Safe Dining for Moms-to-Be; TABC Applies Brakes on Spring Break

Eating out means eating right. In the midst of food recalls and multi-state foodborne illness outbreaks, the injunction has never been truer—especially for pregnant moms, who must be particularly careful of what they eat because of their compromised immune systems.

That is not to say of course that moms should stop going to Taco Bell or KFC (most restaurants now require a food safety certification or a food handler certification as an employment requirement) and make do with home cooking all nine months.

New Fire Safety Standards and Assessments Released by ISO

Fires often cause severe injuries, deaths, and very costly extensive building damage. It is important that the circumstances that can lead to a fire be managed correctly and preemptively. Recognizing this need, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently released of a new standard for fire prevention and mitigation.

The new ISO standard, ISO 16732-1 (Fire safety engineering – Fire risk assessment – Part 1: General), is intended for fire-safety practitioners to help them evaluate fire risks of all kinds and choose from existing technologies and strategies the most effective in preventing fire.

MDP Budget to be Cut and New Salmonella Research May End Food Safety Problems

The federation of State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) is up in arms over federal plans to cut the Agriculture Department's whole budget of $5 million for the Microbiological Data Program (MDG), effectively eliminating the nation’s largest produce testing program. According to PIRG, MDG is responsible for screening high-risk fresh produce for pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, conducting about 15,000 random tests a year.

Lawsuit Filed Against North Carolina Restaurant as Salmonella Outbreak Expands

A lawsuit has been filed against a Charlotte, North Carolina restaurant, Toast of Dilworth, which served Eggs Benedict that apparently sickened 10 customers with Salmonella enteritidis infection. The formal complaint was made by Seattle food-safety law firm Marler Clark on behalf of Bryan McWherter, a Charlotte resident.

Because food safety depends to a large degree on proper food handling, many restaurant owners today have made a ISOcampus 22000 Training or a food safety certification an employment requirement. Much needs to be done, however, judging from the current frequency of foodborne illnesses.