Food Safety Talk

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.

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.

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 everyones perspectives on emerging BIPOC food businesses and the complications and inequities of regulating traditional foods.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Don and Ben start the conversation talking about Thrive Coffee and Ben's vacation (including his visit to the home of The King). The conversation goes to Olympics, presidential homes and US history. Getting into food safety content eventually, the guys talk about sous vide cooking at low temperatures for short times. Ben and Don talk also discuss what recalls due to allergens might mean (and what it might not mean). Don and Ben tackle a stack of feedback on eggnog, the Bristol Stool Scale, bathtubs and bathing. They end the show on a deep dive on cake batter, cookie dough and pathogens.