E. coli Water Contamination in Texas Restaurant Under Investigation
E. coli contamination in water caused Fralo’s Pizza of Leon Springs, Texas to be temporarily shut down, although the restaurant reopened this week, according to local news sources. Dozens of diners and restaurant employees reportedly became sick after eating at the restaurant, and these contamination problems began at the same time a sewage leak occurred across the street from the restaurant.
Health officials have not attributed the restaurant’s water contamination to the spill, which involves up to 400,000 gallons of sewage that leaked into the ground. However, tests of the restaurant’s water are now showing no contamination as health officials continue to investigate the source of the problem.
“It is very hard to determine because there are so many factors that can impact water quality especially from a well, such as septic tanks,” said Sarah Gateswood of San Antonio Water System. “We know the area has a lot of septic tanks. The most important thing is for people to rest assured that the tests we are taking are coming back clean.”
The restaurant owner said he will hire a firm to regularly test the well. Right now, as an extra safety precaution, Fralo’s Pizza is still testing the water every day.
Sources:
http://www.ksat.com/news/24735142/detail.html
http://www.saws.org/latest_news/NewsDrill.cfm?news_id=702
Food Safety Lacking at Stadiums
Sports media network ESPN has published a complete list of stadium food inspection summaries, sorted by state.
The project found a high number of critical food safety violations at 28 percent of the 107 pro football, baseball, basketball and hockey venues in the U.S. and Canada. At 30 of the stadiums, more than half of the concession stands or restaurants had been cited for at least one “critical” or “major” health violation. Such violations pose a risk for foodborne illnesses that can make someone sick, or, in extreme cases, become fatal.
ESPN’s review of inspection reports found mold in ice machines at six stands at Miller Park in Milwaukee, a cockroach crawling over a soda dispenser in a private club at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh and food service workers repeatedly ignoring orders to wash their hands at a stand at Detroit’s Ford Field.
One of the most worrisome violations to health inspectors is food not being cooked, reheated or held at safe temperatures, because that’s when dangerous bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Campylobacter can cluster and make people sick with painful diarrhea, fever and vomitting.
At Tropicana Field — home of the Tampa Bay Rays — every one of the stadium’s 47 food and drink outlets inspected incurred a critical violation during inspections within the past year, according to Florida inspection reports. Violations include food residue in a cooler, toxic chemicals stored too close to food preparation areas, “slime” in the ice machines and thermometers not readily visible to measure the temperature of hot foods
Other complaints to inspectors came from employees, including one food service worker at what is now called Sun Life Stadium near Miami who told them that several small insects were mixed into frozen alcoholic beverages at a stand where workers hadn’t cleaned equipment.
Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization that lobbies for stronger food safety laws, said the ESPN report tells consumers that they should be “very concerned about some of the food that they are eating and purchasing in a lot of these stadiums.”
Restaurant Chains Involved in E. coli Steak Recall are Moe’s, Carino’s and KRM
National Steak and Poultry company issued a press release that identified three restaurant chains as the primary recipients of 248,000 pounds of beef steaks potentially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 that was recalled on December 24th.
It was the first accounting of where the tainted steaks were distributed because USDA — the federal agency that regulates the meat industry — has been silent on the issue. When the recall was first announced, USDA said the recalled steaks, including many boneless cuts wrapped in bacon, had been distributed to restaurants nationwide.
But here’s how National Steak and Poultry explains it: “The recall is limited to beef products sold primarily to the
Moe’s, Carino’s Italian Grill, and KRM restaurants in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington. These are the states where the USDA has determined there have been illnesses that could be linked to contaminated beef.”
The company also said it is “in the process of reviewing our procedures and will make any necessary upgrades.”
KRM is parent company to a chain of 54th Street Grill & Bar restaurants, including some in Kansas. Moe’s Southwest Grill is a franchise restaurant chain with locations in several states, including Colorado and at least three Michigan cities: Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Grand Rapids. Carino’s is a chain with locations in South Dakota, Kansas and Colorado.
The outbreak of E. coli illnesses associated with blade-tenderized steaks has sickened at least 19 people in Michigan, Colorado, South Dakota, Kansas, Washington and Iowa according to a Tulsa World Herald quote from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokeswoman Arleen Parcell-Pharr.
The story also said this about the company’s admission that recalled product was made October 12, 13, 14 and 21: “The USDA verified those dates, adding that source material for the company’s chopped steak product produced Oct. 12 that had tested positive for E.coli O157:H7 had mingled with products produced on the other dates.”
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen was the first organization to publicly announce that state and federal health officials were investigating a steak E. coli outbreak involving mechanically tenderized steaks. The firm is still investigating how this outbreak could have been prevented and would like to hear from anyone with information; call 1-888-377-8900.
Studies have shown that piercing intact steaks and injecting them with brine and other liquids to improve flavor can drive surface E. coli into the center of the meat where it can survive if cooked rare or medium. That is why the USDA in 1999 banned the sale of non-intact steaks contaminated with E . coli O157:H7, a virulent bacteria that can lead to life-threatening disease.
Prevention History of Steak E coli Outbreaks Dates to 1997
In November of 1997, the Meat and Poultry Subcommittee of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods stated that standard beef steaks have a low probability of E. coli O157:H7 migrating from the surface to the interior of the beef muscle.
Because of this, the cooking advice was to cook the steak at least enough to effect a cooked color change on all surfaces. Hence, it was officially safe to eat a steak rare.
But the committee limited this advice to “intact beef steak” and then defined the term as follows: “A cut of whole muscle that has not been injected, mechanically tenderized or reconstructed.” Under the Food and Drug Administration’s 1977 food code, “injected” meant “manipulating a meat so that infectious or toxigenic microorganisms may be introduced from its surface to its interior through tenderizing with deep penetration or injecting the meat such as with juices.”
Based on these definitions, USDA’s Food Safety and Information Service FSIS proclaimed in early 1999 that the agency believes there should be a distinction between intact cuts of muscle and non-intact products, including those that have been tenderized and injected.
The problem is that too few people — including many food handlers at restaurants — realize the difference between a regular steak and a non-intact cut of beef. The results can be harsh. Currently, national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is investigating cases of E. coli O157 that may be associated with steak served at restaurants in Minnesota and other states. If you or a loved one has been sickened in this potential steak E. coli outbreak, the firm would like to hear from you at 1-888-377-8900 or via our online contact and information form.
By 1999, FSIS had already banned E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef — officially making it an adulterated product in commerce. To prevent against the potential risk of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in non-intact steak, FSIS then banned the pathogen from all non-intact products (including beef trimming for making ground beef).
The expansion of the E. coli O157:H7 adulteration policy by FSIS gives special legal rights to victims of E. coli steak outbreaks if the contaminated meats in question were injected or otherwise tenderized. This means that someone who contracts an E. coli infection from a brine-injected non-intact steak product can sue the manufacturer of that steak product and the restaurant where it was served under strict liability laws. The E. coli victim does not have to prove negligence on anyone’s part to recover medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering and other damages under strict liability laws.
Steak E. coli Outbreak Investigated by Food Safety Attorneys
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is investigating a possible nationwide E. coli O157:H7 outbreak involving meat injected with tenderizing ingredients and served at large United States restaurant chains.
Lower-quality cuts of meat are often injected with ingredients, such as brine, to enhance a steak’s flavor and tenderness. However, if the brine is contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, it can then contaminate a steak into which it is injected.
These injections and mechanical tenderizing techniques may enhance flavor but can be dangerous to consumers when brine is contaminated and when meat isn’t cooked well.
About 94 percent of surveyed meat processors use similar methods to “mechanically tenderize” meat, according to a 2003 study cited by a Colorado State University report.
Prior to 1999, it was thought that only ground beef should be tested for E. coli, until the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service expanded testing to “non-intact” beef such as cuts of steak. Since then, five out of six foodborne E. coli outbreaks associated with non-intact beef have involved moisture-enhanced steaks, according to the Colorado State University report.
Pritzker Olsen attorneys have been contacted by E. coli O157:H7 survivors about this outbreak. If you believe you or a loved one have suffered damages from this potential E. coli O157:H7 outbreak or know anything about it, please contact us immediately.
