This is a follow-up to the Salmonella outbreak at the Taste of Chicago 2007 outdoor food festival we reported a couple of days ago. The size of the outbreak continues to grow, with 636 reported illnesses, 66 of them laboratory confirmed as Salmonella serotype Heidelberg (one of the more common serotypes; CBS2, Chicago via ProMed). Fifteen people wound up in the hospital. An unusual aspect is that authorities have been able to pinpoint the source as a particular menu item, Hommus Shirazi, served at one booth at the fair. Even more unusual is that pictures of the booth and the Hommus Shirazi were posted on the internet as part of a food review at a vegan website, VeganDivaBlog. I posted the pictures in my earlier post, but the Vegan Diva herself complained and I took them down. For the record, I believe this is Fair Use under the copyright laws. She was given full credit and a link, but I don't want to pick a silly fight with another blogger and have substituted the link to her very nice blog post so you can still see the pics. I hope she gets even more traffic than we have already sent her way.
As a further follow-up, it turns out the VeganDiva had more to be unhappy about than the fact I posted pictures from her site. She was another victim, as she tells us in a post (and this one for sure is Fair Use):
Yours truly was one of the people sickened by the Hummus Shirazi at Taste of Chicago (and yes I did report it to the Health Department). [snip] In additional to the stomach trouble, I had the worst case of chills in my entire life. [snip] I wasn't feeling great but I felt well enough to go to work. Luckily in this case, I sit at a desk for most of my day and I'm not too far from the bathrooms. I stealthily chugged generic Pepto at work too. What a charming co-worker I must be. LOL
Rob felt fine because he only had a taste of the taste portion. Yes, I ate more than my fair share and boy did I pay royally for it. (Betrayed by Hommus, VeganDivaBlog)
Given the public health theme here, I can't resist making some observations. One is that the tendency to go to work even when sick is very strong in this country and has implications for pandemic flu preparedness. It will be hard to change what is usually considered virtuous behavior (suck it up and fulfill your responsibilities at work) to behavior where the more praiseworthy response will be to stay home. This is all affected by sick leave policies and points to an area where we need to make plans and adjustments in the event of a pandemic.
The other observation is that "Rob," who also partook of the incriminated meal, did not get sick. There are some possible reasons for this. The first is the one the VeganDiva assumes. He didn't eat much. This is plausible in the case of Salmonella food poisoning because it takes quite a few organisms to cause an infection. Through either improper food handling or preparation, an inoculum of Salmonella has to grow to a large population in the food before ingestion. If you eat only a taste you will get too little to become infected. Salmonella "poisoning" is really an infection from a massive bacterial ingestion. Like everything else, though, there is variation in response. And even if Rob had had a full meal it is possible he wouldn't have gotten sick but the VeganDiva did. There are also some organisms which require far fewer organisms. Shigella species, which cause bacillary dysentery, are an example. There a taste may be enough to make you sick.
There are also other foodborne poisonings that are truly "poisoning" in the sense that it is a chemical toxin manufactured in the food that makes you sick. Staphylococcal food poisoning is an example. This is the kind that strikes within three to six hours with sudden nausea and vomiting. But here, too, there is also variation in response. Some people seem unaffected or not as affected by staphylococcal exotoxin while others who eat the same meal in the same amount get sick. Botulism is also an intoxication and here the toxin is so potent just a "taste" is enough to kill a person.
So to the VeganDiva, I am sorry I posted pictures of the meal that made you and another couple of hundred people sick. But I am more sorry you got sick. Not fun. I know.
- Log in to post comments
It's a horrible surprise to find yourself sickened by food when you're a vegetarian or vegan, since you always hear that the bacteria that cause most stomach flus are mainly found in meat. Despite being herbivorous, I had a terrible case of campylobacter (the local public-health department said it was the worst they'd seen) back in the 90s that kept me home from work for over 3 weeks.
lulu: Alas, food of all kinds can be vehicles for foodborrne illness. In the case of canned vegetables this includes the deadliest of all, botulism. In addition, cross-contamination from meat or dairy products is always a threat, not to mention E coli O157 in produce.
Coming from the military of a Central American background I can say food poisoning is a really big issue. There isnt a lot of refrigeration, there isnt a lot of treatment when you get it. Bad water washing of fruits and veggies was an everyday occurence but, most of them didnt get sick.
One of the things I learned early was to eat native. Not literally but they put red, green and yellow peppers into everything and there was no way that what we all put into our mouths down there was "clean" because of the preparation methods. But, those peppers IMO killed ameoba, probably salmonella and a bevy of bugs in the water that was residue on the veggies and fruit.
I distinctly remember a M.O. showing up and sampling water, fruits, vegetables in and around the camp along with the utensils washing. He ate MRE's the whole time he was there. He left and wrote a directive that we werent to eat the local food, drink their water or anything else for that matter. So we didnt initially and stayed pretty much in the latrine... that is if we made it. I was one of the first to go native and when I did all symptoms passed except for an occasional maybe two hour bout with something. I used the local shaman's cures for that and it was a coca leaf chew and something else that was black and smelled like a dead cat. But it stopped and I was a happy, healthy gringo as a result.
Now to get it, all I have to do is go and get chili from the store here. Its already contaminated without intervention from human hands.
It cost me 8 bucks US down there to fix. Up here its probably 8 grand not counting legal fees.
Last September, Jordan posted an interesting blog on Confined Spaces tying the Spinach E-coli outbreak to faulty FDA regulations of agricultural products (specifically cow manure), although, if I remember correctly, at the time agencies were trying to combat the issue by controling worker habits - such as making sure that outhouses were sufficiently distanced from the food. What are your thoughts regarding that outbreak, or similar outbreaks where traditionally "meat-related" foodbourne illnesses are found in non-meat products?
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/09/killer-spinach-human-cost-of-t…
It takes a great amount of ones personal time to prepare foods at home, something many Americans are short of. Presently I'm able to have the time for safe, clean, home preparation of food. I also discipline myself to allow the time to do this instead of opting for deli prepared or the like.
While people run around striving to fulfill their pleasure (which isn't all bad), they neglect, what is obvious to me, that a new effort for home-made meals should be once again part of the norm. If this means cutting short the time needed to fulfill a pleasure then so be it.
On a different note you hit on something extremely important revere: It will be hard to change what is usually considered virtuous behavior (suck it up and fulfill your responsibilities at work) to behavior where the more praiseworthy response will be to stay home.
This has been "our" mantra for our entire working life because we come from the old school that there's someone else out there who wants your job. And only until the real threat of a pandemic came up did we consider that this thought pattern must change.
But at this point-in-time, trying to convince someone to stay home when ill is like trying to convince an atheist that God exists.
Being a former resident of "the City that Works", I don't think the outbreak continues to grow, just folks jumping on the bandwagon. . . I remember a bus accident in the Windy City where 100 + people passengers were transported to the hospital. . . Now we all know that you can't fit 100 people in a bus. . .
As far as going to VeganDivaBlog to see "her" pictures, I'd rather eat a week old plate of Hommus Shirazi after the way she treated you. Shame on her and her "site counter"
I don't want to pick a silly fight with another blogger
Are you sure you're cut out for this line of work?
It's a horrible surprise to find yourself sickened by food when you're a vegetarian or vegan, since you always hear that the bacteria that cause most stomach flus are mainly found in meat.
But then, meat is more likely to be cooked than, say, salad.
I've been vegan for about eight years, and have had two nasty stomach ailments that were probably food poisoning. It happened more often when I ate meat, but that might've had something to do with the fact that a) I ate in restaurants more often; and b) I ate in dirty restaurants more often, because I was more "adventurous" back then. If I'd been taking more precautions, and heeding more warning signs, I probably wouldn't have gotten sick as often....
Gilmore... Do they have those tandem trailer ride buses there? We have them here and they can fit 100 on them.... Dont know about the W. City though.