Faraday cage demonstration on volunteers in the Palais de la Découverte in Paris — Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Food Safety Talk 263: Faraday Cage For The Voice

Added on June 1, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

The episode starts with a discussion of a couple of documentaries that Ben recently watched and Don lends his recommendation of the Time Traveler's Wife (the series, not the film). Ben talks about his recent running experience and then the guys really get into food safety. They do a deep dive of the recent Jif peanut butter-linked Salmonellosis outbreak. They bring back quick game of ABCDCFDA+ around the outbreak and recall information. The conversation goes to Abbott Labs and infant formula (and all the ripple effects of Coronabacter sakazakii). The guys talk about Lucky Charms and the utility of crowdsourced outbreak info. The show ends on a discussion about the challenges of being a political appointee during a pandemic.

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Food Safety Talk 262: Settle Down Sparky

Added on May 23, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

The episode starts with some follow-up discussion about Lucky Charms and FDA's investigation into the cereal's connection unknown illnesses. The guys talk about crisis communication responses with a call back to benzene in Perrier. Don and Ben do some listener feed back from deep chewing gum about talc and pathogens (and baseball cards). The conversation goes to a frozen pizza-linked pathogenic E. coli outbreak in France with a deep dive on manufacturers cooking instructions. The guys talk about low moisture foods and pathogen concerns and the physics of chicken washing. The show ends on a quick discussion of bus drivers getting sick.

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Food Safety Talk 261: TEAMS Is Dog Poop

Added on May 11, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the episode on Ben's basketball and Beastie Boys experiences. The guys go on to Ben's Pie in the Sky homework and talk about how health inspectors are portrayed in popular culture. The conversation goes to soap recalls and follow-up that Canada has a nice centralized place to find all archived recalls (food and other stuff). The guys do a deep dive on FDA's investigation into unknown illnesses potentially linked to Lucky Charms. They go back to an ongoing topic about Cronobacter and infant formula and talk about recall modernization and CDC's office of outbreak forecasting. The episode ends on an unofficial segment of ABCFDACDC+ review of Milltown Borough's lead in water communication pamphlet.

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Salad bar with tongs — From Food & Wine magazine

Food Safety Talk 260: Salad Bar Adjacent

Added on April 20, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the episode talking about podcasting background sounds like birds and stuff they are watching.The conversation goes to a new paper that Ben's group had published on the impacts (and the turns outs) of consumers washing poultry before cooking, where the pathogens seem to go and what we tell people about cleaning and sanitizing their sinks. The conversation goes to reducing paper waste and the food safety issues related to reusable containers coming into a restaurant. The guys talk about the best way to communicate oyster-linked Norovirus outbreaks and recalls to restaurants (and how much of a signal to noise problem there could be. The discussion goes to enoki mushrooms and ongoing Listeria issues and ends on a conversation of Helena Bottemiller Evich's Politico's piece about FDA's challenges and Mike Taylor’s follow-up op-ed.

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Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash

Food Safety Talk 259: No Bill, You Pay Us

Added on April 4, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

The guys are joined by friend of the show and food safety lawyer Bill Marler, for his second time on the show (but first in 8 years). The group talks about food safety advocacy, how the civil legal system supports change within the industry and regulatory world and how Bill's relationship with Dave Theno shaped his outlook and view on effecting change within the food safety world. The three talk in depth about a current Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak linked to infant formula and the challenges of civil and criminal cases, and the unique aspect of this pathogen not being reportable/notiofiable. The discussion goes to the importance and power of linking food safety to those who have been victims of foodborne illness. The show ends with a discussion on why Bill is working to address Listeria illnesses in South Africa.

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Food Safety Talk 258: Vegan Ponytail Extensions

Added on March 24, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the episode talking about all the things they are watching and listening to including (obviously) British streaming shows (and not obviously) Canadian indie rock radio. The food safety really gets started with a deep dive on reality star Heidi Montag's bison heart eating habits. This leads the guys into an internet tailspin going from Paul Saidino, to Joseph Mercola to, uh, Joe Rogan. It is quite the trip. The conversation goes to Cronobacter in infant formula and the issues related to illnesses when they aren't on the reportable/notifiable lists. The guys end the episode on a bunch of topics including multi-author government research papers, onions at Costco and the definition of TCS foods (and whether all cut vegetables should be under temperature control).

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Food Safety Talk 257: Pitmaster General

Added on March 16, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the episode talking about fitness, weight loss and the benefit of tracking things. They shift gears to some feedback and in-depth discussion on a recent New England Journal of Medicine article about an individual's meningococcal infection that led to sepsis that alluded to leftovers as the causative factor (and there's a turns out on this one). The guys talk about process authorities and the greatness of the Association for Food and Drug Officials (AFDO). The conversation goes to cell-based and plant-based meats and a restaurant accused of adding THC into their food. Don and Ben speak about an outbreak of Cronobacter sakazakii that has been linked to infant formula and end the show on real-time follow up to Noronerd about power outage food safety.

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Photo courtesy of Don Schaffner

Food Safety Talk 256: Phage 36

Added on March 2, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

In this super mega pod Don and Ben are joined by another special guest, but this time it's Don who has to do the guessing. Larry Goodridge from the University of Guelph, one of Ben's oldest food safety friends joins the show. The three talk about Canadians abroad (and patriotism during the Olympics), other Canadian food safety friends and of course, the Tragically Hip. The conversation goes to a Canadian salmonellosis outbreak linked to frozen corn (and all the confusing communication around it). As all three have interest in the food safety impacts of the pandemic, they talk about recalls, waste water and food as fomites. The big topic of the show is about racial inequality in academics, research and higher education. Larry talks through his experiences and everyone chats about what they are doing to address the big problem.

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Image from alattefood.com

Food Safety Talk 255: Crunchy Granola Hippie Town

Added on February 13, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

This episode starts with a the always hilarious uncomfortable bit of 20 questions Ben guessing the identity of a special guest. This episode's special guest is Jess Tang, who Don knows from Discord. The conversation starts with Jess' experience as a coffee roaster at a 3rd wave coffeehouse (and all things coffee). The group then switches to a deep dive in dumpster diving to support the unhoused, freeganism and where food safety intersects with these worlds. The chat ends on everyone’s perspectives on emerging BIPOC food businesses and the complications (and inequities) of regulating traditional foods.

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Image from CBBT.com

Food Safety Talk 254: Bridge-Tunnel-Bridge-Tunnel

Added on January 26, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben are joined by a special and initially secret guest, Internet friend Casey Liss. After an always entertaining 20 questions (which makes Ben uncomfortable every time) the three talk about a bunch of food safety topics that Casey has been thinking about. The conversation ranges from risks at quick service restaurants, ordering hamburgers, butter at room temperature, leftover pizza and what each of them looks for when assessing the safety of a restaurant. After a deep dive on a bunch of Richmond area restaurant inspection reports, the discussion shifts to chicken washing to thermometers to BBQ.

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Food Safety Talk 253: The Two Michelles

Added on January 13, 2022 by Ben Chapman.

The show starts off with Ben asking Don's permission to podcast cheat on him (again) and then the guys talk about Britbox and their current favorite streaming shows. They do a deep dive on an article from a recipe site that says there are 8 foods that should never be reheated (spoiler alert: science was not part of the article). This article leads to conversations on chicken and egg food safety, nitrates, nitrites and mushroom bacteria. The discussion goes to a current leafy green outbreak that has yet to lead to a recall (but it did lead to a note about check your freezers from FDA). The guys end the show on a bunch of feedback related to wedding leftovers in New Hampshire; fermented soy foods; a journalist's risk assessment approach for raw cookie dough; aerosols near sewage plants; and, cold pressed raw milk.

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Picture courtesy of Ben Chapman

Food Safety Talk 252: Porta Potty Moved Thrice

Added on December 22, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

The episode starts with Ben talking about the nuances of liquor and beer in Ontario and how he got into food safety (these things are connected). The guys talk about a question Ben got about supply chain interruptions throughout the pandemic and food safety impacts. The talk goes to FDA's proposed rule on agricultural water used for produce production. They do some follow-up on infant botulism in honey (and other similar syrups) and a historic deep dive on cooling time/temperatures. The show ends on Risky or Not follow-up on fish spoilage and carrot juice botulism.

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Image from SI.com

Food Safety Talk 251: Too Many Brooms

Added on December 8, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

In this very special episode, Don introduces Ben to a mystery guest, Matt Collins and they play 20 questions unravelling the relationship. Ben relatively quickly gets to the Boy Scouts, sort of gets to their collective reintroduction through podcasting but never gets all the way to Matt's career as a chef. The three guys talk through a variety of food safety, COVID and operational things related to Matt's business and the culinary world. After Matt leaves, the guys talk about what to do with your refrigerator if you discover it had recalled food in it (spoiler alert: it does not include a flame thrower or explosives). The show ends on some Thanksgiving talk and Ben's discovery of plastic in his raspberries.

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Food Safety Talk 250: Anti-Jamming Capacity

Added on November 24, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the show with a little bit of turkey and Thanksgiving talk, particularly deconstructing the techniques and safety of cooking whole turkey using sous vide. Ben tells his story about recent travels to Pittsburgh (for hockey) and DC (to shoot a food safety documentary). With a quick detour to the Talking Heads and the Demmes, the guys talk about some food fraud, potential glove guests and get into some listener feedback. The show ends with some talk about baking soda, pesticide testing strips, fresh produce and fridge temperatures.

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From Wikimedia Commons.

Food Safety Talk 249: The Disbarring Of LD Sledge

Added on November 17, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

This episode is a bit of a do-over. After a Zoom recording mishap where the real episode 249 happened, the guys actually re-record this one. The episode starts with a quick rehash of the unrecorded episode intro, a discussion of Ben's porta potty and titles. Ben and Don talk through a very instructive FDA warning letter related to a cashew cheese-linked outbreak. The discussion went to shared-use kitchens and the food safety complications that can happpen and small company recalls. They did a bunch of follow up on flour, eggs and cake luster. Don and Ben end the episode with a discussion about a potential guest.

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MIKROMAN6/GETTY IMAGES

Food Safety Talk 248: I Don't Eat The Gizzards

Added on November 1, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben are joined by Benjamin Schrager who recently started as as an Assistant Professor at Utsunomiya University. Benjamin's PhD dissertation work centered on chicken sashimi and a Twitter thread on this work led to a discussion that Ben and Don had on Risky or Not episode 197. Benjamin provided insights and perspectives from his research, his time in Japan and this led to in-depth discussions on messaging, source contamination, regulation, perception of safety and trust. The second half of the episode is just Don and Ben and they talk through Salmonella in onions, FDA's sampling surveillance on Romaine lettuce and a food e-commerce.

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Photo Credit Sewanee Purple

Food Safety Talk 247: Two A Pluses

Added on October 8, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

Ben and Don start the episode on song podcasts, movie reviews and Eagles' songs in popular media. They go on to talk about leadership camps but quickly get into food safety stuff around evaluation of intervention and education programs (and the lack of data existing in the literature related to actual reductions in illness). They talk about some big data sources and indicators of food safety success. The guys do a do a deep dive on the recent CDC FoodNet data and the impacts of the pandemic on foodborne illness data. The conversation takes a quick detour into music, and then heads to crowd sourcing illnesses and follow-up on a food safety Reddit thread. The show ends on zero tolerance with Listeria monocytogenes associated with different types of foods.

Show notes so you can follow along at home:

Apple branches in caramel apples via Apple News

Food Safety Talk 246: Use Clean Sticks

Added on September 24, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

The show starts with the guys revisiting one of their favorite sites, what3words (and all the bits that go along with it). They jump right into the food safety content with a conversation about apple branches being used in candy/caramel apples, and the potential food safety problems that can come with the autumn treats. Don and Ben then do a segment of ABC-CDC-CFIA+ and talk through an outbreak of salmonellosis linked to shredded pork hide and rinds (known as scrunchions in New-Found-Land, as Don pronounced it). They talk about social media approaches to food safety and then Ben walks through his favorite FDA warning letter of the week and the guys talk about feedback on dishwasher cooking, raw vs. unheated eggos and organizing in canisters. The show ends on a quick discussion of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and COVID outbreaks at a camp.

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Ben’s actual front yard chickens, Leia and Dolly

Food Safety Talk 245: Peer Chicken

Added on September 14, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

The episode starts with a discussion on Ben's minimalist tendencies and shifts quickly to food safety after a quick stop in cringe comedy, Netflix and Michael K. Williams. The guys do a deep dive on hummus, Sabra Dipping Company's recalls and FDAzilla. Don and Ben went on to discuss backyard (and front yard) chickens, including the supply chain and yet again another on going outbreak that CDC is tracking. The show ends on feedback about butter creme, Reddit's epoxy hot dog, and spices & alums in traditional foods.

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Food Safety Talk 244: Renee Nameless

Added on September 1, 2021 by Ben Chapman.

Don and Ben start the episode about a new location and using M1 macs and Zoom for recording (all seemed to go well). They talk about sitcoms and then shift to The Chair. The guys do a deep dive (pun intended) on flooding and the confusing messaging around what to do with produce that has been impacted by flood waters. Don and Ben discuss training food safety students to be ready to take on extension/outreach roles and how food safety laws are taught in colleges. The episode ends with a discussion related to Salmonella in Italian style deli meats and charcuterie and sous vide data.

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