern Regional Research Center in Pennsylvania.
Chlorine washes, used by bagged-salad makers to clean produce and prevent the spread of bacteria inside processing plants, typically get 90% to 99% of the bacteria, studies have shown.
Irradiation ó which destroys bacteria with intense pulses of energy that disrupt its DNA ó also kills bacteria that may be inside leaves, where chlorine washes aren't effective, Niemira says.
But he says the greens have also shown some softening when irradiated at doses of 1.5 Kilogray, or kGy, which is how radiation doses are measured.
Finding the right dose to kill bacteria but maintain crispness will be crucial, Hunter says. "It'll take processors awhile for them to develop their product and process," he says.
Foodmakers have tested irradiation for years. Interest picked up after the 2006 E. coli outbreak in fresh spinach that killed five and sickened more than 200, says Harlan Clemmons, president of Sadex in Sioux City, Iowa.
The six-employee company irradiates feed ingredients, ground beef, spices, pet treats and some poultry. It occupies a plant built by SureBeam, formerly a leading food-irradiation firm that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2004.
Sadex has helped companies test vegetables, including spinach, lettuce, mushrooms and bell peppers. Clemmons says E. coli and salmonella have been reduced by at least 99.9% with doses ranging from 1 kGy to 2 kGy without harming produce. "It's crunchy, not melted or wilted," he says.
To demonstrate his conviction, Clemmons has even eaten spinach contaminated with E. coli after he irradiated it but before it was tested for decontamination.
"I'm confident in what we do," he says.
Richard Wiens, whose company MDS Nordion sells irradiation equipment, says the cost of irradiating leafy greens will add "pennies a pound."
"It's going to be a question of food processors understanding that this will be a cheap form of insurance," against a food-borne-illness outbreak that could put them out of business, as happened last year with Topps Meat, Wiens says.
Others say more testing is needed. "You have this tease of a technology, but we don't know enough about it," says Bruce Taylor, CEO of Taylor Farms, which makes bagged salads. He says irradiation research for Taylor has been on the "back burner" but will increase given the FDA's ruling.
Ground beef sales have doubled at Omaha Steaks since it began irradiating in 2000, spokeswoman Beth Weiss says. It now ships frozen beef to Food Technology Service to be irradiated but is considering building its own facility.
"It's an added level of food-safety protection," Weiss says.
When Omaha started, "We didn't have any fallout," she says.

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CANADA: Beekeeper can't give away free honey
28.aug.08
The Star
Nicole Baute
http://www.thestar.com/TheEx/article/486816
A Guelph beekeeper has been ordered by the Toronto Board of Health to stop giving out samples at his CNE booth, because the board says eating anything in the same area as animals is a public health risk.
Curiously, Tibor Szabo is allowed to sell the sealed jars of amber and gold honey that line his booth in the farm building, which hosts pigs, horses and other animals and smells like a barn. He just isn't allowed to open them to give out samples. And there's nothing stopping people from bringing food into the area and eating it there.
Szabo has been giving out unlimited honey samples at the CNE for the last two years ñ a total of 76,000 dollops on sampling sticks, he says ñ but he was told last week to take it outside.
"It's a big deal," Szabo said, while his bees buzzed quietly in their observation hives nearby. "I'm a beekeeper from Guelph. Me and Dan and Lana, we make our living from bees," he said, gesturing toward his partners.
For the city's part, the directive came as part of a recent effort to eliminate the consumption of food and beverages in areas with animals, said Dan Kartzalis, manager of healthy environments at the Toronto Board of Health. Kartzalis cited a guideline that he says has yet to be made public as his reason why the move to ban the free honey inside the building was made.
The title of the report, he said, is "The recommendations to prevent disease and injury associated with displayed animals in public settings in Ontario," and he said it was written in 2007 by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Kartzalis would not provide a copy, however.
"We're not using the report as a basis to tell this guy `you can't be serving honey in an area that's enclosed with farm animals,'" Kartzalis said. "We're using the Health Protection and Promotion Act and we're using basic public health practices."
The report, "just clarifies things for us, that's all," he said.
Petting an animal and then eating anything runs a serious health risk, Kartzalis said.
"If you follow it right to the final end, you'd say that you wash your hands after you handle a pet," he said. He says feces particles, which could be on the animals in the building, can lead to infectious diseases such as salmonella, E. coli and listeriosis.
CNE media spokesperson Chris McDowall says Szabo Queens and all other farm vendors were told before the CNE even opened that they weren't allowed to have open food samples inside the building with the animals.
Szabo said he was not told he couldn't give out samples until a city inspector arrived at his booth last week. But Kartzalis said Szabo shouldn't even have to be told.
"He may not have been told. But he wasn't told that he needs to also wash his hands and use single service utensils when he's dispensing this stuff, but he's probably smart enough to know that," Kartzalis said.
What confuses Szabo most of all is the fact that honey has antibacterial properties. According to the Canadian Honey Council, honey weakens potentially dangerous micro-organisms by drawing water from them and reducing their ability to survive. It is acidic, which kills many pathogens.
In fact, Szabo said taking his honey samples outside of the building ñ which the CNE has given him permission to do ñ poses an alternative health risk: wasps.
"Yellowjackets can live anywhere ... and they love honey," Szabo said. "It just takes one, they go back and tell all their buddies."
They go right for the honey, he says, even as you're sliding it into your mouth.

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FSnet is supported at the Sterling Fork level by: CropLife Canada, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs , New Zealand Food Safety Authority, Monsanto Canada, and the Ontario Cattlemen's Association.

Fsnet is supported at the Silver-plate Fork level by: The National Restaurant Association, Unilever, Sholl Group/Green Giant Fresh, Feedlot Health Management Services, McDonald's, and Syngenta Crop Protection Canada.

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 http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/donations.php. For information on collaboration or fee-for-service opportunities, please contact Dr. Doug Powell: dpowell@ksu.edu

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For more information about the FSnet research program, please contact:
Dr. Douglas Powell
associate professor
dept. diagnostic medicine/pathobiology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
66506
cell: 785-317-0560
fax: 785-532-4039
dpowell@ksu.edu
http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu

archived at http://archives.foodsafety.ksu.edu/fsnet-archives.htm