Category Food Safety Culture

Are chefs trying to kill us? (Asks the Boston Globe). Probably not. But might not be focused on public health

‘Every place has a closet behind lock and key that has a lot of that kind of stuff in it,’ The stuff – usually something fermenting, curing or some unapproved (foraged/home produced) food is back there. According to the Boston … Continue reading Read More

Chicken sashimi is risky; and gross

A year ago I was in Japan for a few days and my hosts took me for sashimi every night. I think they thought it was funny taking a food safety nerd for a bunch of raw seafood. I did … Continue reading Read More

French boy permanently disabled by E. coli in frozen beef

In June, 2011, eight children in Northern France were initially diagnosed with E. coli O157 after eating beef burgers bought from German discount retailer, Lidl. In May 2012, the Institut de veille sanitaire summarized the outbreak, and revealed 17 children … Continue reading Read More

True life: Someone cares about our research (even the tabloids)

Katrina Levine, extension associate and lead author of Evaluating Food Safety Risk Messages in Popular Cookbooks writes, If you have been following the discourse epic battle between Ben Chapman and Gwenyth Paltrow, you may be wondering why a celebrity wants anything to … Continue reading Read More

Our battle with Gwyneth: cookbook edition

The coverage of extension associate Katrina Levine’s research on cookbook food safety messages took an unexpected turn yesterday. Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘people’ weighed in. By ‘people’ I think it’s the folks who published her cookbooks. It started with a string of … Continue reading Read More

An outbreak can be the horrible gift that keeps on giving

For victims, reminders of an outbreak may be daily and can include long term sequelae from foodborne pathogens like Salmonella. Folks on the industry talk crisis, recall, restoration and recovery. The events aren’t usually managed quickly. It can take years. … Continue reading Read More

Latest food quacks peddling dangerous advice

The UK’s newest foodie stars, sisters Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley, purport themselves as healthy food gurus. In fact, one’s a former model, the other has a background in marketing. Following the release of their latest cookbook, experts claim their clean-eating, … Continue reading Read More