Monthly Archives: May 2014

Lack of inspection prompts recall in US; similar to Ontario case a decade ago

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Transatlantic Foods, Inc. of Andover, N.J., is recalling roughly 222,000 lbs. of pork and poultry products that were not inspected, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reported. FSIS launched an investigation into the company following an anonymous tip.

Jim Romahn of Canada writes that the owners of the plant, which has no federal meat inspection licence, were using inspection labels from another plant they own in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

article-1315397-03AE8F50000005DC-396_468x286The cheating is reminiscent of Richard (Butch) Claire who used federal meat inspection labels from a closed packing plant in Kitchener for products from his Aylmer Meats plant.

Some of the product from Aylmer Meats came from deadstock butchered when there were no provincial meat inspectors around.

As with Aylmer Meats, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it doesn’t know the food-safety status of the meat from the Andover plant because it had no inspectors there.

It says no illnesses have been traced to the pork, poultry and duck fat sold from the plant.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began investigating after it received an anonymous tip.

That, too, is similar to what unfolded at Aylmer Meats.

CFIA shuts down new PEI lobster plant

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The first new lobster processing plant in 10 years in Prince Edward Island (that’s in Canada) has not had its registration renewed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

lobsterA CIFA spokesperson said Red Cove seafood processing was allowed to resume operations following an earlier suspension on April 14 under ongoing inspection by CFIA. On May 8, CFIA decided not to renew Red Cove’s registration.

“The CFIA has determined that adequate controls for safety were not reliably implemented in the facility on a regular basis, which is in violation of the fish inspection regulations,” the spokesperson said. “Specifically, (Red Cove Seafood Processing) was unable to consistently maintain minimum regulatory standards for construction, equipment sanitation and process controls.”

Nerds and nebulous: E. coli outbreak prompts recall of 1.8 million pounds of ground beef

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Chapman had some good quotes in U.S. media yesterday about the beef recall from Wolverine Packing Company of Detroit, linked to E. coli O157 that has so far sickened 11 people in four states.

ben-newIt’s like we’re finally figuring out this time difference thing.

He told today’s the USA Today that the best way for consumers to reduce their risk is to avoid ordering undercooked burgers. Specifically, ask your server for a burger cooked to 160 degrees.

“If you just say ‘medium well,’ you might get 145 degrees or 170 degrees,” said Ben Chapman, a food safety professor at North Carolina State University. “The protection for consumers is being specific and maybe looking like a nerd.”

And he told Lynne Terry of The Oregonian, “Medium, medium rare, well done —  they’re all vague and nebulous. The best way is to ask that it’s cooked to 160.”

Chapman is currently involved in a USDA-funded study on E. coli in beef. He said some fast-food chains will only serve burgers that are cooked to 160 degrees following outbreaks, beginning with Jack-in-the-Box in 1993 when four children died and 600 were sickened by undercooked burgers tainted with E. coli O157:H7. But other restaurants put the onus on consumers. Sometimes servers warn patrons about the risk of food poisoning with undercooked burgers; sometimes they don’t.

31K fine for Australian Coles over out-of-date food

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Supermarket giant Coles has been fined $31,500 for displaying food beyond its use-by date at its McLaren Vale store in South Australia.

Lawyers for the company pleaded guilty in Adelaide Magistrates Court to seven counts of breaching the food code and prosecutors dropped another 15 counts.

coles.meat.hormone.tender.curtic.stoneMagistrate David Whittle on Thursday imposed the fine and also ordered Coles to pay $10,000 in legal costs for Onkaparinga Council.

Council inspectors found the out-of-date items, which included salami and shaved ham, in April last year.

In a later statement, Coles said the company took food safety seriously and its SA stores had an outstanding record in that area.

“We set high standards and when we do not meet them we take accountability and fix the problem,” the company said.

Hamptons residents not pleased: Hep A restaurant offers to host Kardashians

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Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian have found a site for their Dash store in The Hamptons.

Restauranteur Irma Herzog – whose Driver’s Seat Restaurant was investigated last year after an employee was diagnosed with hepatitis A – has risked the wrath of local residents in Southampton by “betraying” the upmarket village and leasing an art gallery space adjacent to her eatery to the sisters, who are planning to spend the summer in the resort for new reality show ‘Kourtney & Khloe Take The Hamptons’.

Kourtney-and-Khloe-Take-The-HamptonsOne outraged source told the New York Post newspaper: “Southamptonites are abuzz that Irma Herzog has betrayed their village . . . Will Irma also be bringing back another bout of hepatitis?

“Now she brings trash to her backyard. People are lining up to buy Irma’s property and get her out of town. She is a piranha.” 

Contaminated ground beef linked linked to E. coli O157:H7 outbreak

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Food Safety Infosheet highlights:

– Wolverine Packing Company in Detroit has issued a recall of 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products marked with the establishment number of EST.2574B.

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– 11 ill including (2 hospitalizations) after eating at restaurants that served recalled beef.

– Cook all ground beef products (fresh and frozen) to 155ºF for 15 seconds or 160ºF. Use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer to check that food has reached a safe temperature.

– Communicate the risks of consuming undercooked beef to restaurant patrons. The information should include messages about consequences and pathogens.

This infosheet was generated as part of a large USDA grant focusing on reducing the risk of Shigatoxin-producing E. coli related to beef.

Eleven illnesses linked to undercooked beef served at restaurants; recall of 1.8 million pounds of meat

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The practice of ordering undercooked hamburgers at a restaurant has always been sort of foreign to me. Literally. Growing up in Ontario (that’s in Canada) I was never offered a choice of how I wanted my hamburger cooked. In the U.S. undercooked ground beef is seen as a personal preference. The FDA Food Code says that a cooked hamburger reaches 160F (or 155F for 15 seconds) but the rules allow for restaurants to cook meats, including ground beef, how a patron wants it – with the caveat that they must inform the orderer of the risks.  20130103-fogcutter-3

Much of this risk communication is carried out on menus with a combination of asterisks, fine print and legalese.

Some restaurants ask people whether they want their burgers “pink or no pink” although it’s widely known in food safety circles that color is a lousy indicator.

A few servers engage patrons in a discussion about what the risk is – sometimes correctly, sometimes not. Our group is investigating some of these questions with the aim of having better communication and understanding as part of a large USDA grant focusing on reducing the risk of Shigatoxin-producing E. coli related to beef.

And many restaurants don’t serve undercooked burgers at all – likely because they are trying to avoid the situation that has unfolded over the past week: Eleven are ill in 4 states from E. coli O157. Reports point to undercooked ground beef at restaurants as a risk factor.

According to USDA FSIS,

Wolverine Packing Company, a Detroit, Mich. establishment, is recalling approximately 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The ground beef products were produced between March 31, 2014 and April 18, 2014. For a full list of products that were recalled please see the attached document.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 2574B” and will have a production date code in the format “Packing Nos: MM DD 14” between “03 31 14” and “04 18 14”. These products were shipped to distributors for restaurant use in Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio.

FSIS was notified of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses on May 12, 2014. Working in conjunction with public health partners from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FSIS determined that there is a link between the ground beef products from Wolverine Packing Company and this illness cluster. Based on epidemiological and traceback investigations, 11 case-patients have been identified in 4 states with illness onset dates ranging from April 22, 2014 to May 2, 2014. FSIS continues to work with our state and federal public health partners on this investigation and provide updated information as it becomes available. 

 

Marco Pierre White’s four-star UK steakhouse given zero rating by food safety inspectors

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The booming Australian economy of the last few years – which is now tanking – has attracted every aging musician, D-list celebrity and questionable chefs in the quest to make a buck.

Marco Pierre WhiteDubbed the first celebrity chef, the enfant terrible of the UK restaurant scene and the godfather of modern cooking, Marco Pierre White’s  was, at the time, the youngest chef ever to have been awarded three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Curtis Stone (more bad TV).

Last year, White was flogging Continental stock on Australian TV – chicken, beef, all the favorites.

Now, White’s flagship restaurant in Birmingham, UK has been given a zero food hygiene rating from environmental health officers.

The four-star Marco Pierre White Steakhouse, which is on the 25th floor of The Cube, although it has now been revealed they failed a visit by the local health officers in March.

The abysmal rating relates to either poor standards of hygiene structure, confidence in management or a combination of these factors and now means urgent improvement is necessary.

The restaurant boasts stunning views of Birmingham, and costs around £50 per head.

A Birmingham City Council spokeswoman said: ‘Marco Pierre White was informed their FSA rating would drop and it has been published on the FSA website.

continental.stock“A certificate and window sticker confirming their zero rating was sent to the restaurant on March 25, 2014.”

Despite the bad review, a spokesman from Marco Pierre White said they have acted on what needed addressing and continue to work closely with the council, adding, “We continue to work closely with Birmingham City Council and have appointed a third party food safety consultant to ensure we remain up to date with the rigorous industry regulations and the ongoing changes in legislation and practice.”

The Marco Pierre White Steakhouse joins a list of 140 eateries in Birmingham with a zero rating.

Premier: food safety law violations carry low penalties in China

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Recently, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned the melamine incident in the executive meeting. He said, the reason for the tainted milk incident is the small punishments over violation of food safety laws. We should amend the law to give criminals the most severe punishment. However, citizens are not optimistic on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) putting this into practice.

jailOn May 14, Li Keqiang chaired a State Council executive meeting to discuss Food Safety Law (Revised Draft). Li Keqiang said that the criminals of 2008 melamine incident paid very little due to the limited laws and regulations even though the CCP dispatched a large number of police to clean up the milk powder and criminals.

Li Keqiang stressed: “They must be given most severe punishments by amending the law!”

Beijing lawyer Xie Yanyi:“The definition of who the criminal is is critical. If by criminals they mean the corrupt government regulators including public officials seeking rents, corrupt collusion between business and officials including self interest between officials and the milk producer, it may have an effect.”

Mainland mother Jiang Yalin: “The State has laws, which are not obeyed. I won’t trust them or let people around me trust the milk powder because a burnt child dreads the fire. I think their credibility is declining continuously from all aspects. I will never use Chinese food if I can”