Schools in Scotland fail food hygiene standards

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Thousands of children have been served meals from school kitchens that have failed to meet food hygiene standards.

Five schools have been told to improve or face further action from the Food Standards Agency in Scotland.

They are among 30 establishments in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley area which have just been named and shamed online for their poor hygiene standards.

The five schools are:

* Kilmarnock Academy

* Loudoun Academy

* Stewarton Academy

* Hillhead Primary School

* Crosshouse Primary School

Kitchens at Onthank Community Centre and Hurlford Community Centre have also failed.

The council-run sites have been published on the Internet under a new scheme to allow members of the public to see if the places they are eating are safe.

Other commercial facilities which haven’t met legal standards include take-aways, cafés, hotels and national chains.

Log onto www.eac.eu/foodhygiene or www.food.gov.uk/ratings to see full details of every pass and fail in East Ayrshire.

NYC Salmonella cases rise in 2012 despite restaurant letter grades

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Restaurant inspection grades do not reduce rates of foodborne illness – not in any scientifically credible and measurable manner.

Publicly available grades, like the A, B, C of LA and New York City, or the red, yellow, green of Toronto do increase public awareness and discussion of food safety, enhancing the overall food safety culture for staff and patrons.

I understand the desire to say, hey, this program made fewer people sick, but we’re not there yet, so why overstate when it will only lead to disappointment (also valid in budget estimates and personal relationships, and pretty much everything).

The International Business Times reports New York restaurant-goers are eating up the city’s three-year-old grading system, but its effect on public health is still a bit of a mystery taste test.

Salmonella infections in New York City rose more than 4 percent in 2012 to 1,168 cases, up from 1,121 cases the year before, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The uptick follows a much-publicized 14 percent decline in salmonella infections in 2011, the first full year that the letter grades were implemented. City officials had touted the initial decline as an early sign that the letter-grade posting may be contributing to a reduction in foodborne illnesses.

According to city health officials, the annual number of salmonella infections is a useful indicator of trends in food-related illnesses: Salmonella cases occur relatively frequently and about 95 percent of them are believed to be caused by eating contaminated food.

New York’s letter-grading system — in which restaurants are required to display a large A, B or C grade in the window of their establishment — was instituted in July 2010. Since that time, the Health Department has published a progress report every six months, updating New Yorkers on the system’s effectiveness. But those reports stopped coming after 18 months: the last one was published in January 2012.

Asked why the reports stopped, the Health Department told International Business Times that city officials “continue to evaluate the letter-grading initiative and are looking at the impact of the improved inspectional program on restaurants and on hospitalizations and emergency visits for foodborne illnesses.”

While popular with the public, the grading system has been described as unnecessarily burdensome and even humiliating by restaurant owners and food handlers who complain of steep fines, arbitrary inspections and bloated hearings procedures.

Patti Jackson, a veteran New York chef, said, “The grades are punitive and silly, but I don’t think they’re the worst thing that’s ever happened. They’re just a giant throbbing pain in the ass.”

Maybe. Or maybe the grades hold people a little more accountable. How best to improve the system?

Slipped my mind: 2,000 bottles of potentially tainted water found in Toronto food venues long after closure order

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Douglas Powell

More than 2,000 bottles of water from a Caledon producer shut down in July because of its bacteria-tainted product have been found in Toronto restaurants, hotels and a health food store in recent weeks, according to Rob Cribb of the Toronto Star.

While Blue Glass Water Co. Ltd. was under a provincial health order to stop producing and shipping its product as of July 18, Toronto health officials say potentially tainted water was still entering food establishments here as recently as Sept. 27.

In an exclusive interview with the Star, Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. David McKeown, said Friday it is impossible to know whether there could be more of the banned product still out there. “We don’t have a complete and accurate distribution list (because) it has not been provided by the operator,” he said. “So, in terms of the challenges of responding, it’s more complex than other such cases.”

Marshall Kazman, the only listed director of Blue Glass Water Co. Ltd. in Ontario corporate filings, has dismissed the allegations in interviews with the Star, calling his water safe and naturally infused with cancer-fighting properties. The disbarred lawyer, who is currently facing criminal fraud charges, called the ordered shutdown of his facility “a witch hunt” and “much ado about nothing.” He said he has not shipped his product since being ordered closed in July. “If there was a real danger would you not think a recall would have been ordered months ago?” he said in a statement Saturday.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which originally tested the water along with Peel Region in late July, found “elevated levels of aerobic colony counts” in some samples, it said in a statement to the Star. The tests did not show pathogens such as E. coli or parasites, it says. “Based on the absence of an identified hazard and the contained exposure . . . the CFIA determined that a risk assessment was not needed and as such, no recall action was requested.” The level of concern about the water is much higher among provincial and local health officials. Officials at both levels have told the Star that testing of the company’s water revealed it was “heavily contaminated” and “unfit to drink.” The “overgrowth of bacteria” in the water “masked” identification of specific pathogens such as E. coli and coliform, said the province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Arlene King.

The Star first reported health concerns about serious contamination in Blue Glass Water on Thursday, a threat nearly three months old that had not been made public. That lack of public notification meant the water continued to be served to unwitting customers across southern Ontario even as health officials were quietly looking for the water in food establishments for confiscation.

Following the Star’s questions to the province, the ministry issued a strongly worded statement warning the public not to consume Blue Glass Water because of the “potential health threat posed by these products.” Since the Star’s story, Toronto Public Health received several complaints from people who say they were made ill after drinking it. Inspectors are now investigating those cases.

So far, Toronto inspectors have found Blue Glass Water in 20 food establishments, ranging from high-end restaurants to a hotel and a health food store. The city is not identifying the establishments since they no longer serve the water and “they did nothing wrong,” said McKeown.

15 sick, 1 dead; Salmonella outbreak linked to Kentucky restaurant

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Douglas Powell

A salmonella outbreak in Kentucky that has sickened 15 and killed one has been linked to Casa Mexicana, a Madisonville restaurant.

Health Department Director Denise Beach says eight cases have been matched to Casa Mexicana. Beach adds that four others are pending.

WFIE NBC reports three cases have been reported in Webster County and one in Muhlenberg County, but it’s not yet known if they are linked to the Hopkins County outbreak.

Health officials who visited Casa Mexicana say they found numerous violations which prompted them to test food samples and shut down the restaurant for at least a day.
Beach says there is no further risk to the community. Casa Mexicana is now on an increased inspection schedule.

Fancy food ain’t safe food: esteemed New York markets fined for failing safety inspections

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Foodies may hail Whole Foods in White Plains and H Mart in Hartsdale, but last year state inspectors failed both, giving them the region’s biggest fines for food safety violations.

The specialty markets, beloved by some shoppers for their vast aisles of organic and ethnic foods, were cited last year for improperly cleaned meat grinders and excessively scored cutting boards — critical violations that contributed to each store receiving fines of $3,000, state records obtained by The Journal News show.

The stores are among 1,495 establishments in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester visited over the past five years by inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture & Markets, the agency that regulates retailers selling and preparing food.

No matter how clean a store might appear to shoppers, state inspection records show that most venues end up with some kind of violation, usually for minor issues. State law requires that supermarkets be inspected annually.

“Ninety-seven percent of the larger supermarkets in (the) three-county area have passed our most recent inspection, which means there were no critical deficiencies,” said Steve Stich, director of food safety and inspection at the Department of Agriculture & Markets.

The state agency has about 95 inspectors who conduct more than 30,000 annual inspections statewide at all the food establishments and wholesale food manufacturers that hold state permits. The Journal News obtained dataon five years of inspections through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Nothing: What happens if restaurant ordered to close doesn’t?

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Douglas Powell

The Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture says it could charge a restaurant in northern Cape Breton because it refuses to comply with an order to close.

The department said Down North Cook House near Dingwall is operating without a permit.

Barry MacGregor, acting director of food safety, said the water at the cookhouse does not meet food safety standards.

“It’s an order. A closure order was delivered to the facility on Sept. 6 by our food safety specialist and attempted to place it on the door of the facility and that was removed,” he said.

“We are hoping we are doing our due diligence by going through the public service announcement process, but as well we’re compiling our information and we are seeking some legal advice to go through the courts as well.”

A provincial health department release advised patrons not to eat or drink at the restaurant.

“Customers of this establishment may be at risk of communicable diseases causing gastro-intestinal symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and fever,” read the statement.

The owner of the restaurant denies the allegations.

Maureena Cook said she’s installed a UV water treatment system.

MacGregor said Cook hasn’t told his department yet.

Going public on restaurants in New Zealand

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Douglas Powell

People want to know what’s in (or on) their food.

Some people care about different things: I care about the microbes that make people barf.

But when people buy food at a grocery store, restaurant or market, they don’t really know what they’re getting, because “food safety is the number 1 priority” or “we’ve done it this way for years and never made anyone sick” or “trust me.”

One attempt to fill that gap is making the results of food inspections public. It’s popular with local voters, and similarly popular with media.

The New Zealand Herald is the latest to embrace the dirty dining trend, running daily summaries of the worst offenders.

New Zealand has a hodgepodge of inspection disclosure systems, so the series focuses on the biggest city, Auckland, which does have a letter grading system.

Last month Central Auckland’s dirtiest eating establishments were named.

Food grades in the former Auckland City region show 10 restaurants and cafes have received E grades, with 29 given a D grade.

The New Zealand Herald online asked readers if they were influenced by the food grading system. Nearly 13,500 readers responded and just over half said they used the rating to make a call about whether to dine there. Or not.

But to the every day diner, how do these places really stack up?

A few brave members of the online team have decided to put their bellies on the line and review all 29 of the D listers, revealing one a day for the month of September. D grade eateries are reviewed twice a year, according to Auckland City Council. While they are subject to change, our list is correct as of the last week of August, 2013. If the grade is changed at the time of publication this will be made clear in the review.

In capital city Wellington, city council records given reluctantly to Fairfax NZ show 38 premises were issued with cleaning or repair notices in the past financial year, including four that were forced to close.

The list of notices is publicly available information but it was released only after the council told the businesses on the list that it was “extremely reluctant” to provide their names.

Council operations and business development team leader Raaj Govinda said in a letter sent to all premises before the list was released, council was not able to withhold names from the public, though it was “extremely reluctant” to provide the list and “has not done so willingly.”

That will do nothing to build consumer confidence.

Other councils, including Auckland and Palmerston North, list the hygiene ratings for all eateries online.

Yesterday, Govinda said Wellington was considering doing that but it did not want to put businesses at risk.

“In general, council is not in the business of trying to close people. We have got a regulatory duty.”

But unlike the U.S. version of the restaurant lobby, Wellington Restaurant Association president Mike Egan said it was important for restaurants to be held accountable, as closure notices were often a last resort, adding, “Those places would have had ample opportunity normally to put things right and it’s about a failure to either take it seriously or react appropriately.” Putting ratings online could be a “big carrot” for good practice, he said.

We have some experience with restaurant inspection disclosure systems. Even in New Zealand.

Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2011. Designing a national restaurant inspection disclosure system for New Zealand.   Journal of Food Protection 74(11): 1869-1874 .

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from contaminated food or water each year, and up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food service facilities. The aim of restaurant inspections is to reduce foodborne outbreaks and enhance consumer confidence in food service. Inspection disclosure systems have been developed as tools for consumers and incentives for food service operators. Disclosure systems are common in developed countries but are inconsistently used, possibly because previous research has not determined the best format for disclosing inspection results. This study was conducted to develop a consistent, compelling, and trusted inspection disclosure system for New Zealand. Existing international and national disclosure systems were evaluated. Two cards, a letter grade (A, B, C, or F) and a gauge (speedometer style), were designed to represent a restaurant’s inspection result and were provided to 371 premises in six districts for 3 months. Operators (n = 269) and consumers (n = 991) were interviewed to determine which card design best communicated inspection results. Less than half of the consumers noticed cards before entering the premises; these data indicated that the letter attracted more initial attention (78%) than the gauge (45%). Fifty-eight percent (38) of the operators with the gauge preferred the letter; and 79% (47) of the operators with letter preferred the letter. Eighty-eight percent (133) of the consumers in gauge districts preferred the letter, and 72% (161) of those in letter districts preferring the letter. Based on these data, the letter method was recommended for a national disclosure system for New Zealand. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2011/00000074/00000011/art00010

Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2009. The use of restaurant inspection disclosure systems as a means of communicating food safety information. Journal of Foodservice 20: 287-297.

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from food or water each year. Up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food prepared at foodservice establishments. Consumer confidence in the safety of food prepared in restaurants is fragile, varying significantly from year to year, with many consumers attributing foodborne illness to foodservice. One of the key drivers of restaurant choice is consumer perception of the hygiene of a restaurant. Restaurant hygiene information is something consumers desire, and when available, may use to make dining decisions.

Restaurant inspection: public safety or nuisance?

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Professor emeritus and Groundhog Day enthusiast Hugh Pennington said last month a new law forcing cafes and restaurants in Wales to display their food hygiene ratings was needed to ensure food safety.

Because there is no evidence voluntary systems work.

California and most North American jurisdictions have long got past the mandatory vs. voluntary debate, and are occasionally trying to improve things.

In Pasadena, California, Public Health Director Eric Walsh says that he would consider re-evaluating the department’s unique restaurant rating system and possibly replacing it with the letter grades used by the county.

Unlike the grading system at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which requires restaurants to post a letter grade in the window, Pasadena’s system merely asks restaurants to post a pass or fail notice. Patrons who want to find out the restaurant’s score out of 100 or see what violations it has can look at inspection reports on the Health Department’s website.

The Pasadena reports contain a list of numerical codes that can be difficult to decipher. And, unlike the county, Pasadena will allow restaurants with scores below 60 to remain open.

Javier Ardini, owner of Malbec Argentinean steakhouse restaurant, said he has restaurants outside of Pasadena. He said he doesn’t prefer one system over another.

“As far as I’m concerned, I would adapt to any system,” Ardini said. “For me, it makes no difference.”

But the system does matter to an anonymous New York City vendor, who spoke out about what she felt were unfair fines.

“We got two violations. One was for leaving our ice scoop in an ice bucket and the other was for a pair of tongs hanging on the side of a box. Each ticket cost $200, but they didn’t tell us the amount of the fine until we appeared at a tribunal for our testimony. … They basically wiped out our profit for the day. Those five hours at the market plus hours of prep time went towards paying the DOH.”

Australian sushi outlet guilty of 40 breaches on food hygiene

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Cherry Blossom Sushi Bars were established in 2007 and the company now has 20 stores in different locations in Adelaide. According to the company’s Web site, each Cherry Blossom Sushi Bar outlet is “supplemented with hot Japanese-Style meals serviced from a central kitchen delivered by temperature-controlled vehicles.”

According to International Business Times – Australia, the company also assures patrons that the “highest level of commitment to food health and safety is our first priority. Cherry Blossom is HACCP Accredited and operates a rigorous training and audit program to ensure not just compliance, but a culture of the highest standards of hygiene. As well as daily attention to food hygiene within our own premises, our experience of health and safety is taken off-site when we participate in off-location special events”

Uh-huh.

However a report from ABC News said that the Cherry Blossom Sushi Bar outlet in Gorge Road, Newton, had pleaded guilty to 40 breaches of Food Safety Standards code of Australia.

Cherry Blossom committed the food hygiene breaches from August of 2012 until February 2013 when it fall short of maintaining its sushi rolls storage under recommended temperature control, hence, failing to avoid raw sushi ingredients from being contaminated.

As for the store premises per se, officials saw that there were accumulated dirt from food scraps and that kitchen utensils were old, dirty and rusty.

Consequently, Li and Ming Pty Ltd, owner of Cherry Blossom Sushi Bar, pleaded guilty at Holden Hill Magistrate Court to 44 counts of failing to comply with requirements of the Food Safety Standards code. The company now has to wait for its sentence pending until October.

Fancy food ain’t safe food, Brazil edition

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Tucked on a leafy street in Leblon, the seaside bastion of Rio De Janeiro elite, Antiquarius ranks among Brazil’s most exclusive restaurants. Well-heeled regulars frequent Antiquarius, which is decorated in faux-farmhouse style with landscape paintings and porcelain vases, and charges $68 for a stew of codfish in coconut-tomato sauce.

But while Antiquarius’s prices have long shocked many people here, the restaurant is now gaining notoriety for another reason. Inspectors raided it in Aug., finding more than 50 pounds of expired food like ham, endive and beef tripe in its kitchen, including more than 10 pounds of snails with an expiration date of July 2012.

The inspection in August was, according to the New York Times, one of several raids this year by officials seeking to improve the city’s restaurant standards as more visitors flock to Rio ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, both of which will be held here.

“Some restaurants think they will never be inspected, just because they are so chic and expensive,” said Cidinha Campos, director of Rio’s consumer protection agency, singling out an item on Antiquarius’s menu, grilled slipper lobster in beurre d’escargots, which costs about $78. The restaurant’s snail butter used in the recipe was also found to have expired, she said.

“Well,” Ms. Campos said, “even Antiquarius is not above the law.” She added that the restaurant, which serves dishes largely inspired by the cuisine of Portugal, Brazil’s former colonial ruler, could face a fine from about $200 all the way up to $3 million, depending on its explanation of its kitchen practices and the size of its revenues.

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