Background An estimated of 4 million Canadians (one in eight people) become ill every year from a food-borne illness (Thomas et al., 2013). The economic and social burdens of these illnesses are vast. As restaurants are a big sector of the food industry, improving their food safety would reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are on the front line, educating restaurant operators in order to improve food safety. In Metro Vancouver there are many different types of ethnicities and types of restaurants; this provides a challenge for EHOs to know where to allocate their time and resources. Methods The author analyzed 150 Fraser Health inspection reports in the Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey municipalities. The restaurants fell into three different categories: i) Independently owned ethnic, ii) Independently owned, non-ethnic and iii) chain non-ethnic restaurants. Hazard ratings, number of critical and number of non-critical violations from their latest inspection report were compared. Each violation code was also recorded to identify any infraction trends that exist. Results Analysis of the number of critical violations identified ethnic, chain non-ethnic, and independent non-ethnic restaurants as not being significantly different (p=0.09). The number of non-critical violations was different (0.033), with ethnic restaurants having the most. The number of critical violations, when treating each ethnicity as its own category, is however significantly different (p=0.044) between restaurant types. There was a significant association between hazard rating and restaurant type, with independent ethnic restaurants having the worst hazard rating (p=0.017). Conclusion The type of ownership (independent vs chain) and the restaurant type were not a factor when looking at number of critical violations that a restaurant commits. Independent ethnic restaurants had a slightly higher mean number of critical violations. Japanese restaurants had the highest number of critical violations out of the three ethnicities studied. These findings suggest a slight disparity in risk to public health between ethnic and non-ethnic restaurants.
Background: Disinfection and sanitation are important in areas where food is involved. Thorough cleaning is a necessity to prevent growth of harmful pathogens that could affect human health. Sponges used for cleaning can serve as a vehicle for cross-contamination on food preparation surfaces. There are various methods that could be used to disinfect contaminated sponges. The usage of a microwave is one suggested method. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if the Scotch-BriteTM Brand, cellulose sponges contaminated with E.coli (105 cfu/ml) could be disinfected using a microwave set at three timings (30 seconds, 1 minute, and 2 minutes). Methods: The Hygiena MicroSnap was used to detect the presence (or absence) of E.coli in sponges after microwave heating. The relative light units (RLU) indicated in the monitor determined whether there were any remaining coliforms in the sample after microwaving. Results: Statistical analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel and NCSS. After heating sponges for 30 seconds, 100% of the samples detected no E.coli. After heating for 1 minute, 70% of the samples had no E.coli present. After heating for 2 minutes, 100% of the samples detected no E.coli. The p-value of 0.03567 concludes that the results were statistically significant at the 5% significance level. Discussion: The results of this study indicate that sponges contaminated with E.coli can be disinfected using microwave heating. EHOs, food establishment operators, and the general public can use this knowledge to re-use their old sponges and avoid further cross-contamination. Conclusions: The results indicate that microwave time is associated with the presence or absence of E.coli in a sponge. However, E.coli was present in 3 samples microwaved at 1 minute. This suggests further studies are required to confirm the findings of this study. In addition, further studies are required to determine what specific time is sufficient to completely eliminate the E.coli in a contaminated sponge.
Background: Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are becoming increasingly common in healthcare settings in an effort to control communicable bacteria, viruses and fungi of health significance. Much research has been done on the effectiveness of alcohol-based hand sanitizers but few studies look at the effectiveness when combined with more typical usage, such as varying application times and amounts. Methods: We looked at the efficacy of the microbial killing power of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when used in a series of 5 applications. ASTM E2755 was used with the modification of a shorter application time (8 seconds from the recommended 30 seconds) of the sanitizer to better reflect actual healthcare worker usage. Results: We found an increase in the amount of indicator bacteria on the gloved hands of the subjects after repeated applications. However the increase was not significant enough in that a 2-log reduction of indicator bacteria was still achieved. Using a One Sample T-Test we found a very low probability value (<0.00000), indicating that the results were statistically significant. Conclusions: There is an increase of bacteria on gloved hands after repeated use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The results show a decrease in their effectiveness, most likely due to a build up of various non-alcohol components in hand sanitizers. However even with the 8 second application time there was still a greater than two log reduction even after 5 serial contaminations and applications. This cautiously shows that there is significantly less danger posed by more common shorter application times than originally thought. These findings have a potential impact on hand hygiene education as other factors, such as frequency or sanitizer amounts can be safely emphasized over application times.
Abstract: Due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant incident in March 2011, large quantities of contaminated water were released to the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The severity of contamination on the marine environment is unclear, therefore, the public is concerned with the possible internal radiation exposure from ingesting contaminated seafood products caught in the Pacific Ocean. This study was aimed to investigate the presence or absence of gamma radioactivity in commonly consumed seafood products from B.C. In total, ten different species of fish and three different species of shellfish were selected for analysis. For each species of fish, two samples were collected and each sample was from a different local seafood market. For each species of shellfish, ten samples were collected from three different sources. Using the portable GR-135 Plus gamma ray spectrometer, the samples were tested and analyzed for the presence of Fukushima radionuclides, particularly Cesium-137 (Cs-137) and Cesium- 134 (Cs-134).Based on the analyzed fish and shellfish, no gamma radiation was detected. The detector did not identify any gamma radiation over the normal background readings.
Background: Mobile phones are considered as an indispensable handheld item in society today. Frequently used, these devices are a “high-touched” commodity. Previous research has demonstrated that E. coli and other environmental contamination are responsible for the contamination of mobile phones. This study will measure the level of contamination (or sanitation) of mobile phones at an educational institution. Method: The Hygiena MicroSnap Coliform and E. coli Enrichment Swab and the Coliform and E. coli Detection Swabs were used to detect the presence (or absence) of E. coli and total coliforms on subjects’ mobile phones. The Hygiena UltraSnap ATP Surface Test was used to detect levels of ATP. The SystemSURE Plus Luminometer generated readings in RLUs that determined the level of sanitation. In addition, each subject answered two questions regarding their gender and whether or not they have touched their phones while using the toilet within the past week. Results: No presence of E. coli or total coliforms were detected (0 RLUs). A one-tailed paired T-test confirmed that the ATP levels sampled from participants that touched their phones while using the toilet within the past week was statistically significant (P=0.008390). A two-tailed paired T-test confirmed that ATP levels was not statistically significantly different between males and females. Conclusions: Based on the results, touching mobile phones while using the toilet contributes to increased ATP levels found on mobile phones. There were no differences in ATP levels found between males and females. Future studies are required to confirm this.
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