Blessed are the cheesemakers: feds arrest cheese that sickened 38

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An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 first became public in Nov. 2010, and would eventually sicken at least 38 people in several U.S. states. Investigators believe the source was Dutch Style Gouda Cheese produced by Bravo Farms of Traver, California from raw milk and sold primarily at Costco and Whole Foods Market stores.

The artisan cheese maker temporarily shut down.

Bravo was forced to quarantined stockpiles of cheese, and — no real surprise – of the 24 unpasteurized cheese samples investigators took, 15 tested positive for listeria and one tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

According to the L.A. Times today, state and federal investigators found at least 50 live flies flitting around a processing area at Bravo. They also reported that a rabbit hopped out of a storage room, and a dairy worker scratched his chin then handled milled cheese with his bare hands.

On Thursday, U.S. marshals and Food and Drug Administration agents arrived at the cheesemaker and seized the Gouda, along with piles of Edam and blocks of white cheddar. All told, investigators have locked up more than 80,000 pounds of cheese. Prosecutors say it is all headed for the garbage disposal.

Worried that the cheese would somehow reach the public, and acting to shift the case from state to federal jurisdiction, the Justice Department used a civil legal mechanism to arrest a product — food — and essentially impound it.

Prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court in Sacramento last week that lists the cheese — not the farmers who made it — as defendants.

John Sheehan, director of the FDA’s dairy division, said the inspections came from concerns "about raw-milk cheese made under artisanal conditions" and a flurry of nine artisan cheese recalls last year. As of October, the FDA had inspected 102 facilities, some big, some small. Of the 147 samples taken, 32 tested positive for listeria. The inspections continue.

Bravo, which is cooperating with federal officials, has been cleared to make cheese again. It’s using pasteurized milk.

Beware the herb; cilantro with salmonella

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Several fresh herbs are repeat offenders on the showing up contaminated list, this time cilantro.

Offcials with the California Department of Public Health said Friday certain fresh cilantro sold in grocery stores may be contaminated with salmonella.

No illnesses have been reported, but the cilantro is being recalled as a precaution.

The recalled cilantro was distributed by Tanimura & Antle of Salinas. It was sold in bunches containing a white twist-tie printed with blue lettering starting Jan. 14. The twist-ties contain the words “Produce of USA, Cilantro #4889” and have a blue Tanimura & Antle logo next to the UPC code 33383 80104.
 

Safely prepared and handled food keeps students safe

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Veterinary student, masters of public health student, newspuller and occasional blogger Gonzalo Erdozain writes:

As a veterinary student at Kansas State, I get a lot of free food – pizza, BBQ, even fully catered meals. This past Tuesday, at our Bovine Club meeting, we had our food catered by Hy-Vee here in Manhattan, KS. To my surprise, and delight, I observed the delivery chef test each one of the lasagna platters with a digital thermometer, and write down each temperature on a temp. sheet. Our club’s president then signed the sheet and we went about our business. Today, I called Hy-Vee to ask a few questions. Here’s the scoop.

Everything they cook is up to par with the recommendations made by the Kansas Department of Health. I specifically asked about poultry, and the manager quickly answered, “we cook all our poultry to 165 ºF.” He explained that all hot foods must be over 141 ºF at the time of delivery, while cold foods must be bellow 41 ºF. If they are out of that range, they ask the customer whether to reheat it or make a new batch. They fill in the temp. sheet, have it signed by the customer and leave printed instructions to discard any leftover food within 4 hours due to food safety risks past that timeframe. Now that I don’t have to worry about food poisoning from these events, I can focus on not contaminating my food with formalin.
 

Yoghurt problems in NZ and Pakistan

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Looks like I picked the wrong week to start eating yogurt.

An employee at a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, died while two employees fell critically ill after they ate contaminated yoghurt.

The three employees ate rice with the contaminated yoghurt at a local restaurant. Soon thereafter, all of them fell sick and were taken to hospital where Khan died. A case has been registered against the restaurant owner and manager.

Biofarm Products of New Zealand is recalling 1 litre containers of Bush Honey Yoghurt with a March 5 best before date after laboratory tests show the presence of E. coli.
 

Newfoundland fish inspection disorganized, ineffective

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Of the 3,575 inspections recorded in 2010 in Newfoundland (that’s in Canada), 42 per cent of them were situations in which inspectors travelled to a processing facility or landing site, but no inspection was done because there was no fish there.

Provincial auditor John Noseworthy noted, “Given that 42 per cent of the inspections were situations where there was no fish to inspect, they probably might want to go back and revisit that, and determine if that’s the best way to go about it. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of plan."

Noseworthy also found enforcement officers did more inspections of cod than they did for shrimp, despite the fact that harvesters land five times more shrimp every year than they do cod.

Another major gap in the system is at Port aux Basques, from where 90 per cent of the province’s exported seafood leaves.

Inspections there were only done seven hours per day, five days per week; of the 437 inspections conducted between January and November 2010 none were recorded in the provincial database.

The government responded the province’s fishery is "intense and erratic," which makes it difficult to do the sort of planning Noseworthy is calling for.

Fisheries Minister Clyde Jackman pointed out that all the province’s shrimp is landed in such a short period of time that it’s tough to carry out a lot of inspections.
Because the season for cod is much longer, more inspections are done.

Derek Butler, executive director of the Association of Seafood Producers, said Noseworthy’s report "reflect lack of a complete understanding of the industry."
Instead of more inspections and better scheduling, Butler said there should be less inspection.

He said meaningful quality control is done by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as well as European Union and American quality certification.
 

No lion meat tacos for Tucson

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The N.Y. Times reports that Tucson’s Boca Tacos y Tequila will not offer lion meat tacos after extensive publicity which attracted the wrath of lion supporters.

The owner, Bryan Mazon, wrote on Facebook yesterday,

“Due to concern for safety of our families, customers, vendors, and friends we will not be selling African Lion Tacos. We will continue to bring unique and creative menu items, but not at the expense of safety.”

African lions are a threatened species in the wild, and international trade in their meat is prohibited under a United Nations treaty. But meat from lions raised in captivity in the United States can legally be sold, the United States Department of Agriculture has said.

An investigation by CNN traced the meat back to an Illinois supplier who declined to identify its source.
 

Food handler at Sierra Grill in North York (Ontario) diagnosed with Hepatitis A

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If I was a restaurant owner or a retailer, the everyday possibility of having a food worker tell me that they had Hep A would scare me. As the virus is shed in an infected person’s poop for up to 30 days before she even shows symptoms, having the tools and carrying out actual handwashing limits the potential for illnesses much more than relying on not having ill staff handling food.

But, even if the infected individual was a superstar/champion handwasher, the likes of Jack Nicholson in As Good As it Gets, the business is going to take a hit.

As a safety precaution, and because post-exposure IGG shots are effective at reducing the likelihood of illness (for about a 14 day window), patrons are going to be lined up around the block waiting for an IGG shot and that doesn’t result in great press.

Just like what Sierra Grill in North York (that’s in Toronto, which is in Canada) is about to experience:

Customers who ate at Sierra Grill last Sunday are being advised to get vaccinated after an employee tested positive for Hepatitis A.
Toronto Public Health said anyone who ate at the Bayview Village restaurant on Jan. 23 may have been exposed to the virus. Public Health is holding three free vaccination clinics for anyone who ate at the Sierra Grill on that day.

Dr. Michael Finkelstein, Toronto’s associate medical officer of health was quoted as saying, assuringly, the risk of infection is low. Kind of a weird and subjective message to add when asking folks to come by to get a shot.

 

Botulism risk: Hawaii health dept, forces company to close, recall 3 years of product

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The state health department has issued a recall for more than one hundred locally produced food products including jams, salad dressings, and sauces that were manufactured at a Waipio processing plant because of a risk for botulism.

The Health Department issued an Order to Cease and Desist, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found evidence of improper manufacturing standards at the First Commercial Kitchen plant.

A recall issued last Thursday only included two products: Ohana Flavors Black Bean Sauce and Barbs Local Style Black Bean Sauce.

But now, the recall includes everything that was manufactured there over the past three years.

The Health Department says it issued the mass recall after the company failed to produce required documentation and because of inadequate testing to ensure no bacteria growth.

A number of restaurants have responded to the recall, saying they haven’t done business with First Commercial Kitchen in years, and their names were incorrectly added to the recall list.
 

To avoid norovirus don’t eat raw oysters

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The U.K. Food Standards Agency says to avoid norovirus, don’t eat oysters raw.

They, however, use a lot more words.

“Controls before and after commercial harvesting provide good protection against harmful bacteria, but it can be difficult to remove viruses from live shellfish. Thorough cooking will destroy these viruses but many shellfish are eaten raw or only lightly cooked so may still contain viruses when eaten. The FSA and the shellfish industry are continuing to work together to improve methods for removing viruses from live shellfish.”