Breaking out – blog- February 3rd, 2012

Across the pond, cantaloupes, pine nuts, romaine lettuce and sprouts caused serious outbreaks of illness in 2011, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US. In fact, five of the most significant or unusual outbreaks of foodborne illness involved fresh produce. The CDC said that 2011 was the most active year in recent history for ‘foodborne illness outbreaks that crossed state lines’.

Over here the picture is slightly different. The most recent figures we have are for 1992-2010. Although the figures aren’t directly comparable, according to the Health Protection Agency, poultry meat was the most frequently implicated vehicle in food outbreaks in England and Wales during this period; a much smaller proportion was associated with fresh produce and a range of other foods.

While produce may not be top of the list when we think of ‘danger’ foods, this doesn’t mean we can lower our guard.

Last year’s E.coli outbreak in Germany was due to sprouted fenugreek seeds, and there was a separate E.coli outbreak here in the UK linked to handling certain loose raw vegetables. The range of culprits that caused outbreaks in the US – 30 people died as a result of listeria-contaminated cantaloupes – shows how foods you might not suspect can be the source of serious illness.

To raise awareness of the importance of good food hygiene, we ran a media campaign in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland reminding everyone to wash vegetables, as well as their hands and any utensils used in preparation.

The campaign recently finished, but our message stays the same: ‘Vegetables: best served washed.’

Full blog

Tragic Fife couple’s case leads to calls for national norovirus review- February 1st, 2012

Dorothy and Andy McEwen, who were both 83, died only days apart in 2010. Mrs McEwen fell ill with norovirus while a patient in Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline, and her husband went on to catch the bug after talking his wife’s laundry home to wash, unaware of potentially fatal risk from germs clinging to the clothing.
In fact it has emerged NHS Fife, in line with the majority of Scottish health boards, don’t wash soiled garments which belong to patients. Instead, clothing is placed in special sealed bags to give to relatives to wash at home along with handling instructions.
The double tragedy for the close-knit Fife family has prompted Mrs Eadie to back leading bacteriologist Professor Hugh Pennington in his call for a review of hygiene practices.
”We are getting to grips with MRSA and C. diff but norovirus is a problem we are no getting to grips with yet,” he said.
He said verbal information was vital, as well as written details of how to safely handle personal effects soiled with the active and virulent bug, which closes wards and hits thousands of Scots every year.
Mrs Eadie said: ”There needs to be an urgent and thorough investigation into these incidents. Professor Pennington is absolutely right to call for a root and branch review of hygiene practices in all Scottish hospitals and, personally, I think that we should not expect relatives to take home the washing of patients any longer.
”Norovirus is a serious matter in hospitals and is more infectious that either MRSA or C. diff.”

Full story

Hull and South Tyneside launch the FHRS- January 31st, 2012

Hull City Council and South Tyneside Council have rolled out the Agency’s Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. More than 180 local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now publishing nearly 150,000 ratings at food.gov.uk/ratings.

Consumer views on targeted safety inspections- January 18th, 2012

A new report published by the FSA shows that consumers are broadly in favour of reducing inspections on compliant businesses so that resources can be focused on those which are higher risk.

Under the proposed ‘Earned Recognition’ scheme, food businesses that are able to demonstrate a history of good compliance with the legislation, or that are members of a private assurance scheme, would receive a lighter touch in terms of the number and type of official inspections. The proposed changes will help to ensure consumer safety by concentrating resources where improvement is most needed, for example on businesses that are less compliant or higher risk.

The Agency commissioned a series of citizens’ forums to explore consumer’s views about proposed changes to the regulation of food businesses. Participants considered Earned Recognition a positive step for the Agency to take on the condition that these businesses were still regulated sufficiently and that the scheme was applied fairly across the food industry. Nine workshops were held with groups of approximately 10 people between June and August 2011.

The full report can be found at the link below.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/earnedrecog.pdf

Hand dryers might be better for the environment; worse for limiting disease spread- January 16th, 2012

Something I always discuss in my training courses is the hand drier versus the paper towel.

The following blog argues the case for me, with the overriding conclusion that disposable paper towels are the safest way to dry your hands. Something I always strive to highlight during our discussions.

Doug Powell says “I like to write at Starbucks. There’s something about the background activity and lattes, mixed with Neil Young on my iPod, that helps me focus. I hit up a somewhat new outlet in Raleigh today and needed a restroom break. After washing my hands I looked around the bathroom for paper towels and all I could find was an air dryer (right, exactly as shown). I wanted paper towels because using them matters – drying friction helps remove pathogens.
I don’t like blow dryers because the literature shows they accumulate microorganisms from toilet aerosols, and can cause contamination of hands as they are dried by the drier”

He goes on to say “food service food safety guru Pete Snyder at the St. Paul-based Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management summarized key aspects of handwashing and drying in a paper available at, http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Safehands.html. Pete says that after hands are washed and rinsed, they must be thoroughly dried and cites data that shows 1-2 log reduction of pathogens from drying. Water and soap loosen the attachment of pathogen to hands. A rinse step dilutes what has been loosened but drying (and the friction associated) is the next step that matters – and the bugs have to go somewhere; I’d rather that be a paper towel instead of being blown all over my pants.
Pete also notes that it is also apparent that many individuals do not dry their hands thoroughly when using a blow drier; hence, moisture, which is conducive to microbial growth, remains on hands, or people dry their hands on their clothing.”

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