food safety

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The public’s understanding of food risk issues is skewed towards under estimating the danger from common pathogen contamination, according to a research survey.
The survey results could help companies and experts develop communication strategies aimed at ensuring the public understands the various risks posed by food borne diseases and hazards.
The survey researchers concluded that food safety experts have a key role in communicating food risk and thus their perceptions will influence how food risk issues are communicated to the public.
The survey, published in the Journal of Food Safety, is based on the responses of 400 food safety experts in Ireland.Continue Reading Public underestimates risks posed by common pathogens

A recent Knight-Ridder Tribune editorial said when consumers reach for a package of meat at the supermarket, they shouldn’t have to wonder whether the product they’re about to take home and cook for their families has been treated to keep it looking fresh. Especially if it isn’t.
Treating packaged meat with carbon monoxide to maintain its marketable red color apparently is a widespread practice in the meat industry, but one we feel needs to be reconsidered.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas but supposedly is not dangerous in the minute quantities injected into meat packages. The gas reacts with the meat to keep it from turning brown and thus less attractive to shoppers. Industry spokesmen say the process saves the high cost of disposing of meat that is still perfectly safe but doesn’t look good, although some consumer advocates argue persuasively that it could mask dangerous spoilage.Continue Reading Fresh should mean fresh

The Cowichan Valley Citizen reports that residents of the Central and Northern parts of Vancouver Island can now check the results of health inspections of their favourite local eatery online.
In 2002 Victoria area inspections were the first to be viewed on line and now, with this roll out of the program from the Vancouver Island Health Authority, people across the Island have access to the findings of health inspections of all food service establishments plus other information about food safety.
The site includes an explanation of what environmental health inspectors are looking for when they inspect a restaurant, pub or cafeteria, and why a facility received a “low”, “moderate” or “high” hazard rating.
Summary findings of inspections for restaurants or food stores, dating back to Jan. 1, 2005, are available for Central and North Island.
Detailed inspection information and comments can be found beginning Dec. 1, 2005.Continue Reading Food industry health inspections available online

EchoPress.com reports that health officials are reporting an increase in digestive tract illness caused by a family of bugs known as noroviruses.
At least 29 outbreaks of norovirus illness have been reported to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) since the first of the year, according to department officials. The outbreaks have occurred in a variety of settings, including commercial food establishments, schools, nursing homes and hotels.
Noroviruses are the most common cause of food-related illness in Minnesota, and reported cases tend to peak during the winter months. However, officials say the current level of norovirus activity is the highest in several years.Continue Reading Food-related illnesses on the rise

According to Scott Rothschild of Ljworld.com. in the post-Sept. 11 world, concern about maintaining a safe food supply has been a top priority for many, especially in agricultural states such as Kansas that help feed the world.
That is one reason why Kansas State University, already a major center of food safety research, lobbied hard for passage of state legislation in 2002 that helped fund the $54 million Biosecurity Research Institute.
The building on the Manhattan campus is scheduled to be completed in September, and officials say it will put K-State on the map in food safety.
“This adds a lot of value to Manhattan and Kansas,” said Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, a sponsor of the 2002 research facilities legislation.Continue Reading Food safety at root of K-State institute

Marian Burros of The New York Times reports that if some of the meat in supermarkets is looking rosier than it used to, the reason is that a growing number of markets are selling it in airtight packages treated with a touch of carbon monoxide to help the product stay red for weeks.
This form of “modified atmosphere packaging,” a technique in which other gases replace oxygen, has become more widely used as supermarkets eliminate their butchers and buy precut, “case-ready” meat from processing plants.
The reason for its popularity in the industry is clear. One study, conducted at Oklahoma State University for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board in 2003, said retailers lost at least $1 billion a year as meat turned brown from exposure to oxygen, because, though it might still be fairly fresh and perfectly safe, consumers simply judged meat’s freshness by its color.Continue Reading Which Cut Is Older? (It’s a Trick Question)

Steve Miller of Lansing State Journal reports that we might eat better than Henry VIII, but with such luxury comes the enhanced threat of food-borne illness. More bacteria than ever lurk at the end of that fork.
“We have better and more food in this country than in any other place in the world,” said Diane Gorch, planned programs supervisor at the Ingham County Health Department, who heads a seven-person staff in charge of food inspections at 1,148 establishments.
And while we dine finer than royalty in ages past, Gorch said, “the way the world works now, we have exotic bugs that have never been around us before. So the opportunity for food-borne illness is greater now than it was 20 years ago.”Continue Reading Americans enjoy better food and more pesky bugs with it

Heather Drozd of the Saskatoon Sun reports that vegetables and fruit are well known for their powerful health-protecting benefits. What is less well known, is that these valuable foods can also be sources of food borne illness when they are not properly handled.
Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating recommends eating at least five servings of a variety of vegetables and fruit each day. These foods provide a wide range of plant compounds, known as phytochemicals. Phytochemicals have been shown to protect against many diseases, including heart disease, cancer and stroke.
Bacteria and viruses can contaminate vegetables and fruit and lead to food borne illness. These can come from soil, water and/or handling during harvest and transport. Pesticide residues may also be present.Continue Reading Proper handling of fruits, vegetables

The Sacramento Bee reports that indeed, the five-second rule is part guilty habit, part old-wives’ tale — a popular conviction that food is still clean if snatched off the ground within five seconds.
Yet, it should come as no surprise that the tale turns out to be exactly that — a not-so-legitimate justification for diving after the last cookie.Continue Reading The five-second rule: Safe or scuzzy?


Springfield News-Leader reports that salad bars can be as dangerous to your diet as fast-food restaurants if you aren’t careful.
“I don’t think people realize that with portion sizes, if you add all the items up, you can add on the calories,” said Jenny Gardner, a registered and licensed dietitian with CoxHealth.
Salad bars have gained enormous popularity in the last few years as the healthiest option for eating out, but as the market grows more competitive, the salads have grown more extravagant — and less healthful. Salad bar consumers may run into something more dangerous than calories: bacteria or viruses that can lead to illness.Continue Reading Is your salad safe?