BCIT Environmental Public Health Journal
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Prevelance of Listeria in produce: comparing the total number of food recalls from the result of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli in the last ten years using three year intervals
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Background: Fruits, vegetables, and ready to eat processed produce are vulnerable to bacteria contamination during production, harvesting, transportation, packaging, and distribution. Agencies like the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate and create legislative policies to ensure the food is safe for public consumption. When a product does not meet CFIA or FDA regulations or if the product is tested positive to biological, chemical, or physical contamination the product will be recalled. The main objective of this study is to determine if Listeria monocytogenes recalls in produce have increased over the last ten years. Listeria is a food-borne pathogen that is often overlooked and underreported. The diagnosis of Listeriosis can be difficult because symptoms can take up to 70 days to surface. Despite this, it is responsible for 41% of food-borne deaths in Canada. Methods: To determine if Listeria has increased over the last ten years, food recalls were collected from the CFIA, FDA, Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and Health Canada websites and recorded in Microsoft Excel. All food recalls were counted and analyzed using a one-tailed T-Test conducted in NCSS. Results: The study concluded that produce recalls due to the pathogen Listeria have increased by 60% over the last ten years. During the years of 2016 to 2018 the top pathogen responsible for food recalls was Listeria followed by the pathogens Salmonella and Escherichia coli. The study also concluded that total food recalls during the years of 2016 to 2018 was 45% higher than ten years ago. Conclusion: The results of this study could indicate that there is a need to increase traceability by obtaining produce through approved sources. This could allow for stricter policies, programs, and legislation regarding the use of irrigation water during production and identify breakdowns in sanitation procedures during processing and distribution.
 
Co-use of cannabis with commonly used licit and illicit drugs
Get PDFBackground: Following the recent legalization of medical cannabis in Canada, and many other countries around the world, people are turning to this drug for both medical and recreational reasons. Naturally, as human’s age, many rely on medication to maintain a better quality of life. Surveys show that, once legal, there will be an increase in cannabis consumption. Many adverse health reactions may occur by concurrently taking cannabis and other medications. Methods: A survey was distributed in-person throughout Vancouver targeting people who do not consume cannabis. The same survey was distributed in Vancouver, but to people coming out of dispensaries, targeting people who do consume cannabis. The survey consisted of seven knowledge questions asking about possible adverse drug interactions occurring between cannabis and commonly used licit and illicit drugs. A chi-square analysis was used to compare knowledge of users and non-users of cannabis. Results: Both users and non-users seemed to be most knowledgeable on the interaction between cannabis and alcohol; 39 out of 57 users (68%) and 23 out of 30 non-users (77%) gave the correct response. As for all the other interactions, neither group was very knowledgeable. The distribution of questions that were answered incorrectly seemed evenly spread between the two groups. The knowledge between users and non-users were significantly different when participants were asked on the possible adverse reactions between cannabis and opioid drugs (p=0.005), and cannabis and sedative drugs (p=0.002). In these cases, cannabis users were more knowledgeable about cannabis interactions than non-users. Conclusion: This study indicates that the general public is not very knowledgeable on the possible adverse reactions that may come about as a result of mixing cannabis and other commonly used licit and illicit drugs. Actions should be taken to provide the public with tools that will aid them in making the right decision when thinking about concurrently using cannabis and other licit and/or illicit drugs.
 
The effects of cold pork loins on the pasteurization temperature in sous vide cooking
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Objective: Sous vide is a relatively new cooking method introduced in restaurants in British Columbia. Sous vide cooking involves placing vacuum sealed food inside a temperature controlled water bath or steam convection oven. Unlike conventional cooking, sous vide cooking involves cooking food at a lower temperature (usually < 65°C) with a longer cook time. The low temperature allows chefs to precisely control the changes within the food. Thus sous vide cooked dishes have consistent texture and color, with retained flavor, moistness and nutrients. With all the benefits, sous vide cooking does have some disadvantages. Lower cooking temperature may not be sufficient for bacterial count reduction, resulting in unsafe food. In addition, every validated sous vide menu requires chefs to precisely follow the cooking temperature and cook time. Any deviation can cause the food to not reach the required 6.5 log reduction in bacterial count. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect on the internal temperature of cooking-in-process pork loin packages when additional chilled pork loin packages with an internal temperature of 4°C are submerged into the water bath. Methods: Two groups of pork loin packages with data loggers inside (SmartButton) at approximately 4°C were introduced into a 60°C water bath at different intervals. The first group (6 packages) was immersed inside the water bath at time = 0 minute, while the second group (6 packages) was immersed inside the water bath at time = 10 minutes. Both groups were taken out when they were cooked for 31 minutes (at time = 31 minutes and 41 minutes respectively). Water bath temperature was recorded using SPER Scientific 8000024 data logger. Temperature data for pork loin packages was used to calculate the mean lethality achieved by each group. One sample t-test and two sample t-test were used for statistical analysis. Results: There was a more than 3 mean log lethality difference in group A and group B pork loins. Pork loins cooked sous vide style in group A achieved a mean lethality of 5.12 at 31 minutes (range 0.42 to 12.78) while group B pork loins achieved a mean lethality of 8.44 at 31 minutes (range 3.35 to 11.87). With the same cook time, group A had a statistically significantly lower mean lethality than group B pork loins with p value = 0.003. Although statistically inconclusive whether group A pork loins achieved a mean lethality of 6.5, group B pork loins did reach the recommended mean lethality of 6.5. Conclusion: The result indicated when new cold pork loin packages at 4°C are introduced into a cooking-in-process sous vide water bath at 60°C, the lethality of the original pork loin packages in the bath will be lowered if the cook time remains unchanged. However, it is inconclusive on whether the original pork loin packages will reach 6.5 lethality recommended by BCCDC. The new pork loin packages will reach 6.5 lethality if the original cook time is used.
 
Gaps and common misconceptions in public’s food safety knowledge
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Background: Incidence rates of some foodborne illnesses (FBIs) in BC still remain on the rise despite numerous initiatives to prevent FBIs. This rise over the years has been attributed to gaps in the public’s food-safety knowledge and practices. In order to decrease incidence rates and prevent future FBIs, efforts should be made to identify common misconceptions in the public’s food safety knowledge. With a focus on the Metro Vancouver population, common misconceptions in food safety were found and their knowledge level towards the misconceptions was analyzed. Methods: An in-person survey was conducted in three locations in Metro Vancouver. The survey asked for demographics information, perceived food safety knowledge and food safety misconceptions. ANOVA and Independent Sample T-test were administered to analyze results. Results: No statistically significant difference in food safety knowledge was found between groups by gender, age, and geographic region. The majority of participants rated their food safety knowledge as moderate but they demonstrated a poor knowledge level in food safety. Conclusion: The public’s knowledge level should be improved to prevent further rises of FBIs. Initiatives involving the provincial Foodsafe certification program, secondary school curriculums and health authority websites can be utilized to educate the public.
 
General radon gas knowledge test assessment for BCIT students
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Background Vancouver is located in a generally low-radon hazard zone. However, other parts of British Columbia such as the BC Interior or Northern BC are classified as high-radon hazard zone (or zone 1) due to the geological composition of rocks and soils in those areas. Despite the significant health risks associated with radon gas exposure, many BC residents and people across Canada have little to no knowledge regarding the topic. Since Post-secondary schools, such as the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), are places where knowledge is distributed and shared to our societies, it is important to assess students’ general knowledge background regarding radon gas. The result can then be extrapolated to the general populations. Methods An electronic survey was conducted to determine whether students in the six schools at BCIT have different background knowledge level regarding radon gas. The survey also determines students’ radon background knowledge based on different geographic regions they reside. The survey was conducted in-person at three main locations across BCIT’s Burnaby campus. It was administered using Google Forms and distributed to participants on Microsoft Surface 2. Results The One-way ANOVA statistical analysis result indicated that there is a significant difference in mean radon survey scores among the six various BCIT schools(p=0.009). In addition, the Tukey Test revealed that students from the School of Health Science have an average radon survey score which is significantly different when compared to students from the School of Business. However, it was found that there is no significant difference in the mean radon survey scores between the School of Business and other schools at BCIT. Nonetheless, it was evident that the School of Health Science students had relatively higher radon survey scores and thus, were more knowledgeable regarding radon gas compared to students from the other five schools. When analyzing survey scores among students residing in various geographic regions, the test showed that there is no significant difference in mean radon survey scores among BCIT students living in various geographic locations(p=0.46). Conclusion Based on the result of the study, the result showed that there is a significant difference in radon gas knowledge among BCIT students who majored in different schools. The School of Health Science students were more knowledgeable regarding the topic of radon gas compared to students in other schools. Nonetheless, all BCIT students achieved an average radon survey score of less than five out of ten, which was considered a failure score (Less than five out of ten). This showed that most BCIT students had very limited knowledge regarding radon gas and there were very limited amount of educational initiatives or campaigns available for students at BCIT. BCIT’s student association is recommended to create educational sessions across campus to raise student awareness regarding radon gas. At the community level, governments and various agencies such as the BC Lung Association need to work together to create radon awareness campaigns across BC and the rest of Canada. In order to get a more accurate representation of the radon gas knowledge level among people in BC, more research studies need to be conducted in other schools or general population groups.
 
Critical food safety violations in Surrey: relationship to community median household income and restaurant type
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Background: Foodborne illness affects 4 million (1 in 8) Canadians each year, with at least 50% of these illnesses linked to restaurants. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) conduct routine, demand, and follow-up restaurant inspections to safeguard the public. Critical violations (CVs) must be corrected during inspection because they have a high probability of causing a foodborne illness. Examples of CVs include: previously served food not being discarded, and infrequent handwashing from employees. Previous research has shown that individuals of low socioeconomic status are more susceptible to foodborne illness. According to Statistics Canada, the poverty rate in Surrey, British Columbia, is 14.8%, which is slightly higher than the national rate of 14.2%. Unfortunately, there is limited research that assesses the safety of food service establishments in different socioeconomic neighbourhoods. This study examined the relationship between the number of CVs in chain and independent restaurants and median household income in three communities within Surrey. Methods: Secondary data was used for this study. The researcher collected publicly accessible restaurant inspection reports from the Fraser Health website. Three communities (Whalley, Fleetwood, South Surrey) within Surrey were selected for comparison according to their median household income (from City of Surrey Community Demographic Profiles webpage). Whalley and South Surrey had the lowest and highest median household income, respectively. Fleetwood was chosen based on its proximity to the median household income for Surrey. The researcher then recorded the name and restaurant type within these communities using Zomato. 25 chain and 25 independent restaurants were randomly selected in each community. In total, 150 restaurants were analyzed. The number of CVs, violation code, and hazard rating were compared between January 2016 and December 2017. Results: Independent restaurants were found to have more CVs than chain restaurants in all communities. There was an association between the number of CVs observed in both types of restaurants and the restaurant's hazard rating. The p-values for chain restaurants in Whalley, Fleetwood, and South Surrey are: 0.00, 0.00006, and 0.00, respectively. Meanwhile the p-values for independent restaurants in all three communities are 0.00. In general, independent restaurants had more moderate or high hazard ratings than chain restaurants. The top four CVs found in all communities were related to poor sanitation of equipment, improper storage of cold potentially hazardous foods,and lack of adequate handwashing stations. Finally, a negative correlation was observed between the number of CVs in both restaurant types and the neighbourhood median household income (p-value for chain and independent restaurants = 0.0186 and 0.0073, respectively). Conclusion: The findings indicate that communities with lower median household income had more CVs. Further research is needed to analyze this relationship. In addition, chain restaurants have fewer CVs than independent restaurants possibly due to their internal food safety monitoring systems. Therefore, independent restaurants may benefit from more education because this pattern has been observed in the past. Finally, an educational intervention is potentially necessary for restaurant operators in Surrey to reduce the top four CVs, thereby improving the restaurants' hazard rating.
 
Evaluating the effectiveness of cleaning with detergent soap alone verses detergent soap followed by sanitizer on reducing aerobic microorganism numbers that are present on food contact surfaces
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Background: Cross-contamination is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness which poses a massive burden to an individual’s health and to the healthcare system. One way to prevent cross-contamination is through the elimination of pathogens from surfaces by properly washing with a detergent soap followed by sanitizing with a sanitizer. However, as found from a previous research study, not all restaurants in British Columbia wash and sanitize their food contact surfaces. Thus, this study aims to compare the cleaning effectiveness between using detergent soap alone verses using detergent soap followed by sanitizer. Methods: Aerobic organisms were introduced to a cutting board by cutting alfalfa sprouts and then the surface was cleaned with Dawn Detergent soap and sanitized with 200ppm of chlorine bleach sanitizing solution. 3M™ Quick Swabs were used to sample the aerobic organisms (colony forming units) prior to and after each method of cleaning. The swabs were then transferred to 3M™ Petrifilm Plates, incubated at room temperature for 4 days, and then enumerated. Results: The results show that there is a statistically significant greater microbial reduction through cleaning with detergent soap followed by sanitizer (mean log microbial reduction of 4.10) as compared to cleaning with detergent soap alone (mean log microbial reduction of 3.53). The p-value obtained is 0.003843 when α=0.05. The power was determined to be 92%. Conclusions: This study was able to conclude that cleaning with detergent soap followed by sanitizer is 0.57 log (mean log microbial reduction of 4.10 - mean log microbial reduction of 3.53) more effective at cleaning than using detergent soap alone. However, the specific log microbial reduction value for the detergent soap followed by sanitizer achieved in this study is lower than what is found in the previous studies (Gilbert, 1970; Sores et al., 2012; Rossvoll et al., 2015). A possible reason for this discrepancy may be due to the presence of soil and food debris on the surface which may have had interfered with the sanitizing ability of the chlorine bleach (Lee et al., 2007).
 
Evaluating the efficiency of chlorine removal from potable tap water using off-gassing, boiling, and filtration treatment methods
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Background: One of the most frequent complaints to water distribution systems is the taste and odor of chlorine in consumer tap water. Chlorine is a common disinfectant used to inactivate and breakdown microbes and other contaminants. However, excess chlorine can result in an unpalatable chlorinous taste and odor. When water taste becomes too objectionable, consumers may search for alternative water sources, such as raw, untreated water that does not contain chemical additives. Raw, untreated water contains various contaminants, including disease-causing pathogens. To encourage consumers to drink treated tap water, and prevent disease, this study evaluated and compared the effectiveness of off-gassing, boiling and filtration as dechlorination methods for consumers to perform on their tap water. Method: Hach Method 8021 was performed to collect and analyse water samples following treatment with Off-gassing, Boiling and Filtration. Water samples were collected from BCIT SW1-1230. The Hach Pocket Colorimeter ™ II determined the free chlorine concentration of the water samples, and compared to a sample of untreated chlorinated tap water to see which method reduced chlorine concentrations the most. Results: Mean concentration of chlorine following off-gassing was determined to be 0.51 ppm, 0.24 ppm following boiling, and 0.55 ppm following filtration. It was determined that the boiling method was statistically significantly different from the mean values of chlorine concentration from the other two methods, as shown by the Kruskal-wallis test (P=0.000), and therefore was the most effective in dechlorinating tap water samples. This was further confirmed by the Scheffe’s Mutliple-Comparison Test and eyeball test. Conclusion: Based on the results, boiling water is the most effective method to dechlorinate potable tap water for consumer acceptability. The free chlorine levels found post-boiling were also found to be below the WHO’s threshold for tasting and smelling chlorine in drinking water (0.3 ppm), and above WHO’s minimum required 0.2 ppm chlorine residual. Therefore, drinking water following boiling will be safe for consumption, as well as free of chlorinous taste and smell. Public Health professionals can safely advise consumers of an effective method to encourage treated tap water consumption, and to discourage finding alternative water sources.
 
Evaluation of internal temperature of oysters following standard thermal process recipes
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Background & Purpose: The seasonal demand for shellfish such as oysters is on the rise. Shellfish are nutritious foods that may be enjoyed in a variety of ways, from slurping raw oysters to cooking oysters by means of boiling, steaming, pan frying and baking. Most consumers of oysters are aware of potential food safety issues with shellfish. Raw or undercooked shellfish can carry bacteria, viruses and toxins, potentially resulting in foodborne illness. Past outbreaks associated with the consumption of raw and undercooked oysters, prompted the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) to develop guidelines for those preparing, cooking and consuming shellfish. The recommended cooking temperature and time from the guideline was compared with the temperature and time of standard cooking methods from the Fanny Bay Oyster Market restaurant. The purpose of this project was to determine whether standard cooking methods from restaurants attain the guideline’s recommended 90oC for 90 seconds. Method: Four common cooking methods of Oysters were chosen based on recommendation from Chef Chris Andraza and BCCDC researcher Lorraine McIntyre. Oysters were pan fried, deep fried, baked and grilled. Internal temperatures of cooked oysters were then measured with a probe thermometer. Results for each method were analyzed and compared with the standard of 90oC using the one sample t-test from the statistical software package, NCSS11. Results: One sample t-tests showed statistically differences from the deep fried, baked and grilled methods when compared to the standard of 90oC (p = 0.000). The power for all three methods was 100%, therefore there is confidence that the findings reflect the truth. Experimental temperatures were consistently less than the standard. The pan fried method showed no statistically significant difference when compared to the standard of 90oC (p = 135). The power for pan fried method was 29.2%, therefore there is limited confidence that the findings reflect the truth. Therefore the deep fried, baked and grilled methods required additional cooking time to raise internal temperatures of the oysters. Whereas the pan fried method had achieved the standard but further experimentation is required to eliminate the chance of a type II error. Conclusion: It can be concluded that three out of the four cooking methods (deep fried, baked and grilled) can have significantly different mean temperatures. However, different thermal preparation methods prior to final thermal processing requires consideration to determine cooked oyster consumption safety. One out of the four cooking methods (pan fried) attained the standard temperature 90oC. Therefore, it is recommended for deep fried, baked and grilled cooking methods that the cooking time be extended to achieve an internal temperature of 90oC or higher.
 
An evaluation of the knowledge and practices of Metro Vancouver residents regarding mould
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Background: The average Canadian spends approximately 90% of their day indoors, a proportion of which may be in public spaces, thereby making Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) a pertinent topic for the fields of Public and Environmental Health. Mould complaints are one of the top IAQ complaints received by Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) in BC. Mould is ubiquitous in both the outdoor and indoor environment. However, once indoors, mould will grow unhindered on most surfaces as long as moisture is present. Accumulating evidence has established relationships between indoor environments and health. Thanks to the Internet, the amount of readily available information regarding mould today is vast but may not necessarily be valid nor reliable. It is important, therefore, to consider what the public does or does not know and where they are getting their information. This study evaluated the public perception of Metro Vancouver residents in regards to mould as an IAQ issue in order to provide Public and Environmental Health practitioners, including EHOs, with a deeper understanding of how to effectively address queries from the public regarding this topic. Methods: Data for this study was collected through a self-administered online questionnaire and disseminated using social media and the snowball effect. Questions were designed to collect demographic information and evaluate the knowledge and attitudes as well as the behaviour and practices of participants. Descriptive and inferential statistics, specifically the independent samples t-test and the analysis of variance (ANOVA), were used to analyze the results. Results: With an average 14.59 out of 20 points, respondent knowledge scores were, in general, fair. There was no statistically significant difference between respondent knowledge score and their gender, age, level of education, income or housing status. Conclusions: Although respondent knowledge scores were fair, a few gaps in knowledge were identified. Further, most of the sample population did not know specifically where to access reliable information on mould. These insights may be useful for Public and Environmental Health professionals when addressing queries from the public regarding this topic.