Entries from July 2007
Cattle carry more E coli during summer.
Health officials in New York have determined that one of the contributing factors to the cases of E. coli infection there is the increase of the bacteria levels in cattle during the summer, according to an article in Newsday.
According to researchers, not only is there a greater amount of E. coli bacteria in the cattle’s intestines, a greater percentage of cattle have E. coli bacteria during the summer — as much as 20 percent of all cattle. In winter, the percentage drops to under five.
During the slaughtering process, most of the E. coli is eliminated. However, the one sure way to avoid infection is to cook the meat to 160 degrees. Don’t rely on visual observation.
Categories: E. Coli
According to the Times of India, some Israeli scientists have genetically engineered tomatoes to give a refreshing hint of lemon or rose.
This no doubt is a breakthrough in some circles (or squares, as the case may be). After all, they must be thinking, who wouldn’t want a little rose in their salad or a little lemon on their cheeseburger? After all, they argue, there are cherry tomatoes. Why not lemon tomatoes?
Lest you be seeking out the names of the governments and multinationals that fund such fun, in order to boycott their other exports and products, there is a genuine upside to this hybridization.
Though these modified tomatoes contain less of the antioxidant lycopene, they do contain chemicals that need less pesticide (because the pests want nothing to do with them?) and that give them a longer shelf life. Sort of the trans fat of the produce world.
Categories: Genetically Modified Food
The Big Easy’s fast-food industry is neither big nor easy
For a city with only a quarter-million people (it was 454,000 before the hurricane), New Orleans has far more than its share of world-class restaurants, battling it out for a tourist dollar that is rebounding but still nothing like what it was.
The Big Easy is not so big anymore, and it’s not so easy for fast-food restaurants either, according to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Even Popeye’s Fried Chicken, which started in New Orleans, has only reopened 21 of its 36 area stores. Likewise for competitor Church’s Chicken. One of the main problems is that labor is tight because jobs are plentiful. So, to keep good help, or even bad help, restaurants have to pay more.
There is also increased competition for space in high-traffic areas, because many areas are not going to be rebuilt. Not to mention the fact that everyone in the city is a great cook, so even the corner po-boy (submarine sandwich) shops are tough competition.
On the plus side, because the FEMA trailers have small kitchens and because people just want to get out and away from them, residents go out to eat more often than in most cities.
Categories: Uncategorized
New York’s controversial law requiring chain restaurants to put calorie counts next to the menu items on menu boards — in the same size type — supposedly goes into effect on Sunday, July 1.
But the big-burger boys aren’t budging. Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s are all saying, “Thanks but no thanks” to the regulation. Taco Bell and KFC haven’t made official announcements, but they haven’t made any changes to their menu boards yet.
The restaurants are waiting to see how a judge rules on a lawsuit brought in federal court by the New York Restaurant Association to get the regulation thrown out.
Wendy’s, in particular, claims that it has posted calorie counts for thirty years on fliers and posters, easily accessible by the public, and that the regulation would make the menu boards impossible to read.
Categories: Trans-fats
Education and prevention recommended over increased inspection
The American Society for Quality, in its latest issue of the Quarterly Quality Report, says that the answer to eliminating outbreaks of foodborne illnesses lies more outside the realm of inspections.
Because more than half of reported foodborne outbreaks can’t be linked to specific microorganisms, the ASQ concludes they can’t be discovered in the processing phase, at least not with current diagnostic methods.
The ASQ recommends more emphasis on prevention, specifically something that the quality people like to call HACCP, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, a quality system that controls potential physical, chemical and microbial hazards in food production.
The quality report also notes that improper food handling at home and in restaurants accounts for more reported cases of foodborne illness than does failure at the processing level. Consumer education is the best way to curb these incidents.
The report also recommends: more efficient use of inspections, placing them in higher-risk food areas; increased diligence by food companies; increased protection against deliberate contamination of food by other nations; and, constant reinforcement of training and hygiene practices all along the “food chain.”
The complete report by the American Society for Quality is available online at http://www.asq.org/quality-report/reports/200706.html
Categories: Food Borne Illness · Food Safety
Apparently, the U.S. isn’t the only country with foodborne-illness problems. Canadian officials have recently made two warnings about possible contaminated food.
Sesame seeds distributed there may contain salmonella, it was reported this weekend.
Also, Canadian officials have issued a warning on certain Hershey chocolate products with codes from 6417 to 6455. The bars were voluntarily recalled because of possible salmonella contamination. They were then stolen from the “recycling” place where they were supposed to be destroyed, and have made their way back to the street.
Categories: Food Borne Illness · Salmonella
The FDA announced recently that it is going after tomatoes and even has a name for its program: the Tomato Safety Initiative.
In light of all the reported problems with other produce, this sounds like the bureaucratic equivalent of invading Granada. But surprisingly, there have been twelve different outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to tomatoes in the past decade. Those outbreaks have involved nearly two thousand reported illnesses.
Since most of the outbreaks were traced to Florida and eastern Virginia, that is where the TSI will concentrate its efforts. Working with state health officials, the FDA will study food production, distribution and preparation practices in order to identify areas of possible contamination.
Categories: FDA · Food Borne Illness · Food Safety · Legislation
In a week of tyrannical moves by city-level governing bodies, this comes almost as a breath of fresh air… almost.
About the same time they railroaded the trans-fat ban through the New York City Council, the city’s health department also managed to sneak in a measure requiring chain restaurants to display calorie counts prominently next to food items on their menu boards.
That measure, which was supposed to go into effect on July 1, has been postponed for three months because of a lawsuit by the New York State Restaurant Association.
The restaurants contend that any kind of calorie count would be misleading because of all the possible variations to many of the items.
Categories: Legislation · Litigation
Frontera Grill’s Rick Bayless calls for repeal of ban
In a separate article in the Chicago Sun-Times, renowned chef Rick Bayless asked the Chicago City Council to repeal the ban in order to save the city’s restaurant image.
Long recognized as the nation’s foremost authority on authentic Mexican food, Bayless recently won the James Beard award for the nation’s best restaurant.
Bayless said that keeping the ban would give the city, “a strange and provincial reputation.” He was echoed by many other chefs and, once again, Mayor Daley, who asked the Council to turn to more serious matters troubling the city.
Chicago has fought for years its (mostly) undeserved reputation as a cow town. One quote, which was actually meant as a compliment, is that Chicago is “a small town with big buildings.”
Categories: Uncategorized
Judge supports City Council’s ban on foie gras
Okay, justice is blind, but aren’t the other senses supposed to be working? Not for U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning, who dismissed a lawsuit by the Illinois Restaurant Association and ruled that Chicago’s City Council had the right to keep its restaurateurs from making foie gras.
The IRA is considering an appeal, pointing out the obvious (to everyone but the judge), that foie gras is a legal product, and even big podunk city councils shouldn’t be banning legal products.
Mayor Richie Daley has gotten a lot of mileage by ridiculing the City Council for such a fathead move, calling it the silliest ordinance the Council has ever passed (and that’s saying something). Some of the leading aldermen are considering repealing the ban.
Categories: Legislation
