Trip Tip a Day

A report issued two days ago links the French and German E. coli (STEC) 0104:H4 outbreaks to fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt. The trace of the seeds from Egypt to container ship to distribution at garden centers is fascinating.  For a full read, see the link below. "The comparison of the back tracing information from the French and German outbreaks leads to the conclusion that lot # 48088 of fenugreek seeds imported by the Importer, from Egypt, is the most likely common link, although it cannot be excluded that other lots may be implicated. Given the possible severe health impact of exposure to a small quantity of contaminated material, and, in the absence of information regarding the source and means of contamination and possible cross-contamination, it seems appropriate to consider all lots of fenugreek from the identified exporter as suspect. In this regard, the thus far negative test results from the microbiological tests carried out on seeds cannot be interpreted as proof...

Foodography.  I love to whip out the IPHONE for a picture of a beautifully prepared dish, to document a fun new restaurant, or the food on a trip to an exotic land.  Here is a photo I took last weekend at work.  Jessie, our superb baker and co-worker treated us to her homemade fruit tart - a feast for the eyes and so delicious.   Well, photos of the dishes from a restaurant in Germany helped nail the sprouts as the culprit in the E. coli 0104 outbreak, as they were present on the sick diner's plates.   "Today, German officials announced that they are now certain that organic bean sprouts are the source of the epidemic of enterohemorrhagic  Escherichia coli  (EHEC) in their country—and diners who took out their cameras before digging in have proven to be a big help." You can enlarge the photo and see the sprouts if you go to the link below: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/06/restaurant-photos-help-nail-bean.html?ref=ra

Tip of the day: Have good friends who bring you treats from Europe! My friend just returned from a 2 week European tour with chocolates for the gang. There were many choices, but when I saw the familiar lavender wrap on the Milka chocolate I chose it. And, lo and behold, Milka has come up with a resealable wrap. No foil on this chocolate. That's handy. My daughter is sick today, possibly early pneumonia. Tonight was the night to break out the chocolate and let one of the little squares melt on my tongue. Ahh.