Questions are being raised about the use of water from oilfields for irrigation water in California. California has been in a drought since 2011 and community water systems have had to utilize more of this reclaimed water. Unfortunately for the fruit industry, activists have publically decried certain brands / producers without much information to support claims.
Clearly, there needs to be more transparency on actual use as well as more knowledge about the actual risks. One question - why was an extensive study not already completed by a government agency sooner?
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Norovirus Sickens Hundreds at Dinner Theatre, Clean-Up Costly
A Kansas City dinner theatre was the site this past month of a huge norovirus outbreak. Between Jan 15th and Jan 19th, more than 600 attendees and employees became ill. The theatre company spent some $40,000 to clean/disinfect the location in order to mitigate the virus.
The source of the norovirus is not known, so it could have been a patron or an employee. Food is served buffet style so the buffet tables could have easily served as a contamination point.
Incidents like this are reminders of how contagious norovirus is and how difficult it can be to control in these types of settings. (Give me another reason to avoid buffet style service).
Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/cityscape/article57797308.html
New Theatre Restaurant spends $40,000 on cleanup after more than 600 sickened
February 1, 2016 5:34 PM
By Joyce Smith
jsmith@kcstar.com
The source of the norovirus is not known, so it could have been a patron or an employee. Food is served buffet style so the buffet tables could have easily served as a contamination point.
Incidents like this are reminders of how contagious norovirus is and how difficult it can be to control in these types of settings. (Give me another reason to avoid buffet style service).
Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/cityscape/article57797308.html
New Theatre Restaurant spends $40,000 on cleanup after more than 600 sickened
February 1, 2016 5:34 PM
By Joyce Smith
jsmith@kcstar.com
CDC Issues Final Report on Chipotle E. coli Outbreak
The CDC issued the final report indicating that there have been no further E. coli O26 illness associated with the outbreak. Overall, 60 people were infected in 14 states with 22 requiring hospitalization.
Chipotle has taken a beating, with it stock price dropping 33% over the past year. It went up 4.8% on Monday. Chipotle stated that it will close for a few hours (11AM to 3PM) on February 8th in order to do a company wide staff meeting where executives will answer questions. This does not appear to be a food safety training event as much as it is an opportunity to let employees executives are engaged on food safety.
Chipotle has taken a beating, with it stock price dropping 33% over the past year. It went up 4.8% on Monday. Chipotle stated that it will close for a few hours (11AM to 3PM) on February 8th in order to do a company wide staff meeting where executives will answer questions. This does not appear to be a food safety training event as much as it is an opportunity to let employees executives are engaged on food safety.
CDC Outbreaks
Multistate Outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 Infections Linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurants (Final Update)
Posted February 1, 2016 12:00 PM ET
Monday, February 1, 2016
Dry Organic Shake Powders Recalled Due to Potential for Salmonella
Garden of Life is recalling its RAW Organic Meal Shakes due to the potential to be contaminated by Salmonella. As reported by the Minnesota Department of Health, there is as many as 8 cases in 7 states.
The company seems to be taking the approach that their product is not to blame. “In an overabundance of caution we are taking this extreme measure because we want to ensure that you never have to wonder about the purity of any Raw Meal product.” said Brian Ray, President of Garden of Life. In their release published by FDA, they state that all product is tested.
Upon evaluating the ingredient statement (pic below), we see that there is sprouted seed sprout items present. If it is indeed raw, it can be the source of Salmonella. Testing is not full proof, especially when there are low levels of the contaminate. Even with large sample size testing, it may be difficult to find contamination levels below 1%. It is important to remember that Salmonella can survive in dry products like this for months or even years.
The company seems to be taking the approach that their product is not to blame. “In an overabundance of caution we are taking this extreme measure because we want to ensure that you never have to wonder about the purity of any Raw Meal product.” said Brian Ray, President of Garden of Life. In their release published by FDA, they state that all product is tested.
Upon evaluating the ingredient statement (pic below), we see that there is sprouted seed sprout items present. If it is indeed raw, it can be the source of Salmonella. Testing is not full proof, especially when there are low levels of the contaminate. Even with large sample size testing, it may be difficult to find contamination levels below 1%. It is important to remember that Salmonella can survive in dry products like this for months or even years.
Cottage Food Laws - Sidestepping Food Safety Regulations
Many states are enacting Food Cottage Laws to enable people to sell food that they made in their own kitchen without any oversight by government health and safety professionals. The intended goal is to help support budding food entrepreneurs and support the local economy. But at what cost?
One example is the recently passed Cottage Food Laws of Idaho. The law does limit the type of food to non-potentially hazardous foods (excluding low acid and acidified canned foods) so the risk is lower, however there is little in the regulation that address food safety including the condition of the kitchen in which the food is handled and prepared. Once made, the food can be sold through a number of channels including farmers' markets and online.
One example is the recently passed Cottage Food Laws of Idaho. The law does limit the type of food to non-potentially hazardous foods (excluding low acid and acidified canned foods) so the risk is lower, however there is little in the regulation that address food safety including the condition of the kitchen in which the food is handled and prepared. Once made, the food can be sold through a number of channels including farmers' markets and online.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Update on Listeria Outbreak Associated with Salad
CDC provided an update on the number of listeriosis cases linked to Dole's packaged salads. There are now 15 cases and 1 death. Dole has shut down its Ohio processing facility and does not plan to restart until at least February. With regard to impacted product, Dole initially called its action a voluntary withdrawal. It changed that status to a voluntary recall on January 27th.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
CDC Update - Salmonella Cases Associated with Cucumbers Continue to Trickle In
Since CDC's last report in November, 50 more people from 16 states have been reported becoming ill with a specific strain of Salmonella associated with cucumbers from one distributor in California. The current total is 888 cases in 39 states.
Food safety requires the pessimism of intelligence and the optimism of will
This is based off a quote in the Independent from Donald Rumsfeld, the former US Defense Secretary, “As my friend Andre de Staercke once put it to me, “What one needs in life are the pessimism of intelligence and the optimism of will.”. I thought this statement was even more applicable to food safety and the duties of the food industry professional with responsibilities for food safety.
Depending upon the company's culture, the food safety professional has often been looked at as the naysayer or worrywart. But with numerous examples of food safety issues where food safety issues have cost company's lost millions, or in some cases, resulted in executives being sentenced to jail time, the food safety professional's job is becoming more valued.
Food safety requires the pessimism of intelligence and the optimism of will.The challenges for food safety occur all the time - whether it is RTE product being run in a facility that was built long before there was consideration for organisms like Listeria, or the company's marketing guru pushing a more natural / minimally processed product to be sold as fresh refrigerated, or a restaurant entrepreneur wishing to produce a vacuum packaged, fully cooked meal. For the person tasked with ensuring the safety of products, they must recognize the risks and apply sound judgment based upon scientific facts or historical reports of past outbreaks or recalls. Then they must either be willing to apply necessary controls to prevent those risks or squash poorly designed, high risk projects before excessive investments are made. The force of will comes from knowing that in the end, that customers will not harmed, and with that, the company's future is more secure.
Depending upon the company's culture, the food safety professional has often been looked at as the naysayer or worrywart. But with numerous examples of food safety issues where food safety issues have cost company's lost millions, or in some cases, resulted in executives being sentenced to jail time, the food safety professional's job is becoming more valued.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Pizza Recalled for Mistaking Pork Pepperoni for Beef Pepperoni
Whole Foods is recalling over 70,000lbs of pepperoni pizza because instead of using beef pepperoni, which is stated on the label, they used pepperoni made from pork. According to the FSIS Notice - "The problem was discovered by FSIS during a label review at the establishment and occurred as a result of a change in ingredient suppliers."
One item of note is that this occurred during a supplier change.....a purchasing issue. Second is that this should have been identified during the inspection of incoming materials, specifically the evaluation of the label.
There were two other recalls within the past few days where pork was included in a product where it was not on the label. One was a ravioli product and the other was knockwurst.
FSIS News Release
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/FSIS-Content/internet/main/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-010-2016-release
Whole Foods Recalls Frozen Pizza Products Due to Misbranding
Class II Recall 010-2016
Health Risk: Low Jan 25, 2016
Congressional and Public Affairs Richard J. McIntire (202) 720-9113
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2016 – Whole Foods/North Atlantic Kitchens, an Everett, Mass. establishment, is recalling approximately 73,898 pounds of pepperoni pizza products due to misbranding, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The product is labeled as containing uncured beef pepperoni. However, the pizzas contain uncured pork pepperoni, which is not declared on the product label. Some individuals have a sensitivity or intolerance to pork.
One item of note is that this occurred during a supplier change.....a purchasing issue. Second is that this should have been identified during the inspection of incoming materials, specifically the evaluation of the label.
There were two other recalls within the past few days where pork was included in a product where it was not on the label. One was a ravioli product and the other was knockwurst.
FSIS News Release
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/FSIS-Content/internet/main/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-010-2016-release
Whole Foods Recalls Frozen Pizza Products Due to Misbranding
Class II Recall 010-2016
Health Risk: Low Jan 25, 2016
Congressional and Public Affairs Richard J. McIntire (202) 720-9113
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2016 – Whole Foods/North Atlantic Kitchens, an Everett, Mass. establishment, is recalling approximately 73,898 pounds of pepperoni pizza products due to misbranding, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The product is labeled as containing uncured beef pepperoni. However, the pizzas contain uncured pork pepperoni, which is not declared on the product label. Some individuals have a sensitivity or intolerance to pork.
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