Monthly Archives: September 2008

The hit heard round the Internet – it is called barfblog

Posted on by
Reply

With Kansas State taking on Louisville tonight on ESPN2, it seemed like an apt moment to mention the hit heard round the Internet.

As recounted in the Washington Post:

“Kevin Barnes was best known as a slender fifth-year senior who had a penchant for missing tackles last season in Maryland’s defensive backfield. When the weekend ended, Barnes was known in select circles only as the player who delivered a hit so hard it made someone throw up.

“How that happened is a testament to the power of the Internet, where Barnes’s image will long live because of five seconds of football that resulted in considerable, if not typical, notoriety. When he crashed his shoulder into the chest of California running back Jahvid Best in the second quarter of Maryland’s 35-27 victory, Barnes had no idea he soon would be entering cyberspace lore.

Nor did he realize the magnitude of the hit when he saw Best crawling on knees and hands and vomiting on the field.”

Barnes may even have a future as a food safety risk communicator:

"He’s not permanently hurt, so I’m fine with that. Had he died or something, I’d have felt bad, but he’ll probably be playing next week."

Or not.

10 Michigan State students sickened with persistent bloody diarrhea; 7 still in hospital, doc says it ‘isn’t serious’

Posted on by
Reply

Six weeks after an outbreak of E. coli O157 associated with food service at the University of Guelph – will a report ever be issued – Michigan State University officials were told on Monday Sept. 15, 2008, that 10 students had become ill and sought help over the past several days for persistent symptoms of bloody diarrhea.

University Physician Beth Alexander said the illness was likely caused by a certain strain of E. coli and that although only two of the cases have been linked to the same strain of bacteria, the remaining eight cases could be linked within the week.

Alexander added,

“Generally, the infection isn’t serious. It’s usually caused by food or water that has been contaminated with that bacteria.”

I’m not sure at what point shiga-toxin producing E. coli and its tell-tale bloody diarrhea isn’t serious. The people of Locust Grove, OK, with their 314 illnesses, including 65 children, and one death, related to an outbreak of E. coli O111 probably think it is serious. So do the kids with blood coming out of their asses in Michigan.
 
Investigators are determining where and when the students ate based on swipes of their MSU ID cards in campus cafeterias and eateries. That information should be available today and will help determine whether something exists in the food supply that may still be a threat.
 

Pink Floyd and Fargo Rock City: food service and music

Posted on by
Reply

PhD student Ben Chapman went and worked in a restaurant as part of his food safety research. He saw lots of things, but his most memorable description of kitchen work was that he had to listen to a lot of Pink Floyd.

There was some Tom Petty, and The Clash, but a lot of Pink Floyd. So it was with a nod and a lighter raised in the air to food service workers everywhere upon hearing the nears that founding Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright passed today.

But Pink Floyd doesn’t get much airplay in the Midwest. For a full accounting of why the Midwest is home to terrible hair metal, check out Chuck Klosterman’s Fargo Rock City, which Chapman loaned me a couple of years ago. And today, a barfblog reader e-mailed me to say,

“What I find most amusing about these Listeria posts is the album cover from the (very horrible and untalented) metal band.”
 
A few e-mails later, and she says,

“There is at least one metal band for every disease, especially those involving vomit, blood, decay, puss, gangreen or amptutation.

“I just found ascaris, a death metal band in denver.  i think this should be an ongoing theme – each post should have an accompanying death metal promotion."

But the best was when she linked me to a Strongbad post – Amy’s been a fan for years – about cliché metal bands. The comments section of barfblog.com is developing nicely.
 

Pedigree pet food and pregnancy: Managing cross-contamination risks at home

Posted on by
1

I am now 6 ½ months pregnant and still somewhat peacefully coexisting with our four pets. But pregnancy has meant giving special attention to handwashing and avoiding cross-contamination.
Although I thought I was being overly cautious, on Sept. 13 Pedigree small crunchy bites and Pedigree large breed complete nutrition dry pet food products were recalled due to possible Salmonella contamination (see http://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2008/09/articles/animals/dogs/pet-food-recall-salmonella/). This appears to be the same food we feed our dogs and I know one of them was throwing up outside yesterday. Of course … she also likes to eat grass and other vomitous materials.

In addition to pet food which may contain pathogens, I pay close attention to the handling of dog treats which have been found problematic in the past. Our dogs have been getting their fill of bones lately because we haven’t had the usual time and energy to devote to their exercise. I try to avoid touching the dog bones when I take them out of the package and I wash the scissors I use to cut the packages open. I always wash my hands afterwards.

It really isn’t easy to think about washing hands every time you feed and pet the dogs, but the following are things I am trying to do to keep me and my future baby safe:

  • regularly wash the dog dishes
  • wash my hands every time I fill the dog water and food bowls (the dogs eat and drink, spreading any microbes from one bowl to the next)
  • wash my hands after opening treats and/or giving them to the dogs
  • wash the scissors after opening treat bags
  • wash my hands after playing with the pets
  • avoid letting the dogs lick my face of hands
  • wipe down the counter where pet treats have touched

These steps are all much more difficult for me than they sound. I’m usually very playful and affectionate with my pets, even though I no longer allow the dogs on the bed or couch. It’s also very difficult to think about handwashing when you are out on a walk with the dogs and give them treats as part of a training process. In those cases I just remind myself not to touch my face or use a wet wipe when I have one handy.

I am still learning after years of taking it for granted that my dogs’ food was safe. Food safety, even for pets, is not simple.

For human symptoms of salmonella poisoning, check out http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/06/articles/salmonella/salmonella-symptoms/

According to an article in the North Country Gazette (April 3, 2007) related to a past pet food recall:

Pets with salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Apparently well animals can be a carrier and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
 

Publishing papers by press release is a bad idea

Posted on by
Reply

Last week, researchers at Texas Tech gushed in a press release about the food safety errors on cooking shows broadcast by the Food Network.

“Researchers analyzed 49 shows airing over a two-week period and used 17 different coded categories: six positive and 11 negative. Positive categories included hand washing, cleaning equipment, washing fruits and vegetables, adequate refrigeration, and use of a thermometer. …

“The results weren’t exactly savory with 118 positive food safety measures and 460 poor food handling incidents. Among the most noticeable culprits were not washing fruits, vegetables and herbs properly and a lack of hand washing in general.”

I have an interest in such work. In 2004, my laboratory reported that, based on 60 hours of detailed viewing of television cooking shows, an unsafe food handling practice occurred about every four minutes, and that for every safe food handling practice observed, we observed 13 unsafe practices. The most common errors were inadequate hand washing and cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods. The abstract is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=14&sc=102&id=842.

(Mathiasen, L.A., Chapman, B.J., Lacroix, B.J. and Powell, D.A. 2004. Spot the mistake: Television cooking shows as a source of food safety information, Food Protection Trends 24(5): 328-334.)

So I e-mailed one of the researchers and asked, hey, has this been published in a journal anywhere?

She didn’t answer my e-mail.

But Lubbock Online did, in a story today, which concluded the Tech study has yet to be published but is under review for publication in the academic food safety journal "Food Protection Trends."

That’s great. The more research on these areas the better. Sometimes there is a need to issue a press release about research as it is on-going, but in this case, why not wait until the journal article is published. Then us mere mortals can actually get the paper and review it for ourselves.

Food irradiation videos highlight, uh, creativity?

Posted on by
Reply

 Whether you’re Lou Dobbs with your own cable show or Norman B- and his Deviations from the Norm, you too can have your own opinions about food irradiation.

I have mine, and want individuals to have choice at the checkout counter.
“Food irradiation of fresh produce is an additional tool that can help reduce the threat of foodborne illness — but it is not a magic bullet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published a final rule allowing the irradiation of fresh iceberg lettuce and fresh spinach, available at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cfsup185.html

"Farmers still need to practice good agricultural practices, and the possibility of post-processing contamination still exists, Powell said, but added that irradiation is safe and should be made available at the retail level.

"There’s a lot of people already speaking on behalf of consumers and what they may or may not do," Powell said. "When it comes to food, consumers vote with their wallets at checkout, not on public opinion surveys. I’d really like to see someone step up and offer consumers the choice. There have been enough serious outbreaks of foodborne illness in fresh produce that the interest in irradiated spinach and lettuce should be strong."

But check out these videos.
 

Hallucinogenic chocolates doom Berlin sweet shop

Posted on by
Reply

In a scene seemingly straight out of the TV show, Weeds, Reuters reports that police closed down a Berlin sweet shop after discovering the owner was selling chocolates and lollipops laced with hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana.

The 23-year old owner of the shop in the trendy east Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg, an area known for its vibrant night life, was taken into custody on suspicion of drug-dealing.

"In the shop we found 120 pieces of magic mushroom chocolate and countless cannabis lollipops," said police, who confiscated around 70 sachets containing various drugs, about 20 marijuana joints, a range of pills and some jars of drug-laced honey.
 

Buying fresh produce is an act of faith: Here’s why

Posted on by
Reply

Buying any sort of fresh produce is an act of faith. The Associated Press explains why in a story today.

At the end of a dirt road in northern Mexico, the conveyer belts processing hundreds of tons of vegetables a year for U.S. and Mexican markets are open to the elements, protected only by a corrugated metal roof.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suspects this packing plant, its warehouse in McAllen, Texas, and a farm in Mexico are among the sources of the United States’ largest outbreak of food-borne illness in a decade, which infected at least 1,440 people with a rare form of salmonella.

A plant manager confirmed to The Associated Press that workers handling chili peppers aren’t required to separate them according to the sanitary conditions in which they were grown, offering a possible explanation for how such a rare strain of salmonella could have caused such a large outbreak.

The AP has found that while some Mexican producers grow fruits and vegetables under strict sanitary conditions for export to the U.S., many don’t — and they can still send their produce across the border easily.

Neither the U.S. nor the Mexican governments impose any safety requirements on farms and processing plants. That includes those using unsanitary conditions — like those at Agricola Zaragoza — and brokers or packing plants that mix export-grade fruits and vegetables with lower-quality produce. …

(There) is no public list of the chains that require sanitary practices, meaning there’s no way to know whether the fruit and vegetables in any particular store is certified or not. …

Agricola Zaragoza is one of the uncertified plants, manager Emilio Garcia told the AP. He said the packing plant washes produce from both certified and uncertified producers, opening up the possibility for contamination. He refused to give details about his suppliers. …

Kathy Means, a vice president for the U.S. Produce Marketing Associations, said food safety is in the hands of the food industry, with most major produce buyers requiring both U.S. and foreign food producers to have third-party audit programs. However, Means said, not all buyers follow the same rules.

"It’s not government-regulated, so it’s up to the company to require it.”

I say, cut the BS and start deliberately marketing food safety. That way, someone has to back it up; not some dance with an auditor or certifier, or some other third party that has nothing to do with credibility and everything to do with providing distance when the shit hits the fan – or the produce.
 

Raw milk with campylobacter sickens at least seven across Pennsylvania

Posted on by
Reply

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is warning consumers who purchased raw milk from Hendricks Farm & Dairy of Telford, Montgomery County, to immediately discard the raw milk and any items made with the raw milk due to potential bacterial contamination. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized.

Recently, individuals who consumed raw milk purchased from the dairy were found to have gastrointestinal illness due to Campylobacter, a bacterial infection. Since September 1, a total of seven confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection have been reported among raw milk drinkers in seven unrelated households in Pennsylvania and a neighboring state. Other individuals in these households have also experienced similar gastrointestinal illness. The investigation is ongoing.

The Department of Agriculture today suspended the farm’s raw milk permit and instructed the owner to stop selling raw milk for human consumption until the permit is reinstated. The Department of Agriculture will require two raw milk samples drawn at least one day apart to be tested negative for bacterial pathogens before raw milk sales may resume.

For more information about Campylobacter, visit the Department of Health at www.health.state.pa.us or call 1-877-PA-HEALTH.

In addition to showing up in Sarah Palin’s Alaskan peas via bird poop, campylobacter was found in a sample of Grade A raw cream produced by Organic Pastures in California. Fortunately, no illnesses have been associated with the poop in raw California cream.