The Canberra Times is reporting that counties in the USA that have imposed plastic bag bans on supermarkets have also had higher rates of food poisoning and subsequent deaths.

The Canberra Times article was titled “Study links plastic bag ban with increase in food-related deaths” and is available online, and references the research from the Social Science Research Network website. The referenced article is titled “Grocery Bag Bans and Foodborne Illness”

Both references can be accessed by clicking on the links above.

The Canberra Times article indicated:

One study conducted in California and Arizona found most shoppers did not use separate bags for meat and vegetables, did not wash reusable grocery bags, and often stored them in car boots, resulting in the growth of bacteria.

“If individuals fail to clean their reusable bags, these bacteria may lead to contamination of the food transported in the bags. Such contamination has the potential to lead to health problems and even death,” the paper states.

Focussing on a plastic bag ban introduced in San Francisco in 2007, the paper then compares the instances of emergency hospital admissions and deaths for food-related illness across counties with and without plastic bag bans, as well as across time periods before and after bans are introduced.

“We find that both deaths and ER visits spiked as soon as the ban went into effect,” the paper concludes.

In short, the article was referencing the importance of washing ALL food contact surfaces that are reused.

There are also some bacterias that are environmental so even if the produce you have purchased is in a bag it may not be protected…..

To protect consumers, the Food Standards Code has specific references in Standard 3.2.2 that relate to Single Use Items to prevent potential contamination.

Environmental studies have also found that the traditional cloth “green” environmental bags need to be used almost 200 times to have a lower impact on the environment. (as shown above in the photo by Wayne Taylor)

Maxpak Australasia, a HACCP Certified food grade packaging supplier have a great range of single use biodegradable bags that are great for the environment AND as a single use item, great for managing the safety of the foods you serve.

On the 5th April 2013 our Founder and Managing Director Mr Gavin Buckett was interviewed for an article in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Sunday newspaper the Sun Herald.

The article was on the NSW Food Authority Name and Shame website and indicated the number of businesses that had appeared on the site, including references to the businesses that had appeared on multiple times.

The article appeared on the Sun Herald front page and and then continued on Sun Herald Pages 8 and 9 with a double page spread.

We have attached the pages for your reference via the links above.

Let’s hope that there is a follow up article on the positive aspects of the NSW Food Authority “Scores on Doors” system as well as those businesses that choose to be HACCP Certified.

Food poisoning can happen to anyone!

In Denmark, a world renowned 2 star Michelin Restaurant caused food poisoning for 63 people.

As recently reported by the ABC news Danish Food Safety officials ordered a cleanup and better food handling at Noma, one of the world’s top restaurants with menu costs up to 1,500 korner ($260) and where table reservations often must be made months in advance.

The clean up was ordered after more than 60 people fell ill with viral gastroenteritis from eating at the two-star Michelin eatery that has also hit top spot three times in the world’s best restaurants list in Restaurant magazine, highlighting how important Food Safety is no matter how profound you’re in the restaurant world.

The 63 infected people ate at Noma between Feb 12 and 16, according to a food safety report based on an inspection of local restaurants and food retail companies a week later. Restaurant manager Peter Kreiner apologized for the incidents and said they were trying to track the source of the infection with officials.

Noma, which opened in 2004, is widely known for its chef Rene Redzepi who relies on fresh, locally sourced products, from moss and snails to sloe berries and unripe plums. The restaurant has been credited with redefining Nordic cooking and receives thousands of reservation requests every day.

This article puts into view just how easy it is for the unexpected and unthinkable to happen. Could this happen to you and your business? Are you implementing all of the safe food handling practices needed to ensure the only way your business will end up in the news is for good reasons?

The original online news article for this food poisoning outbreak

When setting out to clean the kitchen, many people grab the closest cleaning agent without understanding the difference between disinfectants and sanitisers or knowing which one is used for the mess that needs to be wiped up.

The difference between the two is easiest enough to understand but sometimes tricky to remember. To help distinguish the two, just remember to keep it simple: Disinfectants STOP bacteria and sanitisers SLOW down bacteria.

The scientific reason behind the difference of disinfectants and sanitisers is the dilution. Disinfectants must have higher capability for killing pathogenic bacteria compared to that of a sanitiser.  According to EPA requirements a disinfectant must kill 99.99% or more of specified bacteria whereas sanitisers must kill at least 99.99% of three specified bacteria within a specified time period.

Disinfectants stop the growth of microorganisms (bacteria such as fungi, bacteria and viruses) on non-living surfaces in its place. The most powerful factor of disinfectants is the fact that it can actually kill these microorganisms when used properly and effectively! Because disinfectants are chemical agents that killing bacteria and also slow their return down, it’s best used for cleaning kitchen surfaces that meat, fish, poultry and eggs have been prepared on.

Sanitisers reduce the amount of microorganisms to a safe level but cannot kill them since they don’t contain that killer chemical agent that disinfectant does. This doesn’t mean that sanitisers aren’t effective or a great cleaning agent; instead, it’s better used for regular kitchen surfaces around the kitchen that raw poultry or other food-poisoning bacteria haven’t been exposed to.

In order to get the maximum effect out of sanitisers, it’s extremely important to first scrub down the surface with regular soap and hot water, dish detergents, ammonia-based cleaners and all-purpose cleaners.

Popular Types Of Disinfectants

Alcohol – Alcohol solutions are a base ingredient for many other disinfectants and great for disinfecting skin and decontaminating surfaces.  Alcohol is an excellent pathogen destroyer but it must be left in contact with surfaces for at least 20 minutes to be effective.

Aldehydes – All forms of aldehydes have different ways of working to disinfect surface areas as well as a wide range of germicidal activity that can be highly toxic to humans and animals.  It should only be used as a last resort and in a well ventilated area.

Ammonia – Ammonia is one of the most effective and fast working disinfecting products out there but can be extremely dangerous to the skin and the respiratory tract. This should NEVER be mixed with bleach since it will produce toxic fumes and can cause severe and sometimes fatal injuries.

Chlorhexidine – Because this agent isn’t irritating to skin, it’s a popular kitchen cleaner and is used for general surfaces and also commonly used for cleaning skin wounds.

Chlorine – Also known as bleach, chlorine is harsh but very effective. If used in an environment that is too hot, bleach can create toxic fumes, much like ammonia. In order to bleach kitchen surfaces in the safest and most effective way, make sure the temperature remains at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Popular Types Of Sanitisers

Iodophor – Acidic iodine-based sanitisers have a universal killing effect on all types of microbes but since the amount of active ingredients to achieve the same killing power as a disinfectant is lower in iodophors, the killing time is reduced.

Hypochlorites – At regular levels, hypochorites aren’t poisonous to the human body, yet, contain powerful germicides that can control a wide range of microbes. The downside is that it does contain a short shelf-life and can be corrosive on some metals or give off chlorine gas when mixed with acids.

There are some multi-purpose cleaners now available that work as a sanitiser to slow bacteria down if left on the surface for a short period of time and then a bacteria-killing disinfectant if left on the surface for an extended amount of time. Regardless, always remember to first check your label to distinguish the two and read the directions for proper usage!

Now that you understand the difference between using disinfectants and sanitisers when cleaning a kitchen, grab that bottle of cleaner and scrub away to keep kitchens sparkly and everyone healthy!

When people get a bacterial infection, antibiotics are used to kill harmful bacteria that are safe to the human body. For other bacteria found within food or contaminated surfaces and utensils, different methods, such as heat, UV radiation and chemicals are used to effectively control bacteria.

Methods used to kill bacteria and control it from spreading is known as microbial control which consists of three general categories:

• Physical – heat, freeze-drying, ultraviolet radiation and filtration
• Chemical – chemical agents like disinfectants Lysol or Clorox, destroy most vegetative cells
• Chemotherapeutic – antibiotics used to treat patients diagnosed with an infectious disease

The most commonly known bacteria often found in the kitchen is called Salmonella. Salmonella bacteria are found in raw meat, especially raw poultry eggs, unprocessed milk and surprisingly, chocolate! If consumed, these bacteria can cause many not-so-good sicknesses, otherwise known as, food borne illnesses. With over 2,000 different strains of Salmonella, all forms can result in unpleasant to serious symptoms of food poisoning if it’s not prevented beforehand.

Cutting down on the amount of Salmonella poisoning that enters the kitchen or gets spread across the countertops can be easily managed just by following a few simple steps:

• Cook raw meat thoroughly to the proper temperature
• Properly refrigerate and freeze food
• Always thaw food in the refrigerator and never leave sitting out at room temperature
• Separate raw meat and fish to keep them from touching each other or other food when shopping and storing
• Keep cutting boards for raw meat and other food separate and stored in a different location so that you don’t mix up the cutting boards
• Wash hands, utensils and kitchen surfaces thoroughly with hot, soapy water as soon as you’re finished touching raw meat to prevent bacteria from spreading

Having a clean kitchen is extremely important, whether it’s in the home or in a fine dining restaurant, it’s inevitable that raw meat will end up on kitchen counters, sinks and storage areas before getting cooked. Because of this, the safest and most effective methods of cleaning are needed to keep these kitchens cooking!

Disinfectants are one of the most popular AND most important chemicals used in kitchens because of the compound it contains that destroys or inhibits the growth of bacteria. When disinfectants are applied to countertops, sinks, trashcans or other areas, its chemical reactions completely wipe out those little microbes.

Sterilisation is obviously the best way to sanitise anything but when talking about ingesting food, disinfectant is less extreme and much less likely to endanger people, pets and plants when applied the right way.

Different disinfectants do work differently than each other with some holding the potential to kill bacteria and others, to simply stunt its growth. That’s why it’s extremely important to know which type of disinfectant you’re buying before bringing it into your kitchen

While there are several types of these disinfectants out on the market, there are two basic types that most people are familiar with: Typical disinfectant and inhibitors. The difference between these two types is that your typical disinfectant stops the growth of bacteria by killing them and your inhibitors only prevent bacteria growth.

Much like taking antibiotics for too long can become ineffective to your immune system, disinfectants can also become less effective after prolonged use. Sometimes, a few bacteria escape the cleaning process and produce new populations resistant to the specific disinfectant.

These little fugitives can then develop altered genetic structure that allows it to survive additional antibiotic treatments which delves into a whole deal of science that only specialised scientists can fully understand!

The bottom line is, know your kitchen disinfectants and even more importantly, know how to use them because this will make ALL of the difference between delicious, healthy food and sickening, food poisoned food!

Today’s blog post is a follow-up to the Will Smith Food Safety Parody we published recently.

It’s a two-song medley: “Microbes, They Might Kill You” and “We Are the Microbes”, a parody of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions,” as performed by Carl Winter.

The animations were produced at New Mexico State University as part of USDA CSREES National Integrated Food Safety Initiative Project Number CD-D-FST-7057-CG.

The message is both valuable and entertaining – enjoy!

The Gourmet Guardian is committed to reducing Food Poisoning any which way it can. Food Poisoning statistics are alarming, every little bit we can do helps!

You just have to watch this great re-make of Will Smith’s Rap it “Get Jiggy Wit It” transformed for food safety… Great message with a great beat!

Protect your business and your clients
from getting food poisoning!

Did you know that there are 2,700,000 cases of food poisoning in the food service industry in Australia every year? (5,400,000 when you consider Australian households).

That’s more than the population of Brisbane, Wollongong and Sunshine Coast combined!

Fortunately, the majority of these tragic ‘accidents’ are easily avoidable as long as your employees handling, preparing and transporting food understand how to prevent good food from going bad.

That’s why The Gourmet Guardian has released a special and timely report to help you, your managers, supervisors, chefs, kitchen hands and employees understand how to prevent food poisoning outbreaks before they happen.

Even when there are no ‘casualties’,
food poisoning is STILL deadly… to your business!

While many food poisoning victims recover in a few days, it can cause hospitalisation and trigger chronic diseases like fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

That’s the good news.

The flip side… In rare instances it can prove fatal to young children, the elderly and sometimes even healthy adults.

That would be tragic for you and your business!

Thankfully, the prevention is better than the cure… and, thanks to The Gourmet Guardian, the ‘cure’ is easy.

You can start implementing it in the next 5 minutes.

Click on the image to download your complimentary copy of the Top 10 Causes Of Food Poisoning report

This special report is published by Gavin Buckett who has vast experience including15 years as a qualified chef, food safety trainer implementing HACCP systems in at least a dozen market sectors as well as six years as a registered food safety auditor, which in 2008 culminated in achieving the highest Level 4 – High Risk Auditor status in the National Food Safety Auditor Scheme.

In this important document, you will discover the top ten causes of food poisoning. This list is not “ranked” in any particular order as we don’t want you to think that one is more or less important than another.

All 10 are equally important. With this special report in hand, all you have to do is go through the 10 points and tick off the boxes to ensure your food operations are not putting your clients, your staff and your business at risk.

This special report will also educate you about the following:

• IMPORTANT! How high risk cooked foods must be cooled to keep them outside the DANGER ZONE!
• How to ensure the food you serve and sell is ‘SAFE’ from salmonella and other pathogenic bacteria and deadly viruses!
• The right temperature food must reach when reheating.
• The ONLY foods that do not require further cooking prior to consumption and the ones that do.
• An easy way to find out if your food suppliers are playing Russian Roulette with your business!
• What you must know abut the Critical Control Point – Psst! Most food businesses get this wrong.
• How to reduce the number of dangerous micro-organisms to an acceptable level.
• What you must know about defrosting – before you get burned (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun)!
• The 3 sources of cross-contamination – You might be surprised to learn NONE of them has anything to do with food!
• How to control the potential hazard in your workplace.

This special report will at the very least give you 10 practical and important points you should implement in your food service business IMMEDIATELY…

Did you know that a restaurant in Sydney
wasn’t aware of one of these points,
killing one man and making another 12 people sick?

That was just from 1 point out of the top 10.

They might have got 9 out of 10 but were “unaware” of 1 of these requirements.

Pretty scary isn’t it. Definite “food for thought” …

Don’t leave food safety to chance!

Download this important report immediately and discuss these points with your staff as soon as possible.

Click here to download your complimentary copy

Let’s face it…

Having food authority inspectors and environmental health officers breathing down your neck is not fun.

They could close your business ‘until further notice’ or for good!

Worse still, you could plead guilty in the industrial court to counts of handling and selling unsafe food. Heavy fines and penalties, or worse, you could kill someone.

Don’t take the risk of food poisoning lightly –
especially when prevention is so easy.

In my previous post, I sent you information on the new audit guidelines for Vulnerable Persons (VP) in NSW.

At the session, John Fallon from the New South Wales Food Authority (NSWFA) explained that there are only 22 approved external third party auditors in NSW.

He provided an enforcement update on all VP audits that have been conducted (by NSWFA employed auditors and external third party auditors).

He indicated that the top TWO problems encountered during audits were:

• Ineffective monitoring records
• Not complying with there food safety program

#1 Non Conformance: “Ineffective” Monitoring records

This included:

• Not having records in place
• Missing records or records not available
• Completed records not identifying issues (i.e. Temperatures recorded outside critical limits)
• No recorded corrective action when problems were identified
• Supervisor signing off on incomplete or incorrect records

It is stated in the VP Guidelines that IT IS a requirement for someone to check all completed records. Even though it is not a requirement for records to be signed, we certainly recommend this practice to our clients.

We have a client who purchased from a newsagent, an “APPROVED” stamp and the person doing the checking stamps the monitoring record and signs above where it was stamped. I think this is a simple and effective means of verifying your records. You still need to make sure that the person who does the “approving” actually checks that the record has been completed correctly.

#2 Non Conformance: “Not complying with their food safety program”

Remember a couple of days ago I told you that your program should:

“Say as you do” and you should “Do as you say”.

Consistent areas where Corrective Action Requests (CARs) were raised included:

• Labeling techniques used
• Content of an internal audit – The internal audit process did not include a review of their food safety program. (Note: The findings of the internal audit should reflect what is found at an external audit)
• Good manufacturing practices
• Allergen management

The NSWFA will continue to monitor ALL Vulnerable Persons facilities (including businesses with Third Party Auditor (TPA) approval) and the Proprietor of the facility is responsible for ensuring that an audit is organised.

All VP audits conducted in NSW are reported electronically to the NSWFA. Every month, the NSWFA runs a report on facilities that are overdue for an audit. The following process is applied:

• If overdue by 3 months they will be sent a “reminder letter”
• If overdue by 6 months they will be sent a “warning letter”
• Failure to comply will result in a $1320 penalty for corporations
  and $660 for individuals.

All scheduled audits must be conducted within the allocated 6 or 12 month period.

Your license cannot be renewed if there are any outstanding audits that have not been conducted.

We recently blogged about the e coli outbreak in Europe which prompted someone to point out another blog post summarising the 10 worst food contamination outbreaks.

Click on the hyperlink to have a look – it’s pretty scary stuff which once again highlights the importance of good food safety management programs.

We all have a stake in this because we all eat and consume food from a wide variety of sources.

If you come across interesting statistics and data like this, please let us know, we’d love to blog about it.