NZ food poisoning survivor to farewell friend

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Emma Langlands will farewell Sarah Carter who died while they and a third friend, Amanda Eliason, were holidaying in Chiang Mai.

The university friends, all aged 23, suffered food poisoning after eating from a market near their hotel.

Just two days later – on Waitangi Day – Ms Carter was dead.

Ms Langlands, who was the least affected of the group, is now back home in Hamilton.

Her father, Richard Langlands, yesterday told the Herald that his daughter would pay her respects at Ms Carter’s funeral.

Ms Eliason, however, will not be able to attend. She is still in Thailand and is not yet well enough to fly.

The three women, who travelled to Thailand for a short holiday, were admitted to Chiang Mai Ram Hospital last week.

It was first reported that they had become sick after eating toxic seaweed but their families later said they had ordered curry.

Ms Carter and Ms Eliason required emergency heart procedures but Ms Carter lost her battle.

A spokesman from the Chiang Mai public health office told the Herald that results sent to a laboratory for testing were not expected for another two weeks.
 

E. coli mum’s call for justice

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The mother of E. coli victim Mason Jones, along with other affected families, has spoken of their anger at the lack of justice for their children more than five years after the outbreak which sickened 157.

The families, including Mason’s mum, Sharon Mills, claim butcher William Tudor effectively “got away” with causing the world’s sixth largest E.coli outbreak.

Their outrage comes after another rogue food trader was jailed this week for breaching food safety regulations.

Ramazan Aslan, who owned the Llay Fish Bar, near Wrexham, was sentenced to eight months in prison by Mold Crown Court.

In sharp contrast, Tudor, who caused the 2005 South Wales outbreak, served just 12 weeks in jail after being sentenced to a year in September 2007.

He had pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying E .coli-infected meat to schools in South Wales and of breaching food hygiene regulations.

The subsequent E.coli public inquiry said Tudor, who ran John Tudor & Sons on Bridgend Industrial Estate, rode roughshod over essential food safety rules as he cut corners to cut costs.

Sharon Mills told Wales on Sunday,

“The eight-month sentence is good because it shows the courts are taking this more seriously. But the fact that Tudor only got four months extra doesn’t seem right. Even if this guy [Aslan] serves half his sentence it will still be longer than Tudor did.

“This bloke rightly deserves time in prison for what he’s done, but Tudor’s actions killed someone and left all these other children with long-term damage and uncertain futures. Tudor got away with it. I feel as though all the fighting we’ve done over the last five years has been for nothing.”

Julie Price’s 15-year-old son Garyn was one of nine of Tudor’s victims who needed dialysis after contracting E. coli O157. He may need a kidney transplant in the future.

“We’re still living with the consequences of what Tudor did. We said at the time that his sentence wasn’t long enough and this sentence [Aslan’s] confirms it.

“Tudor did the same, if not worse, than this shop owner – he blatantly ignored the risks and the warning and we’re still suffering the consequences.”

Dirty egg-sucking dog: illegal eggs flood Toronto

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Tens of thousands of illegal eggs — some covered in fecal matter and feathers — have emerged in a crackdown on Toronto-area food retailers and wholesalers, prompting public health concerns and pending charges against nine companies so far.

Rob Cribb of the Toronto Star revisits the food beat to report that at least six food establishments have charges pending:

• Sharable Bakery, 240 Alton Towers Circle.
• Greystone Bakery, 6 Greystone Walk Dr.
• Farm Fresh Supermarket, 4466 Sheppard Ave. E.
• Casa Imperial Fine Chinese Cuisine, 4125 Steeles Ave E.
• ABC Bakery, 3618 Victoria Park Ave.
• Besmeats Wholesale Ltd., a food distributor at 110 Bynamic Dr.

“The person who gave me eggs did not write ‘ungraded eggs’ on the box. We are innocent,” said Besmeats manager Jesslyn Tio.

“It’s not easy to get egg dealers in town. Those people just knocked on my door. I don’t know them. I don’t want ungraded eggs to be on the market. I eat the eggs too.”

Tio said she can now see a clear difference between inspected eggs and what she’s been supplying her clients, mainly bakeries.

Inspectors believe at least some of the eggs came from a distribution warehouse in Scarborough under investigation.

The unnamed facility was filled with more than 100,000 ungraded eggs when inspectors visited last Friday, said Toronto Public Health food safety manager Jim Chan. They were seized and destroyed, he said.

“Some of the eggs still have fecal matter on the egg shells, quite a bit of dirt and even feathers inside the boxes which are all indications of ungraded eggs,” said Chan.

“We brought CFIA (the Canadian Food Inspection Agency) in and they confirmed they were ungraded eggs.”

All eggs sold beyond farm gates in Ontario must be graded at federally licensed facilities. The process is designed to ensure eggs are properly washed and free of hairline cracks — often invisible to the eye — that open up the potential for salmonella and other pathogens to enter.

Rodger Dunlop, manager of regulatory compliance with the provincial agriculture ministry, would offer no comment on the investigation, saying only that it is ongoing.

Way to be forthcoming, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

B.C. health officials have traced an outbreak of about 650 salmonella cases over the past three years — a 300 per cent increase since 2007 — to egg consumption including ungraded eggs.

Statistics Canada figures show about 380,000 dozen eggs produced in Ontario each month are “leakers and rejects.” But the agency does not track how many eggs unfit for human consumption end up in the underground marketplace.

Those facing charges this week would say little about their eggs.
 

Food handler strikes soldiers with virus at Fort Benning

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Some 150 soldiers at Fort Benning in Georgia have come down with what they suspect is a foodborne virus.

Common areas likes dining halls, barracks and buses are being sterilized, down to chairs and banisters.

Officials suspect it was spread by a food handler who was sick and coughed on the food or had dirty hands.
 

Sick food handlers….stay home

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Viruses, such as Norovirus, are very contagious and therefore spread rapidly causing significant food borne outbreaks. Symptoms are predominantly vomiting and diarrhea with a typical incubation period of 12- 24 hours. Unlike bacteria, viruses do not multiply in food, and infectious doses are rather small (10-100 viral particles), meaning that it doesn’t take much to cause an illness. Sick food handlers can spread the virus in a number of ways including lack of hand washing, sneezing, and coughing. Viral shedding can even occur up to 2 weeks after initial symptoms have worn off. So, as a food handler, if you’re sick, stay home, stop spreading the love.
Lindsey Connell from WTVM reports that basic trainees at Sand Hill on Fort Benning endure rigorous training every day but a recent outbreak is stopping some in their tracks. 
On Thursday, officials reported that 150 soldiers have come down with what they suspect is a food borne virus.
Common areas likes dining halls, barracks and buses are being sterilized, down to chairs and banisters.
The 150 sick soldiers have been isolated in separate barracks to stop the spread of the illness.
Public Affairs officials say 300 soldiers have reported to sick call over the past two days but only half actually have the gastrointestinal virus. The sickness lasts one to two days and causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Officials suspect it was spread by a food handler who was sick and coughed on the food or had dirty hands.
 

Doctors’ long-sleeved coats don’t have more bacteria after all

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I’m always wondering about the microbiological loads on aprons those food porn chefs wear on TV; or in their kitchens; or wherever else their food fantasies take them.

Someone else decided to take a look at the loads on those white lab-style coats doctors wear.

Some have feared that long-sleeved coats and other garments can spread MRSA and other nasty bacteria around the workplace, but a newly published randomized trial finds there’s no added risk.

The study, published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, was conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado. They randomly assigned 100 medical residents and hospitalists to wear either their own white coats or the kind of just-washed short-sleeve uniform thought to better prevent bacterial spread.

At eight hours into the work day, researchers took samples from breast pocket, sleeve cuff and skin of the wrist, then let them incubate. They found “no significant differences” between the bacterial colony counts from the coats and the uniforms — not on the sleeves (whether short or long) or pockets.

There was also no difference between the groups in the number of people carrying around the MRSA bacteria on their clothes or wrists.

No word on whether this will let physicians in the U.K. cover up again; the National Health Service banned long sleeves a few years ago.

In Toronto, Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital, said she found the study’s results to be "interesting and useful."

"I think there’s a lot of controversy about the extent to which we should be investing resources in having clothes that are not contaminated when it’s pretty clear that it’s not the clothes that make that much difference," she said, adding that hand hygiene and a number of other practice issues are more important.

"I don’t think this is enough evidence to say lab coats are not a problem. At the same time, honestly, I’m not that worried about lab coats. Not at the top of my list."
 

Antihistamines with tuna?

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Michele Aquino writes:

Yellowfin tuna steaks were recently recalled due to potentially high levels of histamine in the fish. This was a relatively small recall, affecting products that were distributed in Louisiana and Mississippi markets. In 2010, Whole Foods Market issued a similar recall with their Whole Catch brand frozen tuna steaks.

Recall summaries identified the problem and explained the potential for an allergic histamine response in some individuals, which could vary in severity and include symptoms such as: burning and tingling in the mouth, facial swelling, itching, skin reactions, and possible GI discomfort (diarrhea). Statements explained this condition is known as histamine fish poisoning or scombroid toxicity, which refers to the family of fish that were originally implicated as the source of such illness. But, what I have read in the blogs today has no reference to why there might be elevated histamine in the fish.

Is this another challenge for tuna marketers? I’ve noticed an increase in tuna commercials, which I imagine are a response to years of having tuna fish evoke some sort of mercury risk…No thanks to comedian Larry David thinking twice before ordering his tuna salad sandwiches.

The source of the histamine is not to be presumed a flaw in nature’s fish, nor is the wild tuna community embracing a trendy high-histamine diet under the sea. Such a food safety risk is often a result of inadequate temperature control in processing or distribution. Bacteria present on the fish contain the enzyme histidine decarboxylase, which converts histidine in the fish tissue to histamine. By entering the temperature danger zone for too long, the bacteria on the fish multiply and this enzymatic conversion increases. The result: risky fish with a toxin that can’t be killed or deactivated by cooking temperatures.

Read more about marine toxins at the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/marine_toxins/

Michele Aquino recently returned to the U.S. after serving in the Peace Corps in rural Nicaragua. He has a degree in Nutrition and Food Science and is now pursuing studies in Public Policy.
 

Salmonella kills 1 at Maine assisted living center

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One person died and another was hospitalized in the last two weeks after a salmonella outbreak swept through Quarry Hill, a retirement and assisted living facility in Camden, Maine.

The Bangor Daily News cited Dr. Stephen Sears, acting director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as saying that seven positive cases of salmonella among the residents have been identified so far.

Quarry Hill offers independent living, assisted living, short- and long-term nursing care and rehabilitation and specialized memory-loss care to just over 150 people. Staff at the facility first became aware of the outbreak on Jan. 24, when several residents became ill with symptoms that included diarrhea, cramps, headache, fever and vomiting.

The Maine CDC sent two epidemiologists to the health care facility to try to find other sick residents and to identify a possible source. The experts also worked with facility staff to increase their education about salmonellosis, the infection caused by the salmonella bacteria.

Sears said efforts to track the cause of the outbreak have so far been fruitless. The strain of salmonella in the Camden outbreak has been identified as javiana.

He said that the Maine CDC has not seen other salmonella outbreaks from that strain in the state recently and that the problem appears to be “slowing down” at Quarry Hill, with no new cases reported in days.

UK Llay Fish Bar operator jailed 8 months after E, coli sickens nine

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Stewart Parnell of salmonella-in-peanut paste fame may want to rebuild his reputation and his career, but today he’s probably thankful he doesn’t live in the U.K.

Ramazan Aslan (right, photo from Chester First), operator of a takeaway responsible for an outbreak of E. coli O157 in which nine people were taken ill – one of them critically – has been jailed for eight months.

Aslan was also banned from running a food business in the future by way of a hygiene prohibition order at Mold Crown Court yesterday.

?Mr Justice Griffith-Williams claimed Aslan had ignored previous warnings even though it would have cost little to put things right.

?“You knew the risks, you chose to ignore them,” he said.?

The judge said he accepted that there was no malicious intent by Aslan but could not accept the defence claim that he had been complacent.

“The only explanation is that you were wholly indifferent to the need for thorough food hygiene and for the health and safety of your customers,” he said.?

“While I have had regard to your previous good character and to the inevitable burden upon your wife if you go to prison, I have concluded these offences are so serious that there must be an immediate sentence of imprisonment,” he said.?

Aslan admitted that in July, 2009, he failed to protect food that had been cooked, and that ready-to-eat food was not protected at all stages of production, processing and distribution, against contamination, which was likely to render the food unfit for human consumption.?

Karen Morrisroe, 34, of Rhosnesni, who was admitted to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, after becoming one of the victims of the E. coli outbreak, said after hearing the sentence: “I am surprised that he was jailed. I didn’t expect that. However, I think it sends out the right message. It says to other people they should take heed of the hygiene regulations.”?
 

Better understanding the brain for better hygiene

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My friend in France sent me this story from Process Alimentaire and my best friend translated it.

Stephane Desaulty, a PhD student at CLLE-LTC University of Toulouse 2 is undertaking a thesis in cognitive psychology to increase the efficiency of good hygiene training in catering. It is reinforced by scientific expertise in food safety from the School of Industrial Biology (EBI).

Silliker is funding the research. For the consulting, auditing and analysis firm, part of Mérieux Nutrisciences this thesis is an opportunity "to identify new avenues for training."

The base for this research is in "fuzzy trace” theory. According to its inventors, experiences are simultaneously stored in our memory in two forms: first traces representing the details of events and also traces representing their general meaning. As such, this theory demonstrates that as expertise increases, the mental representation of risk does not become more complex. Quite the contrary, when making a decision the trained people would not rely on details, as would the novices, but rather on simple mental representations.

The thesis will focus on analyzing the memory representations in reasoning and decision making in a professional context as well as on analyzing possible differences between "experts" and novices. The goal? To identify the strengths and weaknesses of training programs. In the short term, this research should measure the suitability of proposed training and develop new learning tools.