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.

Our friends at CertificationMap asked us to share this info-graphic with you in honor of Handwashing Awareness Week.  Enjoy!

Via Certification Map – Teacher Credential & MAT@USC: Teacher Certification

Prior to this week I didn’t believe there could be a nationally-recognized day or week that needed more attention than the mid-August wonder that is Sneak Some Zucchini On To Your Neighbor’s Porch Night.  I have never been more wrong—ever.  This week, December 4-10, is National Handwashing Awareness Week 2011 and Global Handwashing Day is December 15.  Nothing has helped stay the advancement of disease and infection more than handwashing.  This is a week that needs to be brought to the forefront of all holidays (that means you, Arbor Day).

The number one thing we can do to prevent the spread of disease is regular, thorough handwashing.  As a teacher of junior high and high school-aged kids, I come in contact with just about every bug out there.  When the kids touch their desks, my desk, their papers, the door knobs, the blackboard, and everything else they seem to put their hands on, I find myself unable to avoid their germs.  Couple that with what my own young children bring home and everything they and their friends share; it’s a wonder I’m not permanently sick.  Our bodies are amazing at keeping infections and diseases at bay, but sometimes they need our help.  National Handwashing Week and StateFoodSafety.com want to give our bodies a hand (pun intended) when it comes to staying healthy.

Handwashing is simple and easy. There are only  a few steps:

1. Wet hands with warm water.
2. Apply soap.
3. Rub hands for 15-20 seconds. Remember to get under the fingernails and the backs of hands and wrists. For food handlers (and brain surgeons), washing the forearms is advisable.
4. Rinse.
5. Use a single-use paper towel or air dryer to dry.

That’s it! Nothing fancy. No fines to pay, no hoops to jump through; just easy common-sense practices. Now when should we wash our hands? The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests the following:

• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal or animal waste
• After touching garbage

This single, simple, and easy practice is the number one prevention tool against disease. Happy National Handwashing Week! Go out there and hug someone you love . . . then wash your hands.

-Tim Snarr

Queso Fresco garnishing this Latin dish

The State of Utah, StateFoodSafety.com’s own back yard, is making national news this month thanks to a mysterious bootleg vendor known only as “Mr. Cheese.” Since 2009, Mr. Cheese has been using raw milk to create queso fresco, a staple in classic Latin-American cuisine. The raw milk, however, was tainted with salmonella and may have been the cause of thousands of foodborne salmonella infections across the state since 2009. The Salt Lake Valley Health Department estimates that as many as 2,100 consumers may have become infected by the contaminated cheese.

Queso fresco is a creamy, mild, and salty cheese used as a garnish in many Hispanic dishes, its flavor being commonly compared to the Greek feta cheese. When purchased in the store or from licensed manufacturers, queso fresco can be a delicious and nutritious addition to dishes made in restaurants or at home. Mr. Cheese, however, was not licensed by the UTah Department of Agriculture and Food to make or sell his “bathtub cheese.” He sold the queso from the back of his car in unlabeled containers. The facility he used to make the cheese was also outside of the requirements for safe food manufacturing, with cheese being stored inside presses on the floor, and an abundance of flies in the room and around the equipment.

While Mr. Cheese’s underground operation has been closed by county officials, he has not yet been charged nor identified by name.

For more information on this interesting case, please see the following sources:

KSL.com

Marler Blog

A Raw Deal?

Joshua Freeman

Read full article here: www.theLondoner.ca

Pam Killeen is worried about her friend, Michael Schmidt. The Durham farmer has been on an ongoing hunger strike to try and get the Ontario government to change its thinking when it comes to the issue of raw milk.

“He sounds weak, but also very determined,” says Killeen — a Londoner who hosts a weekly radio spot on nutrition. “He says he’s willing to die for this cause. We’re all very worried.”

Schmidt says he won’t eat until he gets a meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty to discuss the dairy laws in the province.

So along with others Killeen has been engaged in a letter-writing campaign to try and get elected officials onside with their cause.

The issue, she says, is that it’s currently illegal to sell non-pasteurized milk in Ontario. Although it is legal to drink raw milk from a cow you own, it’s a crime to bottle it and sell it. Killeen says while there used to be good cause for such laws when filthy inner city dairies churned out unsanitary milk in the early 20th century, times have changed and the quality of raw milk can be assessed based on the health of the cows it comes from.

“It was deemed a hazardous product decades ago and they (government) just won’t let go of it,” she says.

Killeen says there are at least 300 people in London who regularly consume raw milk and that interest is growing.

“I’m part of a raw milk community in London,” she says. “Most people in this city don’t know a lot about food in general. I had to get very sick before I started to research the lack of quality in our food system today.”

Killeen says she suffered from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivities for more than a decade before she started changing her diet to rest on natural, nutrient-dense foods.

Moreover, she says Canada is one of the only advanced countries in the world where it’s actually illegal to sell raw milk.

“People want their freedom back,” she says. “They want to be able to walk into a store and buy raw milk if they want to.”

But health officials take a different perspective on the issue.

“It’s actually illegal to sell unpasteurized milk,” says Dave Pavletic, acting manager of the food safety program at the Middlesex-London Health Unit. “Unpastuerized milk has been implicated in several food-borne illnesses. If milk is unpasteurized there are several bacteria that can grow within the milk. Those include pathogens – harmful bacteria that can result in food poisoning.”  Read full article…

A Raw Deal?

Written by: Joshua Freeman

Taken from: http://www.thelondoner.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3354044

11/2011