Convenience Store News reports that the most commonly reported cause of foodborne illnesses is time-temperature abuse, according to the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation. In recognition of September being Food Safety Month, Daydots, a Fort Worth, Texas-based manufacturer and distributor of food safety solutions, is offering the following tips to help foodservice establishments like convenience stores keep its fare safe for consumers:
1. Do not leave food in the temperature danger zone (41 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than four hours. Employees must monitor time and temperature as food flows through the kitchen, from receiving to storage, to ensure it is safe.
2. Managers must assign someone to check the temperature of time-sensitive foods when they arrive, before they are received and stored. If the temperatures register in the danger zone, the food should not be accepted and the supplier should be made aware of the problem so they can prevent it from happening in the future.
3. Monitor temperature regularly to ensure that the internal temperature of stored foods does not register above 41 degrees Fahrenheit.Continue Reading Twenty tips to ensure food is fit to eat
Outbreak at Seneca Lake water park
13WHAM-TV reports that the number of stomach illnesses linked to the sprayground water park at Seneca Lake Park in Geneva has grown to 800 cases; about 100 of those cases are children from Monroe County; others are from surrounding counties, other states, Mexico, and Canada.
On Wednesday, the state announced that the sprayground part of the park was closed for the season.
Officials are still testing water from the spray park and the filtration system and from the lake to determine what made people sick. The Ontario County Health Department is urging anyone with a sick child who had visited the spray park to see their doctor and report the illness.
Most of those who are sick are children who played in the park and ingested the water. Their parents said they thought it was simply a case of the stomach flu, until they heard about the other illnesses.Continue Reading Outbreak at Seneca Lake water park
Nearly 20 students become ill at Plano school
NBC 5 News reports that the Collin County Health Department is investigating the sudden illness of several Plano fifth-graders.
Officials told NBC 5 that 19 students at Plano’s Hedgcoxe Elementary School became ill on Wednesday, complaining of nausea and vomiting.
One student was hospitalized with dehydration. That student’s mother said her daughter is expected to
Dozens of Summer Sonic workers suffer food poisoning
Eighty-four workers at the Summer Sonic rock music festival here received medical checkups on Sunday after coming down with symptoms of food poisoning, officials said.
Rescue officials received a call at about 9 a.m. on Sunday, saying three workers at the Summer Sonic 2005 venue who had eaten packed lunches were vomiting.
A total of
Company ordered to pay school district over tainted poultry
Jim Suhr of the Associated Press reports that a Metro East trucking and distribution company that delivered tainted chicken to a Joliet elementary school in 2002, sickening more than 150 children and teachers, has been ordered to pay $277,250 in fines and restitution.
As part of Thursday’s federal sentence, prosecutors said, Madison-based Lanter Co. will pay $175,000 to the Laraway School District, which will use the funds for new textbooks and enhanced computer technology. The company also must pay $100,000 to the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, as well as $2,250 in fines.
The company will remain on probation until it makes full restitution, which includes compensatory payouts to victims of the Joliet food poisoning.
Lanter, which had been under contract by the Illinois State Board of Education to store and deliver food to schools statewide, pleaded guilty in March to charges that it transported misbranded, improperly inspected poultry products.Continue Reading Company ordered to pay school district over tainted poultry
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Found in Idaho
Reuters reports that Idaho officials said an initial test has indicated one case of naturally occurring Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and five suspected cases are being investigated. But the officials said none of the cases is believed to have been caused by eating infected animals.
Tom Shanahan, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare,
20 villagers suffer from food poisoning in E. China county
A total of 20 villagers suffered from food poisoning when they were attending a funeral dinner in Funan County of east China’s Anhui Province Saturday morning, said sources with the local hospital.
Preliminary investigation showed they were poisoned with nitrite contained in the dinner food. Medical staff from the local hospital and epidemic prevention station
More victims of illness at hotel come forward: Elms’ kitchen tested for food poisoning
The Clay County Health Department said Wednesday that the number of people who became sick at a hotel is greater than they first thought, KMBC’s Peggy Breit reported.
At least 19 people went to a Liberty hospital with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain late Monday night and Tuesday morning. Most of those who went to a hospital were members of William Jewell’s cheerleading and dance squad. They were taking part in the Spirit Team Leadership Meeting at The Elms Resort in Excelsior Springs.Continue Reading More victims of illness at hotel come forward: Elms’ kitchen tested for food poisoning
Canada and U.S. link databases to facilitate tracing of food outbreaks
Helen Branswell of the Canadian Press reports that public health officials on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border will be able to trace outbreaks of nasty foodborne pathogens like E. coli with greater ease from now on, thanks to an international agreement that will be signed Friday.
Electronic databases maintained by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control will be formally linked, allowing investigators in both countries to chase down more rapidly and efficiently outbreaks of foodborne illness that can often be hard to spot because they occur over multiple states and provinces.
“A lot of our food systems are very highly integrated. So what’s happening in Canada can be happening in the U.S. and what’s happening in the U.S. can be happening in Canada,” Dr. Frank Plummer, scientific director of the agency’s National Microbiology Laboratory, explained Thursday.Continue Reading Canada and U.S. link databases to facilitate tracing of food outbreaks
Hotel illnesses rise
The Kansas City Star reports that the number of people who felt ill after visiting an Excelsior Springs hotel early this week has risen to 73, but preliminary tests do not indicate food-borne illness.
The samples that have been tested so far showed no salmonella, shigella, campylobacter or E. coli, Gary Zaborac, director of the