Time for breakfast (since I'm not Muslim, I'm Catholic):
"Clover is shut after food poisoning flare-up; Twelve are sickened" by Deborah Kotz | Globe Staff, July 15, 2013
Twelve people in Cambridge, Boston, and possibly elsewhere in the state have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak since late June, prompting the closure of all Clover restaurants and food trucks with locations in Cambridge, Brookline, Burlington, and Boston....
Never trust a food truck. Clover was at the top of the list.
Also see:
Boston food truck industry expands
Roxy’s plans to open restaurant in Allston
New A4 food truck is tech-savvy and with tasty menu
More items crossed of the menu.
So far no hospitalizations or deaths have occurred from the outbreak, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and no other restaurants beyond Clover have closed their doors.
The department launched its investigation late last week....
While Ayr Muir, chief executive of Clover, said he was informed late Friday about the salmonella outbreak in Massachusetts by state health investigators and decided to close all his operations over the weekend as a precautionary measure. He does not know for certain that Clover was responsible for these infections, he said there is “enough evidence that we might have been.”
He added that the state Health Department told him that it had not identified the source of the outbreak, whether it was from a particular ingredient, food supplier, or infected employee....
He also would not comment on which dishes or ingredients sickened customers ate at his restaurants, because the investigation was not yet complete.
Infection with the salmonella bacteria can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and sometimes vomiting, often within one to three days after consuming contaminated food.
The illness can last for several days and usually clears on its own without medical attention.
Patients are advised to rest, drink plenty of fluids, and avoid preparing food for others until their symptoms resolve.
Think of it as a vacation from work.
In rare cases, salmonella infections can cause severe dehydration or other complications that require hospitalization and treatment with antibiotics.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 42,000 Americans get sick each year from salmonella and that an estimated 400 people die from their infections.
Salmonella often resides on raw eggs, meat, and poultry and is usually killed by thorough cooking; raw produce, however, has also been linked to recent salmonella outbreaks due to contamination with animal products during harvesting or transport.
A 2012 outbreak in cantaloupes sickened more than 260 people and led to three deaths.
Just a reminder -- as documented on this blog all these years -- that the global food supply chain has been contaminated and can't be trusted. You are better off growing your own and buying local. Only recently we have seen that the beef may be horsemeat, the lamb may be rat, to name two off the top of my head.
The sad and simple fact is the globalization scheme that was supposed to save everybody -- not enrich the designers of such a $y$tem as it has, that's all it has done -- is a complete and utter failure for us all, save that small percentage at the top. It's all across the world and across all governments now because of the international trade and banking systems that have been put in place over the last 65 or so years.
Muir, a graduate of Harvard and MIT, said he hesitated at first about closing his facilities and writing about the salmonella outbreak on Clover’s website....
I can't imagine what rea$on he would have had, can you?
--more--"
"Clover restaurant’s lapses preceded outbreak" by Deborah Kotz | Globe Staff, July 18, 2013
When a city inspector went to the Clover restaurant in East Cambridge last Friday, she found spoiled cauliflower, hummus, and various salads coming back from food trucks at improper temperatures, and no one on hand to supervise the kitchen staff.
That inspection, sparked by an outbreak of food poisoning among some of Clover’s customers, led the city to shut the restaurant indefinitely, according to a report provided to the Globe. The chief executive then decided to close the other three restaurants and 10 food trucks in the popular Clover Food Lab chain, which all are supplied by the East Cambridge kitchen.
That's tough, Tough to come back from such a thing. The reputation has been spoiled.
Twelve cases of salmonella were reported in June and early this month among patrons of Clover’s various locations in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline.
While the state health department declined to comment, citing its ongoing investigation, Clover CEO Ayr Muir said in an interview that he has received details on half of the people. Those customers had eaten one of two dishes containing pita bread purchased from a supplier, as well as tahini, hummus, and a cucumber tomato salad made by Clover chefs.
Muir acknowledged there were food safety practices with which “we could do a lot better,” but added that he thinks food inspectors frequently note violations at many restaurants. “I think we operate some of the cleanest kitchens in the country,” he said.
Clover has become something of an institution among the health-food set.
Oooooooooh, NOW I SEE why this is getting front-page play!
Its no-frills vegetarian fare attracted a devoted following after it began five years ago with a single food truck near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and it grew rapidly. Its website promises locally grown and fresh food — so fresh that they have “no freezers. In the entire company. Not one.”
Yeah, I'll bet this was a real jolt.
It's not like going to eat corporate crap and knowing you will feel uncomfortable after it's been ingested (I don't like to go out to eat, folks; partly a money i$$ue with me, partly a principle. I'm not into helping pump up corporate profits. I know servers and such need customers, but maybe more unemployed will put more kids on the streets in protest. I don't know what to do anymore because this country, as once known, is gone).
These are people who thought they were getting fresh, healthy, good. LAST THING you expect is a case of the pukes and other uncomfortable bodily functions.
But Clover has racked up a string of safety lapses, ranging from minor violations such as greasy buildup on equipment, walls, and counters to major infractions such as a failure to provide handwashing facilities to employees in a food truck on Park Street off Boston Common....
Yeah, stay away from the food trucks -- especially in this global-warming heat wave.
During that same inspection last July, the inspector noted that items such as the cucumber tomato salad, bean salad, and chickpeas were 14 degrees above the chilled temperature necessary for safe food storage.
Those same temperature violations were noted again during the Cambridge inspection last week. In March, an inspector cited the East Cambridge restaurant for not keeping cooked eggs at the proper temperature and for not informing customers on its menu that undercooked egg dishes that are served for breakfast pose a higher food-poisoning risk, according to the inspection report.
“These are serious violations that get health inspectors pretty agitated. They’re the kinds of things that get people sick,” because they can allow pathogens such as salmonella to multiply, said William Marler, a food safety lawyer in Seattle.
While no deaths or hospitalizations have resulted from the current outbreak, one woman told the Globe she became ill — and said she was treated at a hospital emergency room for severe dehydration, cramps, fever, and diarrhea that lasted for days.
“I don’t want his business to be hurt,” said the Jamaica Plain resident, who asked not to be identified. “But we all have to be really careful. I don’t know if I’ll eat there again.”
***********************
On Clover’s website, Muir, an MIT and Harvard alumnus, promotes his company’s “radically different” way of operating without using preservatives or flavor enhancers, while relying on locally grown, mostly organic ingredients.
Those qualities and his transparency in reporting the outbreak on his website appear to have cemented Muir’s bond with his customers, judging by the supportive and forgiving comments on Clover’s website; many promised to keep eating there, while others praised Muir for his honesty.
Yeah, somehow this is going to be a win-win for all, according to my corporate pre$$ mouthpiece.
“Kudos to you Clover,” wrote one poster named Ed. “This company is going well above and beyond to ensure its customers are safe!”
After they made people sick, of course.
But, hey, I don't want to spoil your Boston Globe breakfast.
--more--"
Also see:
Fenway Franks, Get Your Fenway Franks Here
Do Not Eat at the Boston Globe
Looks like there is no safe place to eat in Boston. Better just shelter in place and cook up your own grub.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Customers still frequent food trucks, despite Clover shutdown
