Archive for the 'Food Safety' category

FoodCORE Centers: Current Efficiency Practices and Initiatives

Mar 19 2013 :: Published in Food Safety

By Jessica Monmaney, Associate Specialist, Infectious Disease and Food Safety, APHL

Since its inception in 2009, FoodCORE has allowed participating laboratories to increase outbreak response times through improvements in patient interviews, data processing and information sharing. A number of FoodCORE laboratories have continued to implement further measures to increase efficiency.

What is FoodCORE?

Salmonella enteritidis in colorSpecimen Courier Services

Six out of seven FoodCORE centers have introduced a courier service that allows them to improve turnaround times and address limitations of partner laboratories. Stacey Kinney, the Lab Director in Connecticut, notes that “we are not sure what will happen if funding is cut but if this happens, we are hoping this will be supported either through state funds or another federal grant. It has gotten positive reviews especially by hospital labs that do not have their own couriers and usually put the samples in the mail. We are getting samples quicker from these hospitals and [the courier service] has improved turnaround time.”

Concurrent Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and Serotyping

Standard protocol requires the serotyping of isolates before isolates can be subtyped through PFGE. This can often result in a significant delay, as well as an incomplete specimen record, as Tim Monson, the Lab Director in Wisconsin found upon his laboratory’s participation in FoodCORE: “Prior to becoming a FoodCORE center…[subtyping] took anywhere from six to eight days. Since becoming a FoodCORE center in the fall of 2010, it takes only three days to receive and upload PFGE patterns on average. In addition, PFGE subtyping all Salmonella isolates has paid off since the fall of 2010 with the contribution of S. Nchanga, S. Enteritidis, S. Bareilly, S. Schwarzengrund, S. Baildon, S. Pomona and S. Litchfield isolates…to national clusters of illness. None of the aforementioned serotypes would have been PFGE subtyped routinely prior to becoming a FoodCORE center. “

Molecular Serotyping

The process of serotyping allows laboratories to determine which bacterial isolates will cause diseases (i.e. are pathogenic, versus non-pathogenic). Previous methodologies utilized antisera to identify types of bacteria that were more pathogenic than others.  Molecular serotyping has emerged as a means to acquire more specific information more efficiently.  The Chief of New York City’s public health laboratory, Laura Kornstein, is beginning to see how switching to molecular serotyping is affecting her laboratory, and has found that although the change was made as recently as December 2012. “This is already having a positive impact on our Salmonella PFGE turnaround times.”

The measures above allow FoodCORE centers to increase laboratory efficiency and to further their quality improvement efforts, but require adequate funds to initiate and maintain. State and local public health laboratories hope that federal funding will continue to support them in their efforts.

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Nanotechnology and Public Health: Part 2/2

Dec 11 2012 :: Published in Environmental Health, Food Safety, Public Health Preparedness & Response

By: Michael Heintz, Senior Specialist, Environmental Laboratories, APHL

This is the second in a two-part series on the implications of nanotechnologies on public health. See Part 1 for an introduction to nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Part 2 delves into how this emerging field may impact various parts of public and environmental health.

Nanotechnology and Public Health

Nanomaterials provide new opportunities for detection, remediation and protection. Laboratories, in particular, need to understand the uses of nanomaterials because the small particles with very different properties and reactivity will affect laboratory operations.

- Environmental Health: Nanomaterials may provide significant new remediation tools, while also presenting contamination concerns. As consumer goods use nanomaterials more often, the potential for accidental exposure or release increases. Disposal from nanomaterial-containing goods, such as cosmetics and paint, could cause increased soil and water contamination as the nanomaterials leach. In some instances, nanomaterials are small enough to permeate the liners of landfills and other barriers, providing exposure pathways into groundwater and other environmental resources. Similarly, accidents or other releases can cause direct environmental harm. Additionally, nanomaterials appearing in sunscreens may be small enough to pass through the skin and into the biological system of people.

Of particular concern for laboratories is that nanomaterials may begin appearing in both clinical and environmental samples. Without proper controls, nanomaterials may cause unknown impacts on results. And, given the higher reactivity at lower concentrations, test methods may not accurately reflect the presence of nanomaterials leading to confusing or illogical test results.

- Food Safety: Food safety issues may be the largest area of concern when it comes to nanomaterials. Nanotechnology is employed in a large portion of the food chain including agriculture (pesticides and sensors), processing (nanocapsules and flavor enhancers), packaging (sensors and spoilage barriers), and supplements (vitamin sprays). On the other hand, the potential for longer food preservation, more efficiency in nutrient uptake, and disease resistant crops provides significant benefits to society. In addition, nanomaterials may allow for rapid pathogen testing in food sources. Such tests could potentially avoid outbreaks and recalls before food is moved to the market.

- Preparedness: For emergency response preparedness, the products using nanomaterials are largely the same as in other industries. Nanosensors and testing platforms used in the environmental sector are available to emergency responders for contamination warning and rapid analysis using handheld equipment (lab-on-a-chip). However, because the reactivity of nanomaterials is not widely understood in an emergency context, preparedness may be impeded by adding variables to emergency response situations. For example, nanomaterials age during environmental oxidation, but there is no information on how this aging process will change the properties of the materials.

In addition to these potential benefits and risks, the overarching issue remains uncertainty. Without clear direction as to the limits of nanotechnology, industry will continue to operate in a vacuum, products will continue to be developed and sold, and research will be left to catch up.

For more information on nanotechnology issues and areas of concern, see the following:

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Beware of the Nose Pickers

Oct 16 2012 :: Published in Food Safety, Infectious Diseases

By Kara MacKeil, BA, Senior Technician, Public Health Preparedness and Response, APHL

Let’s all stop and think for a moment about why you, personally, should wash your hands.  We all agree that washing your hands is a good thing; according to the US Agency for International Aid, good hand washing can reduce death from diarrheal disease by almost half.  But you may notice that “I know I should wash my hands” often does not equal “I DO wash my hands.” (Feel free to read this if you don’t believe me.)  So in the interests of public health, I’m going to do my best to scare you all into picking up the soap.

Nose Picker

Picture the handle on the front door of your workplace (if yours doesn’t have one, skip ahead to the elevator buttons).  Who might have used this handle before you arrived this morning?  What have they all been touching before they came to work? Many have small children at home; conceivably they changed a diaper or dealt with an accident before they left the house.  Almost certainly they used the bathroom themselves.  There are numerous pet-owners, perhaps they did the morning walk or scooped a litter box. It’s cold season, so quite a few have been coughing and sneezing, and just as many have spent the last hour sitting in traffic with their index fingers shoved firmly up their nostrils.  They might have hit the sink, they might have used hand sanitizer, but they all touched that handle before you did.

Go inside and walk to your desk.  Notice that the cleaning crew has thoughtfully dusted underneath your various pencil holders, convention toys, and other objects.  How nice!  I’m sure they washed their hands before they picked up the mouse you’re about to spend all day holding. The rest of the day passes as usual.  You touch buttons on the copy machine and objects on your desk.  You pick up a pen, and wonder idly how you came to own it, since you didn’t attend the convention it advertises.  Someone must have left it on your desk.  Wonder what they touched?

Lunchtime hits, and you eat with your co-workers.  Hopefully everyone washed their hands, especially the one passing out cookies.  After lunch it’s more buttons, more objects, more mystery pens.  Someone coughs in the background, jolting you from your post-lunch stupor, and you hit the candy jar for a boost.  Just be sure to get to it before the cougher does.

You use the bathroom.  Uh-oh, there’s another door handle.  Are you sure you heard the sink when the last person finished?

Work is done, so it’s time for errands, or maybe the gym. Whatever you do, you’ll be touching things. More door handles, more objects, more nose pickers. On the way home, you realize your EZ pass isn’t in the car, and you’ll have to use cash.  Amazing how long a coin lasts, I bet THOUSANDS of people have touched that!

Here’s your front door, safe at last!  It’s late, so crawl into bed, maybe read a few pages of that great book you snagged from the secondhand bookstore.  As you drift off, try not to think about how many things you have touched today, and all the hands that touched them first. Pay no mind to all those times you touched your face.

Wash your hands!

 

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Improving Outbreak Response with FoodCORE: an Introduction to Food Safety Success Stories

Oct 11 2012 :: Published in Food Safety

By Jessica A. Monmaney, Senior Technician, Food Safety and Infectious Diseases, APHL

A few months ago, you may have heard about an ongoing and growing Salmonella outbreak. By the end of the outbreak, there were 425 people sick across 28 states, and 55 people hospitalized. However, without the quick action by the states and cities involved, many more people could have become ill. In large part due to CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Centers for Outbreak Response Enhancement (FoodCORE) program, the outbreak’s cause was identified as scraped raw frozen tuna and further illnesses were prevented.

FoodCORE is a program that started in 2009 and is currently made up of 7 centers: Connecticut, New York City, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Utah. FoodCORE finds solutions to outbreaks more rapidly through a system of comprehensive interviews, prompt DNA fingerprinting of pathogens and efficient information sharing among partners. Interviews with sick individuals regarding recent food consumption allow FoodCORE centers to identify potentially contaminated products, fingerprint the DNA of the bacteria and combine information to determine what made people sick.

PulseNet Logo

At the 16th Annual PulseNet and 8th Annual OutbreakNet Update Conference, the FoodCORE team provided crucial input/participation throughout numerous facets of the conference as a whole, and collaborated for a member networking session and an open session. The following people deserve a round of applause for their efforts leading up to, and throughout, the conference: Jennifer Mitchell, Julia Hall and Kim Quinn as General Session moderators; Katie Garmin, Marilee O’Connor and Jenni Wagner as Regional Breakout Session Facilitators; Heather Hanson, HaeNa Waechter, Jeannette Dill, Amy Woron, Katie Garmin, Tim Monson and David Young as speakers and poster presenters; and all of the FoodCORE members who took the time to engage PulseNet and OutbreakNet partners during the Sunrise Sessions and the Q&A portions of the General Sessions.

The FoodCORE Members Networking Session was attended by over 40 people, including staff from FoodCORE centers, as well as partners from CDC’s Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch, leadership and sites from FDA’s Rapid Response Team (RRT), APHL and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Center participants met in small groups to discuss center-specific future goals and upcoming projects. Attendees successfully concluded the meeting in agreement on team-wide projects and goals, such as improving the process of reporting metrics and the development of model practices documentation.

An open session on the first day of the conference provided over 70 conference attendees with the opportunity to become more familiar with FoodCORE and the lessons learned while resolving outbreaks that lead to success stories. In addition to the raw scraped tuna outbreak, the Ohio state lab created an innovative way to provide information on norovirus infection and protection through social media, New York City used their a “Team Salmonella” to solve an outbreak of Salmonella related to kosher chicken livers, and Utah utilized FoodCORE resources to resolve an outbreak of Salmonella in queso fresco that had stumped state public health officials for two years. For more details on these outbreaks – including interviews with staff at FoodCORE centers from the frontlines of these success stories – please stay tuned for the upcoming fall issue of APHL’s Lab Matters!

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One World. One Health… and the Vector at Our Back Door

May 20 2012 :: Published in Annual Meeting, Environmental Health, Food Safety, Global Health, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Systems and Standards, Newborn Screening and Genetics, Partners, Public Health Preparedness & Response, Public Policy

You don’t have to explain to public health laboratorians that the health of humans, animals and the environment are inextricably linked. HIV/AIDS, SARS, 2009 H1N1, West Nile Virus: laboratorians know the inner workings of these enterprising pathogens that travel (from jungle, field or suburban neighborhood, etc.) to animal hosts (chimpanzees, bats, birds, field mice, etc.) and on to us.

One World One HealthAnd they know that more of these smart bugs are coming our way. Population growth, climate change, deforestation, diminishing species diversity and changes in land use are all interfering with established patterns of interaction among people, animals and the environment. Vectors that were once in a distant forest are now at our back door. Already the majority of emerging infectious diseases affecting humans (approximately 75%) are of animal origin.

This dynamic has broad implications for public health as well as human medicine, veterinary medicine and environmental science. In a world where the interface between animals, humans and the environmental is in flux, it’s perilous for health and science professionals of any stripe to operate in professional silos. To protect the health of all species, those of us in public health must join with our colleagues in veterinary science, human medicine and environmental science to adopt a holistic approach to disease surveillance, detection and control. To put it simply, we must be about one health, not several.

At the 2012 APHL Annual Meeting, “one health” will be center stage. Participants will have the opportunity to meet leaders in the One Health movement – including James Hughes, MD; Lisa Conti, DVM, MPH; and Terry McElwain, DVM, PhD – and discuss actions required to operationalize One Health objectives. Here are a few questions to get you started with these discussions. How can we:

  • Expand and improve national and global surveillance networks, particularly those that capture the animal-human interface?
  • Enhance sentinel event coordination to detect and reduce environmental health threats?
  • Build efficient global reporting and sample submission systems to support surveillance systems?
  • Communicate the benefits of investment in surveillance? (Too often disease surveillance is viewed as an old-school public health function, one that’s not sexy enough to warrant sustained investment.)
  • More effectively employ animals as sentinels for human health—and humans as sentinels for animal disease risk?

For an introduction to the “one health” concept, see the websites of the One Health Initiative and CDC’s One Health Office.

And a parting thought: When was the last time you took your state veterinarian or your colleague in environmental science to lunch? It’s a small step, but remember: One Health is collaborative; you can split the check.

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What We’re Reading: Norovirus Edition

Feb 10 2012 :: Published in Food Safety, What We're Reading

‘Tis the season!  Did you know that norovirus is more common in the winter months?  If you have been reading the news and following your friends’ Facebook statuses lately, this likely comes as no surprise.  Here’s what we’re reading about norovirus this week.  Let’s see what they all have in common…

So… what do these stories all have in common aside from a terrible gastrointestinal virus?  They all occurred in places where large groups of people gathered together in a confined space.  College dorms/classrooms, a cruise ship, an auditorium, etc.

For more on norovirus, see our blog post today.

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What is norovirus?

Feb 10 2012 :: Published in Food Safety

By Michelle Forman, Senior Media Specialist, APHL

I can’t help but notice an overwhelming trend in my Facebook newsfeed these days: people all over the country are sick.  Stomach sick.  It does not sound pretty.  Despite being referred to as a variety of names – stomach flu (there is nothing “flu” about it, folks), food poisoning, or my personal fave, Horkfest 2012 – my friends and family are likely facing norovirus.

So what is norovirus?  And how does it spread so darn fast?

Norovirus

Noroviruses are actually a group of viruses that cause acute gastroenteritis (aka, angry tummy).  In fact, norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the United States, leading to over 20 million cases every year.  The symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea… you know, overall tummy terribleness.  And while those symptoms are obviously no fun, the real danger comes when those symptoms lead to dehydration.

As if all of that isn’t bad enough, the scariest part is how quickly norovirus spreads.  Norovirus can spread without direct person-to-person contact which means you can catch it by touching the same surface as someone who has it. A person is contagious for *at least* three days after being sick even if they’re feeling better.  And it only takes a small number of viral particles to spread.  So you don’t need to have vomit on your hand – you just need to have a few microscopic particles lingering without your knowledge.

Here’s an example of how a person might spread norovirus:

Barney is a teacher.  One day he got home from work and felt awful.  Within a few hours Barney was vomiting. He was up all night feeling terrible, hugging his toilet and wishing for someone to put him out of his misery.  He called in sick to work the next day.  By that night he was feeling better and was finally able to keep down some fluids.  Assuming he was fine, he headed back to work the next morning.  As he helped the kids with their art projects and math worksheets, he touched desks, markers and notebooks along the way.  Barney didn’t know he was still contagious.  Uh oh.  Guess what happened next. Wouldn’t you know it?  Kids in his class started to get sick… and then their families too… and then their parents’ coworkers.

You frequently hear of norovirus outbreaks associated with food handling and this is why.  It isn’t that the food is bad, it is that a person handling the food – whether at a restaurant or a house party – is actually contaminating the food everyone is eating… with poop.  Yeah.

Here’s another interesting tidbit: Did you know that there is actually a season for norovirus?  Yep.  It is sometimes referred to as “Winter Vomiting Disease.”  (Creative, eh?)  Norovirus tends to be more common in colder months because that’s when people tend to gather indoors often in close quarters (offices, classrooms, house parties, etc.).

How can you avoid norovirus?

  • Wash your hands!  Wash them especially well after using the bathroom, changing diapers and before and after eating or preparing food.  (Proper hand washing tips from CDC here.  Yes, you can do it wrong.)
  • Wash fruit and vegetables before eating.  Lots of hands touch your produce before it gets to you – make sure it is clean before eating or feeding to your family.
  • Do not prepare or handle food for others within at least three days of having norovirus.  DON’T!
  • Wash and disinfect EVERYTHING.  If someone in your household is sick, pull out the bleach-based, heavy-duty cleaners to de-grossify the bathroom, kitchen and any other rooms where they may have gotten sick.  And don’t forget about disinfecting laundry!  Never tried that “sterilize” setting on your washer?  Now is the time to take it for a spin. Oh, and while you’re doing all of that, make sure you’re wearing rubber gloves.  Norovirus is frequently spread when one person is cleaning up another person’s noro-mess.
  • Don’t keep anything that goes in your mouth or touches your face near your toilet.  Where is your toothbrush?  Sitting in a cup on your bathroom counter?  Norovirus aerosolizes very easily. (This is about to get really disgusting, but you need to read it.  Press on.) If someone in your family is vomiting or has diarrhea, the particles from those bodily functions actually spray around your bathroom not only while they are getting sick but also when they flush.  So please.  Do yourself a favor.  Put your toothbrush, make-up, razor and anything else in a closed cabinet.
  • Finally, encourage your family members, friends, teachers, coworkers and anyone else to STAY HOME for at least three days after being sick with norovirus.  It is for the benefit of everyone around them.  Assure them that their boss would rather not have them in the office for a few days than to be curled up on the bathroom floor wishing that life would end.

Here’s the news that we’re reading on norovirus. Spoiler alert: It is not pretty.

 

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The Diseases of The Oregon Trail

Feb 07 2012 :: Published in Food Safety, Infectious Diseases

By Michelle Forman, Senior Media Specialist, APHL

Anyone who was in grade-school in the mid-1980s and 1990s likely remembers The Oregon Trail, a computer game where you had to navigate the treacherous conditions faced by American pioneers who used this lone passageway to travel from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon.  If you ask anyone who played the game what they learned, however, it was that the Apple II had terrible graphics.  They also likely remember fording the river, hunting buffalo, and losing a family member to dysentery.  What many children may not have realized as they played this game is that the experiences were real.  The Oregon Trail was real and so were the many diseases faced by those who traveled it.

You have died of dysentery.  Everyone has cholera.  Susie has measles.  As a young player, these messages would pop up on our screen and result and in “Aw, man!” They meant that your trek was delayed or even over.  You had to find more food or water or just wait out whatever the disease was that had infected someone in your wagon.  But what are these diseases?  And do they still exist?

Three deadly diseases featured in The Oregon Trail – typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery– were caused by poor sanitation.  Luckily, those of us living in industrialized nations (United States, Canada, Japan, Western Europe, etc.) have access to sophisticated modern sanitation and water treatment systems, which make these diseases so rare that they are nearly non-existent.  But the “deadly three” are not rare in developing nations.  Americans traveling to these destinations are often encouraged to get vaccinated and to be extra careful to thoroughly wash their hands, avoid tap water and consume only cooked foods.

If typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery are left untreated, they can become deadly, causing severe dehydration.  In industrialized nations, anyone who contracts these diseases is protected by the medical and public health systems, and the spread of disease is halted.  If an outbreak is suspected, public health laboratories test samples to positively identify the agent that is causing the disease, while epidemiologists and public health nurses work in coordination with sanitarians to identify the source of the infection.  This quick action is what stops further transmission.

  • Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella Typhi, a bacterium that is contracted by consuming contaminated food or drink.  Once a person has Typhoid fever, they can shed the bacteria in their stool or urine for days to weeks and potentially make others ill. Typhoid fever is rare in the United States – there are approximately 400 cases each year and 75% of those are acquired while traveling internationally.
  • Cholera is a diarrheal illness caused by a toxigenic form of a bacterium called Vibrio cholera. The bacteria are generally transmitted in water or food that has been contaminated with infected feces.  You may remember the cholera outbreak in Haiti following the deadly earthquake there.  The quake caused serious damage to the nation’s infrastructure which led to deteriorated sanitation and public health systems.  Cholera spreads rapidly in areas where drinking water is contaminated.  That was the problem for those on the Oregon Trail just as it was in Haiti.
  • Dysentery is also a diarrheal illness and is often caused by Shigella species (bacillary dysentery) or Entamoeba histolytica (amoebic dysentery).  Like cholera and Typhoid fever, dysentery is contracted when people consume food or water that is contaminated with infected feces.  In developed nations, dysentery is often more quickly identified, treated and the spread controlled.

The other diseases that plagued those traveling on – or playing – The Oregon Trail were highly contagious infectious diseases.  When an entire family was living in their Conestoga wagon for months at a time, disease spread very quickly.  Fortunately, widespread use of vaccines has all but wiped out these diseases.

  • Diphtheria is caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae.  It is spread person-to-person generally by respiratory droplets (that is, a cough or a sneeze) or cutaneous lesions (do NOT do a Google image search for that – trust me).  Prior to the introduction of the vaccine, between 100,000-200,000 people in the U.S. contracted diphtheria each year.  The vaccine (DTaP: diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) is routinely given to children in the U.S. and other industrialized nations.  Thanks to this, there has not been a single CDC confirmed case of diphtheria in the United States since 2003.  It is still endemic in certain developing nations so travelers are encouraged to check that their DTaP booster is up to date.
  • Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus called rubeola that is spread person-to-person.  It is so contagious, that a child who is exposed to it and is not immune will almost certainly contract the disease.  Now there is a vaccine available to all children in the United States (MMR: measles, mumps, and rubella) although there has recently been a decline in the number of people seeking vaccination.  Prior to the vaccine being available, hundreds of Americans died annually and thousands experienced severe complications.  Once the vaccine was made available, there was a dramatic decrease in cases.  In fact, in 2000 CDC declared measles “eliminated” as almost all cases originated outside of the country.  Now we’re seeing hundreds of cases in the U.S. – 118 cases during the first 19 weeks of 2011 (not even the entire year!).  And last year there were over 26,000 cases in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region (EUR). So while I wish I could say that measles is like the other diseases of The Oregon Trail, and is virtually nonexistent in the industrialized world, that is no longer true.

A common practice when playing The Oregon Trail was to name all of your family members for your friends.  Then as the game progressed, we would all laugh when Sally got dysentery – Haha! You have dysentery! You have dysentery!  It isn’t so funny now, huh?  I certainly wouldn’t wish these terrible diseases on anyone, and can better understand how amazing it is that anyone made it along the Oregon Trail.  It is a relief to be able to say that most of these diseases are gone, thanks to our strong public health system.

And, Sally, I’m sorry I laughed when you got dysentery.

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In response to the State of the Union: What are the labs doing?

Jan 27 2012 :: Published in Environmental Health, Food Safety, Public Health Preparedness & Response, Public Policy

2012 State of Union

In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama described his vision for improving the economy, increasing employment and protecting the interests of the United States. The President also mentioned that he will continue his support for federal actions that protect children from mercury poisoning, ensure safe food and assure clean water (click here to see the portion of the State of the Union speech where the President says this). The nation’s governmental health laboratories play a critical role in the surveillance and detection of harmful air pollutants like mercury; contaminants like Salmonella in food and pesticide residues that have short and long-term health consequences; and pollutants in drinking water. How exactly?  Governmental health laboratories are:

  • Routinely monitoring food samples at retail stores and in the distribution chain to check for microbial pathogens and pesticide contaminants in a variety of commodities
  • Performing on-going characterization of bacterial isolates from ill people, submitting their fingerprints to the National PulseNet Database at CDC so that cases with indistinguishable patterns can be linked and investigated
  • Implementing the latest laboratory techniques to quickly and accurately confirm diagnoses, serotype isolates, and fully characterize linked  pathogens
  • Partnering with other food safety professionals who analyze laboratory findings, providing critical data to help solve outbreaks, determine root causes of contamination, and assess the impact of industry changes designed to prevent future illnesses
  • Monitoring and detecting environmental threats by conducting testing in people, air, water, soil and more
  • Conducting tests to support enforcement of water, air, food, dairy and environmental safety laws
  • Carrying out research to investigate illness trends and emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals
  • Conducting exposure studies to determine if environmental contaminants, such as mercury and lead, are getting into people
  • And responding to natural disasters, suspected terror events and industrial accidents, such as the 2010 Gulf Coast Oil Spill.

Beyond those items mentioned in President Obama’s State of the Union speech, labs are doing so much more:

  • They are detecting disease causing organisms and other harmful substances. The laboratories have innovative scientists that develop new methods to detect and fight infectious diseases, environmental pollutants and toxins. Remember the 2009 H1N1 pandemic? Public health laboratories tested thousands of specimens from patients and quickly provided results on whether or not a patient had H1N1 or some other form of influenza.
  • They are serving as integral members of national networks, such as the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network (LRN) where they prepare for, respond to and recover from all-hazard threats. Think anthrax 2001 – the public health laboratories in the LRN responded, testing thousands of specimens from patients as well as samples collected from the environment, and assuring first responders and the public that it was safe to reopen and enter buildings.
  • And they are providing training and conducting educational outreach to thousands of other laboratories, such as hospitals in their states. The hospitals know where to send potential threat samples and other items for specialized testing.

We are pleased to hear the President support important public health matters in this country. Mr. President, we assure you that laboratories at the state and local levels of government continue to demonstrate their ability to provide accurate and actionable information in all of these areas, and stand ready to continue their operations.

 

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Barf-humbug! Holiday cookies, latkes and everyday safe egg handling

Dec 20 2011 :: Published in Food Safety

By Michelle Forman, Senior Media Specialist, APHL

Ah, the holidays… whatever holiday it is that you celebrate (or just the holiday called “Quiet Time in the Office”), I think it is safe to assume that your holiday is overflowing with deliciousness.  Friends hosting parties; family gathering for dinners; coworkers bringing treats to share.  Whether sweet or savory, this time of year screams FOOD.  (And that means my pants scream LOOSEN ME.) However you choose to celebrate – or not celebrate – this time of year, let’s talk about some ways to make sure your holiday season doesn’t scream BARF-HUMBUG!

Egg

Around Thanksgiving we talked about safely handling raw meat.  Quick! Do we rinse our turkeys or not?  I hope you said NOT.  This time of year I think we need to talk about eggs and Salmonella.  That unexciting ingredient that goes into cookies, cakes and other sweet treats, and let’s not forget about latkes, a Chanukah staple, and of course eggnog.  I don’t know about you, but I often quickly add them and move on to the more exciting ingredients like chocolate chips!  Let’s take a step back and think about those eggs.

Shell eggs (ie, eggs in their shells as opposed to the egg product in a carton – more on this below) are not pasteurized.  That means they can contain Salmonella.  There are regulations in place that mandate certain procedures to clean the outside of eggs sold commercially so you’re good there.  The issue is that Salmonella can live inside the shell.  That means we have to be careful.

Here are a few suggestions to make sure you aren’t contaminating your kitchen:

1. When handling raw egg, you should think of it like raw meat.  Would you rub your raw chicken all over your countertops?  Would you get raw chicken on your hand, wipe it on your dishtowel and just move on without washing with soap and water?  I hope not.  And if you do, please don’t invite me over for dinner.  After you crack your eggs into the bowl, wash your hands and anything else you touched.  Wash with water AND soap.  Come on.  Will these soaps that look like bacterial cultures help make hand washing more fun?

2. Now don’t forget that whatever you just mixed your egg into has raw egg in it.  Did that sound like the most obvious statement ever?  Then why would you roll cookie dough out on your counter, cut out your adorable Rudolph cookies, line them up like a reindeer army marching across your baking sheet, and then NOT wash your hands again and anything else you touched including the counter?  I mean, really people!  If your eggs are contaminated, you just shmeared Salmonella all over the place and *bing bong* your guests are here and not interested in eating your Salmonella cookies while gathered around your Salmonella countertops.  Do everything you possibly can to NOT cross contaminate.

Thumbprint cookies

3. Ok.  Now we need to have a difficult talk.  This won’t be easy for either of us to discuss but it is necessary.  Eating raw cookie dough.  I know, I know… it is delicious.  I’m right there with you!  So I’m not going to tell you not to eat raw cookie dough.  I know you’ll stop reading right now and brush me off as the mean lady who ruined your favorite indulgence.  What I am going to tell you is that you have to lick those delicious spoons at your own risk.  Just like with raw meat or fish, it could make you sick.  Any egg could contain Salmonella.  Just because you got it at Fancy Pants Grocery doesn’t mean it is exempt from contamination.  Officially we don’t recommend eating raw cookie dough.  Unofficially? You decide if you feel it is worth the risk.  I would strongly discourage you from letting your kids, an elderly friend or relative or anyone with a compromised immune system have it.  In that case, it probably is not worth the risk.  Salmonella is potentially very dangerous.  And to those of you tough guys who are like, “Oh, I eat raw cookie dough all the time and I’m still alive!”  You may get sick – you may not get sick.  But ask any person who has ever contracted Salmonella and they will likely tell you about the time when they wish they weren’t alive as they slept on the bathroom floor cuddled up to the toilet.

4. As I already mentioned, most shell eggs are not pasteurized but egg product is. Egg product is the stuff that comes in cartons.  Many restaurants use egg product for that reason – Pasteurized! No lawsuit!  Hooray!  If you’re making sauces that call for raw egg (Caesar dressing, Hollandaise, béarnaise, etc), using egg product is safer.  Some egg product won’t work well for baking so check the side of the carton first.  It will tell you.

5. Make sure things are cooked all the way through.  You’re not going to stick a meat thermometer in every cookie and latke, but you can still check to make sure they aren’t raw in the center.  You want the chocolate chips to be gooey, not the cookie part.  And when frying latkes, be sure your pan isn’t too hot so they cook through before the outside burns.  In both cases, break one in half to check the center.  Oh, and you know those delicious runny sunny side up eggs you love to dip your toast in?  Yeah, those aren’t cooked all the way through.  Just like with the cookie dough, eat at your own risk.

6. Don’t drink unpasteurized eggnog.  You can get pasteurized eggnog, so why risk it?  Friends don’t let friends drink unpasteurized eggnog and hold their own hair back… if you know what I mean.

As GI Joe said, “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.”  He was obviously referring to safe food handling when he said that.

Why do we go to so much trouble to entertain and be entertained this time of year?  Because it is nice.  Because seeing people enjoy cookies and latkes that you made makes you feel good. You know what won’t make you feel good?  Seeing people snacking on thumbprint cookies with a dollop of Salmonella in the center where a Hershey kiss should be.   That won’t end well for anyone.

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