When I think of Illinois, of course Abe Lincoln comes to mind, but shortly after that, I think of all those wonderful John Hughes films that took place in the suburbs of Chicago. In light of the new road kill laws passed in that wonderful state I have the following suggestions:

In the remake of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off let me suggest some small, but truly enhancing changes. When the parking attendants take the Ferrari gets for a joy ride, and they take that jump and we get the awesome undercarriage shot, have them take out a deer. Then they can be all excited about the new road kill law in Illinois. How about when Sloan is describing Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago, instead of “leather jacket,” she can say, “road kill jacket.” Or, the scene where Cameron kicks the car off the jack and out the back of the garage let it land on a beaver. Everyone loves good beaver meat.

Illinois has joined some 14 other states, making it legal to retrieve road kill for the purpose of pelt or food. People with the correct license are now able to remove road kill from the roads. First they must contact the state to get a furbearer’s license. Then, the animal hit needs to be in season. The law went into effect at the beginning of the year. So, to all those on the Illinois roads: Happy hunting! (Just kidding, the other stipulation is that the animal needs to be legitimately killed accidently.) For more information about the Illinois furbearer license click here.

–Tim Snarr

We are happy to announce that our industry-leading online food handler course is now available in five languages! The course, now available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese, is currently live in the States of Colorado and California–with other locations soon to follow! For less than the price of a few gallons of gas, food workers of many language and cultural backgrounds can come to StateFoodSafety.com to receive food safety instruction in a way that will connect with them and have a better likelihood of being implemented in the workplace. We, in partnership with dozens of health department around the nation, recommend this food handler training for food workers of all experience levels to help reduce  pathogens in the workplace and prevent the spread of foodborne illness.

Do you have a language need that we haven’t yet addressed? Let us know! Write to us at info@statefoodsafety.com. Group purchases are also available.

Click here for your California Food Handler Card.

Click here for your Colorado Food Handler Card.

We at StateFoodSafety.com don’t like pirates. And when I say “pirates,” I’m referring to people who steal intellectual property. That doesn’t jive with us. Our training courses were all created, recorded, and illustrated internally, and we’re very proud of our work. Copyright laws are in place to protect information like ours (and yours) and we support keeping those laws intact. We believe that civil liberties and free speech are key components to the foundations that our great nation was built upon.

Knowledge and information bring power, and sharing them with the world is what the internet is all about. That is why we are supporting Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, and the many other online companies that have spoken out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its little sister bill, Protect Intellectual Property Act (or PIPA). Intellectual property and copyright protection are complex issues, made even more obscure by the vastness of the internet. We believe that it is valuable to continue debating how to best protect information while allowing the citizens of the world to speak and share freely. It is our hope that the United States will not rush into legislation on an issue that is only partially understood, especially one with ramifications as far reaching as SOPA.

We encourage you to learn more about these two piece of legislation and sign Google’s online petition.

Back in 2010 some Minnesota students went on a field trip, killed some deer, dressed them, and ate them.  That’s pretty awesome.  We didn’t even get to go to the Jelly Belly Factory when I was in school, and it was only about an hour’s drive away. The field trip wasn’t all fun and games though.  Twenty-nine students were infected with E. coli O103:H2.  Maybe my field trip to the Railroad Museum isn’t looking so bad now.

Cross contamination was the most likely culprit with students not washing their hands or utensils between handling raw and cooked meats.  Skewers taking the bacteria into the middle of the meat upon insertion could have been a carrier as well if the meat was undercooked.  But what’s the moral of the story?  Well it’s really two-fold:

1. Let’s be more creative about our field trips.
2. Make ABSOUTELY 100% SURE you are following safe food practices. People can get sick and possibly die.

Please make sure you’re safe with your food.  In this case nothing very serious happened.  In too many cases it does.  For the full story from Food Safety News, click here.

–Tim Snarr

Well, it’s been an interesting year in food safety. Some good things have happened and some not so good things. This little post will highlight some of the bigger stories that took place in 2011.

One of the biggest stories is that of the raw milk industry. It seems that recently you can’t find a food safety website or blog without finding an article about raw milk. The raw milk advocates testify about the health benefits of drinking raw milk, and on the other side, the food safety experts all say that raw milk is dangerous. We here at StateFoodSafety.com definitely side with the safe food experts in saying that raw milk has the possibility of being a very dangerous product. All dairy products should undergo pasteurization to be safe for human consumption. Although, if you’re interested in some raw milk preaching all you have to do is google “raw milk” and you’ll find many people declaring that they have seen the light of raw milk. As for myself, when I read that one of the first things that will happen when you drink your first cup of raw milk is diarrhea, I have to stop because that doesn’t sound like miracle food to me. It sounds like a foodborne illness.

Listeria was in the headlines an awful lot this year. 2011 saw the deadliest outbreak of Listeria in decades. Not only were there outbreaks in several different countries but in several unexpected food sources as well. Cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado were found responsible for one particularly deadly outbreak. When all was said and done the CDC investigation found 146 persons infected in 28 states–and 30 deaths! Our hearts go out to those families that suffered through this tragedy. We hope to never see another one like this.

In California, steps were taken to avoid more foodborne illness outbreaks. SB 303 passed the Senate and House and Governor Brown signed the law into effect on September 6, 2011. The bill, which amended Senate Bill 602, mandates that food handler training programs be accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

You can find more about the law by following this link: http://www.statefoodsafety.com/company/pages/articles/article-11

StateFoodSafety became the first online food handler training provider to receive the ASTM e2659 accreditation in California.

So in review, raw milk, listeria, and new food handler legislation; hopefully 2012 will bring more advances in foodborne illness prevention and fewer outbreaks. If we all do our part, even simple activities like handwashing can make everyone’s food safer. Happy New Year from StateFoodSafety.com!

–Tim Snarr

For more information about outbreaks and food safety in 2011, visit FoodSafetyNews.com.