FSnet Aug. 4/08 -- II

UK: TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson has novel way to spice up a salad

MASSACHUSETS: State investigating 6 cases of E. coli

VIRGINIA: Beef tainted by E. coli at scout camp, officials say

UK and IRELAND: FSAI Investigating Salmonella outbreak

GEORGIA: Judge nixes peanut butter class action

OP-ED: AGRICULTURE: But these tomatoes weren't killers

LETTER: Another view: Evidence required warning on tomatoes, FDA head says

LETTER: Salmonella is spread through cow feces

CANADA: The right to rawness

No differences in conventional, rbST free and organic milk

COLORADO: How local pools handle poop

ABSTRACT: A multi-level cost-benefit approach for regulatory decision support in food safety and quality assurance scenarios

ABSTRACT: Micro-simulation of households: a new tool to assess the impact on society of food safety policies

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UK: TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson has novel way to spice up a salad
04.aug.08
Times Online
Patrick Foster
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article4454270.ece
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/for-modern-women-who-want-the-healthy-organic-lifestyle-celebrity-chef-tells-how-to-poison-yourself/index.html
When Antony Worrall Thompson, the celebrity chef, used a magazine interview to detail the joys of foraging for wild herbs, he recommended a little-known plant as a salad leaf.
In abundant supply, locally grown and organically produced, henbane would seem to tick all the boxes for television chefs who urge us to embrace a healthier and more environmentally friendly diet.
There was, however, one rather glaring problem – it contains a potentially fatal poison.
Henbane, a close relative of deadly nightshade, is often known as stinking nightshade, because of its pungent odour. Its name, derived from Anglo-Saxon, means "killer of hens", and consumption can cause hallucinations, convulsions, vomiting and death.
Previous champions of henbane include Dr Crippen, who used an extract of the plant to poison his wife. In Hamlet, Claudius uses a potion containing the drug to kill the king.
Yesterday Mr Worrall Thompson, and Healthy & Organic Living, who published his culinary wisdom, issued an apology, reminding readers that henbane "is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten".
Healthy & Organic Living, which has a circulation of 40,000, says it is "the only magazine dedicated to providing information and advice for modern women who want to discover how to lead a healthy and organic lifestyle".
Mr Worrall Thompson, when asked by the publication whether he used any wild foods in his dishes, replied: "The weed henbane is great in salads." His advice features in the magazine's August edition, currently on sale, as the error was not noticed until after it had gone to print.
In a letter to subscribers, seen by The Times, Kate Collyns, the magazine's editor, wrote: "In our August issue, Antony Worrall Thompson suggested that the weed henbane was great in salads. In fact henbane is very toxic and is a Schedule III poison under the Medicines Act. Please discount this suggestion. Antony is very sorry for causing confusion and had quite a different plant in mind."
Andrew Chevalier, a fellow of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, was cited as saying those who had followed Mr Worrall Thompson's lead and constructed a salad of henbane should seek medical help, adding, "A good portion would probably cause significant gastrointestinal diffculties and a larger dose would be fatal. If anyone has followed Mr Worrall Thompson's advice they should dial 999 and prepare to have their stomach pumped."
Mr Worrall Thompson, who has insured his tongue for £500,000 to protect his tastebuds, is currently on holiday in Spain. He told The Timesyesterday: "I was thinking of a wild plant with a similar name, not this herb, but of course I've ended up killing half the nation instead.
"The magazine have put out a correction but they printed it in advance. It's a bit embarrassing, but there have been no reports of any casualties. Please do pass on my apologies."



 
MASSACHUSETS: State investigating 6 cases of E. coli
04.aug.08
TheBostonChannel.com
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/17089103/detail.html
BOSTON -- Six cases of E. coli in Massachusetts residents are being investigated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, state officials said Monday.
A source of contamination has not been identified, however the cluster of illnesses may be linked to the consumption of beef products. The cases appear to be caused by the same strain of the bacteria found in patients from several other states.
State health officials, along with investigators from USDA, worked through the weekend to try and identify a possible source of contamination. The investigation is focused on ground beef, and testing of samples collected from several stores will be conducted this week.Based on the preliminary findings, DPH is reminding the public to consume only fully cooked ground beef. Cooking meat to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills the bacteria.
E. coli O157:H7 is a type of bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, elderly and persons with weakened immune systems are the most susceptible to food borne illness.
The Massachusetts cases range in age from three to 60 years. They include residents of Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex counties. They reported becoming ill between July 10 and 16. At least five of the cases were hospitalized. These cases may be linked to 20 other cases in several states and Quebec that were caused by the same strain of E. coli.
The Massachusetts cases were linked by DNA testing and by comparing those results to results from others around the country through a federal foodborne illness surveillance program called PulseNet.



 
VIRGINIA: Beef tainted by E. coli at scout camp, officials say
04.aug.08
Washington Post
Jonathan Mummolo and Howard Schneider
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/08/04/ST2008080400819.html
Health officials were cited as announcing today that beef collected from a Boy Scout camp in Goshen, Va., has tested positive for E. coli bacteria, and scouting officials said they shut down the camp yesterday amid a rising number of sick campers. Although it is not yet known whether the three Scouts who became sick after attending camp last week were in fact suffering from E. coli infection, officials with the Boy Scouts of America cancelled plans for hundreds of scouts to attend the final week of camp at Goshen Scout Reservation, which would have started yesterday.
At least 18 people who were at the camp two weeks ago have tested positive for the bacteria -- nearly all from Northern Virginia. As many as 67 people who attended the camp have exhibited symptoms, Virginia Health Department epidemiologist Christopher Novak said.
The Health Department began receiving reports of sick children July 27, when boys from about 70 troops and their adult chaperones returned home after a week at the Goshen site, near Lexington, Va. About 10 people have been hospitalized to date, though several have been treated and released, Novak said.
Officials had believed the exposure of the bacteria to be limited to about 1,700 people who were at the reservation between July 20 and 26. After the initial reports of people falling ill, Scout officials pulled ground beef, a common source of E. coli, from the camp menu. Today, they said the beef had tested positive for the bacteria.
But yesterday, the Health Department informed Scout officials of three people who attended the camp last week -- when beef was not being cooked and served -- and also were exhibiting symptoms of the bacterial infection, said Alan Lambert, scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America's National Capital Area Council, at a news conference this morning.



 
UK and IRELAND: FSAI Investigating Salmonella outbreak
04.aug.08
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland
http://www.fsai.ie/news/press/pr_08/pr20080804.asp
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today confirmed it is investigating a food poisoning outbreak of Salmonella Agona affecting the UK and Ireland. To date, there have been eight cases in Ireland. The investigation seeks to establish the source of the illness and laboratory testing of foods is being carried out which should provide further information shortly.
The FSAI is continuing to investigate all other potential sources of contamination. In the meantime, as a precautionary measure, a company that supplies implicated ingredients into the catering sector has withdrawn these products from sale.
The FSAI is advising food outlets providing ready-to-eat sandwiches to be particularly strict in adhering to best hygiene practices. It reminds retailers of the importance of ensuring that hot sandwiches must be thoroughly cooked before serving to the consumer. It also reiterates the need for strict procedures to be followed at all times to avoid cross contamination between raw and cooked foods.
The FSAI is working closely with the Department of Health & Children, the Department of Agriculture & Food and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, as well as the relevant agencies in the UK.
As the investigation is ongoing, the FSAI will provide more information as it becomes available.



 
GEORGIA: Judge nixes peanut butter class action
03.aug.08
ConsumerAffairs.com
Truman Lewis
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/peanut_butter_suit.html
Consumers poisoned by salmonella-tainted peanut butter can't pursue a class action lawsuit against ConAgra, the producer of the Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter blamed for thousands of illnesses in 2006 and 2007, an Atlanta judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. said a class action would make little sense because it would not clear the courts of thousands of individual actions and would not effectively compensate plaintiffs.
The judge said that ConAgra has refunded more than $33 million to consumers and retailers and that such refunds were "likely more effective" than a class action.
Lawyers had sought to create one class of plaintiffs who had purchased the tainted peanut butter and another class who were sickened or died after eating it.
Thrash said there are at least 6,000 individual personal injury cases already pending and that most of those trials would proceed whether or not a class action was certified. An additional class action case would be essentially "expensive, unnecessary, meaningless," he said.
Dalton, Ga., Attorney Robert H. Smalley said he was disappointed with the ruling but said the judge raised an issue that needs to be addressed — the thousands of pending cases and an unknown number of yet-to-be-filed cases.
Besides the cases filed against ConAgra in Atlanta federal court, there are a "great number" of cases in various state courts, Smalley said.
The 2007 recall followed hundreds of illnesses and at least four deaths stemming from the salmonella contamination of peanut butter at ConAgra's manufacturing plant in Sylvester, Ga. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received reports of 628 illnesses, including 71 hospitalizations. Health officials concede that many cases were never reported or investigated.
At least four deaths were unofficially attributed to the outbreak.
Salmonella is a potentially fatal bacterium that is found on about 20 percent of harvested peanuts. The outbreak that led to the 2007 recall was not the first instance of a salmonella infestation in a batch of Peter Pan peanut butter for the ConAgra Foods company.
Documents obtained by ConsumerAffairs.com through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that ConAgra discovered "microbial problems" in October 2004 but the FDA did not follow through on the finding.



 
OP-ED: AGRICULTURE: But these tomatoes weren't killers
01.aug.08
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/08/01/tomatoesed.html
Gary W. Black, president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, wrties that in 1978, movie buffs hailed the satirical "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" as a certain cult classic. This 87-minute spoof left enthusiasts rolling in the aisles. Thanks in part to systemic failures by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, our citizens have been treated to a very unpleasant 2008 summer sequel devoid of any humor.
Warnings from public health and food regulation officials based on "maybe" and "probably" wreak havoc with consumer confidence and economic stability in the marketplace. Officials who imply facts when they really have no clue are even worse. Words matter.
Federal officials, who now say the salmonella has been traced to peppers grown in Mexico, should be held responsible for the tomato market crash by at least accompanying every affected farmer as he or she visits the bank to explain why loan repayments will at best this year be delayed. Georgia farmers and related businesses have suffered a $25 million loss.
Are federal officials really culpable in this situation? I think so, but why not ask an outstanding public servant, Charlie Bronson, Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture. At the onset of the salmonella outbreak, Bronson placed his 130-member food safety staff at the disposal of FDA officials to help track down the problem. He is still waiting for his call to be returned. In retrospect, there was not a problem in Florida anyway. But when federal officials take all the responsibility for managing the game plan, they must bear the consequences when the ball is fumbled. Congress will soon consider H.R. 6581, a plan to compensate farmers for their losses due to the salmonella scare. I believe this measure is worthy of the support of the entire Georgia congressional delegation.
For farmers and consumers alike, traceablity is an important component of our nation's food safety strategy. FDA officials have in recent months been asleep at this wheel as well. In the spring of 2007, Georgia entrepreneurs at LaGrange-based Durand-Wayland Inc. submitted a new laser identification technology for approval to, you guessed it, the FDA. This new apparatus, prepared to be manufactured in Georgia by Georgians, has the capability to imprint a number or farm logo directly on fruits or vegetables. Is this technology for every farmer? No, but it would be wonderful for some to have the choice to adopt this method of tracking products.
Today, the application for FDA approval is lodged somewhere in a maze of federal government cubicles clinging to life. A handful of consultants and lawyers, along with U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) have been pleading Durand-Wayland's case for more than a year. It is a shame they have had to plead. FDA's questions have been answered and satisfied. In the meantime, the business pays legal fees, a number of LaGrange citizens are still waiting to be called to work, and farmers and consumers have one less tool available to trace products.
The vine-ripened Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) did not initiate the Attack of 2008. That attack came from the federal government we are all paying handsomely. Fears of tomatoes in recent weeks are unfounded. Officials should hold fast to science-based facts, dismiss speculation and be held financially accountable when their actions vaporize commodity markets, as was the case with tomatoes this year. "We're sorry" simply isn't good enough.



 
LETTER: Another view: Evidence required warning on tomatoes, FDA head says
04.aug.08
The Sacramento Beehttp://www.sacbee.com/325/story/1127405.html
Andrew C. von Eschenbach, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is responding to July21 editorial "Killer tomatoes? Or ... / Illness, dumped produce reveal a problem."
The Bee incorrectly states in its editorial that the Food and Drug Administration "reconsidered its warning" to avoid several types of tomatoes during the food borne illness emergency involving Salmonella Saintpaul. We did not reconsider. We explicitly lifted the warning, based upon evidence uncovered during our ongoing investigation.
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both part of Health and Human Services, have collaborated with state, local and international partners in a weeks-long investigation into the nation's largest outbreak of salmonella infections.
State-of-the-art methods of investigation revealed a strong association between eating raw tomatoes and illnesses reported early in this outbreak.
Based on that information and using the same process employed during emergencies involving spinach in 2006 and peanut butter in 2007, the FDA made recommendations necessary to protect public health.
A food-borne illness investigation is a lot like a detective trying to solve a case. We often must rely on people's memory about what they ate last week,or the week before that, or the week before that. We compare information from those who got sick with information from people who didn't. This process often produces suspects, or leads.In this case, eating raw tomatoes was strongly associated with cases of illness.
The FDA and CDC recently broadened the investigation and warnings to new leads. A nationwide study found that ill people were likely to have eaten raw jalapeño and serrano peppers in addition to raw tomatoes.
Data from all investigations indicate that raw jalapeño peppers from Mexico are likely to be a major cause of the disease outbreak. Raw serrano peppers and raw tomatoes remain under investigation.
On July 17,the FDA lifted its warning on raw tomatoes, saying that the tomatoes now available in the domestic market were not grown in areas associated with the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. The tomatoes available today are from different sources than those available at the beginning of the outbreak, and the science supports the change in our warning.
At every point of this investigation, the FDA has followed the science, weighed the risk to public health, issued - and lifted - warnings based on solid, scientific evidence to promote and protect the public health.



 
LETTER: Salmonella is spread through cow feces
04.aug.08
Denver Post eLetters
http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2008/08/04/salmonella-is-spread-through-cow-feces/
Jeremiah Kaplan, M.D., Boulder, writes to say that salmonella is an intestinal bacteria. Jalapeños, even those grown in Mexico, don't have intestines. The actual source of the bacteria is cow feces, spread widely into our environment due to our meat-eating habit. The bacteria can get into plant roots when they are taken up from irrigation water, contaminated by mass meat production.
So as long as we continue our high level of meat consumption, we will pay for it periodically with human epidemics of intestinal bacterial disease, whether it be E. coli, salmonella, or any of many other pathogens. And these pathogens will be increasingly antibiotic-resistant as long as we continue to allow widespread use of antibiotics in animal food to promote growth.



 
CANADA: The right to rawness
04.aug.08
globeandmail.com
Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080804.EMILK04/TPStory/TPComment/Ontario/
Some of the more worrisome instincts of the nanny state were, according to this editorial, on display in an Ontario courtroom last week as farmer Michael Schmidt was told he would soon stand trial for producing raw, unpasteurized milk.
Its sale is banned in Canada because milk that is not heated up to kill germs can harbour dangerous bacteria, and has been linked to E. coli infections.
Except among the health nuts and gourmands who love to drink it, and the bureaucrats who try to stop them, raw milk is an obscure subject. But its illegal status deserves scrutiny.
While some level of consumer protection is an obvious government responsibility, the raw-milk ban is unjustified and unfair. Milk is hardly the only possible source of bacteria such as E. coli, outbreaks of which have been traced to beef, spinach, onions, alfalfa sprouts and water.
None of these products has ever been banned by health regulators, and with good reason. The issue is never the products themselves, but poor farming and production practices. The same is true of raw milk. It can be dangerous, but the vast majority of the time it is perfectly safe. For proof, look to Europe, where raw milk is relatively common.
Even if raw milk is, on the whole, somewhat more dangerous than other products, so what? Consumers are trusted to make informed choices about comparative risk every day. Cigarettes are just one example; fatty foods are another (and they can be fed to children, with whose health parents take chances all the time).
As long as people who buy raw milk understand they are taking a small risk by doing so, there is no reason they should not be prevented by law. The solution may be a mandatory labelling regime, or allowing raw-milk sales only at farms, so that no shopper will innocently grab it from the supermarket shelf.
All societies must find an equilibrium between safety and liberty. In Canada, where some provinces do not allow bar patrons to carry drinks up or down staircases and a number of large cities have near-total bans on street food, we often place too much emphasis on the former. Permittinging the sale of raw milk would be a step toward a better balance.



 
No differences in conventional, rbST free and organic milk
30.jul.08
Brownfield Ag Network
Bob Meyer
http://www.truthabouttrade.org/content/view/12170/54/
A new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds very little difference in conventional, rbST-free and organic milk. The study involved researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Penn State University and Monsanto. Milk samples of all three types of milk were collected from all 48 contiguous states and tested for bacterial counts, antibiotics, fat, protein, solids-non-fat and hormone composition.
The study found minimal differences among the three types of milk. Conventional milk had a slightly lower bacteria count than organic or rBST free and lower levels of estradiol and progesterone than organic milk. There were no differences in the level of somatotropin (bST) in the three milks. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels were similar in conventional milk and rbST free and a little lower in organic milk. Organic milk had .1% higher protein content than the other two.
The study concludes, "Label claims were not related to any meaningful differences in the milk compositional variables measured. It is important for food and nutrition professionals to know that conventional, rbST free and organic milk are compositionally similar."



 
COLORADO: How local pools handle poop
04.aug.08
The Aspen Times
Charles Agar
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20080804/NEWS/324111015/1077/LETTER&parentprofile=-1
ASPEN -- It happens more often than anyone wants to talk about and goes by many names.
Fecal-matter incidents at area swimming pools are known colloquially as floaters, pool sharks, Baby Ruths or "code browns." Whatever it is called, the situation inconveniences swimmers and creates big hassles for recreation department staff.
Just last week there were two accidents at Basalt's public pool, and recreation officials in Aspen and Snowmass Village both say the health hazard is common. There was at least one "code brown" report last week at the Aspen Recreation Center, better known as the ARC.
Prevention means offering diapers and encouraging parents with young children to keep an eye on their kids. And cleanup means all (gloved) hands on deck, said Tim Anderson, the city of Aspen's recreation director.
"We've got to close down and clean the pool," he said.
His staff follows strict state standards, evacuating the pool for about an hour in order to sprinkle granular chlorine at the incident site and completely recirculate the pool water through a filtration system.
"The chlorine levels we are required to keep will kill everything," Anderson said, and state regulations are really "above and beyond."
And while he said chlorine alone is enough to keep swimmers safe, filtering pool water provides an extra "comfort level" to patrons.
Even with the ARC's proactive stance, "it's a nuisance," Anderson said.
It's not babies who cause the cleanups, but older children, usually ages 8 to 10, he said.
Water features, such as water jets, fountains and slides, can have an "enema effect" and might be a contributing factor to incidents, Anderson said.
But there's never an investigation.
"We really never know who it is," he said, adding the obvious: "Nobody ever owns up to it."



 
ABSTRACT: A multi-level cost-benefit approach for regulatory decision support in food safety and quality assurance scenarios
01.jun.08
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 177-182
Melanie Fritz a; Gerhard Schiefer a
a International Centre for Food Chain and Network Research, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a795459666~db=all~order=page
In complex policy decision situations where policy objectives cannot be reached alone through the aggregate actions of individual actors, the classical approaches for measuring the effects of regulatory initiatives such as cost-benefit analysis do not provide the information necessary for decision support. This paper discusses a framework for a multi-level analysis approach that could provide decision support in multi-level policy decision situations.



 
ABSTRACT: Micro-simulation of households: a new tool to assess the impact on society of food safety policies
01.jun.08
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 171-176
Gianluca Stefani a
a Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a795460243~db=all~order=page
Public concerns about the risk from food hazards have spread in recent years, boosted by a number of well-publicized food scares. As a result, food safety issues are high on the policy agenda in Europe and elsewhere, and a range of policies have been developed to deal with them. The paper illustrates and makes a case for the use of micro-simulation models as support for better economic assessment of food policies. When households deal with food safety issues they can show heterogeneous behaviors, and micro-simulation can provide a useful tool to take into account this heterogeneity. However, to the author's knowledge, no attempt to use micro-simulation in the analysis of food safety policies has taken place so far. After an illustration of the way economists evaluate food safety policies, micro-simulation methodologies are introduced, stressing their potentiality for the assessment of food safety policies.
 


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