Personal Injury Law

Texas woman calls 911 when husband refuses to eat dinner

Posted on December 24, 2009
Continuing the decline into idiocracy, a Texas woman faces charges after calling 911 30 times over six months, most recently to complain that her husband wouldn't eat his dinner. Last Friday, the woman allegedly made a pair of calls to 911, including a hang-up and another where a woman was heard screaming...

The need for food packaging: The French fight back

Posted on December 23, 2009
When I was on The Dr. Oz show for 30 seconds a couple of months ago, I noted that leading supermarkets are taking steps to minimize contact between the thousands of sniffling, sneezing and wheezing customers who daily rifle through bread bins, climb on piles of plantains, and snort olives...

Oysters -steamed - may have caused illness at Raleigh oyster bar

Posted on December 22, 2009
NBC17 is reporting this afternoon that several customers have notified the 42nd Street Oyster Bar that they became ill after eating oysters at the longtime Raleigh restaurant. Brad Hurley, a partner with 42nd Street Oyster Bar, told NBC17 that the restaurant received calls on Monday and Tuesday from customers who reported becoming sick over the weekend...

New Zealand fines brothers for horse wormer claims

Posted on December 21, 2009
The organic food isle at the grocery store kind of ticks me off, not that I'm against health food (I'm all for it) but that I don't have any confidence in the validity of the organic stickers. How do I know these companies are really producing their food in an 'organic' way? Is there an organization or regulatory group that investigates these 'organic' claims on non-meat products? I'm also quite skeptical of the foods that claim to have extra vitamins/antioxidants or come with a super-duper-nutritious injected-with-vitamins label...

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Rats filmed in Honolulu's Chinatown market

Posted on December 21, 2009
Here's the video of rats in a Chinatown market that sparked the story in the Honolulu Advertiser that Chapman just blogged about. The video sparked a Department of Health inspection of Pacing's, which was cited for a violation. The Geller rat video has been seen by tens of thousands of people, and has spurred some to stop coming to Chinatown, according to shop owners, who say business has decreased — by 30 to 50 percent or more — over the last weeks...

Inspection reflection; is more always better?

Posted on December 21, 2009
A rat issue in Honolulu's Chinatown market has led to politicians to blame the situation on a shortage of state food safety inspectors and environmental health officers. Inspectors in the region have dwindled from 23 in 1988 to nine today, causing State Sen...

Sydney eateries need to lift their game

Posted on December 21, 2009
This Christmas will be my first away from snowy Canada and the family. Although I'll miss the Filion family funtivities, I will not miss the cold. Rather I'm quite looking forward to seeing kangaroos for the first time, and attempting to surf in sunny Sydney...

Organ transplants are risky - pets and food can make them worse

Posted on December 20, 2009
Keeping pets healthy can reduce infection risks for people who have received solid organ transplants and veterinarians should be seen as an integral part of the healthcare team. That's just one of the recommendations in a new supplement in the American Journal of Transplantation...

New Zealand fruit and vegetable safety - good, but we'll make sure we do better

Posted on December 20, 2009
Every time there is a food safety outbreak with fresh fruits and vegetables, some journalist or lobby group will call up and say something like, 'we want to do some sampling for E. coli or Salmonella and fresh produce.' And every time, Chapman or I will walk the person through the limitations with testing, especially in fresh produce...

Nuts to you

Posted on December 18, 2009
Salmonella in nuts strikes again. Nuts and seeds seem to be prone to Salmonella contamination. This year alone peanuts, pistchios, sesame and sunflower seeds, pecans and now hazelnuts from two Oregon companies have been recalled due to Salmonella contamination...

Hepatitis A scare for Australian Afghani community

Posted on December 18, 2009
An employee who worked on the butcher's counter at an Adelaide supermarket has tested positive for hepatitis A, prompting a health warning. The supermarket specialises in retailing products to the Afghan community. "While the chances of becoming infected are small, we're asking customers who bought produce from the butcher's counter during the infectious period to be aware of the risk," director of public health Kevin Buckett said...

The poon choi is ripe this year in Hong Kong

Posted on December 18, 2009
It's Christmas, and when I'm not celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, or the pagan rituals of winter solstice by going to a hockey game in Minnesota (versus the former Frenchies of Quebec City, now known as the Colorado Avalanche), I'm enjoying a bowl of poon choi, a traditional type of food originated from Hakka cuisine...

Run, it's the health inspector

Posted on December 18, 2009
  The last thing I want to do is shut a restaurant down during the Christmas season but when one encounters multiple critical food violations, my hands are tied. An immediate closure was issued on a local restaurant due to improper food holding temperatures, inadequate dishwashing as pots/pans were merely rinsed with water, potential cross contamination issues in the cooler, and the list continues...

Ireland: 1 in 3 don't wash hands after toilet

Posted on December 18, 2009
One of my graduate students, Manoelita Warkenten, did a great job this morning presenting a departmental seminar about the use of gross-out information to increase handwashing compliance rates in various settings. Sarah Reasoner, another of my graduate students, who had already gone through the seminar fire, did an outstanding job prepping Manoelita...

Dirty dozen food warnings are simplistic and suck

Posted on December 18, 2009
It's end-of-year, so lists are big, and I'm fond of my Top-5 Records label list. But some are just dumb, and it's good to see the science types in New Zealand calling out some BS. The Dominion Post reports tomorrow that toxicologists have accused a food safety campaigner of a lack of understanding after she advised people to eat organic celery to avoid pesticides...

Mmmm, what's that flavor, Campylobacter?

Posted on December 18, 2009
    The Tomah Journal writes: In most circumstances, the test of whether an activity should be illegal isn't whether it creates harm, but whether the cost of eradicating the harm is exceeded by enforcement costs. Many activities -- drunk driving, manufacturing methamphetamine, hunting from the side of the road, dumping untreated sewage -- are worth the cost of enforcement...

'Disgraceful' UK Chinese restaurant fined £70,000

Posted on December 17, 2009
My girlfriend during my first two years of university was Alison from Manchester, U.K. She was nice, not nice, I can't decide. It was a long time ago. I really like Amy. And she's taking me  and Sorenne to Manchester in early Jan. We won't be eating at Manchester's Tai Pan restaurant that served customers cockroach-infested rice and was fined £70,000 by a magistrate - who called its hygiene standards 'absolutely outrageous'...

Killing 99.9 per cent of bad bugs is great advertizing but may be meaningless

Posted on December 16, 2009
Food is 21st century snake oil. In an era of unprecedented affluence, consumers now choose among a cacophony of low fat, enhanced nutrient staples reflecting a range of political statements and perceived lifestyle preferences, far beyond dolphin free tuna...

US: 26,500 school cafeterias lack required inspections

Posted on December 16, 2009
Ham and cheese on a bun. That was my 1979 high school staple whenever I needed to inject myself with calories. However, I usually brown bagged lunch, because I hated spending my hard-earned money on crap. Today's USA Today reports that data kept by the U...

Salmonella contamination from head cheese warns Missouri health dept.

Posted on December 16, 2009
Head cheese is a product made from meat pieces of the head of a calf or pig and combined with spices. It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature. Thorough cooking kills salmonella bacteria, but since head cheese isn't cooked, the bacteria stays in the product...

Malaysian cooks blamed for cholera outbreak

Posted on December 15, 2009
Non-compliance with personal hygiene by cooks, food handlers and the public is the main cause of the recent cholera outbreak in Terengganu, Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said yesterday. "We took a number of samples from cholera-contaminated food premises, ice manufacturing factories, factories that produce keropok lekor and wet markets...

Green Day postpones Australian gig; frontman Billie-Joe has foodborne illness

Posted on December 15, 2009
Rock band Green Day has postponed tpnight's concert in Melbourne after lead singer Billie-Joe Armstrong came down with a case of suspected food poisoning. A spokesthing for Frontier Touring Company said, "Although Billie-Joe was determined to perform tonight it became apparent at 4...

Green Day cancels Australian concert

Posted on December 15, 2009
Green Day, currently on tour promoting 21st Century Breakdown in Australia and New Zealand, canceled tonight's concert in Melbourne after front man, and Casey Affleck look-a-like, Billie Joe Armstrong experienced symptoms consistent with food poisoning...

NHL defenceman misses game with possible foodborne illness

Posted on December 15, 2009
ESPN reported today that Mark Fistric of the Dallas Stars missed last Saturday night's game vs Los Angeles after being hospitalized with symptoms consistent with a foodborne illness. In an effort to step out of hockey and into epidemiology, Fistric (below, left side of the Blackhawk sandwich), who has 3 points and 14 penalty minutes this season, reported that he believes the illness was caused by a pregame meal on Friday...

UK Food Standards Agency sucks at food safety advice

Posted on December 15, 2009
The holidays bring bad food safety advice, and in what's turning into an annual tradition, it's time to bash the Brits. 'The Food Standards Agency is hoping to reduce the number of food safety clangers that are served up this Christmas, with its Christmas food safety advertising campaign...

French travelers once again contract trichinosis from eating bear in Canada; were they in a canoe?

Posted on December 14, 2009
Canada was settled by French and other European explorers by canoe – hence the Canadianism, as stated by Pierre Berton, a Canadian journalist and novelist, "A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe without tipping it." The National Post reports this morning that for the second time in four years, health authorities in France have identified an outbreak of the parasitical illness trichinosis from bear meat devoured by French travelers in northern Canada...

This is how irrelevant Washington, D.C is when it comes to setting food safety policy

Posted on December 14, 2009
Washington can set a minimal food safety standard, and taxpayers should get something for their money, but the resources and time spent lobbying the politicians and bureaucrats seem to have a low return on investment. Tomorrow's USA Today reports that a senator on the committee overseeing the National School Lunch Program called Monday for the government to raise its standards for meat sent to schools across the nation because McDonald's, Costco, Burger King, and Jack in the Box all do a better job of food safety sampling...

There is a town in Northern Ontario that posts inspection results online

Posted on December 14, 2009
You can take the girl out of Northern Ontario, but you can't take the Northern Ontario out of the girl. Since moving to New Zealand I've picked up a few Kiwi-isms, but I've managed to keep my awful hick accent, and still occasionally read the news for happenings near my hometown...

Humanure: It's extreme, like Mountain Dew, if it was derived from human poop

Posted on December 14, 2009
For more than a decade, 57-year-old roofer and writer Joseph Jenkins has been advocating that we flush our toilets down the drain and put a bucket in the bathroom instead. When a bucket in one of his five bathrooms is full, he empties it in the compost pile in his backyard in rural Pennsylvania...

Google Bacterium is on its way

Posted on December 14, 2009
Following the lead of mash-up artist Girl Talk, the Centre for Molecular Epidemiology led by Professor Frank Møller Aarestrup at Technical University of Denmark (DTU), is planning on creating a infectious disease surveillance tool by combining elements of google maps/pulsenet...

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