Thinking About That Traditional Fall Treat? Here’s What You Need To Know About Caramel Apples: The American Society of Microbiology (ASM) published a report this month noting that caramel apples may become contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes if not refrigerated. Learn more here.
Foodborne and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks – US, 1971 – 2012 New Summary: The CDC released a new report summarizing data on foodborne and waterborne disease outbreaks from 1971 to 2012. To find out more visit the
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) for October 23, 2015.
Division of Hotels and Restaurants Home Page: The Department of Hotels and Restaurant regulates public food service and lodging establishments operating in the state of Florida. This program offers some great information on their home page. Visit DBPR to take a look.
September is National Food Safety Education Month! FRLA and SafeStaff are celebrating National Food Safety Month along with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Magazine. Check out this year’s Food Safety Edition of the Magazine. Articles range from food safety for buffets, DNA Sequencing in Florida to Crisis Communications Planning, Seafood Choice, and more on Allergens. In addition, you can find out how FRLA’s Regulatory Compliance Services’ employee Victor Konters offered his advice and service to the 2015 National Food Safety Summit.
Cyclopora is Happening: Hundreds of people in the US have been sickened with Cyclospora, a parasite that causes symptoms such as stomach cramps, nausea, bloating, and more. Serious complications may occur as well. Read more about Cyclospora at the Food Poison Journal.
Pre-Washed Spinach Still Needs to Be Rinsed Before Using: While in so many cases, produce is sold to restaurants as pre-washed and ready-to-eat without further preparation, it is always best to take the extra step and clean all produce as if it has not been pre-washed. The “topography” of the produce seems to be a factor in whether or not pathogens have been removed. Read the Food Safety News to find out more.
The Toronto Public Health Authority has established an “anonymous, voluntary and confidential” website to encourage those sickened with potential foodborne illness to report details. For more information about this campaign visit the Food Safety News for more information.
Just In Time Disaster Training Resource: This website’s compilation of hundreds of disaster training videos is an excellent resource for anyone. It also includes video about foodborne illness outbreak awareness. Check out the Just In Time Disaster Training video resource library. There is something for almost every situation you can think of.
Have You Ever Wondered About Where Our Fish Really Comes From? We all know that fish is either farm-grown or harvested in the wild. Well, here is a group of animated maps showing just where large commercial fishing vessels were located around the world between 2012 and 2013. It is pretty interesting and relevant when you think about approved source, illegal or unregulated fishing. Check out Global Fishing Watch here.
Have You Ever Wondered About Where Our Fish Really Comes From? We all know that fish is either farm-grown or harvested in the wild. Well, here is a group of animated maps showing just where large commercial fishing vessels were located around the world between 2012 and 2013. It is pretty interesting and relevant when you think about approved source, illegal or unregulated fishing. Check out Global Fishing Watch here.
Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) Has Released Its 2014 Food Safety Progress Report: FoodNet’s Report is quite interesting in that it reflects some positive changes with E. coli 0157 and Yersinia and negative changes with Campylobacter and Vibrio. It reflects no change at all with Salmonella. This report also includes the Healthy People 2020 target rate compared to the results of this report. Check it out at the CDC.
Food Safety For Power Outages: With Florida’s hurricane season just around the corner beginning June 1, 2015, it is a great time to think about food safety during power outages. Foodsafety.gov has some good information for you to review prior to storm season. This information is great for both your home and business. The University of Florida IFAS Extension has some excellent information. Read it here. Should you experience a power outage, you might be instructed to follow “Boil Water Guidelines.”
Consumer Reports Study Reveals 60 Percent of Frozen Shrimp Contaminated with Pathogens: A new Consumer Reports study is out and the news isn’t good for frozen shrimp. Pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Vibrio, Listeria, E. coli and more was found in at least 60% of all frozen shrimp. In addition, antibiotic residuals and MRSA were detected in some samples. To read more visit the Food Safety News.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Has Compiled Industry and Regulatory Assistance and Training Resources in One Place: This is a great source for all of your food safety questions and concerns. From time and temperature control for safety, to employee health, HACCP, the Oral Culture Learner Project and preventing cross-contamination, this is a great compilation of information. Take at look at the FDA.
Self-Serve Buffets Offer Up A Bounty of Illness: Food for thought for all-you-can-eat buffets has been provided by the Food Safety News along with a couple of ideas to prevent the spread of foodborne illness.
New Approaches to Food Safety Testing Under Way: A start-up in Hong Kong is testing the use of “glowing” fish embryos as a method to determine if high levels of harmful contaminants are present in food. For more information about Vitargent’s new approach visit the Food Safety News.
Harvard University Study Finds That Electrically-Charged Water Could Help Clean Up Pathogens In Food: “Nanosized” water droplets may replace other less adequate methods of produce disinfection. Check out the Food Safety News for more information.
ICYMI: President Obama Proposed A Single Federal Level Food Safety Oversight Agency: The Obama Administration has made overtures towards moving all food safety oversight on the federal level from 15 agencies to one giant agency located within the Department of Health and Human Services. Private sector food safety experts and other interested parties are opposed to this move. The New York Times has this story.
Why Not Reduce Foodborne Illness Through Education in Our Schools? To find out more about this approach, which isn’t so novel, but is compelling, read this article by Lydia Zuraw published in the Food Safety News.
The CDC Attributes Nearly 21,000,000 Cases of Foodborne Illness Every Year to Norovirus: Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States each year. Read more about it in the Food Poison Journal.
The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Has Aggregated Some Information About Wild Mushrooms: This is a comprehensive web page of information about wild mushrooms.
