DID YOU THINK YOUR CHILI POWDER WAS SAFE?

I have just finished making a spicy bean and corn salad. Normally I use fresh chilies but it's very hot today - too hot for slaving in the kitchen, my chili plants died while we were on vacation, and I was rushed - as usual. So I used chili powder. Then I checked my backlogged mail. What I found was yet another alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about a finding of Salmonella bacteria in chili powder. The US Trading Company of Hayward, California (quite close to where I live) is recalling its Dragonfly Brand Crushed Chili Powder in 6.3 ounce plastic tubs.

Why these bacteria would want to live in such an unpleasant environment beats me. But they do. In fact, testing of the U.S. food supply, which includes spices, has found several such cases lately both in chili and other spices (see my previous post). Because spices are usually least likely to be suspected, it could well be that many more of the 1.2 million annual U.S. illnesses from Salmonella in our food are caused by spices than we know.

Remember too that some Salmonella are now showing a high degree of antibiotic resistance (such as a fairly recent one in chicken). So that's yet another reason to avoid them. The best way to do so in spices, of course, is to always cook your spices in your food (which will kill any bacteria that are present), and to avoid dishes such as fresh (yes, delicious) salsa in restaurants and that chili pepper shaker for your pizza.

So did I toss out the bean and corn salad? Well, no. Since I bought that chili powder some time ago, and have already used it several times (though almost always in cooked food), I argued to myself that it was safe. Besides, my husband had already eaten it (I had not). If he comes down with symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning in the next few days, I'll at least know what to suspect!

In the meantime, I don't think I'll tell him, and hope he doesn't read this post....

To your good health.

TSF

CAN MOLD IN FOOD MAKE YOU SICK?

Can mold in food make you sick? The answer is "yes." But it doesn't happen all the time. Most molds in food are harmless, except perhaps to people who are very allergic. But then there are those other nasty molds, or, more correctly called "fungi," that can produce very bad toxins called "mycotoxins" with interesting names like "aflatoxin," "fumonisin," "vomitoxin," "zealareno," and "ochratoxin." Even they don't do it all the time. Just sometimes, when the conditions are right (think, "warm and moist"). There are about 300 of these different types of toxins, and more are being discovered all the time. Overall, we know very little about the dangers of mold in food.

So let's turn to mold in relation to Chobani Yogurt. That SO fashionable Chobani Greek Yogurt seems to have come down with a bad case of gas, with some containers swelling, fizzing, leaking, or even exploding. This has prompted a large recall of its products, and lead to a lot of bad publicity and loss of credibility.

I have always been a great admirer of the very clever marketing job done by Chobani. Eating its products is not only guaranteed to be healthy, but a socially rewarding activity. This unlucky recent event will certainly test its fan club in spite of all the efforts made to repair the damage to its image.

The cause of all this gas and bloating in the yogurt, has been identified as a mold called Mucor circinelloides. This mold is often present in the environment and can turn up in dairy, and on fruits and vegetables. So is it one of the "bad" molds?

True, the fungus has been known to occasionally cause rather nasty skin (and even tooth) infections. But the company claims, quoting one expert source, that this mold has never been associated with causing food borne illness and that the mold is therefore totally harmless in its yogurt. So why are all these Chobani yogurt eaters saying it made them ill? Are they just imagining it?

At this point we don't know. But, not so fast Chobani. Let me remind you of a few things. First, the cause of most food borne illness is never identified, and molds are not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when investigators are looking for a cause. Secondly, bacteria, viruses, molds and other organisms, keep evolving and changing, and there is no guarantee that a mold which has not been identified as producing deadly toxins, will not be later found to produce them. Thirdly, moldy foods often have bacteria growing alongside them. I wonder whether, having found the mold to be present, researchers stopped looking for another, possibly bacterial, contaminant. We may never know.

So, when it comes to food borne illness, never say "never."

To your good health,
TSF

WHO GETS FOOD POISONING?

If you eat - which goes for all of us - you may well get food poisoning at one or more points in your life. The chances are, you won't be sure if it IS food poisoning, not know exactly what meal or food item caused it, and not report it to the authorities.

Let's look at which of us is more likely to get sick. A lot will depend on:
• who you are
• what you eat
• where you live and eat

The Safe Food Handbook: How to Make Smart Choices about Risky Food (now in second edition, on sale on Amazon and in bookstores) divides people into groups according to their level of risk. Factors like age, health, medicines regularly taken, all enter in to determine whether you are more or less likely to get sick - and, how serious (and yes, sometimes fatal) that illness is likely to be. Two people can eat the same risky meal: one can become very ill, and the other may have almost no symptoms.

Of course, it also depends on what you eat. Basically, people who eat a lot of ready-to-eat foods and raw foods (raw milk, raw cheeses, raw vegetables, raw meat, raw fish are more likely to get ill from their food. No, I am not arguing against raw food diets. That is a personal choice. But when it comes to food risks, many of these consist of bacteria, viruses, parasites, which would be killed by cooking, or in the case of milk and dairy products like cheeses, by pasteurization. It's as simple as that.

So what about where you eat? The country where you live does make a difference, and certain countries have a generally safer food supply than others do. But it also depends if you eat out a lot (restaurants have additional risks) or at catered banquets, or on cruises or planes. The book explains why. And so do some of the earlier posts of the over 400 on this blog.

But the bottom line is that anyone can get food poisoning. Yes, even people who don't believe there is such a thing, who say they can eat anything and be OK. Yes, like a friend of mine who got food poisoning twice last year (see the next post).

To your good health,

TSF

ARE THE JALAPENO PEPPER RECALLS LINKED?

I just blogged the jalapeno pepper recall by Castellini Company in Kentucky. Now another recall of these hot peppers has been announced by South Florida Produce, LLC, located in Florida. This company sent these peppers by truck to distributors in Oxford, NC, Lake Worth, FL, Washington, DC, Pompano Beach, FL, Fair Lawn, NJ, Toronto, and Ontario, Canada between March 5 and March 7, 2012.

Are the two recalls related? Both are caused by Salmonella bacteria. Of course, there are many kinds of Salmonella, and they may not involve the same strain. As far as we know at the moment, neither company distributed to the other one. But if the same Salmonella is involved, as it may be, did both companies get the peppers from a single source? No one seems to be saying where they came from - yet.

My guess would be that both companies imported the peppers from a supplier in Mexico. Several of the U.S.jalapeno pepper recalls in the past - including the one in December 2011, and the one in July 2008 (see my earlier posts) involved imported Mexican jalapeno peppers.

And, as you have probably noticed, these peppers have gone to distributors, which means they will be distributed further from there. Who knows where.

We are likely to hear much more about contaminated jalapeno peppers in the next few days and weeks. If you live anywhere in the U.S. or in Canada - avoid eating fresh jalapenos for the next few weeks. If you cook them, that would kill the bacteria.

To your good health,

TSF

E.COLI FOUND IN BEEF PATTIES FROM CANADA

Yes, the temporary lull in U.S. food recalls seems to be over. Now we have another recall of beef due to deadly bacteria being found in the products.

Sysco Seattle Inc., a Seattle, Wash. firm, is recalling approximately 16,800 pounds of ground beef patties imported from Canada because they may have been contaminated with E.coli O157:H7. The products were produced by New Food Classics of Burlington, Ontario and were imported by Sysco Seattle Inc., for distribution to restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Washington.

This is a rare instance of a company taking quick action. Sysco was already recalling the products (on March 20) even before the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the alert. It appears that the Canadian firm involved acted responsibly and immediately notified Sysco when the problem was discovered. Nice change. Delays can cost lives.

By the way, in case you have forgotten, since E.coli O157 has been out of the news for a while, this is a potentially deadly bacterium, especially to the very young, and seniors or other people with weak immune systems. It can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure.

Be careful how you handle and cook raw meat, and especially ground meat products (see the next post).

To your good health,

TSF

NOW WE HAVE A RECALL OF LISTERIA-CONTAMINATED SAUSAGE

Things have been quiet for the last few weeks on the U.S. food recall front. I've noticed only a few recalls because of undeclared allergens or mislabeling. Nothing much has happened with bacteria or other food-poisoning related threats. But now we have another one of those scares with ready-to-eat foods because of Listeria bacteria being discovered.

It's sausage this time. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that Southside Market & BBQ, of Elgin, Texas, is recalling approx. 2,373 pounds of ready-to-eat "Original Beef Sausage" and "Hot Recipe Beef Sausage" products.

FSIS turned up this dangerous Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in the sausage products during routine testing. The sausage has been distributed to retail warehouses in Texas, as well as through internet sales to California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas. And, from there, probably already into the marketplace.

Watch out pregnant women and anyone else who has a weak immune system. You are at most risk. The usual symptoms of Listeriosis are: high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Don't confuse it with the 'flu.

To your good health,

TSF

ARE CRUISE SHIPS SANITATION INSPECTIONS WORKING?

I have been advising readers of this blog to check out their cruise ship before booking for a cruising vacation. This could help them avoid being trapped at sea during an outbreak of illness on board, as has happened to hundreds of unhappy travellers recently.

One of the main sites I have suggested is the U.S. Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The purpose of the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) is to help "prevent and control the introduction, transmission, and spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships." In most cases, we are talking about Norovirus-caused outbreaks on cruise ships - the kind that has been in the news lately.

The main activity of the VSP is inspection of cruise ships with more than 13 passengers and a foreign itinerary when these ships enter U.S. ports. Cruise ships are supposed to be inspected about twice each year.

When I took a closer look at the scores, reports and corrections of theses inspections over the years, I was not impressed. In fact, these ship inspections reminded me of common weaknesses in the inspection of U.S. food processing plants and restaurants.

True, the ship inspections really seem to be catching many failures in sanitation. But I noticed two weaknesses. First, the scores can be very high - even a 100 score - in spite of the ship being loaded with problems, almost any one of which could trigger or spread an outbreak of GI illness. In fact, very, very few cruise ships ever get a "not satisfactory" score of 85 or below (the Queen Mary II - pictured - was one of the few that has done so during the last 12 months).

Secondly, the followup of problem correction is weak. In fact, the VSP does not check if any correction has taken place at all until the next inspection of the ship. This could be months or a year away. In the meantime, cruises continue, and passengers may be exposed to risks of getting seriously ill while supposedly on a pleasant vacation.

To your good health,

TSF

WHY IS NOROVIRUS SUCH A RISK ON CRUISE SHIPS?

The Safe Food Handbook has a box entitled "The Cruise Ship Virus" which highlights how frequent Norovirus illnesses are on cruise ships. Most outbreaks - like the recent ones we have had - affect both passengers and crew. So why is this nasty virus such a risk on cruises?

One of the most regular readers ran off a list of reasons to me yesterday. He even added a few that I hadn't thought of when I wrote the book. (Remember - you can get this virus from your food, water, surfaces, or, from contact with sick people). Here they are:

• The food is mass catered and therefore more subject to contamination.
• Buffets are a common feature, and these are known to be particularly risky.
• Passengers are in close physical contact with each other over a period of days or even weeks
• The ventilation systems could be adding to the problems.
• On some cruises, a large proportion of these passengers are senior citizens who tend to be less healthy and more vulnerable to such illness.
• On other "party" cruises, passengers tend to play hard and sleep little, resulting in them getting "worn down" which can also decrease their resistance.
• Passengers tend to keep going, even if feeling a bit ill, since they want to enjoy the cruise they have paid for. This may result in them passing the virus on to others.
• While any ships with outbreaks are very thoroughly cleaned when they dock, while at sea the cleaning of common facilities and cabins may be less than perfect, especially if a large number of crew are also ill and out of action.

To your good health,

TSF

THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF FOOD POISONING

A friend recently told me that both she and her husband had become ill after attending a wedding. "A really bad case of the stomach flu," she said. "We are still on antibiotics."

That "stomach flu" was most likely food poisoning caused by a virus called "Norovirus" that was somewhere in the food served at the wedding reception. And no, those antibiotics are not going to help. Most basically healthy people will recover on their own in a few days.

Noroviruses are responsible for about half of all reported outbreaks of gastroenteritis (vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping caused by inflammation of the stomach and intestines) in the U.S. Over 80% of these illnesses occur between November and April - right now.

The virus is often spread through food, but can also be caught from your drinking water, by touching things that have the virus on them, and directly from person to person. Almost half of all cases of food poisoning in the U.S. are believed to be caused by this virus (compared,for instance to about a quarter with bacterial causes).

In the U.S. and other industrialized countries, the most common settings for norovirus outbreaks are long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, where outbreaks can last months and even be fatal as people are more vulnerable. The virus is also common in restaurant food and at parties and catered events of all kinds - such as weddings, on cruise ships and tours, and in schools and child-care facilies (see earlier blogs).

Be careful!

To your good health,

TSF