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Chipotle Plans To DNA Test Produce After E-Coli Outbreaks In Nine States
HughPickens.com writes: Lisa Jenning reports at Restaurant News that Chipotle plans to do DNA-based tests of all fresh produce before it is shipped to restaurants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle now includes seven more people in three new states, including Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania, for a total count of 52 sickened in nine states. Most of the illnesses were in Washington, with 27 cases, and Oregon, with 13 cases. Twenty people have been hospitalized but there have been no reported deaths. Health officials say a meal or ingredient from Chipotle was likely the cause, but they have not yet identified the specific source of the outbreak. Chipotle's founder and co-chief executive, Steve Ells apologized to patrons who fell ill after eating at the company's restaurants. "This was a very unfortunate incident and I'm deeply sorry that this happened, but the procedures we're putting in place today are so above industry norms that we are going to be the safest place to eat." The chain will begin end-of-shelf-life testing to ensure quality specifications are met throughout the shelf life of products. The data collected will be used to measure the performance of vendors and suppliers to enhance food safety throughout the system.
But food safety experts are mixed about the effectiveness of such screening efforts for the prevention of foodborne illness. Bob Whitaker, chief science and technology officer for the Produce Marketing Association, says such tests are not practical as a screening tool. Instead, restaurant chains should focus on whether their suppliers have adequate food-safety programs in place. "You can't test your way to safety," says Whitaker. "The problem with product testing by itself is that it's hard to take enough samples to be confident that the product is free of any pathogens." DNA tests are considered among the most accurate and fast, with same-day testing available for organisms like E. coli or salmonella, says Morgan Wallace. Some manufacturers don't wait for results, since produce is perishable, but that introduces the risk of a produce recall if a pathogen has been identified after shipment. Others hold the product until test results are confirmed, but that practice adds holding costs and reduces the shelf life.
But food safety experts are mixed about the effectiveness of such screening efforts for the prevention of foodborne illness. Bob Whitaker, chief science and technology officer for the Produce Marketing Association, says such tests are not practical as a screening tool. Instead, restaurant chains should focus on whether their suppliers have adequate food-safety programs in place. "You can't test your way to safety," says Whitaker. "The problem with product testing by itself is that it's hard to take enough samples to be confident that the product is free of any pathogens." DNA tests are considered among the most accurate and fast, with same-day testing available for organisms like E. coli or salmonella, says Morgan Wallace. Some manufacturers don't wait for results, since produce is perishable, but that introduces the risk of a produce recall if a pathogen has been identified after shipment. Others hold the product until test results are confirmed, but that practice adds holding costs and reduces the shelf life.
If they actually cooked the food properly instead of leaving it luke-warm, this wouldn't be a problem.
Glad to hear they are trying something different. I am just recovering from a so called food-born-illness from a different restaurant and it was sure nasty. Stuck on the toilet with a bucket for puking for over 12 hours is not pleasant nor are the days after.
Website Just Down For Me? Find out
Now on to the federal DNA database, and then to Russian hackers everywhere!
Contaminated produce because it was picked by illegals who literally shit in the field and wipe their ass with lettuce.
government to work, this wouldn't happen.
Can someone please explain how genetic status relates to a bacterial contamination? WTF?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
What if any will this do to prevent a recurrence of the norovirus illness that sickened 141 Boston College students who ate at Chipotle?
Test for shit. e coli is shit.
Is it really easier to DNA test plants than to keep the shit out of the food?
It maybe easier, but DNA testing will not eliminate the shit that is in the food.
This is not a solution, it's PR.
Idea- put the DNA testing money, and the PR budget into KEEPING SHIT OUT OF FOOD
This could all be avoided by simple food irradiation. However most Americans are too ignorant to understand this.
Anyone see how high this trades for? It's trading for $565 a share (off an August high of $745). Still looks prime for a selloff.
The feds could start fining farmers for hiring illegals. If no one is willing to work for those wages then produce prices are artificially low and need adjusted.
Would end E. Coli ... But the chances of getting past american phobias seem small.
In most cases, the field contamination is from adjacent fields, wild animals, or even water borne, not from the field workers.
That notorious contaminated spinach thing from a few years ago is a good example.
What you need is to consume this stuff regularly, so you build up a tolerance to the strains that occur locally.
ooh, above industry norms... is that like what... having any standards at all... pfft... don't eat out in America. It's all unhealthy garbage anyways.
I know it isn't considered acceptable to mock republicans here on slashdot, but that is funny, there. I'm even eating right now and that was funny...
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
It's trendy food, but it's toxic to anyone handling it.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Perhaps there is a subtle difference you are missing between throwing out vegetables and throwing out people. Kind of in the way that killing people is considered a crime but picking plants is not really frowned upon. I even eat the things regularly.
However, I am really quite impressed in how you managed to justify the recreation of third reich by drawing an analogy with the treatment of vegetables. The circularness and inhumanity of this logic is nearly infallible.
Given that at least 2 of the Seattle-area restaurants were immediately shut down again by the health department for health code violations, this is beyond ingredient suppliers -- they need to hire managers who actually pay attention to what their employees aren't doing (e.g. washing hands, keeping food hot/cold enough, etc).
Do you really need reason for beer? Wingman Brewers
I was sickened with possible E-coli after eating at Chipotle in Northwest Arkansas. I remember that the guacamole had a funny taste... like it was made with spoiled eggs... but I ate it anyway like a fool. The resulting food poisoning made me sick to my stomach and eventually sh*t my pants, multiple times, the first one being at work. My roommate had to bring fresh pants and take me home... I was very embarrassed and I'm glad my coworkers haven't tormented me about it. This was just before the first instance of reported food poisoning in restaurants in California and Minnesota this summer.
I remember calling the restaurant I went to and letting them know I might have gotten sick eating there. A few minutes later I received a call from Chipotle headquarters wanting to know more about it and reporting that they hadn't had any other instance of food poisoning from that restaurant.
It could be by chance, but considering how far this has gone and how many states have been reported affected by this, I'd have to say it's a supply chain issue and has absolutely nothing to do with what state you're eating in.
Don't eat at Chipotle, you'll get sick! They need to be shut down if they can't fix this. (Conversely, if you like to invest, now is the best time to buy their stock... I don't care, just don't eat there.)
Except that it's not a mere case of throwing out vegetables. It's a case of causing heavy losses to people and affecting the livelihoods of many people in the 'food chain' here - those who work in the farms involved, those who work in the stores, those who work in the restaurants, et al. A whole lot of people who don't get paid, or risk losing their jobs when something like this happens.
But congratulations on the shrill bleeding-heart reaction to anything that suggests that Muslims are anything but innocent dandelions all persecuted by the EEEVVVVILLLLL White Guys.
It's amateur night at supply chain management school.
Please, don't insult us. Chipotle management screwed up in their abortive quest to use the Chipotle chain to finance their big dreams of creating a gourmet restaurant chain.
They never intended to keep the Chipotle brand around after they achieved their dream, but it never happened, and now we have lots of people with puke bugs.
Details here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Kriston
More stupidity in this discussion, too. The experts aren't even sure where the contamination is coming from, but that doesn't stop you people from declaring 'It HAS to be such-and-such'. What a bunch of bullshit. How about you all go back to arguing about politics or religion or something and leave the science to the people who actually know what they're doing and actually have access to the situation, k?
Having worked in a restaurant, I can tell you those places must have been doing some nightmarish shit. The company I work for has only been shut down once (years ago) because mouse turds were found on a slicer, not in use, which is pretty damn egregious if you ask me, but not as serious as people would expect. That manager and employee were both fired. Anything less just gets you yelled at and, maybe, if it's really bad, you'll have to throw away some product. We were once forced to throw out an entire cooler of meat (more than 500 lbs) because the cooler was holding at 42 degrees F. 41 is the limit. That's the exception though. The rule is a good talking to. Having said that, restaurants are usually scared shitless of the health department, and generally keep things safe. An outbreak of norovirus or e coli is a death sentence (Jack-in-the-Box, Blimpie (in GR, MI, anyway)), so restaurants have a pretty big incentive to keep things clean and at temp.
I got very sick after eating at Chipotle nearly 10 years ago. The occurrences of illness have only increased since then. It could have been due to poor worker sanitation, or maybe E. Coli, but either way, I haven't eaten there since, and I don't plan to eat there again ever.
Steve Ells has apologized for the illness. So what. Steve, you can stuff your sorrys in a sack!
The E. coli outbreak is targeted at the company loudest about antibiotic free, additive free, non-GMO foods. The things Chipotle was doing were causing waves in the restaurant and agriculture businesses that one or more players didn't like. This E. coli outbreak has set that back years, people now question whether it was the right move by Chipotle. If they looked they will find this started as a crime.
"He also says companies should just accept that they would be selling less secure products."
Organic was never without toxins anyways.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner.
They were the loudest company to announce that they were abandoning GMOs. And then this happens. Funny how that works.
just do like ze germanz did, just blame spain. Pretend we cultivate our stuff in fecal waters because we are "ze inferior race" and not using your wolkswaggen magical futuristic machinery and be done with it. You yankees just need to change ww for something american, like, ford or... dupont maybe?
anyway, if the blame of spain is too foreign you can use mexico, our (rapist) cholo cousins wont give a fuck either
chíngale!!
They are done not one outbreak but many and different types.
Really? I mean, yeah, really? Do you have *any* evidence to support that claim or is just just a presumption because "it's obvious if you look at it right?" 'Cause I'm thinking you're a bit crazy. Big Agriculture, such as it exists, isn't going to (probably) go out and intentionally poison a bunch of people when they can sell organic foods at a much higher profit percentage. They're not going to risk that kind of fallout should they be discovered. There's no darkened walnut-lined room with a giant oaken table and antique leather chairs.
I mean, really? C'mon now, you might just as well say it was due to aliens. Unless, of course, you have some evidence... Do you have any evidence? Does the lack of evidence give weight to your conclusions in your mind?
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Nanny state socialism. If 42 degrees really means illness, then people won't go there again. Viola, the magic of the market to the rescue again!
--
roman_mir
That's the exception though. The rule is a good talking to. Having said that, restaurants are usually scared shitless of the health department, and generally keep things safe.
Eh. Tons of restaurants don't. I've got food poisoning a ton after going out. And I've heard all the scare stories. We've got a sports bar here in Kelseyville where one of my friends worked for a moment, and they are horrible about food handling and break every rule. They're still open years later.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The moon landings were faked too. If you have a powerful enough telescope you can actually look at where they supposedly landed on the moon and left the rover and LEM. But you know what those placed look like - an abandoned sound stage. You take a photograph of the moon at high enough resolution and you can see the remains of a camera and lightning boom. Not the LEM or rover - the debris is the wrong shape. It exactly matches the lighting equipment used in the 60s on TV sets. Filmed. Right there. Fake as can be. They even left the set trash.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I must confess... I've looked at the moon through a high-powered telescope (there's an observatory at Kents Hill) and I did not see any evidence of the moon landings! I've seen the lack of evidence with my own eyes! They must be faked!
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
All you need to do is a standard Gram test. less than $0.08 cost per test and can be done in their own lab easily
What the fuck is wrong with these executives? full blown DNA test? why don't they also perform a full gas chromatograph as well?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Grocery stores buy at lowest price and sell at what market will bear.
They are usually buying from large chain suppliers who in turn often import.
They too look to buy low and sell high. And they also buy from producers and suppliers who do the same.
And if ANY link in the supply chain mislabels their produce in order to get a better price...
The other thing is... all that food being shipped and left sitting there in the store for days means pest control.
Or roaches and rats munching on your produce.
And that means pesticides. Applied IN STORE by people who have no clue of dosage or which pesticides should be applied. Couple of cans or RAID? Why not?
That's why there are no differences in taste in "organic" vs. "regular" FARMED food - but people buying in supermarkets still complain about the taste.
Send them to a farmers market and they'll happily buy and eat pesticide sprayed and GMO produce thinking it's "organic" - cause farmers know what "time to harvest" is for and cause their produce is FRESH.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
The only thing hard to believe here is that it took this long for organic produce to develop problems.
Organic produce is grown in organic fertilizer, which is dung. Ecoli and noro virus are spread by dung. Although irradiated food can carry the organic label, most produced do not irradiate because is clearly goes against the 'all natural' vibe that their customers desire.
Conclusion: Organic may be 'environmentally sustainable', but there are other ways that it is not sustainable.
Third world MEXICANS who don't bother washing their hands after going to the toilet - THAT is what is to blame for this. As usual, 'political correctness' kills people. Thank your Jewish 'masters' for all of this shit.
Who Forced illegal undocumented guest workers to fertilize their fields with Human excrement from said guest workers rather than picking their own crops. Solution is simple. Force crackers to work the fields. We will then take all the poor undocumented guest workers and put them into positions of power such as media moguls, and congressmen.
I am thinking that when this happens we can finally fix the immigration crisis. The proud latino race, when they are in charge would never allow their own country to be taken over by a bunch of undocumented immigrants. Only crackers and niggers are that stupid. Latinos stick together. Crackers and Niggers just fight amongst themselves and spend all their time worrying about who is the most privileged / discriminated against.
http://www.stilldrinking.org/c...
( Amusing blog. Another good one is this:
http://www.stilldrinking.org/p... )
The e-coli outbreaks happen because of greed, an inherent problem with capitalism as all business owners are greedy as they don't give a fuck about anything but getting a profit even if the sheeple get sick. The solution is simple, communism. That's right boys and girls, communism. With communism this shit would not happen but since the fucktarded USians are brainwashed into thinking the free market will solve everything they will keep getting ill from eating tainted food shoveled in their face by greedy business owners while every other country will not have this problem even with organic farming.
Sincerely,
Signed: The rest of the world
Food poisoning can kill people.
In July O7, I got a mac pro. There's no punchline. Just endless joy and wonder.
A fallacy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I'll just leave this here:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Monsanto,_Agent_Orange,_Dioxins_and_Plan_Colombia
Where is your moral outrage and righteous indignation now?
You link to something not even remotely related and then parrot a pithy saying at the end that also has no bearing on the conversation at hand. Insanity isn't curable, that we know of, but there's help available. Yes, Monsanto has done some evil things. Yes, they're probably still doing evil things. No, they're not intentionally poisoning a supply line for a restaurant.
The quizzical thing is that you seem to think that I've some moral outrage or righteous indignation. No, that would apply to the GGP post where they indicated that they were outraged and indignant. I'm at the opposite end, apathetic and mildly curious about the mental state of the poster. The insanity behind the people who think there's a giant conspiracy everywhere is just astounding.
I do know why scientists believe they do it, however. See, it's an ego thing. It's usually people with lower-than usual self-esteem and below-average IQs that believe in conspiracy theories. They do this because it makes them feel better. It makes them feel smart. See, they're "in the know." They're the wise, the people able to see between the lines, and everyone else is too stupid to get it. It's about inferiority and lack of intelligence that makes them believe these things. It's quite the opposite of what they think others are seeing.
It was an interesting paper. I enjoyed reading it but I still find the actual mental process confusing. I'm just not able to grasp what it's like to feel that poorly about oneself and I'd hate to be at that level of intellect. It would be like being able to read but unable to understand, or so I imagine.
There are bad people doing bad things but, odds are, it's not some giant corporation that's worried about a trivial fast food franchise and their trendy foods. They're not a threat, even if they do catch on. If Monsanto can make money selling organics (and they probably do) then they're going to do that instead. They're not worried about GMO being less popular with some because they are already in the market and the market's not going anywhere.
Why do I explain all of this? Well, because you might be the original AC and you might be in need of help. Think carefully about what I've said. I'm a fairly reputable person with a fairly decent group of contacts - some of whom are here on this very sight. I'm not some sort of Monsanto "shill" nor do I own any stock in their company (to the best of my knowledge). I have nothing to gain from posting this. I have nothing to lose from your mad ravings.
I do, however, have a vested interest in being a catalyst for change. If this post makes you examine the thought pattern you're using and realize that you're trying to make the extraordinary ordinary then I've done my job and that will make me feel better about who I am and it will, maybe, help you see that the answer isn't usually the most complex one that you can come up with even if it makes you feel good or feel like you've posted something intelligent.
It matters to me because I care. I care about my fellow humans. I want to help them think logically when I can. I want them to do smart things and accomplish great things. I want them to be happy, free, and thinking. If I can help that, even just a little bit, then I get the chance to think that I might have improved the world just a little bit. Seriously, someone's shitting on the food. There's no conspiracy here unless you've got some evidence. Agent Orange is not evidence.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Just include free chipotle-away with every burrito to remove those stubborn bloody diarrhea stains from their customer's underwear.
But food safety experts are mixed about the effectiveness of such screening efforts
Are the experts mixed, like perhaps, a salad with e. coli-containing lettuce, or are their opinions mixed?
Yeah. The reason they ended the Apollo program was a contract dispute about the planet, about 300 light-years away, that we were using to stage the moon landings.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
For years I vetoed Chipotle when my friends wanted to go there. It is utter, bland, mediocrity -- the Olive Garden of casual Mexican, if you will. Far, far too much of day-to-day operations is left to employees, if you're lucky they will be older Latina women who put out so-so food... if you're not, it'll be teenagers giving you lettuce stems and dehydrated (but responsibly sourced!) Chicken.
IMO foodborne pathogen outbreaks take a fair amount of carelessness - either in the way the item is sourced or the way its handled. Since I live in one of the affected states, my snobbiness about Chipotle may have kept me out of the hospital!
Fuck you Steve Ells, douchebag fuck!
This is the #1 problem with organic food that no one talks about: e coli. Almost all of the e coli outbreaks are from organic food...that's what happens when you use sht for fertilizer - and that's exactly why we switched to chemicals in the first place.
The food's trendy, but it's toxic on contact.
(Laughing at mods that blew their modpoints on the first round)
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.