The Shoestring Sanitarian

Looking for food defence survey participants

2008-10-17T13:32:00.001-05:00

Dear Colleagues with Expertise in Food Defense and Protection:

Researchers from Purdue University, Kansas State University (KSU), and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis are collaborating on a grant that focuses on studying how to effectively educate professionals in the area of food defense and protection. More specifically, we are trying to identify knowledge and skills that are needed by a food defense professional, and core competencies that would be required to create a model food defense curriculum. Through this letter, we are asking for your help and expert opinion as we develop this curriculum.

We invite you to participate in an educational survey that will help us better identify specific knowledge areas and skills needed by a food defense professional. Your responses to the questions in the survey will assist us in the development of the curriculum for graduate students, as well as help us create an educational outreach program for working professionals. We are seeking your input via an electronic survey, accessible at the following link.

http://www.cfse.purdue.edu/survey/

Survey Code: FOOD

We recognize that your time is limited and valuable; as a token of our appreciation for your assistance, all participants will have the opportunity to enter a random drawing to win one of three $75 gift certificates.

Be assured that all responses to this survey will remain confidential; participant names or identifying information will not be used in any reports developed from this data. Participation in this survey is strictly voluntary, you need not answer every question, and you may withdraw at any time. The survey instrument and data analysis are being led by researchers at KSU; this survey protocol has been reviewed and approved by the KSU Institutional Review Board (KSU IRB #4770; questions regarding IRB review can be directed to the KSU Associate Vice Provost for Research Compliance, 785-532-3224). For additional information about the overall aspects of the project, contact Dr. Richard Linton, PI, at Purdue University (linton@purdue.edu).

We appreciate your time and help with this important project!

Dr. Richard Linton Dr. David McSwane Dr. Kelly Getty

Purdue University Indiana University Kansas State University

(For questions regarding this message or the survey link, please contact Dr. Abbey Nutsch, Kansas State University)

--
forwarded by:
Jennifer Pierquet, MPH
Food Protection Educational Coordinator
University of Minnesota
Environmental Health Science

The History of Jewish Handwashing

2008-10-17T13:30:00.000-05:00

In honor of Global handwashing day, I thought I’d post a short summary about the history of Jewsh Handwashing, which starts at Sinai and winds all the way to the present. In reality there is a lot more than just this. I could make a dissertation about it. This is based on a letter I wrote to a colleague who asked me about it.

Ready for a wild ride?

Biblically, the first direct mention of Washing of the hands is in Exodus 30:18-21, which instructs to make a handwashing station and to use it, with an interesting reason:

17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18. You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its pedestal also of bronze, to wash with; and you shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19. For Aaron and his sons shall wash there their hands and their feet; 20. When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire to the Lord; 21. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not; and it shall be a statute forever to them, to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

Here God is clear: Wash your hands or face the possibility of death. Can't get better than that. Supposedly it was one of the sins that caused Aaron’s sons to die in Leviticus 10. Let me point out something most who haven’t read all of Leviticus or Exodus wouldn't know: The burnt offering in many, but not all, cases had some parts that were roasted on the fire then eaten by the priest making the offering. In short the priest was cooking, and was required to wash his hands prior to food preparation.

Solomon By the way went wild in his hand sink system for the Temple in Jerusalem in I Kings 7. It included, if I did the math correctly the "sea" (i.e. water retention system) that could hold somewhere around 1700 gallons of water. And there were ten water basins, presumably the handsinks filled by the "sea". Today a similar device, though much smaller, is used to dispense wine on the Sabbath in some Orthodox homes.

Leviticus 15:11 mentions handwashing in terms of contamination with a person who has a "discharge" which many modern scholars believe to be Gonorrhea:

11. And whoever he, who has the discharge, touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

Biblically at least innocence is often associated with the washing of the hands as in Deuteronomy 21:6-7 for the ritual of the case of an unsolved murder. The prophetic literature (e.g. Isaiah 1:15-16) and psalms follow suit but even more metaphorically.For example Ps. 26:6 “I wash my hands in innocency; so will I go around your altar, O Lord!” I’m not sure since that’s “out of my jurisdiction”, but Pilate’s comment might be based on this concept.

After the destruction of the temple nineteen hundred and twenty three years ago, there was a change. Since there were no more sacrifices, then the Temple practices were transferred to some other place, in this case the dinner table. Since the Bible said the priest was to wash the hand prior to sacrifice, when the temple’s sanctity was transferred to a man’s dining room table here too he washed his hands before blessing anything and then eating.

The Talmudic Rabbis did a lot with handwashing, even writing a whole tractate of the early part of the Talmud called Yadayim (in translation “hands’) all about handwashing, how to do it, what was considered clean water to perform the procedure etc.

“Hand washing” as A phrase occurs 345 times in the Talmud (approx 70-500 CE) so its importance was paramount. There is even a case where a man was excommunicated for doubting the sanctity of handwashing [Ber 19a]

I could give you all 300 some cases, but I’m not Here’s a few choice ones note the prevention of the fecal oral route in the first one, which is a sequence of things to do when one gets up in the morning:

R. Johanan also said: If one desires to accept upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven in the most complete manner , he should consult nature then wash his hands then put on tefillin then recite the Shema’ and say the tefillah:(i.e. the morning prayers) this is the complete acknowledgment of the kingdom of heaven. R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan: If one consults nature and washes his hands and puts on tefillin and recites the Shema’ and says the tefillah, Scripture accounts it to him as if he had built an altar and offered a sacrifice upon it, as it is written, I will wash my hands in innocency and I will compass Thine altar, O Lord.[Ber 14b]

Our Rabbis taught: R. Akiba was once confined in a prison-house [By the Romans] and R. Joshua the grits-maker was attending on him. Every day, a certain quantity of water was brought in to him. On one occasion he was met by the prison keeper who said to him, ‘Your water to-day is rather much; do you perhaps require it for undermining the prison?’ He poured out a half of it and handed to him the other half. When he came to R. Akiba the latter said to him, ‘Joshua, do you not know that I am an old man and my life depends on yours?’ When the latter told him all that had happened [R. Akiba] said to him, ‘Give me some water to wash my hands’. ‘It will not suffice for drinking’, the other complained, ‘will it suffice for washing your hands?’ ‘What can I do’, the former replied: ‘when for [neglecting] the words of the Rabbis one deserves death? It is better that I myself should die than that I should transgress against the opinion of my colleagues’. It was related that he tasted nothing until the other had brought him water wherewith to wash his hands. [Eiruvin 21b]

There was also some demon superstition associated with handwashing:

The genius [i.e. Spirit/Angel] appointed over sustenance is called Neki'ah [Cleanliness]; the genius appointed over poverty is called Nabal [Folly or Filth] . Dirt on the spout of a pitcher leads to poverty. He who drinks water out of a plate is liable to a cataract. He who eats cress without [first] washing his hands will suffer fear thirty days. He who lets blood without washing his hands will be afraid seven days. He who trims his hair and does not wash his hands will be afraid three days. He who pares his nails and does not wash his hands will be afraid one day without knowing what affrights him. [Pes 111b-112a]

R. Judah the son of R. Hiyya said: Why did [the Rabbis] say that it was a bounden duty to wash the hands after the meal? Because of a certain salt of Sodom which makes the eyes blind.2 Said Abaye. One grain of this is found in a kor of ordinary salt.[Hullin 105b]

Suffice it to say that handwashing was a critical part of Jewish practice. One story tells of a Jewish innkeeper during Roman times who kept himself hidden from the Romans. He identified Jews by who washed their hands. If someone washed their hands he served Kosher lamb or beef. Anyone who didn’t he served pork.
Be aware ritual hand washing was not completely sanitary and didn’t make sense from a public health standpoint all the time though. There is always the shared pitcher shown on the right in the photo. Even today the ritual does not require soap, as can be seen missing in this hand sink in the Tel Aviv Sheraton. Anyone feeding someone else does not have to wash their hands for example, which has led to several cases among the Satmar sect of Hasidim in New York State having outbreaks of shigellosis.

I haven’t researched the period of the inquisition, but it would not surprise me if this was a way to identify non Christians who would the only ones so obsessed with handwashing due to its spiritual nature. I don’t know a lot about Islam but I do know that the Koran (5:6) as well had requirements for Muslims, with a requirement almost identical in language to Ber 14b in the Talmud of washing up before prayer, though in their case any prayer. Those who washed their hands were most likely observing other religious practices: Jews and Muslims. I don’t know about handwashing practices of Christian or orders like the Jesuits who the Inquisition picked on as well.

Hope that’s enough to keep you busy. If you have any other questions, let me know.

Mommy, What causes Diarrhea?

2008-08-28T13:57:00.002-05:00

A presentation I gave at the IEHA Food Safety Conference in Elgin IL on August 28, 2008 on the causes of Diarrhea on the cellular level.

What causes Diarrhea IEHA 2008

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: diarrhea)

Small Wares: The Powerpoint

2008-07-15T17:38:00.002-05:00

For those too dehydrated to remember where their notes were, here is the full Powerpoint presentation from the storytelling workshop:

| View | Upload your own

Blogging 101: The podcast

2008-07-02T10:25:00.001-05:00

During the Blogging 101 session at the NEHA AEC in Tucson, I recorded myself during the session. Since my presentation is not on the CD-ROM, I have posted it on the blogs for you to listen to or download.

To Listen: Left Click the button below. It's about 50 minutes long so you might want to download.

To Download to listen in your MP3 player: Right click the button below and select Copy Link Location or Save target as. Save on your drive. and play on your computer or move it to your MP3 Player.

The High Concept for EH

2008-06-18T09:39:00.002-05:00

The High Concept for EH
There is an idea in the world of advertising called the high concept. Heath and Heath in their book Made to Stick note that high concepts are among the best examples of core and compact ideas. They convey a lot of information in a few words. High concepts are often used to convey an entire plot of a movie or project in five words or less. High concepts usually used a word heavily laden with meaning the listener already has and then qualifies that meaningful idea with one more idea. One of my favorite old cartoons Inspector Gadget could have a high concept of “Get Smart for kids” for example. Get Smart itself might be described as “James Bond as a idiot.” High concepts also can become an important way of unifying people within an organization to a singular vision. As Heath and Heath give the example “the low cost airline” is not just a slogan for Southwest Airlines but their entire philosophy for doing business.
I’ll be talking more about high concepts in my storytelling learning laboratory session Monday afternoon at the NEHA AEC in Tucson, and why they are so useful to storytellers in EH. But the NEHA meeting has a theme struck by the Keynote Who are We and What do We Want to Be? In the Keynote, we will be talking some specifics. I’m interested in the Who are we? question in terms of high concepts. What could be some high concepts describing the identity of Environmental Health Practitioners? What high concept could unify our vision of EH?
So let’s brainstorm a few! Leave a comment below of your high concept. Keep it to less than ten words. Don’t explain yourself. If you want, you can comment on other people’s ideas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start writing those high concepts!

To Blog..or not to blog (the music video)

2008-06-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

While I was working on my Blogging 101 presentation for NEHA AEC 2008, I came across a funny video by Maurits Fondse, a Pianist and performer which I guess just became my theme song for the course.

Listen and enjoy.

Tomatoes Update

2008-06-08T07:44:00.003-05:00

For those who don't have links to the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak information, here's some links:

CDC information: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/

FDA updates: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html

Here's some photos of red roma and round red tomates implicated in the outbreak courtesy of the FDA website. Some sources have been ruled out as contaminated. Check with the FDA website for more information about the current list. From what I've read this happened during a transition between growing seasons in different countries, so it's not clear where the tomatoes came from.

How to do your own EH blog

2008-06-08T07:33:00.003-05:00

Okay the surprise is over! here's the blurb from the NEHA AEC blog:

EH Blogging 101 Session
What’s a blog and how could it help me, you ask? Check out our Learning Laboratory session, EH Blogging 101 on Sunday, June 22 from 1:00-1:50 pm! In this session, the communication phenomenon known as blogging will be introduced. Attendees will learn what blogs are, how to use blogs, and also learn how to create and maintain their own blog. Participants will write and post to the NEHA AEC & Exhibition Blog. For those with laptops, please bring them to this session for some hands-on demonstrations. Presenter: Steven J. Lipton, MEd, LEHP, CFSP, President, Biotest Services Inc., IL.

For more information head over the to the NEHA AEC website.

Oops It's been a while.

2008-04-23T15:54:00.003-05:00

I always thought when I started a blog, Id keep it up.

Well, in this case I was a bit wrong.

Now, however, I've got a new assignment which I will be telling a lot people about real soon.

And unlike the iPhone thing I started, this time I plan to follow thorugh.

Yes, really.

I promise.

Ratatouille: Bird gets Rat.

2007-07-02T05:58:00.000-05:00

In the latest Disney/Pixar Movie, a rat wants to be the best chef in Paris. The results are hilarious and wonderful. While I’m sure there are plenty of other movie reviews, I wanted to give a few impressions of the movie from the EH view.

I’ve worked a lot of four and five star kitchens in my time and Brad Bird got the feel of a French Kitchen down. Classical kitchens are not usually set up like their American chain or fast-food counterparts, with a line of cold tables dividing the servers from the cooks. Those European kitchens don’t have cold holding. Of course one of the bad habits of such kitchens becomes apparent quickly. Our hero rat Remy in his first cooking attempt in the restaurant finds a carton of cream stored on a shelf above a stove.

As for the kitchen staff, I think I’ve met every one of the people in that kitchen. They are classic people found in probably most kitchens of that caliber, and in many chain stores as well. The subplot of the executive chef more interested in selling frozen food than Haute cuisine strikes true in many kitchens today as well.

Of course there’s the rats. Brad Bird had done an incredible job of switching between real and reel rat behavior. One scene give us a rat’s view of accessing a building as Remy climbs from a sewer to a roof. Another has a Remy scurrying under kitchen equipment. Bird was quoted in several places as insisting since he took over the project that the rats needed to be rats in order to contrast the non-rat behavior.

Yet my biggest impression from the sanitarian view was a theme running through the whole movie. Handwashing and hygiene is important to Remy, how much so leads to an early scene explaining non-rat behavior, and one later which is one of the most hysterical scenes in the movie. What was interesting however was the humans rarely washed their hands, and no one used soap.

Given Brad Bird did a better Fantastic Four movie in terms of atmosphere and story telling in the Incredibles than either Fantastic Four movie, I expected good results. But the detail and storytelling exceeded my expectations. I’d give tails up to this one.

Rubber Duckies and iPhones: Part I

2007-06-29T15:53:00.000-05:00

For those who saw my Beyond Enforcement presentation, you probably remember rubber duckie. I carried rubber duckie around on my name badge through most of the NEHA conference. I was making a point with rubber duckie. Since I was going to be recorded, I wanted to avoid making the point with a certain laughing furry red monster.

On my way to my morning coffee fix this morning I was greeted by a line outside the Apple store located across the street. Not only a line of camped out twentysomethings, but news people filming the whole thing.

It’s iPhone day. Rubber duckie the sequel.

Apple has done what those toy companies have done. Granted, since the first iPod, Apple can do no wrong. They design incredible products. My iPod Nano goes with me everywhere. So it should be no surprise that people are excited about the product. Some of those people were there since midnight. Why should people be so excited about the product to camp out for this thing?

The answer is scarcity. In the rubber duckie analogy, there is a phenomenon noted by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence. Toy manufacturers intentionally under-produce certain toys in order to drive up their perceived value. If I only distribute 5 rubber duckies to each store then only 5 people per store will get a rubber duckie. The first five people in the store get the goods, everyone else misses out. But the store often does not tell how many they have in stock, so people get there very early hoping to be one of the few who gets the goods. Such events become news worthy in their own right, and with the panic mentality of most news organizations people believe there really is only a few rubber duckies around. Demand skyrockets in response.

Watching it in action this morning was funny. There is no scarcity of iPhones. Apple could not make money if they only made a thousand distributed nationwide. They need to make hundreds of thousands to turn a profit. What really is driving the scarcity is all in the heads of the people on that line. It’s the status of being the first to have an iPhone.

And here’s the point – Granting status costs little to nothing. I’ve seen it in action. I’ve even exploited it.

The real meaning of inspection scores is one thing. But that numerical value when compared to other numerical values is another. Everyone wants to be better than their competition or rival. As someone who works within companies, I notice that lovely question which is always on the Chef’s lips: “what did the other store get?” It is nice to be better.

In the next part, I’ll describe some simple, inexpensive (or even free) ideas to do exactly that.

You LED up my life.

2007-06-29T07:21:00.000-05:00

I love my mini MAGlite. Like most of us it is one of my favorite inspection tools. Like many of us I have the 2-AA cell pocket size version. I know, many people think I should have a more powerful beam of the bigger bulkier models. But I need to be very protable, and those big ones have problems with that. I had one problem with my mini-mag though. I keep dropping it, and breaking light bulbs. It was getting expensive either replacing flashlights or replacing Bulbs.

So when I started seeing advertisements for LED flashlights I thought I would look into it. In terms of brightness and light source, I was impressed to say the least. LED’s are a fuller spectrum than the incandescent bulb. Impressed is an understatement. A better word would be addicted. Full spectrum allows for a finding things you never thought you ever find with that sickly yellow beam.

Then I saw the price. Sticker shock ensued. Expect to pay $30-$60 for a good flashlight. One day before an out-of-town inspection, I found I had forgotten my flashlight. And so I bit the bullet and bought a plasticInova $30 LED flashlight (I couldn't afford for the more durable models). While it worked incredibly well, the plastic it was made of is not meant for inspection use. I cracked the plastic in a month.It wasn't as durable as my beloved MAGlite, even with bulb problems. Apparently Inove agrees: they stopped selling that model.

Maglite does make a few LED flashlights. Last night while shopping in Target I saw the 2-AAcell mini MAGlite LED for $25. The 3-cell version which I’ve seen in hardware stores is about $30. But I actually like another option.

A company called nitize.com sells conversion kits for the standard mini maglite, available at Target and many sporting and hardware stores. The kit includes a 3-LED bulb assembly and reflector replacement, and a new end cap with a push switch. Converting is as easy as changing a bulb. The kit is my kind of price as well: about $10.

I did that about year ago, and my flashlight has been my best buddy since.

Ten Things I Learned at NEHA AEC 2007

2007-06-25T15:36:00.000-05:00

I just got back from NEHA AEC 2007, and I learned several things:

Strict liability is a slam dunk
Don't dig your for your own oysters on Sanibel Island.
For some mysterious reason, Casinos don't like coffee.
Sanitarians are very passionate about their jobs.
Never give a toy salmonella to a Sanitarian -- particularly in a restaurant.
Most Sanitarians don't want to get up before the sun does. If they do - they're probably in food protection.
If the Words "Marler-Clark" and "will you be an expert witness?" are in the same conversation- Run!
I knew EH was the Rodney Dangerfields of Food service, but we're the Orphans of Public Health too!
If we got as much money as blame, we'd all have water activity meters in our pockets!
Most of us are a shoestring budgets, but want to do a lot more.

#10 on that list has intrigued me for the last several days. So I'm going to do something about it.

No I'm not going to give every EH department a million dollar grant.

I'm on a budget just like everyone else. But sharing wisdom on how to do the job of environmental health in the most cost effective way is even more important for a consultant like me than all you regulators out there.

Hence this blog. Let's share.

Every once in a while I'll share some of my experience from sixteen years running around just about anything that serves food, and some of the tricks and ideas I use to get the job done.

I hope you join me.