Blaise Pascal, a French scientist of the 17^th century, researched the effects of pressure on fluids. His research lead him to a method called high pressure processing (HPP) which uses pressure—rather than heat, chemicals, or irradiation—to preserve and sanitize food. Although discovered long ago, HPP has become quite a big deal in the food industry as of late.

In a Food Safety News article called “Putting on the Pressure: ‘No Heat’ Way to Zap Pathogens,” Cookson Beecher explains that more than four centuries after Pascal’s scientific advance, HPP is being utilized by companies like Maple Lodge Farms, Starbucks, Cargill, and Hormel to kill harmful pathogens like E.coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. And the good news is that this process does not change the nutritional quality or the taste of the treated food.

Many people in the food safety world regard HPP as a “natural option for food safety” and a “technological breakthrough.” V.M. Balasubramaniam, an HPP researcher, says that Cargill’s use of HPP is “the most promising food-safety innovation in recent years” and will become a “key player in food safety.” Companies are learning that HPP, though a more expensive way of preserving and sanitizing food, is worth the extra money to their consumers who are becoming increasingly aware of food safety issues.

To learn more about HPP and its process, check out this video. For the full Food Safety News article, hit up the source link below.

–Aubrey Pontious

Source: Food Safety News

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 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 departments 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