FSnet Aug. 6/08

BARFBLOG: 20 sick with E. coli at Guelph; doesn't anyone say they're sorry anymore?

AUSTRALIA: Bill of shame: trendy eatery outed for safety breach

UK and IRELAND: Salmonella Agona outbreak

TEXAS: The Colony addresses 'crypto' concerns

N. TEXAS cryptosporidium cases increase

GEORGIA: Restaurant reopens and packed with customers after E-coli scare

ALBERTA: Restaurant inspections now available online

BLOG: Globe and Mail editorial gets it wrong on unpasteurized milk

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BARFBLOG: 20 sick with E. coli at Guelph; doesn't anyone say they're sorry anymore?
06.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/20-sick-with-e-coli-at-guelph-doesnt-anyone-say-theyre-sorry-anymore/index.html
Shit happens.
Often on someone's hands or food. Follow the poop.
And when shit happens, begin by saying sorry.
Dr. Nicola Mercer, acting medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, said that five cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been confirmed and another 15 suspected in people who ate at University of Guelph food service outlets.
Mercer said, but it's believed to have started with improper handwashing by an ill food-services employee.
No justification is offered for that statement.
Chuck Cunningham, the U of G's director of communication and public affairs, said University Food Services has stayed open over the weekend, adding,
"There was no reason to close anything down. Staff took all necessary precautions. The university is well-known for its food-safety expertise."
I'm sure that is comforting to the people on the toilet. The university is well known for press releases proclaiming expertise in food safety.
Apparently UoG in Canada has learned nothing from a 2006 norovirus outbreak when spokesthingies blamed students for stealing soap, or from a 2007 outbreak of Salmonella down the road at the University of Western Ontario where spokesthingies were eventually forced to apologize after sickening 20 patrons at one of its food service outlets. Or from the 2007 Taste of Chicago outbreak where some 800 were sickened and repeatedly told they were dining at one of the safest places ever in the history of the universe.
This ain't rocket surgery. If a bunch of people get sick, start by saying you're sorry. And then fix the problem.
http://foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=878
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2007/11/articles/salmonella/sorry-for-the-salmonella-says-food-services/
http://news.therecord.com/article/394723



 
AUSTRALIA: Bill of shame: trendy eatery outed for safety breach
06.aug.08
The Sydney Morning Herald
Matthew Moore Freedom
http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/bill-of-shame-trendy-eatery-outed-for-safety-breach/2008/08/06/1217702141346.html
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/trendy-sydney-restaurant-named-and-shamed-no-fridge-thermometer/
Bills, the trendy Darlinghurst eatery that helped make ricotta hotcakes an inner-city breakfast staple, has become the first upmarket Sydney establishment named on the State Government's list of restaurants fined for breaching food safety laws.
The Liverpool Street restaurant, one of three Sydney eateries owned by the celebrity chef Bill Granger, has been fined $660 for failing to comply with the food safety code.
Just two days after the NSW Food Authority began publishing a register on its website of restaurants caught breaching food laws, a City of Sydney inspector fined Bills for failing to have a thermometer in its refrigerator.
Last night, Bills said in a statement it was "shocked at this isolated incident and we took care of it immediately. … We do everything we can to do the right thing by our customers and to empower our workers to also do the right thing."
While the offence may cause some embarrassment to Granger - who makes TV cookery programs, has sold more than 700,000 cookbooks and has just opened a restaurant in Japan - he is in good company. Heston Blumenthal's restaurant The Fat Duck, in Berkshire, England, had just been voted the best in the world by Restaurant magazine in 2005 when inspectors tested the ballotine of foie gras, the braised belly of pork and the tarte tatin and found "unsatisfactory" levels of "enterobacteriacea and aerobic colony counts".
Governments in Europe and North America are increasingly publishing details of food businesses fined for breaching safety laws in an attempt to improve restaurant hygiene standards.
After a campaign by the Herald, the NSW Government this year passed legislation to establish the register, becoming the only state to reveal details of fines imposed on food businesses.



 
UK and IRELAND: Salmonella Agona outbreak
06.aug.08
Food Standards Agency (UK)
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2008/aug/agona
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/note-to-the-mother-country-food-safety-is-not-simple/index.htm
There has been an outbreak of Salmonella Agona in the UK and Ireland in recent months. The source of the outbreak is not yet known and the Agency, the Health Protection Agency and other relevant bodies are working hard to identify its source.
At present, about 80 cases of illness caused by this type of salmonella have been reported in the UK affecting all ages, but predominantly young adults.
When the Agency has further information or useful advice for consumers in relation to this outbreak it will publish it immediately.
In the meantime, there are simple measures you can take to reduce the risk of food poisoning:
*In the home, keep your kitchen clean, wash your hands before handling food, always cook food thoroughly and take care not to let cooked foods come into contact with raw foods. Always follow the manufacturers cooking instructions for food intended to be eaten hot and make sure it is piping hot throughout.
*When eating out, always make sure the hot food you have ordered is served piping hot throughout – don't be afraid to ask for it to be re-heated.
*Vulnerable groups including the elderly, the very young, pregnant women or anyone who is unwell should take particular care to follow this advice.
*Finally, if you believe any food you have eaten has made you ill, you should seek medical advice.
The Agency has identified cooking, cleaning, chilling and preventing cross-contamination as the four areas consumers and food businesses should consider to keep food safe. Further information on the 4 Cs and the Agency's Germwatch campaign can be found at the link below.



 
TEXAS: The Colony addresses 'crypto' concerns
05.aug.08
Star Community Newspapers
Blaine Crimmins
http://www.courier-gazette.com/articles/2008/08/05/breaking_news/27.txt
The death of a 6-year-old Richardson girl has spurred headlines around the Metroplex and the topic of cryptosporidium to a fever pitch.
"There's a lot of talk on TV right now, and it's very scary," said Elise Knox, director of The Colony Aquatic Park. "Crypto's been out there for a while. We've actually been anticipating an outbreak for sometime."
In 2007, The Colony Aquatic Center maintenance staffer Frank Armijo and Knox attended a presentation by the Centers for Disease Control at a state aquatics conference where they learned about the "potential nightmare" cryptosporidium could be to a community. "We decided to take as aggressive an approach to prevention as we could manage," she said.
In anticipation of the problem, The Colony has been using a new kind of chemical treatment. "Last year we were the first pool in the area to use [SeaKlear PRS]," Knox said. SeaKlear PRS is a product designed to work on top of the filter surface, only allowing particles up to 0.5 microns to pass through. The Colony has used the product for two summers. Knox added that Keller ISD has used the product in its natatorium as well, according to the company's literature.
The technology in SeaKlear PRS "depends upon two complementary biopolymers that, used in the right proportions and molecular forms, lead quickly to the formation of stable [flocculants] and the effective entrapment of microorganisms such as algae, E. coli, giardia and cryptosporidium in standard-depth filter media," stated the documentation.



 
N. TEXAS cryptosporidium cases increase
05.aug.08
nbc5i.com
KXAS Dallas
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/17104704/detail.html
The Tarrant County Health Department reported the most cases of Cryptosporidium with 88. Tarrant County health officials said 67 of those infections came from Burgers Lake. Dallas County has almost 80 cases of Cryptosporidium, and 10 were confirmed on Tuesday.
Collin and Denton counties each have more than a dozen cases.
The Cryptosporidium outbreak may have affected the staff at Rowlett's Wet Zone Water Park. The city-owned water park reported two confirmed cases of Cryptosporidium in the past two weeks.
Rowlett city officials said staff members who may have Cryptosporidium have been reassigned and are waiting for their test results before deciding if they can return. After hyperchlorinating the water four times already, workers said they plan to continue the treatment once a week.
Notices posted near the park's entrance urged swimmers and parents to practice proper hygiene.



 
GEORGIA: Restaurant reopens and packed with customers after E-coli scare
05.aug.08
WCTV
Stephanie Springer
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/26308454.html
It was a packed house Tuesday afternoon at the Barbeque Pit as several hungry customers got their long awaited Barbecue fix.
But last month the restaurant voluntarily closed its doors after selling meat linked to a recent E.coli outbreak.
Owner Ruth Hall says she never imagined they would be closed for an entire month, which she says hurt the family business financially.
"When you spend ten, twelve thousand dollars a day it'll tear you up, takes everything, as far as how much we lost- we lost a lot,"said Ruth Hall.
The Restaurant re-opened Saturday after test results came back negative. Hall says business picked up immediately all thanks to her loyal customers.



 
ALBERTA: Restaurant inspections now available online
05.aug.08
Fort McMurray Today
Ashley Crewe
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1143878
A new website to inform restaurant-goers of what exactly food establishments are up to behind closed doors has been up and running for a month today.
As mandated by Alberta Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert, regional health authorities throughout the province were required to publish restaurant inspection reports online as of July 1.
"We really haven't had much response yet, to be honest," said Gaitane Villeneuve, spokeswoman for the Northern Lights Health Region. Villeneuve said the new website is updated every Monday morning with the most recent health inspections conducted across the city.
"It provides restaurant-goers with a bit more information," said John Tuckwell, spokesman for Alberta Health and Wellness. "If it's a problem that could affect public health steps are taken immediately to ensure that the issues are dealt with."
Tuckwell explained this will often lead to the immediate closure of the restaurant.



 
BLOG: Globe and Mail editorial gets it wrong on unpasteurized milk
06.aug.08
Terry Stevenson's Weblog
http://terrystevenson.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/globe-and-mail-editorial-gets-it-wrong-on-unpasteurized-milk/
An editorial in the August 4, 2008 edition of the Globe and Mail has come out in support of Ontario farmer Michael Schmidt's right to sell unpasteurized milk to the general public. Back in 2006 Schmidt's farm near Owen Sound, was raided by Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ontario Provincial Police. He was subsequently charged for selling "raw milk." The sale of unpasteurized milk is illegal in Ontario for health reasons because of the possibility it could contain bacteria such as E-coli or salmonella.
The Globe and Mail editorial contends that the raw milk ban is "unjustified and unfair." They maintain that even if raw milk is more dangerous than other products, "so what?" The onus is on consumers to make their own informed decisions and choices on what to purchase. The editorial says that as long as the people buying the raw milk know the risks involved they should be able to do so and it should not be illegal. Consumers are supposed to make informed decisions about the food they buy. The position the Globe and Mail takes, that as long as the consumer is aware of all the information on the label about the raw milk, its sale should be allowed.
If you can imagine, they use the example of cigarettes as a comparison. It is hard to believe that one of Canada's leading newspapers would take such a simplistic point of view on this subject. Sure it is true consumers can choose to purchase cigarettes (provided you are not a minor) if they wish - or not. That market is shrinking fast too, with tobacco farmers in Ontario receiving a government buyout just this past week. The medical evidence is undisputable, smoking cigarettes will kill you. Eventually they will be banned from sale altogether, but this takes time.
Should consumers be able to purchase raw unpasteurized milk when the undisputable facts are that it could be dangerous, even deadly to your health? Of course the answer is no, absolutely not. In the past when the pasteurization process was not yet perfected we had no choice but to consume raw milk. We have learned and medically proven that doing so can have devastating affects on human health and even more importantly children who consume large quantities of milk and are more susceptible to disease than adults.
For the Globe and Mail to compare the right of consumers to purchase raw milk versus cigarettes is a shame. Let me make this clear, I am not against organic farming or their products however the public's health must and should be protected from any food products that might be contaminated. The existing law should be upheld and Mr. Schmidt's illegal sale of raw milk stopped. The possible benefits of raw milk for chefs or organic consumers do not outweigh the potential health dangers raw milk presents.
The truth is that we already have a relatively easy, proven solution to deliver safe milk to the public and it is called pasteurization, why take a chance on our health consuming raw milk?
 


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