Filtering by Tag: Salmonella

Food Safety Talk 218: Chromebooks Are Moldy

Added on August 21, 2020 by Don Schaffner.

After a brief bit of Skype and software talk the guys move on to important topics like what you call the metal things that catch the rain from your roof, podcasting microphones and project management software. Don talks about his recent adventure with mushrooms (no, not that kind of mushrooms), before a deep dive into Salmonella in onions, and the risks of getting the epidemiology wrong. The guys also talk about the recent FDA findings regarding Cyclospora in Florida water, and what it might mean or not mean. The show ends with a whirlwind tour of listener feedback on chives vs. green onions, SARS-CoV-2 on food packaging, moldy bread, Ben's dislike of "an abundance of caution" and how we can do risk better risk communication during food recalls.

Food Safety Talk 216: Not a Shoeborne Disease

Added on July 24, 2020 by Don Schaffner.

The podcast opens (as it usually does) with a discussion of Skype and podcasting. Ben quickly moves to a discussion of his perfected coffee receipe with a teaser regarding the details to come on Twitter later. Ben updates the podcast on his latest purchase, while Don just wants an Anthony Fauci bobblehead. Don mentions a recent guest appearance on another podcast before the guys launch into yet another discussion of the possibility of COVID-19 being transmitted by food (spoiler alert, probably not). The guys then segue into a discussion of an ongoing Salmonella outbreak, not yet linked to a vehicle. Ben asked Don about his opinion on 3-D printed chicken nuggets, and the show wraps up with a discussion of the safety regarding black garlic.

Food Safety Talk 202: We Are All Waiting for the Return

Added on February 1, 2020 by Don Schaffner.

The show opens with the discussion of construction near Ben's office, followed by a brief digression into what the guys are watching on TV. The talk about food safety begins with how one might prepare ancient Mesopotamia dishes. Then the guys talk in detail about a cut fruit outbreak that occurred at the end of 2019 caused by a small company near Rutgers University. There is a brief discussion of cleaning dishes and washing fresh produce before the guys talk about the YouTube star of Grandpa's Kitchen before a deep dive into sous vide. From there the discussion moves to a problematic inspection of Friendly's ice cream manufacturing. The closes with listener feedback from Twitter as well as Don's brief moment of fame as his five second rule research appears a preachers blog post.

The guys also announce their new hit podcast “Risky or Not”, for more details go to RiskyOrNot.co.

Food Safety Talk 176: Bug Book

Added on February 21, 2019 by Don Schaffner.

The show opens with a discussion about privacy, whether you should cover the microphone on your computer, or how you can scare your kids using Alexa. The guys talked briefly about what they're watching, Ben's trip to Athens Georgia, and celebrity feet. From there the show moves into listener feedback talking about the safety of eating Canadian seaweed. Listener feedback makes a interesting segue into failure, and the things we can learn from it. The show returns to listener feedback with a discussion about citrus safety and infused water. For some reason Don wants to talk about smoke detectors, before returning again to listener feedback and "Contamination Corner", and ways to learn about stuff you don't know about (like filibusters). Ben and Don talk about an interview that Don did for Cooking Light, before Don wants to talk about fixing his broken software. Ben ends the show with a long discussion regarding safe cooking directions for frozen vegetables, and why no one can agree. Show notes so you can follow along at home are below:

Food Safety Talk 166: Surprising lack of cannibalism questions

Added on October 15, 2018 by Don Schaffner.

Don and Ben traveled to SUNY Geneseo for a live version of the podcast sponsored by the Center for Integrative Learning, and hosted by the amazing Beth McCoy. The episode title comes from an unrecorded after dark which may or may not have taken place in a bar in Geneseo.

391f377ac67d2ceb06fecdb7799468e6--green-hornet-bruce-lee.jpg

Food Safety Talk 156: Rank the Kato's

Added on June 16, 2018 by Don Schaffner.

The show opens with a discussion of the new videogame Fortnight that Ben's kids are obsessed with. The guys briefly comment on a recent Do By Friday episode before talking about their recent travels. Since Ben was recently in Washington DC, he can't avoid talking about hockey and the Stanley Cup. The food safety talk begins in earnest when the guys talk about the sad and untimely death of chef Anthony Bourdain. The guys reminisce about him before shamelessly plugging their upcoming live podcast at the Food Law Seminar at Michigan State. The Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Adelaide Infections Linked to Pre-Cut Melon is in the news, and that's the next topic for discussion. A grab bag silly food safety topics rounds out the episode including Salmonella at Caffe Nero, cooking hotdogs on your snowmobile, the dangers of eating squid sperm, and the risks of tampering with food.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 124: Talking about Mike Scorpion

Added on April 20, 2017 by Don Schaffner.

This episode starts with a chat about the need for butter refrigeration, bats and scorpions in leafy greens (oh my). The guys briefly celebrate Ben's birthday before talking about risk attribution, and yet another hot take on the 5 second rule, eating insects on purpose, and "food safety" tips from the internet. They make two book recommendations before talking about rat lungworm and other disgusting things. The show wraps with an example of doing food safety right, and breaking news about doing food safety wrong before a brief dip into pop culture.

Food Safety Talk 122: Isn't that Ampersand?

Added on March 24, 2017 by Don Schaffner.

This episode opens with an interesting discovery about the messages app then quickly veers into popular culture, and almost as quickly back to food safety. Food safety talk on rice and Bacillus cereus is followed by a discussion of the Salmonella in truffle oil outbreak at Fig & Olive restaurants. The discussion then turns to recalls and when to go public. A recent Listeria recall linked to cheese made from pasteurized milk leads to talk about raw milk, followed by a brief segue into North Carolina life, and then on to a recent Lysol ad, and the five second rule. The show wraps up with a discussion of recipe safety, followed by what Ben thinks might be the best after dark ever.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 116: Amusing My Bouche

Added on January 4, 2017 by Don Schaffner.

Served gratis and according to your host's selection alone, we offer up this post-holiday treat for your listening pleasure.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 110: Drumsticks and Cornettos

Added on October 13, 2016 by Don Schaffner.

This week's episode has some audio quality issues towards the end. Listen to find out why. As usual, here are show notes so you can follow along at home.

Food Safety Talk 107: Univalve Mallets

Added on August 24, 2016 by Don Schaffner.

Show note links to follow along at home:

Food Safety Talk 94: Bagpiping hot

Added on March 13, 2016 by Don Schaffner.

In keeping with our sometimes new minimalist format, the show notes for episode 94 are brought to you via a markdown bulleted list.

Food Safety Talk 92: So we can't use that rice?

Added on March 4, 2016 by Don Schaffner.

Ben begins the podcast by praising Everything Zen. He then recounted an incident where he dropped the iPhone in the toilet and discovered that it was not waterproof. The conversation continues with talk about family vacations, The Wire, Making a Murderer, Jessica Jones, The Affair, Death in Paradise, and Star Wars. The guys reminisce about Food Safety Talk 85, (I am the Jerky Police) as Ben talks about a Beef Jerky outlet near his house.

The guys talk about Chipotle (again) and FDA’s report that two Chipotle outbreaks were linked to two different strains of E. coli O26. Don predicts at least one more Chipotle-related outbreak in 2016, while Ben predicts zero. The guys weigh in on claims that Chipotle was a victim of cooperate sabotage in retaliation for their anti-GMO menu. The guys also offer their thoughts on Chipotle’s decision to fire Norovirus infected employees and managers. Ben thinks that both the Chipotle outbreak and the recent Blue Bell incident are learning opportunities on what not to do.

The discussion turns to a recent paper by Larry Beuchat on the survival of Salmonella in cookies and cracker sandwiches, as well as an older paper by Scheinberg and others on the pathogens in poultry in farmers markets.

They conclude with a discussion on science communication.

Food Safety Talk 90: What if it's a service dragon?

Added on February 25, 2016 by Don Schaffner.

The guys begin the show by recommending two albums by Willie Nelson: Yesterday’s Wine and Half Nelson. The conversation moves quickly to the E. coli O157: H7 outbreak related to the chicken salad distributed by Costco. The celery and onion mix, provided by Taylor Farms, was the ingredient contaminated with the pathogen. The scope of the recall was large because it affected so many large retailers. Ben contrasted this recall with the Salmonella outbreak linked to Hershey chocolate in 2006. In that particular case, the supplier of soy lecithin was not revealed by the Canadian Food Inspection agency.

From there the talk turns to an FDA warning letter to Gold State Nut which cites the company president for handling nuts after touching his bearded dragon. A Salmonella outbreak in 2014 was linked to bearded dragons and resulting 166 illnesses.

The show switches gears when Don shares a hypothetical food safety regulatory scenario with Ben and asks how it would be regulated in North Carolina and New Jersey. Ben notes it would be regulated via a clarification memo. This leads to a discussion of home rule. Ben mentions outbreaks in Alabama and Maryland, linked to similar events. The podcast ends with talking about the movies Legal Eagles and Star Wars.

Ben and Don conclude by encouraging the listeners to rate Food Safety Talk in iTunes.

Food Safety Talk 80: Literally the hummus I'm eating

Added on September 19, 2015 by Don Schaffner.

The show opens with a discussion of Don's mic stand and quickly segues into "Linda's Famous Cigar Story", and Ben's annual pollen throat. After a discussion of their various ailments, Don wishes Ben an almost 37th birthday.

Ben is currently expecting a new macbook, which was discussed on Episode 116 of the Talk Show. Don shares his recent experiences looking at Apple Watch in the Apple Store, and his preference for the Milanese Loop and his new burr grinder and aeropress.

When the talk turns to food safety, Ben talks about his work with Family & Consumer Sciences in North Carolina, (called Family and Community Health Sciences at Rutgers University) and how Ben has recently changed his training practices from classroom lecture to supermarket and restaurant inspection field trips based on inspiration from Dara Bloom.

This inspires Don to talk about the work he's doing to help documentary film makers doing a story on shelf life dating of foods especially milk. Ben shares some of the myths circulating about expired milk including this bogus article from Livestrong, and the work he's doing on expired food and food pantries.

From there the discussion moves to other shelf life myths including the egg float or shake tests, and why they are bogus, as well as places to go for good egg information, because someone on the Internet will always be wrong.

The discussion turns to recalled hummus recall messaging and Ben's post hockey snacking tips.

As the guys wrap up the show they briefly talk about Blue Bell ice cream and the doses of Listeria that might have made people sick and the future of food safety given the advances in molecular biology, clinical microbiology and whole genome sequencing. Ben shares some final thoughts on Salmonella in spices and how whole genome sequencing might impact that industry too.

In the brief after dark, Ben and Don talk about yoga, and getting healthy, the Turing Test, and the new Star Wars movie trailer.

Food Safety Talk 76: Get 'em really hot

Added on May 14, 2015 by Ben Chapman.

This episode starts with a discussion of Ben’s taste in music, and then quickly moves into documentaries. Ben recently watched Jodorowsky’s Dune, on Don’s recommendation. This documentary has some ‘artful nudity’ that leads to a discussion of perverts on airplanes and the appropriateness of reading material such as Fifty Shades of Grey while crammed into an airplane seat. The conversation naturally transitioned into a discussion of microphone stands and coffee. Ben notes that owning a Nespresso machine has changed his life; he ranks it among his top 10 life changing things (including his wife and children). The guys then discuss other pop-culture topics including Deflate-Gate and TV shows The Affair, Portlandia (which had an episode satirizing raw milk), and Garfunkel and Oates. Note that Portlandia is required viewing before attending IAFP 2015 in Portland this summer

Ben leads off the actual food safety talk by mentioning sprouts and the number of outbreaks associated with them. The guys then discuss experiments to validate sprout cooking processes including charred bean sprouts. Ben then brings up the idea of baking cookies in a car and a visit from Linda Harris (who now downloads and listens). From there the talk turns to pathogen reduction validations for baking processes spurred by the Wegmans recall of baked fruit desserts last summer, presumably because they contained peaches recalled for Listeria.

The FDA’s Reportable Food Registry, along with CDC whole genome sequencing of pathogens, is enabling more illnesses to be linked to products, as seen in Salmonella Braenderup linked to nut butter. Ben predicts more businesses will have to issue recalls because of validation issues, and the investigations that accompany these recalls will isolate pathogens from within facilities that can be linked to other illnesses which have occurred over months and years prior.

The discussion then turns to the very bad blizzard that New Jersey never had. Don discusses the similarities between the models for weather forecasting and models in food safety. Both situations have consequences for over or under reacting; both present risk management and risk communication difficulties.

A tweet from The New Yorker made Don mad: Bill Marler may be all that stands between you and Salmonella. This resulted in Don tweeting back to The New Yorker. Ben mentioned it was probably just Betteridge’s Law of Headlines. Bill Marler is probably not all that stands between you and Salmonella; as there are a few more people trying to do the right thing. The guys then go on to discuss how Marler and Caroline Smith DeWaal, a lawyer with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, have become controversial but generally respected food safety personalities over the years.

Don recently was quoted in an article about the safety of various cuts of meat (and Barfblogged here). Don and Ben were so happy Don was quoted correctly, they were able to ‘ding’ their podcast bell; a auditory high-five.

Pork has a reputation for being dangerous but decreases in the prevalence of Trichinella and Americans tendency to overcook pork have reduced the actual risk, so Ben wanted to discuss a recent MMWR Trichinellosis report. Don mentions ‘The Batz Report’ which determined the top 10 pathogen-food combinations with the greatest burden in public health. This led to a discussion of sample size, detection limits, consumption rates, and risk messaging, leading to the conclusion that cultural practices in food preparation adds complexity to the determination of risk.

Food Safety Talk 54: Rubber Dingus

Added on January 25, 2014 by Don Schaffner.

The show started with Don sharing his recent Systematic experience. Ben then wanted some help with a prevalence calculation, as prompted by his undergraduate lecturer Ronald Brooks. The guys then reminisced about their high school teachers before turning on the freezing weather and frozen food, thanks to AFFI-CON 2014.

In answer to a listener question on the 4-hour rule, Don shared his recent JFP paper. Similar calculations (also by Don) have been used by a Conference for Food Protection (CFP) committee to develop guidance on lack of temperature control during emergency situations. That guidance will be presented as part of the 2014 CFP.

Thanks to the book "I Wear the Black Hat", Ben has really gotten back into heavy metal, especially Metallica, while Don's been re-reading The Sandman. This got the guys into a discussion of DC Comics versus Marvel Comics.

In the IAFP History segment the guys covered the 1980's, which saw the introduction of new technologies, like vacuum packaging and irradiation, the emergence of new pathogens, such as E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter, as well as zero tolerance).

The guys then speculated about the Salmonella Stanley outbreak linked to raw cashew cheese, before turning their attention to the Fox and Donkey meat scandal in China and the potential zoonotic food safety risks associated with foxes.

Ben then got a buzz from the 12 Surprising things you can make with a coffee pot, because it reminded of his college days. He's considering including the poaching chicken in a coffee maker as part of the dishwasher cooking research project discussed on earlier episodes. While there was plenty of wacky stuff on the interwebs over the holidays, this Wall Street Journal article about a frog in a Pret A Manger salad got Don all jumpy about Pret A Manger's knowledge about pesticides and food safety.

The guys finished the show discussing the Food Safety News article on "How to Break a Foodborne Illness Story."

In the after dark, Ben shared his work habits and this turned into a discussion of Don and Ben's favourite Starbucks. The guys then shared some movies and TV shows they like, including Saving Mr Banks, American Hustle, Back to the Future (I, II and III), Honey, I shrunk the Kids, Despicable me, Call the Midwife and Last Tango in Halifax.

Food Safety Talk 52: A Keene epidemiologist

Added on December 20, 2013 by Ben Chapman.

The guys started the show dreaming about a Red Mac Pro. They then turned to the passing of Bill Keene. Bill has been mentioned in various FST episodes and was a well respected epidemiologist as seen in the articles by the Oregonian and Doug Powell. The guys then turned to their beverages, Coffee Club, Napoleon Dynamite, Homeland, and Car Talk. Ben shared his preference for Aussie Rule football and Arcade Fire's album Reflektor. The conversation then turned to Don's limited iPhone music library, Privateering and Dire Straights, which reminded Ben of Money for Nothing and WWE Wrestling (not WWF Wrestling). To finish they talked about Christmas music, Bad Religion's Christmas Songs, Coulton and Roderick's One Christmas at a Time and Horrible Christmas songs.

Ben confused IAFP's History with Bug Trivia and shared Julian Cox's information about the 1960's, and this evolved into a broader discussion about the IAFP and its membership.

The discussion then turned back to Bill Keene and some of the outbreaks he had been involved in. This included a Salmonella Panama outbreak (not to be confused with Van Halen's Panama), which was the first outbreak that was solved through the innovative use of supermarket loyalty cards and that Bill and others were sued for (the lawsuit was eventually dropped.. The guys then discussed outbreak investigation in some detail and that public health officials are damned if they do and damned if they don't name commodities and suppliers. There is of course always a risk of getting the epidemiology wrong, as was the case with Salmonella Saintpaul in peppers. Finally, Bill's investigation of a Norovirus outbreak reminded Ben of a recent Norovirus outbreak in Las Vegas.

Then Ben commented on an exchange with Chris Gunter, who was presenting on traceability for small producers at the 2013 Strawberry Expo. Chris' presentation is based on the investigation of an E. coli O157 outbreak related to strawberries, in which Bill Keene played a part.

In the after dark, the guys reflected on mortality and that we should all Enjoy Every Sandwich. And because they love him, Rob Ford got a mention again and again.

Food Safety Talk 50: Fifty pink flamingos

Added on November 18, 2013 by Ben Chapman.

The guys started the show with a Flamingo flash back, Don's iTunes Radio "Grateful Dead" channel experiment (sans Katy Perry and Kanye West), New Girl with Zooey Deschanel, She & Him, Steve Earle, The Walking Dead, the Pulling the String podcast, and The Lone Ranger.

Don then shared how he used the Internet's way-back machine (not to be confused with Mister Peabody's WABAC Machine) to get around the black-out of US government websites.

Ben then turned to an NPR article about the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network and a Kickstarter campaign to create an open source HACCP plan. This lead into a broader discussion of the work undertaken by extension specialists, Don's 'useless' Twitter exchange and how to find out about food safety using Let Me Google That For You.

In the Food Safety History segment, Don shared information from the IAFP History book about the 1950's and an increased focus on preventing foodborne illness.

Don then returned to his recent Twitter exchange about hand washing with @Frankly and @danbenjamin, which included this article from About.com. The article, which referenced unpublished work from 2000 by Barbara Almanza on hand sanitizers, got the guys fired up about the regulatory system and undertaking effective research on the assessing the efficacy of hand sanitizers. After taking yet another detour into the world of The Wire, the guys returned to hand sanitizers and discussed some research articles, including:

To finish this monster show, the guys briefly touched on Foster Farms fiasco, which they've kept on their list of things to discuss next time.

By the time the after dark came around Don was contemplating a career in pottery, while Ben favored rolling cigars for a living.

Food Safety Talk 48: Ninja moves to rock and roll

Added on September 26, 2013 by Don Schaffner.

The guys started the show with some general chit chat about The Beer Store and The Nail Shop, the Beach Boys, including "Pet Sounds", Chuck Berry, Bed Bad Baaaaaaatz, Don's Etymotic hf5 earphones, Twitter, (including this discussion), and Barb O'Neill's great work.

Prompted by a link from Alejandro Amezquita, the guys then turned their attention to laundry and in the process gave the phrase "Eat My Shorts!" a new meaning. In the article, Lisa Ackerley discussed the hygiene of laundering. The guys recalled a couple of research articles by Chuck Gerba related to the topic (here and here). Neither Don nor Ben were particularly worried about this.

This reminded Ben of The Salt article on cooking food in the dishwasher. The guys discussed the potential risk of this approach and the sciences that is needed. Another The Salt article on washing poultry had also resulted in a large amount of social media engagement, which is something the Don and Ben are always keen to explore. And both enjoyed Alton Brown's proper method for washing out the inside of a whole poultry.

The guys then moved onto the bug trivia replacement segment called Food Safety History, in honor of a 100 years of the IAFP Journal of Food Protection. In this episode the Don covered the pre 1940 era. It all started with the Journal of Milk Technology and the connection with raw milk reminded Ben of this Toronto Star article.

Don then wanted to talk about this NY Times article, related to Salmonella in spices, and the related Food Microbiology article. Don posed Ben the questions that he was asked for a Rutgers Q&A press release on this topic and the guys compared their answers.

The guys then got fired up about the Cronut Burger-related outbreak article by Jason Tetro. Ben didn't quite agree with some of Jason's assumptions, so Ben queried the manufacturers about the parameters of the product, which Le Dolci didn't know. Ben eventually found the answer from Toronto Public Health, and was able to set the record straight.

To finish off, Don mentioned The New Disruptors podcast (earlier episodes), which featured Marisa McClellan in Episode 38 "Yes, we can!" talking about food preservation. Don was pleasantly surprised by her knowledge, including her mention of the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

In the after dark the guys continued the canning discussion, including Canvolution, Canning Across America and pink flamingos for their 50th episode.