Food Safety Talk 96: Boom goes the dynamite

The guys are on a roll. They are very happy that they are releasing new episodes consistently. The show opens with a discussion of topics like Boom, Boom Goes the Dynamite, Dyn-o-mite, Beastie Boys, William Shatner, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, The Avett Brothers, The Sadies, and The Best of Little Feat. They quickly transition with the Maytag Raw Milk Blue Cheese recall by Whole Foods. Ben says that there is a no way for customers to tell if milk was pasteurized; they must read the label, and he notes the absence of the word pasteurized makes the difference, not the presence of the word raw. The discussion moves to the literature and a research paper on the survival of E. coli O157:H7 in Gouda and Cheddar aged for 60 days. Don emphasizes that the rate of pathogen decrease and not the days of survival which is important. Ben asked Don if it is safe to consume raw milk. “It depends, and it is complicated” he replies. The conversation turns to an article by David Gumpert “Is OPDC Bumping Scalability Limits, to Detriment of Raw Milk Nationally”. The guys note that exposure is less when a business is small. Don goes off a tangent, mentioning two articles about the brain and self-government. Ben responds to Don by recommending another on risk communication, which suggest that it is hard to change people beliefs. From there the podcast digresses into Wordy Rappinghood and Kanye West Facts before turning to the boiling of water as affected by atmospheric pressure, and altitude in response to a question from Linda Harris. The show ends with a discussion of GFSI audits and poor food safety culture.