Filtering by Tag: Thermometers

Food Safety Talk 164: 99 Problems, but Power Ain't One

Added on September 17, 2018 by Don Schaffner.

The show opens with a deep dive on Ben's adventures before during and after hurricane Florence. From there the guys proceed through listener feedback talking about cured meats, dried food debris, microbiological quality of money, kitchen sanitation, revisiting Ben's recent experience with human subjects, revisiting how to learn more about the organism that may have made you sick, pasteurizing eggs, exclusion of ill workers, thermometer calibration, and food out of temperature control. The show ends with discussion of a recent scholarly article on raw milk outbreaks, as well as a news article on an E. coli outbreak at a daycare center.

Food Safety Talk 162: FST Bolo Ties

Added on August 20, 2018 by Don Schaffner.

The show opens with a bit of discussion about other podcasts, but quickly moves to the main subject at hand: a recent study on the increased isopropanol tolerance of certain bacteria found in hospitals. The guys weigh in on the strengths and weaknesses of the study, including it's relevance to food safety, with some help via listener feedback. The next topic is Chipotle's recent problem with Clostridium perfringens in their beans. The guys introduce a new segment on Canadian foods, before moving to listener feedback on fermented foods, CSPI, and thermometer calibration, times and temperatures, food dehydrators, handwashing, and double gloving. The show ends with a discussion of a recent cookbook recall.

Food Safety Talk 128: It's the Esters, John

Added on June 21, 2017 by Don Schaffner.

The show begins with a discussion of Ben's recent travels. From there the discussion moves on to obligatory talk about beverages, Canadian and Philadelphia accents, Apple, and other podcasts. The food safety talk begins in earnest with the discussion about what is meant by the words "risk assessment". From there the discussion turns to "food safety programs", restaurant inspections and what customers might want to know, the humor of David Lloyd, and then back to meat safety and proper thermometer use. The show ends with The Onions humorous take on handwashing water temperature. The After Dark contains the usual nonsense including talk about music videos.

Food Safety Talk 47: But that's not science

Added on September 4, 2013 by Ben Chapman.

The guys started by talking about their office and home podcasting set-ups; how Don inspired his son Zac; podcast sponsorship (thanks Dr. Indian Clarified Butter); the Food Science short course at Rutgers; MC-ing; Ben’s wedding; and, customer service at Frito Lay’s and General Mills.

In the bug trivia segment the guys talked about the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, recently reviewed by Beniamino and colleagues. T. gondii was ranked the second worst pathogen in terms of quality adjusted life years (QALY) by Mike Batz (guest on FST 4) and colleagues, and recently featured on Back to Work.

The discussion took a short detour to food thermometers, including the PDT 300, iGrill, and ThermaPen, before coming around to the retiring Pete Snyder, from HI-TM. Pete is held in high regard by both Ben and Don, not only because he wasn’t afraid to ask questions, like Don did in the comment exchange to the Snapper barfblog article. Thanks to Pete’s guidance Ben is always seeking the primary information for creating his Infosheets. A classic example of Pete’s drive for the scientific justification relates to the information produced on thawing poultry at ambient temperatures, which was picked up by barfblog.

Ben then talked about the CDC report on the tempeh related outbreak discussed in FST 18. He found it interesting that many of the illnesses appeared to be caused by cross-contamination rather than consumption of the contaminated, unpasteurized tempeh. Don was bummed that his own work wasn’t cited by the CDC, but he noted that Michelle’s recent work showed that cross-contamination was facilitated by moisture. This then turned into a broader discussion around managing risks in a food service setting.

Don then wanted to hear Ben’s thoughts about Bill Marler’s question on what cantaloupe and baseball have in common. Bill’s suggestion to change the incentives had the flavor of a Modest Proposal, but without the satire. Ben agreed that retailers and restaurants should be held responsible, as without them there isn’t enough pressure on the suppliers. The guys then discussed third party audits and the setting of supplier standards. Both agreed that the current system doesn’t work how it should and that proper data analysis could provide significant insights.

In the after dark the guys talked about Ben’s upcoming trip to Brazil, the PCV show, food safety a-holes, Mexican wrestling masks, the Conference for Food Protection councils, laws and sausages, and getting hurt at the doctor's office.

Food Safety Talk 8: They both end in 40, so they rhyme

Added on December 9, 2011 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben talk a lot about temperatures, thermometers, answering tough questions and the best place to tell your kids where babies come from. Show me the data/show me your work becomes a theme for the episode.

Ben's new microphone items (1,2 and 3) and headphones (via Dan Benjamin)
NACMCF Consumer Guidelines for the Safe Cooking of Poultry Products panel report that Don was part of.
USDA/FSIS Appendix A.
Essentially instantaneous death.
Log reductions, not yule log reductions.
Absolute zero.
What a million servings of ground beef might look like (sort of).
Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says that the answer is 42. Ben knows the reference, has not read the book or seen the movie.
D-values and Z-values (pronounced "zed" values in Canada).
Choosing the right thermometer from guru Pete Snyder.
2009 FDA model food code and the Conference for Food Protection.
Show me the data/science.
Show your work.
Elizabeth Weise, reporter extrordinaire.
Cooking a turkey from a frozen state.
Don's barfblog post on Nathan Myhrvold's book.
Meet the Pete test.
I Don't Know, the Sheepdogs.
NJ car inspections, where you can learn where babies come from.
Paper detaing Health Canada's review of poultry temperatures.
Guatemalan raspberries - the Canadian/US experiment. The ultimate case-control study.
Rocky's egg drink.
Types of companies (1,2) that worry about transport time and temperature.
Bacterial lag time, different from a lag putt or a lag bolt.
It's complicated.
Answer the question, Claire.
We don't usually answer tough questions.
The true Danger Zone, don't let the food safety nerds fool you.
Ze Frank.
Now it's serious business.

They Both End in 40, So They Rhyme