Personal Injury Law

Murder Burger's staff wear Meat is Murder T-shirts - and only serve meat

Posted on June 08, 2009
Murder Burger, a New Zealand gourmet burger store that opened in the swish Auckland suburb of Ponsonby last year, used the following for an on-line Help wanted ad: "We need a bunch of people to hang out with, make burgers and talk shit.' The ad specifically requested student nurses and teachers to apply, explaining, "I've gone out with two nurses and two teachers and they were all awesome...

Science says: wine-in-a-box OK

Posted on June 08, 2009
That's a relief. I love my vino in a box, or from a box. In Maubisson, France, I'd bike to the store, and the dude would fill up a 2 litre bottle with Bordeaux from a box. Awesome. Gary J. Pickering, senior author of a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry says that for some reason the researchers can't explain, wines stored in Tetra Pak-brand cartons had the lowest levels of unwanted chemicals, called methoxypyrazines...

Clear labeling needed; Crunch Berries not a fruit

Posted on June 08, 2009
It's important for food companies to disclose relevant information to the public so that consumers can make informed decisions about what they eat. For example, Cap'n Crunch should make it abundantly clear that the berries in its cereal are not real fruit so that Californian Janine Sugawara can intelligently balance her diet...

Grandma knows best

Posted on June 08, 2009
I arrived in Kansas City International Airport Saturday evening after a long flight from Rome, Italy. Like many other passengers, once I gathered my belongings from the overhead compartment and the seatback pocket, I headed to the airport bathroom. After I was finished, I washed my hands (just like you're supposed to) and was delighted to observe what I presumed to be a grandmother and her granddaughter...

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Ramsay an 'arrogant narcissist'

Posted on June 08, 2009
Fresh off a bout of viral food poisoning that was miraculously cured by a penicillin shot to the butt, food buffoon Gordon Ramsey told a cooking session at the Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne that a doctored picture of a woman with the features of a pig and multiple breasts was similar to television journalist Tracy Grimshaw...

Mayor Ray Nagin quarantined over H1N1 connection

Posted on June 07, 2009
FOX8 New Orleans is reporting what might be the first celebrity quarantine due to H1N1 (the virus formerly known as swine flu). Mayor Nagin was reportedly on a flight to China with someone who was displaying symptoms and is suspected to have the virus...

Street meat (and other roadside dishes) on the rise

Posted on June 07, 2009
Last week, the Wall Street Journal profiled street food vendors throughout the U.S. highlighting the popularity of mobile/temporary/cart foods. It appears that the segment of foodservice is increasing in popularity as consumers want more than just hot dogs and sausages...

Letter grades for Abu Dhabi restaurants?

Posted on June 07, 2009
If the UAE takes letter grades for restaurant inspection disclosure, will they also take American pop culture crap like The Hills (right). The National reports that more than half of all restaurants monitored by Sharjah Municipality have failed basic food hygiene inspections on such grounds as out-of-date food and mouldy kitchens...

Restaurants challenge 'name and shame' in Sydney

Posted on June 07, 2009
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a Sydney restaurant is considering legal action against the NSW Food Authority over its controversial name-and-shame website. Satasia opened in Balmain 28 years ago and has become one of the most popular restaurants in Sydney's inner west...

Food fight: Massachusetts school cafeteria inspections suck

Posted on June 07, 2009
Sara Brown, Husna Haq, and Hannah McBride, journalism students at Boston University, got their feature on school cafeteria food safety inspections published in the Boston Globe this morning. They'd been working on it for much of last semester, and I spent some time on the phone with Sara and provided some background...

Acheson writes: FDA plans bold safety effort for food safety

Posted on June 06, 2009
David Acheson M.D., associate commissioner for foods with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring, Md., (right, pretty much exactly as shown) took to the letters page of The Contra Costa Times this morning to say, '… we recognize that recent problems in food safety represent a clear need for change and a modernization in approach...

Forget beer - Pittsburgh wins 4-2

Posted on June 05, 2009
When I think Detroit and Pittsburgh, I don't think professional hockey or beer, I think Austrian Mozart Chocolate Cream Gold liquor that my mother brought us, on berries (a mixture of fresh and thawed). After those pizzas, why not cap off an exhausting evening of child rearing and hockey watching and food porn with a delightful mix of berries and booze – and bed...

Jason Mraz on how to wipe your azz

Posted on June 05, 2009
For the past few weeks my morning routine has involved listening to the radio while making myself presentable, and it seems like every morning the same songs play. One of the radio-repeat songs is titled 'I'm Yours' and is sung by Jason Mraz, a fellow blogger...

Gordon Ramsey says he got food poisoning from a virus; penicillin fixed him

Posted on June 05, 2009
Food buffoon Gordon Ramsey has once again demonstrated why celebrity chefs may be entertaining but really know nothing about biology – especially food and food safety. The Daily Telegraph reports that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, the face of Melbourne's Good Food and Wine Show this weekend, was forced to spend his first night in Melbourne after the 16-hour flight barfing in his hotel room because of food poisoning...

FDA chief lauds food safety bill as the 'right direction'

Posted on June 04, 2009
In her first appearance before Congress as commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (below, right) told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health that a safety overhaul sponsored by several leading Democrats was 'a major step in the right direction,' but that her agency would need more money to carry it out...

Are you okay to kiss?

Posted on June 04, 2009
Amy and I (right, exactly as shown) cuddle and have PDAs (public displays of affection) all the time, even with baby Sorenne. But at bedtime, there's a sleeping position rule: no up close face-to-face. She says she doesn't like to breathe used air. Can't fault her with that...

Cocaine found in Red Bull drinks

Posted on June 04, 2009
Cases of Red Bull are being pulled from store shelves by officials in several countries due to the detection of cocaine in the products. Trace amounts of the drug (0.4 micrograms per liter) were detected in Red Bull Cola by German authorities two weeks ago...

Thin-crust pizza, Pens and Wings - end of second

Posted on June 04, 2009
That first pizza was so delightful and light, I made another during the second period, modifying cooking times and adding a few asparagus spears. Amy said the asparagus tasted 'green' and not in a good way. The crust was much better but still need to adjust the cooking times...

Thin-crust pizza, Pens and Wings

Posted on June 04, 2009
During our recent sojourn to Phoenix, Amy and me ate most of our dinners in the room because baby Sorenne would be tired and it was just easier. There was a so-called authentic Italian pizza place just down the road so we tried it out – awesome...

Tour group affected by Noro in British Columbia

Posted on June 03, 2009
Not a scheduled stop on a BC tour, a group of travelers from Australia became ill with Norwalk virus while staying at the Fairmont Chateau this week, reports Whistlerquestion.com. Twenty-three guests were quarantined in their rooms for most of Monday and part of Tuesday (June 1 and 2), suffering from Norwalk virus, a public health official said this week...

Hockey hat trick hats are often discarded for sanitary reasons

Posted on June 03, 2009
After three games of the Stanley Cup finals with Detroit leading Pittsburgh 2-1, and some of the best hockey in years, I finally have a reason to blog about it. Puck Daddy asked today, What happens to hats thrown for hat tricks? It all comes down to sanitation...

North Korea's Kim Jong-il 'eats live fish' claims former chef; so do others

Posted on June 03, 2009
Kim Jong-il enjoys raw fish so fresh "that it is still moving" washed down with fine French wines and brandies. Kenji Fujimoto, a 56-year-old chef, who is in hiding in Japan after fleeing North Korea, and is set to publish a book called I Was Kim Jong-il's Cook, says, "He particularly enjoyed raw fish so fresh that he could start eating as its mouth is still gasping and the tail is still thrashing...

Listeria-laden cheese hospitalized 38, killed 15 in Quebec last fall; producers want compensation

Posted on June 03, 2009
Here is what is lost in the gushing about raw-milk cheeses and many other forms of food pornography: The fall 2008 outbreak of listeria in cheese in Quebec led to 38 hospitalizations, of which 13 were pregnant and gave birth prematurely. Two adults died and there were 13 perinatal deaths...

New food safety infosheet: Possible scombrotoxin outbreak at Raleigh, NC restaurant

Posted on June 02, 2009
A couple of weeks ago I was watching the local 11pm news and a story about a pretty nasty event  linked to Raleigh restaurant popped on. WRAL reported that one paramedic unit was dispatched and called for backup when 10 patrons of EVOO (which I drive by on my way to campus)  suddenly became ill on April 17th, 2009...

From France to Kansas City: foodborne illness in schools

Posted on June 02, 2009
Several headmasters from the Haute-Garonne and Tarn primary schools in France simultaneously informed the health authorities of the occurrence of digestive disorders of low severity among students. A retrospective cohort study, conducted through self-administered questionnaires among approximately 3,000 students and teachers who had participated in two meals in 36 schools concerned, was initiated to confirm the existence of a foodborne outbreak and its origin...

Texas teen eats toxic pig testicles on a dare

Posted on June 01, 2009
High school biology classes often involve dissections. I distinctly remember the day my teacher, Mr. Deluca, brought in the fetal pigs. My partner was queezy at the thought of cutting open the little piggys, so I ended up doing most of the work, and truthfully was unphased by the dissection apart from the strong smell of formaldehyde in the classroom...

Fresh basil and bird poop

Posted on June 01, 2009
Last year, with Amy's guidance, was the first year I really started cooking with fresh herbs. Basil and tomato (and formerly cheese, right), fresh pesto, bruschetta, it's all good. Except for the bird poop. Here are a couple of our basil leaves with some semi-fresh bird plops – similar to the ones I washed off the car earlier today...

Sprout farm to begin testing for listeria

Posted on June 01, 2009
Close to 15,000 pounds of Chang Farm bean and soy sprouts were recalled from retailers and restaurants in four northeastern states last week after Listeria monocytogenes was found in a bag of sprouts at a retail store. Speaking for the company, Sidney Chang said, "We followed FDA guidelines to test for salmonella and E...

Sno-cones at Kansas zoo made blue with degreaser, not syrup - 4 sickened

Posted on May 31, 2009
Officials at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita are getting rid of blue sno-cones after a mix-up involving commercial degreaser. Four people became ill Thursday when a zoo employee poured a degreasing agent into the sno-cone machine instead of flavored syrup...

Are self-serve buffet restaurants in hospitals a good idea?

Posted on May 31, 2009
Some employees at a U.K. hospital are saying the only buffet in a hospital should be named Jimmy (with an extra ‘t' right, exactly as shown). A new self-service buffet is making a pig's breakfast of infection control at Coventry's University Hospital, angry staff claim...

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