November 2004

EDITORIAL
November 20, 2004
In Pennsylvania, the state releases reports of restaurant inspections when no violation is found but does not disclose those in which serious violations have been discovered.
All inspection records of Pennsylvania restaurants should be available to the public, as they are in New York and New Jersey and some other states. Some states go further: In Tennessee, the state puts restaurant inspection scores on the Internet. In California, inspection reports are posted on the outside of restaurants.
In Pennsylvania, however, secrecy prevails.Continue Reading Restaurant inspection records should be public

Erie County’s recent salmonellosis outbreak that sickened 54 people originated at two private events. County health officials continue to investigate the outbreak, which occurred in September and October and left two people hospitalized. Both victims have since recovered.

"We don’t see this as a threat to the public health," said Charlotte Berringer, R.N., director of

Restaurants and other eateries in Indiana that fail to meet the new Food Handler Certification requirement by Jan. 1 may be fined up to $100 per day.

More than 20,000 Indiana businesses and institutions that will have to comply with the law, which requires most places that serve food to have at least one certified

Employees carrying salmonella bacteria caused an outbreak that has sickened at least nine patrons of a restaurant here in late October and early November, reports the NWI Times.

Porter County Health Department Administrator Keith Letta said at least three of the Lakeshore Cafe’s 29 employees and owners have tested positive, with some results still pending.

Among the food safety programs used by today’s food companies, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is clearly the star of the show. As a systematic, science-based method for identifying and correcting microbiological, chemical and physical hazards that can exist within food manufacturing and handling operations, HACCP is universally recognized by industry as an

Food poisoning is rampant in Australia, as it is in all developed countries, and it’s increasing at an alarming rate, and the problem is not confined to fast foods.

Potentially lethal bacteria are turning up daily in a wide variety of foods. According to European surveys, salmonella now inhabits up to 75 per cent of