MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Winter 2009
Volume 3, Issue 1
DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
PWDU Quarterly Update
Partnership and Workforce Development Unit
The Odds and Ends Issue
ABOUT THIS ISSUE:
This issue does not have the usual
“theme” but contains articles on
a variety of issues that may be of
interest to the food community.
As always, PWDU staff will be
pleased to include your article or
to develop an article on the topic
of your choice for a future
newsletter. Please let us know, if
you would like to contribute or
suggest a topic.
Deborah
In This Issue
Delegation Agreement
1-2
Climate Change
3-4
Waterborne Disease
Food Manager Update
5
6-7
Delegation Agreement Update
This factsheet was prepared for distribution to local jurisdictions who will be
signing a new Delegation Agreement in
2009. The factsheet and other Delegation Agreement materials can be found
at: www.health.state.mn.us/
delegationagreement
Background
The Minnesota Department of
Health (MDH) and its local partners
have drafted a new Delegation
Agreement for Environmental
Health Services, in the areas of
food, beverage and lodging, manufactured home parks, recreational
camping areas, public swimming
pools, and children’s camps.
The Delegation Agreement is a
formal agreement between MDH
and boards of health that gives
responsibility for regulating all or
some of these types of facilities to
the local partners.
Employees FIRST &
Online Consumer Health
8
Emergency Preparedness &
CFP Field training
9
GreenPrint, third edition &
Country of Origin Labeling
10
E. coli, MEHA conference &
Google Flu Trends
11
Irradiation & Germ City
12
1952: This first division of inspection duties among state and local
agencies was described in a document titled, “Proposed working
agreement between the Minnesota
Department of Health, Division of
Hotel and Resort Inspection and the
Department of Health, City of Minneapolis.”
Delegation Agreement
Public Meeting Dates
13
1987: The Delegation Agreement
currently in force was written.
Delegation Agreement History
1998: The 1987 Agreement was
amended to include the adoption of
the new food code.
2002: The Minnesota Food Safety
Partnership recommended a new
Delegation Agreement with a unified,
statewide approach to food safety,
reflecting new practices, a global
economy and the current Minnesota
Food Code.
2007: MDH recruited a Delegation
Agreement Advisory Council to
develop the revised agreement.
The DAAC was formed to advise
MDH staff on the revision of the current delegation agreement. Advisory
Council membership was based on
nominations from stakeholders, and
approved by the Commissioner of
Health. The DAAC represented a
cross-section of delegated parties
and stakeholder groups, including
industry representatives.
The New, Improved Delegation
Agreement
The DAAC determined that the
Delegation Agreement should be
limited to contractual language,
stipulating only those program
requirements required under law.
Details that were operational now
appear in the complementary work
products, the Best Practices Manual
and the Evaluation Protocol.
Page 2
PWDU Quarterly Update
Delegation Agreement 2009, continued
Key changes to the Delegation Agreement are described
below. In many cases, program elements in the previous
agreement are clarified and better defined.
(9) Data Sharing: The new agreement specifies that
licensing data must be provided annually to MDH to be
used for a variety of descriptive and planning purposes.
(1) Application of FDA Standards: The Delegation
Agreement and Manual are based on the FDA standards
and customized to fit Minnesota’s needs. Minnesota programs are consistent with science-based Federal standards
and provide a yardstick for accountability and consistency.
The DAAC recommended that a manual be developed
to describe best practices for the operation of a model
program. The structure of the resulting draft Manual is
based on the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Draft Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards.
(2) Emergency Planning Requirements: Program standards
for emergency contact information, outbreak response and
planning are better described and reinforced by their
inclusion in the Program Evaluation and the Manual, as
well as in the Delegation Agreement.
(3) Emphasis on Risk-Based Inspection: The new agreement stipulates that inspectors must identify and address
hazards, incorporate education into the inspection process,
and promote managerial accountability. The new materials
emphasize a focus on health-based risk factors and their
impact on public health.
(4) Program Uniformity: Any brand new agreements must
include all program areas. In the past, agencies were
allowed to assume responsibility only for those program
areas that they chose to adopt. Existing delegations will be
allowed to maintain their current programs. This provision
promotes local control and will improve service to the
community.
(5) Program Status Designations: Previously, program
evaluation resulted in one of three status designations –
acceptable, unacceptable or termination. The new agreement includes two additional categories which are part of a
more collaborative, better descriptive evaluation process.
(6) Staff Qualifications: The new agreement clarifies
staffing needs and academic qualifications.
(7) Food Code Revision: The new agreement requires
MDH to coordinate a review of each new FDA Food Code
or Supplement. This review will lead to revision of
Minnesota standards as needed.
(8) Self Assessment: The new agreement requires agencies to perform regular program self-assessments. Self
assessment allows programs to monitor their effectiveness; to prepare for their formal program evaluation;
and to identify program needs and resources that may
be insufficient.
Each Manual section is comprised of the following
elements: (1) contractual requirements of the
Delegation Agreement specific to that section, (2)
recommended best practices to assure compliance with
the contractual requirements of the Delegation Agreement, and to achieve the goals of a comprehensive
statewide program, and (3) materials and resources
from federal, state and local programs, selected by
Manual working groups for their proven efficacy.
In response to the concern that all program evaluation
must be consistent throughout the state, an evaluation
work group designed a methodology for evaluation of
all MDH and delegated programs “to ensure that
minimum program standards put forth in Minnesota
Statues, Rules and the Delegation Agreement are in
place and maintained, in order to protect public health.”
Products reviewed and approved by the Advisory
Council include: (1) the Evaluation Protocol, (2) evaluation survey tools for each of the program areas (pools,
lodging, etc.), (3) field evaluation forms, and (4) the
Evaluation Summary report.
Next Steps
•
The Agreement is available for review prior to
notice of suspension of the current agreement and
the request to sign the new agreement.
•
Other dates and details of the rollout are found in
the Implementation Plan on the website.
•
Regional meetings will take place in January and
February 2009. The schedule for those meeting is
on the last page of this newsletter.
•
Delegated agency and MDH regional office selfassessments and program evaluations will be conducted beginning in June, 2009.
Page 3
PWDU Quarterly Update
Climate Change and Public Health
The following is from a press release issued by the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine regarding the
November 2008 issue of that journal.
Climate Change Will Affect Public Health – A Call to
Action: Special Issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Extreme heat events (EHE), or
heat waves, are the most
prominent cause of weatherrelated human mortality in the
United States, responsible for
more deaths annually than
hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes,
floods and earthquakes
combined.
These events, and other climaterelated changes in the worldwide
environment that directly affect
public health, are examined in
the November issue of the
American Journal of Preventive
Medicine.
The papers in this special issue
provide a crucial state-of-the art
overview of many of the issues
at the intersection of climate
change and health.
Guest Editors — Howard
Frumkin, MD, DrPH, and Jeremy J. Hess, MD, MPH,
National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; and Anthony J.
McMichael, PhD, National Centre for Epidemiology and
Population Health, Australian National University,
Canberra — and their colleagues issue a call to action.
Dr. Frumkin observes that “a decade ago there was
active debate about whether climate change was real,
and whether human contributions have played a major
causal role in the recently observed global warming. That
debate is largely over, although the inherent complexities
of climate system science and various uncertainties over
details remain.
A corollary question — whether climate change would
have implications for public health — also has been
settled. The answer is yes.
A range of possible effects has been identified, some
now fairly well understood and others yet unclear. …
Public health and preventive medicine, as applied
disciplines, share a common mission: to prevent illness,
injury and premature mortality, and to promote health and
well-being. This mission therefore carries a mandate to
address climate change.
Fortunately, the basic concepts and
tools of public health and preventive
medicine provide a sound basis for
addressing climate change…Climate
change, an environmental health
hazard of unprecedented scale and
complexity, necessitates health
professionals developing new ways of
thinking, communicating, and acting.
With regard to thinking, it requires
addressing a far longer time frame than
has been customary in health planning
and it needs a systems approach that
extends well beyond the current
boundaries of the health sciences and
the formal health sector.
Communicating about the risks posed
by climate change requires messages
that motivate constructive engagement
and support wise policy choices, rather
than engendering indifference, fear, or
despair.
Actions that address climate change should offer a range
of health, environmental, economic and social benefits.
The questions at present, then, are not so much whether
or why, but what and how? What do we do to prevent
injury, illness and suffering related to climate change, and
how do we do it most effectively?”
This issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine offers a range of articles by a group of experts who
helps answer these questions. Meanwhile, there also
remains for health researchers the extremely important
task of assisting society in understanding the current and
future risks to health, as part of the information base for
policy decisions about the mitigation of climate change
itself.
(continued, next page)
Page 4
PWDU Quarterly Update
Climate Change and Public Health, continued
Beginning with an overview, Frumkin and McMichael
emphasize the broad challenges climate change poses to
our customary ways of thinking, communicating, and acting
to protect health.
Four commentaries address specific concerns to preventive
medicine: research (Andy Haines); local public health
(Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rohit Aggarwala); world
health protection (Maria Neira); and medical education and
training (Robert Lawrence and Peter Saundry).
Irrespective of the extent to which human activity accounts
for climate change, the next five papers present evidence
of health impacts of climate change, including the direct
effects of heat (George Luber and Michael McGeehin);
vectorborne diseases (Kenneth Gage and colleagues);
waterborne diseases (Jon Patz and colleagues); and air
quality (Pat Kinney). The authors of the final paper in this
section (Jeremy Hess and colleagues) describe the way
these and other health effects vary by location, emphasizing the importance of geographic thinking in health.
These illustrations are the first and last frames of NASA’s
global warming maps which can be found at:
http://geology.com/news/2006_12_01_archive.html
Discussions of climate change involve scientific complexity,
considerable uncertainty, ample misinformation and many
vested interests — with the resulting potential to frighten,
confuse and/or alienate people. Health communication has
therefore emerged as a key discipline in preventive medicine. The papers by Jan Semenza et al. and Ed Maibach et
al. provide both empirical data and theoretical background
on climate change communication, grounded in the insights
of health communication.
Much public health activity will have to focus on adaptation
— reducing harm from the effects of climate change. Key
principles of adaptation are discussed by Kristie Ebi and
Jan Semenza, and lessons learned from public health
disaster preparedness are described by Mark Keim,
Margalit Younger et al. expand on the ways in which
policies and actions can both address climate change and
yield additional health, environmental, and other benefits.
Finally, Michael St. Louis and Jeremy Hess expand the
discussion to global health, an appropriate focus since
some of the most pressing challenges to health are
expected to occur in the world’s poorest nations.
The articles appear in the November 2008 issue of the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 35/Issue
5, published by Elsevier. To access the full text of the
articles visit: http://www.ajpm-online.net/ontent/advance..
Minnesota Department of
Health and Climate Change
The Minnesota Department of Health is in the early
planning phase for an all-Department workgroup
that will look at climate-related impact on the health
of Minnesotans. The workgroup will examine the
available science on this topic, and make recommendations on the possible roles of the
Department in responding to these
potential problems, and informing,
educating and protecting the public.
Page 5
PWDU Quarterly Update
Bug of the Quarter: Waterborne Disease (with Climate Change)
The following article was published on E!sciencenews.com on
October 10, 2008 and can be found at:
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/10/08/waterborne.dise
ase.risk.upped.great.lakes
and the Global Environment, conducted the study with
Stephen Vavrus, a climatologist and director of the
UW-Madison Center for Climatic Research, also part of
the Nelson Institute.
Waterborne Disease Risk Upped in Great Lakes
Changes in regional weather patterns and, in particular,
an increase in the number and intensity of severe rainfall events are predicted to accompany global warming.
Climatologists have already cataloged a decades-long
trend toward more tempestuous weather..
An anticipated increased incidence of climate-related
extreme rainfall events in the Great Lakes region may raise
public health risk for the 40 million people who depend on
the lakes for their drinking water, according to a new study.
In a report published on October 7, 2008 in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, a team of Wisconsin researchers reports that a trend toward extreme weather
such as the monsoon-like rainfall events that occurred in
many parts of the region this past spring is likely to aggravate the risk for outbreaks of waterborne disease in the
Great Lakes region.
"If weather extremes do intensify, as these findings suggest, our health will be at greater risk," according to
Jonathan Patz, a University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health professor of population health and
an expert on the health effects of climate change.
A primary threat to human health, says Patz, are the
extreme precipitation events that overwhelm the combined
urban storm water and sewage systems such as those in
Milwaukee and Chicago, resulting in millions of gallons of
raw sewage being diverted to Lake Michigan. Adding to the
risk throughout the region, Patz notes, is the growing
concentration of livestock operations where heavy rainfall
can wash large amounts of animal waste into the rivers and
streams that drain into the Great Lakes, the world's
greatest concentration of fresh surface water.
"It's the perfect storm," notes Patz. "Deteriorating urban
water infrastructure, intensified livestock operations, and
extreme climate change-related weather events may well
put water quality, and thereby our health, at risk."
Waterborne diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria,
viruses and parasites are among the most common health
risks of drinking water. In 1993, Milwaukee experienced an
outbreak in city drinking water of the parasite Cryptosporidium that exposed more than 400,000 people and killed
more than 50.
Patz, who is also affiliated with UW-Madison's Nelson
Institute for Environmental Studies' Center for Sustainability
"We have seen an uptick in the incidence of severe
precipitation events in the last couple of years, but this
has been a trend for decades," says Vavrus, noting an
increased frequency of both major storms and total
precipitation in the late 20th century. "And we are
expecting climate (in the Great Lakes region) to change
significantly in the future, so we'll very likely see an
Increase in these extreme precipitation events."
Climate change, scientists know, will prompt extremes
of the hydrologic cycle, causing intensified precipitation
as well as drought. Using the best available computer
climate models, the Wisconsin researchers found that
southern Wisconsin is likely to experience a 10 to 40
percent increase in the strength of extremely heavy
precipitation events, leading to greater potential for
flooding and the waterborne diseases that accompany
the high discharge of sewage into Lake Michigan.
Previously, Patz led a U.S. EPA-funded study linking
outbreaks of waterborne disease in the U.S. to extreme
rainfall. That study, published in 2001, showed that
two-thirds of waterborne disease outbreaks between
1948 and 1994 were correlated with heavy rainfall.
The new study, say Patz and Vavrus, points to a need
to strengthen pubic health infrastructure and improve
aging urban drinking water and sewage systems, and
to improve land use planning to reduce the amount of
runoff that occurs in urban areas during major precipitation events.
"This is where climate policy, land use policy and public
health come together," Patz argues.
Page 6
PWDU Quarterly Update
Food Manager Certification—An Update
By Tracie Zerwas and Tom Wilfahrt, MDH
Background
The Certified Food Manager (CFM) Program was established in 2000 by the Minnesota Department of Health
(MDH) and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to
help achieve state wide consistency among food safety
practices in the food industry. The Minnesota Food Code
requires an owner or operator of most food establishments to employ one full-time Certified Food Manager for
each food establishment.
CFMs provide food safety education for food establishment staff throughout the state. Three goals of the
training are: (1) to decrease the number of critical
violations found during inspection of food establishments,
(2) to establish better rapport between the establishment
owner/operator and the health inspector, and (3) to help
lower the number of food borne illness outbreaks in food
establishments statewide.
Another feature this website offers to public health, industry, and consumers is the ability to verify a Certified
Food Manager’s certification status. Industry users will
find this website useful in keeping accurate records of all
certified employees. Regulatory users can use the site to
verify the status of an establishment’s certified workers, if
the certificates are not posted. This feature of our website
is located at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fmc/fmgr_
query.cfm .
Additionally, current initial, renewal and duplicate applications can be found at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fmc/appli
cations.html.
A Few Program Stats
MDH has issued 70,018 Food Manger certificates since
the inception of the program in 2000. Of that number
47,898 were initial certificates, 21,230 were renewals,
and 890 have been duplicates. Currently there are 762
Food Safety Course Providers in the state. MDH, course
providers and other partners have provided an annual
Food Manager Certification Course Providers’ Workshop
since 2006.
CFM Website Features
One of the challenges in administering the program has
been to improve and enhance the service using existing
technology. A recent improvement was to provide course
providers with a web-based, self-promoting website that
allows the providers the opportunity to advertise their
course dates, times and locations on the MDH website.
This web-based self-promoting website was introduced at
the 2007 Food Manager Certification Course Provider
Workshop and has proven to be a useful tool for course
providers and for those seeking a class online.
Feedback received by MDH has been very positive. If
you have not yet used this feature on our website, we
encourage you to visit the site at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fmc_traini
ng/index.cfm
Innovations Expected in 2009
This past year we have been working on further website
improvements. New features will allow current CFMs to
renew their certificates and pay on-line. Four self-service
web pages will provide the following capabilities for our
various customer groups:
1. Certified Food Manager Self-Service Site:
•
•
•
Portal for the CFM’s only (i.e. no corporate oversight)
•
•
Modify maiden name, with validation
•
•
Choose primary post address (work or home.)
Access by CFM number, and Pin number
Modify password, email address, address, and
phone number
Add/modify employment at company or site; start and
end dates
Browse, and register for continuing education
courses
Page 7
PWDU Quarterly Update
Food Manager Certification, continued
•
•
•
•
Request a duplicate certificate
Send/log renewal notice: 1st by email; 2nd by mail
Print renewal application and fee schedule
•
Publish/manage in-house continuing education
courses
•
Pay on-line
Pay on-line
4. Regulatory Authorities
•
•
Make CFM inquiry, as before
•
Website will inform regulatory authority via email
when an establishment has a change of certificate
holder
Added: Current CFM/establishment summary data to
CFM database, CFM#, name, certificate, and
start/end date
This program enhancement will be active in 2009. We are
confident that these advancements to our website will
make all of our jobs easier and more efficient.
2. Course Providers Self-Service Site (Voluntary)
•
•
Portal for ‘willing’ course providers
•
•
Modify address, email, password, website link
•
•
Report/download CFMs registered for course
•
Display/link to registered course providers on website
Register company and address; generate unique ID,
and password
In its ninth year of operation, the Certified Food Manager
Program is dependent on the continued support of all our
public health and industry partners. We thank you for that
support.
[For more information regarding the Food Manager
Program, please visit our website at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fmc/index
.html ]
Publish/manage continuing education courses, dates,
times and locations
Register/up-load CFMs who took and passed continuing education course
3. Corporation Self Service Site (Voluntary)
•
•
Portal for ‘willing’ companies
•
•
Add/modify corporate and site address, email, phone
•
•
•
Choose primary email and post address
Register company, establishment ID, ‘Local ID’
(city/county), and password
Add/modify start and end date of CFM employment
at site address
Print all renewals and fee schedules sorted by site
Send/log renewal notice by site: 1st by email; 2nd by
post
Instructors’ Resource Seminar
for Instructors of Food Manager
Certification (FMC) Courses
TAX DAY, April 15, 2009, 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
1645 Energy Park Drive, St. Paul
Topics include: FMC E-payment system; foodborne illness; microbiology; food allergen management;
teaching through language barriers;
labeling and date marking; and an
overview of the FDA ALERT
Program.
For more information, contact
Tracie Zerwas at 651-201-4502, or
[email protected]
Page 8
PWDU Quarterly Update
From FDA: Employees FIRST & Online Consumer Health Info
The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
Announces Availability of
Their Food Defense
Awareness Training Kit
for First-Line Employees.
Employees FIRST is an
FDA initiative that food
industry managers can
include in their ongoing
employee food defense
training programs.
Employees FIRST
educates front-line food industry workers, from farm to
table, about the risk of intentional food contamination and
actions they can take to identify and reduce these risks.
The FIRST training kit is the second in a line of Food
Defense Awareness Materials. ALERT, a program that
was issued in July 2006, also focuses on prevention and
identifies key points that supervisors and managers in
industry and businesses can use to raise awareness of
food defense issues and decrease the risks of intentional
food contamination.
The Employees FIRST tool kit includes an animated,
12-minute DVD, and a 4-color poster that can be hung in
work areas to reinforce the initiative. These materials are
available in English and Spanish and can be viewed
online at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/first.html.
Employees FIRST learning objectives are to: (1)
increase food defense awareness, and (2) to define and
explain the five parts of the Employees FIRST initiative.
To read more about Food Defense programs, visit:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/fooddefense.
Follow company food defense plan and procedures.
Inspect your work area and surrounding areas.
Recognize anything out of the ordinary.
Secure all ingredients, supplies, and finished product.
Tell management if you notice anything unusual or
suspicious.
From a December 3, 2008 press release from FDA:
FDA Teams With WebMD For New Online Consumer
Health Information—New Partnership to Inform and
Educate Tens of Millions of Americans
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and WebMD
have announced a collaboration that expands consumers' access to the agency's health information. This joint
effort reflects the FDA's emphasis on using technologybased strategies to carry out its foremost mission, which
is to promote and to protect the public health.
WebMD, which attracts nearly 50 million unique visitors
each month, provides consumers with credible and timely
health news and information.
The partnership includes:
•
Online consumer health information resource on
WebMD.com at: www.webmd.com/fda.
Consumers can access information on the safety of
FDA-regulated products, including food, medicine
and cosmetics, and learn how to report product
safety problems directly to the FDA. WebMD will
bring the FDA public health alerts to all WebMD
registered users and site visitors that request them.
This joint resource will also feature FDA's Consumer
Updates that are also posted on the FDA's main
consumer web page at: www.fda.gov/consumer.
•
FDA contributions to WebMD The Magazine:
FDA Consumer Updates will also be featured at least
three times a year in WebMD's bimonthly magazine,
which reaches nearly nine million consumers.
The Internet is the fastest growing source of health information for consumers, according to a national study released in August 2008 by the Center for Studying Health
System Change. Researchers found that 32 percent of
American consumers—70 million adults—conducted
online health searches in 2007, compared with 16 percent in 2001.
Page 9
PWDU Quarterly Update
Emergency Preparedness Resources & CFP Field Training
Conference yÉÜ
Food Protection
Emergency Preparedness
Brian Golob, of Hennepin County
Public Health was a 2008 Fellow
with the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) Environmental
Public Health Leadership Institute.
As part of his fellowship, Brian
worked on a project aimed at
increasing the capacity of environmental health professionals in
Minnesota to effectively respond to
a disaster or emergency.
This work built on the activities of
the Twin Cities Metro Advanced
Practice Center (APC), funded by
the National Association of City
and County Health Officials
(NACCHO) and the CDC.
Brian would like his environmental
health and industry colleagues to
know that one simple way to
increase your emergency preparedness capacity is to raise your
awareness of credible web sites
you can rely on to provide useful
and current information. The
following websites meet these
criteria and contain links to APC
and other materials:
MDH:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/
apc/
NAACHO:
http://www.naccho.org/topics/
emergency/APC/resources/
index.cfm
CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/
default.htm
NAACHO Conference for Food
Protection Field Training for
Regulatory Retail Food
Professionals
The Conference for Food Protection (CFP) has progressed through
multiple stages in the development
of a nationally recognized model
for training and standardizing regulatory Food Safety Inspection Officers (FSIO) responsible for conducting food safety inspections.
The CFP Field Training Manual for
Regulatory Retail Food Safety
Inspection Officers focuses on two
components – the pre-requisite
coursework and the field training
model for preparing newly hired
FSIOs, or individuals newly
assigned to the regulatory retail
food protection program to
conduct independent food safety
inspections.
The model developed through the
CFP process, consists of a training
plan, trainer’s worksheets, and
procedures that may be used by
any regulatory retail food protection program. This manual was
developed to assist jurisdictions
that do not have the available staff
resources and funding necessary
to develop a comprehensive training process. The training model
presented in this manual can be
readily integrated into existing
regulatory retail food protection
programs.
Flexibility has been built into the
process to allow regulatory jurisdictions the opportunity to customize
training content and methods to
represent a jurisdiction’s own
administrative policies, procedures,
and inspection protocol. The
ultimate objective is to ensure
FSIOs are trained on, and provided
an opportunity to successfully
demonstrate, the performance
element competencies that are a
vital part of their job responsibilities.
The CFP Field Training Manual can
be downloaded from the Conference for Food Protection’s web site
at: www.foodprotect.org. From
this Conference home page, click
on the link to ‘Conference Developed Guides and Documents’.
With the availability of this document, state, local, and tribal regulatory retail food protection programs
now have a nationally recognized
model upon which to design basic
training programs for FSIOs.
Moreover, ongoing use of this field
training process will both enhance
the effectiveness of regulatory retail
food safety inspections across the
country and increase uniformity
among regulatory professionals.
Any questions pertaining to the development and/or use of the CFP
Field Training Manual can be direct
to: John Marcello, FDA Pacific
Region, (480) 829-7396 ext. 35, or
[email protected].
Page 10
PWDU Quarterly Update
GreenPrint & Country of Origin Labeling
Announcing:
A GreenPrint for Minnesota:
State Plan for Environmental
Education, third edition
At the October Food Safety Partnership, members requested information about the County of Origin
Labeling Law. The following article
was graciously provided by Roselyn
Biermaier, University of Minnesota
Extension Food Science Educator.
The recently released GreenPrint
was produced under the direction
of the Minnesota Environmental
Education Advisory Board, with
staff of the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency. GreenPrint
contains information about the
Minnesota goals for environmental
education, and strategies for
achieving them.
It also describes four main outcomes for environmental education
during the next 10 years, as
Minnesota addresses current and
emerging environmental issues,
and as well works toward achieving environmental literacy for all
Minnesotans.
To order or download a copy of
GreenPrint, see: http://
www.seek.state.mn.us/eemn_d.cfm
Country of Origin Labeling Law
(COOL)
Consumer caution about the food we
eat has become common because of
recent food recalls and foodborne
illness outbreaks. Concerned consumers now have the opportunity to
purchase foods from countries
where they feel there are better
safety oversights. The law was
initially proposed by U.S. farmers
and ranchers who thought people
would prefer to buy meat produced
in the United States.
COOL is a federal regulation that
requires retailers to clearly label the
country where certain foods come
from. Those foods include beef, veal,
lamb, pork, goat, and chicken; farmraised fish and shellfish; wild fish
and shellfish; peanuts; ginseng;
pecans; macadamia nuts and
perishable agricultural commodities
(this term refers to fresh and frozen
fruits and vegetables).
In some small towns you may not
see a COOL label on the fresh and
frozen fruits and vegetables. The
label is only required at grocery
stores, or meat markets, for these
perishable agricultural commodities,
if that business purchases more
than $230,000 of them during a calendar year.
Food service establishments are
also exempt. You wouldn’t expect
to see the COOL labels in lunchrooms, delis, food stands or restaurants. This is because processed
and cooked foods are also exempt
A food can be called a processed
food, if it is combined with only one
other ingredient.
You may also be surprised that the
COOL label isn’t always a sticker or
printed label. The law provides for
the “label” to be simply a sign or a
placard. In fact, the USDA encourages retailers to supplement
stickers with point-of-purchase
placards and other signage as a
way to more clearly indicate
information to consumers.
More information about COOL can
be found at: http://
www.countryoforiginlabel.org/ht/
d/sp/i/34736/pid/34736
Page 11
PWDU Quarterly Update
Pass the Cranberries, MEHA Conference & google.flu
Cranberry Can Inhibit E. coli Growth in Ground Beef
Researchers at the University of Maine examined the
potential for cranberry concentrate (CC) to be used as a
natural food preservative by examining its antimicrobial
effect on the growth of Escherichia coli O157:H7 inoculated
in ground beef as well as its organoleptical effect on beef
burgers.
The findings of the research, which was published in the
journal Food Microbiology, indicated that cranberry concentrate at the tested concentrations did not cause significant
negative impact on the flavor, taste, or color of burgers and
also possessed antimicrobial effects.
Recalls
MEHA
MEHA WINTER CONFERENCE
February 12, 2009
University of Minnesota
Continuing Education & Conference Center
St. Paul Campus
For more information see the MEHA website at:
http://www.mehaonline.org/index.htm
In the US last year (2008), millions of pounds of raw ground
beef were recalled because of E. coli O157:H7 contamination, and the Maine researchers stress that effective
methods to prevent and eliminate such contaminations in
ground beef are essential for the food industry and
consumers.
Research Results
Cranberry concentrate was added to inoculated ground
beef and stored at 4°C for five days.
Cranberry concentrate (2.5 per cent, 5 per cent, and 7.5
per cent w/w) reduced E. coli O157:H7 population by 0.4
log, 0.7 log, and 2.4 log, respectively, when compared to
the control on day five, claims the team.
They added that the inhibition effect of cranberry concentrate increased with time and concentration.
In addition, 50 panelists evaluated the burgers supplemented with CC, and no differences in appearance, flavor,
and taste were found among burgers with 0 per cent, 2.5
per cent, and 5 per cent CC.
Source: Application of cranberry concentrate (Vaccinium
macrocarpon) to control Escherichia coli O157:H7 in
ground beef and its antimicrobial mechanism related to the
downregulated slp, hdeA and cfa (Food Microbiology, 2009
Feb;26(1):32-8. Epub 2008 Aug 22.)
Google Flu-Trends Analysis
Google’s public service branch monitors healthseeking behavior in the form of Google search queries
by millions of users each day. They analyze these
queries to track influenza-like illness.
In a paper published in Nature (online, November
2008) Google reports that because the relative
frequency of symptom-related queries is highly
correlated with the percentage of physician visits at
which a patient reports influenza-like symptoms,
Google can estimate the weekly influenza activity in
each region of the United States, with a one-day
reporting lag.
To see the real-time data—by state, see:
http://www.google.org/flutrends/.
Also see:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
To read the Nature article describing methods,
research and results, see:
pubmed/19028302?dopt=Abstract
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurre
nt/full/nature07634.html.
Page 12
PWDU Quarterly Update
Irradiation Showcase in Texas & Germ City, Minnesota
Taken from an article by Pamela Riemenschneider published in
THE PACKER.com, December 30, 2008.
Buca Di Beppo staff and chef/owner, Marcelo Cardoza, pose in
front of Germ City.
Texas Center Offers Taste of Irradiated Produce
Electronic pasteurization, or irradiation, still is a mystery
for many in the fresh produce community, but there is
one place where people can see, taste and touch irradiated fruits and vegetables.
The National Center for Electron Beam Research at
Texas A&M University at College Station was established
in 2001 to research the feasibility and processes for
irradiating meat and produce.
Since the FDA approved irradiation as a kill step for
pathogens for spinach and lettuce this summer, more
people are interested in the technology, said Suresh
Pillai, the facility director. “There is definitely a growing
interest in this technology among all sectors of the food
chain,” he said.
Irradiation misconceptions common
Misconceptions on what irradiation does to product appearance and consumer perception are common, Pillai
said. “Many in the industry incorrectly assume that consumers will not accept this technology,” he said. “This is
truly an urban legend.”
The center has studied the correct dose for a kill step for
pathogens including E. coli O157:H7 in spinach and
lettuce and the optimal packaging to hold spinach and
lettuce so that the process can be used commercially.
Tasting is believing
For those who want to get their hands on real irradiated
products, the center is open for tours and customized
workshops. “We can perform specific studies including
consumer acceptance and consumer surveys related to
this technology,” Pillai said. “We can also organize tastetesting events so that individuals can see, touch and
taste electronically pasteurized products.”
Pillai said he thinks it is important for the industry to become familiar with the technology. “Unless and until you
understand this technology and know what it can and
cannot do it will be impossible to effectively champion it
within one’s own organization,” he said.
Germ City:
Coming Soon to the Location of Your Choice
The Food Safety Partnership / MDH Germ City Handwashing Display has appeared at a variety of locations
since its debut at the Minnesota State Fair.
Most recently, the display has been used by: the City of
Minnetonka for a city-wide open house; by Health East
Hospitals for a staff training during National Infection
Control Week; at Buca Di Beppo Restaurant in Eagan
for staff and customers (on a very busy and entertaining
evening); and at the Boynton Health Service, University
of Minnesota, Minneapolis, for staff and clinic visitors.
Germ City is reserved for several county fairs occurring
next summer but has a mostly empty calendar this winter and spring. It is available to you at no cost. Please
contact Deborah Durkin (651-201-4509, deborah.durkin
@state.mn.us), if you would like to borrow Germ City.
MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Anoka
January 12, 2009, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Anoka County Community Health and Env. Services
Government Center, 2100 Third Avenue, Anoka, MN
6th floor shared conference room
Two Harbors
January 15, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-Noon
Lake County Human Services Building
616 Third Avenue, Two Harbors, MN
Knife River Room
Orville L. Freeman Building
625 North Robert Street
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Redwood Falls
January 22, 2009, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Redwood County Public Health
266 East Bridge Street, Redwood Falls, MN
Public Health small meeting room
http://www.health.state.mn.us/foodsafety
Delegation Meetings—2009
There will be public meetings at the following times and places,
for stakeholders who have read the Delegation Agreement, and
who have questions regarding the document, its implementation.
Of the evaluation process.
Hopkins
January 9, 2009, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Hennepin County Epi-Env Health
1011 First Street South, Hopkins, MN
Room 215A
St. Peter
January 23, 2009, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
St. Peter Community Center
600 South 5th Street, St. Peter, MN
Saint Peter Room
Winona
January 26, 2009, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Winona County Environmental Services Department
225 West Second Street, Winona, MN
Jill Johnson’s office
Alexandria
January 30, 2009, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Douglas County Service Center
725 Elm Street, Alexandria, MN
Conference Room 1
Duluth—CANCELLED
February 6, 2009
PWDU Staff Contact Information
April Bogard
Supervisor, Partnership and Workforce Development Unit
[email protected]
651-201-5076, 612-296-8118
Deborah Durkin
Food Safety Partnership, Food Safety Center, UPDATE, Manual
development, food safety education
[email protected]
651-201-4509, 651-295-5392
Tony Georgeson
Rapid inspection software development, maintenance, and training
[email protected]
218-332-5167, 218-770-2119
Steve Klemm
Swimming pool construction, plan review, and inspections
[email protected]
651-201-4503, 651-238-7737
Lynne Markus
Web content, emergency response, factsheet development
[email protected]
651-201-4498
Michael Nordos
Training, program evaluation, standardization
[email protected]
651-201-4511, 651-775-6234
Cathy Odinot
Training, program evaluation, consulting team
[email protected]
651-201-4843, 651-373-7381