The guys started the show following up on the previous episode, the write up on David Gumpert's website and the comments on the Internet. Theresa Lam also reached out wanting to know more about the risks associated with bootleg versus regulated raw milk. Despite raw milk drinker's hatred of epidemiologists, Don confessed that maybe he wants to be an epidemiologist, while Ben noted that he has admired them ever since the Jalapeno Saintpaul outbreak. Don also praised Petran, White and Hedberg, for...
Feb 16, 2014•1 hr 29 min
The guys started the show with a teaser about a guest later in the show and reminisced about past guests Mike Batz, Chris Gunter, Michelle Danyluk and the infamous Andreas Kiermeier. The guys then followed up on cashew cheese (FST 53) and how to reach food entrepreneurs about hazards an risk management and resources like NECFE or the NMPAN. The guys then wondered about selling food (unregulated) over the Internet, possibly for Bitcoin, and the Swiss Cheese Pervert. And Don remembered Mary's name...
Feb 09, 2014•1 hr 41 min
The show started with Don sharing his recent [Systematic](http://5by5.tv/systematic/76) experience. Ben then wanted some help with a prevalence calculation, as prompted by his undergraduate lecturer [Ronald Brooks](http://www.uoguelph.ca/ib/people/faculty/brooks.shtml). The guys then reminisced about their high school teachers before turning on the freezing weather and frozen food, thanks to [AFFI-CON 2014](http://afficon.affi.org/). In answer to a listener question on the 4-hour rule, Don share...
Jan 25, 2014•1 hr 56 min
The guys battled Skype and CallRecorder, got bedazzled by The Smashing Pumpkins, got a twitter buzz from Beyonce's album, and got lathered up with FDA's focus on antibacterial soaps. They then shared some additional information they received from Cheryl Doom from the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) on the spice story in FST 52. Cheryl explained why ASTA didn't have a response to the FDA risk assessment as reported in this NYT article and shared a guidance document ASTA had prepared in 20...
Jan 13, 2014•2 hr 1 min
The guys started the show dreaming about a Red Mac Pro. They then turned to the passing of Bill Keene. Bill has been mentioned in various FST episodes and was a well respected epidemiologist as seen in the articles by the Oregonian and Doug Powell. The guys then turned to their beverages, Coffee Club, Napoleon Dynamite, Homeland, and Car Talk. Ben shared his preference for Aussie Rule football and Arcade Fire's album Reflektor. The conversation then turned to Don's limited iPhone music library, ...
Dec 21, 2013•1 hr 40 min
Dec 04, 2013•2 hr 5 min
The guys started the show with a Flamingo flash back, Don’s iTunes Radio “Grateful Dead” channel experiment (sans Katy Perry and Kanye West), New Girl with Zooey Deschanel, She & Him, Steve Earle, The Walking Dead, the Pulling the String podcast, and The Lone Ranger. Don then shared how he used the Internet’s way-back machine (not to be confused with Mister Peabody’s WABAC Machine) to get around the black-out of US government websites. Ben then turned to an NPR article about the Niche Meat P...
Nov 19, 2013•2 hr 8 min
The show started with Don and Ben sharing their love for iOS7 and iTunes Radio. Ben's still on his Beach Boys trip, having recently watched Beautiful Dreamer. The discussion then quickly turned to food safety follow up. Ben wasn't happy with his Food Safety News interview on dishwasher cooking and the message that he might have sent. Don felt that a really important aspect was the multitude of variables that can change from one dishwasher to another and hence that it was difficult be safe. The g...
Oct 14, 2013•1 hr 37 min
The guys started the show with some general chit chat about The Beer Store and [The Nail Shop](http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-nail-shop-omaha), the [Beach Boys](http://www.thebeachboys.com/), including "[Pet Sounds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Sounds)", Chuck Berry, [Bed Bad Baaaaaaatz](http://badbatz.tumblr.com/), Don's [Etymotic hf5 earphones](http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/hf5.html), Twitter, (including [this discussion](https://twitter.com/bugcounter/status/373254508580573184)), and [Barbara...
Sep 26, 2013•1 hr 57 min
The guys started by talking about their office and home podcasting set-ups; how Don inspired his son Zac, podcast sponsorship (thanks Dr. Indian Clarified Butter); the Food Science short course at Rutgers; MC-ing; Ben’s wedding; and, customer service at Frito Lay’s and General Mills. In the bug trivia segment the guys talked about the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, recently reviewed by Beniamino and colleagues. T. gondii was ranked the second worst pathogen in terms of quality adjusted li...
Sep 04, 2013•1 hr 42 min
During their podcasting foreplay don and Ben discussed their breakfast choices, their love for guacamole (despite the risks associated with cilantro), and the challenge of separating work from private life. The guys then got onto the recent IAFP annual meeting (abstracts are here), which clearly was a huge success. Ben was impressed by Michelle Danyluk’s deconstruction of the FSMA Fresh Produce rule to create a really convincing story, which included work Don and Michelle had published. Ben then...
Aug 23, 2013•1 hr 57 min
Ben had difficulty talking while eating, which didn’t matter too much while the guys discussed the weather. A link from fan Erin (see also barfblog coverage), on the emerging food-safety-expose genre got Don and Ben warmed up for the show. To follow up from FST 44, Ben’s H. pylori issues have been resolved, though one of his hockey friends had an interesting story involving yogurt. The guys then followed up on the mechanically tenderized beef discussion from FST 43 and FST 44, and a bit about Be...
Aug 06, 2013•1 hr 48 min
The show started with Mr. Roboto, Brazilian Cheese Bread, the upcoming IAFP’s annual meeting in Charlotte, and StoryCorps (not to be confused with Adventure Time). At the IAFP meeting Ben will be stuffing bags at the Food Lion and Don will try to control the unruly Dr. Harris at her first board meeting. The guys then celebrated Canada Day with some pop culture such as The Tragically Hip, Rheostatics and Frampton Comes Alive! (as featured on FST 1), and Reality Bites. Ben and Don then turned thei...
Jul 22, 2013•1 hr 58 min
Don is now a VIP in Brazil, at least as measured by Internet speed, while Ben was trying to get some grad students onto the interwebs. The guys then talked a bit about pop culture and follow up, including how John Oliver is stepping into 'The Daily Show’, Don’s TiVo usage, Adventure Time on Netflix and Poop and Produce. The guys felt a little challenged by their rapid recording schedule, having only recorded a show a few days ago, and syncing their notes for the show using Dropbox. Don shared hi...
Jul 02, 2013•1 hr 25 min
Don rang in from São Paulo, Brazil, where he is spending some time thanks to a project funded by Scientists without Borders and managed by the Godfather (Godmother?) of the Brazilian Food Safety Mafia Bernadette Franco. But podcasting away from home is proving to be more challenging that he had imagined, especially when he leaves his computer in his hotel room. The guys announced the new “subscribe” feature on the Food Safety Talk website where listeners can subscribe to a email newsletter and s...
Jun 27, 2013•1 hr 43 min
Don shared that he’s been flogging the podcast mercilessly during his recent travels. The guys then launched straight into the Bug Trivia segment, highlighting Clostridium perfringens, which can be a big problem particularly for meat processors who need to cool large cuts of cooked meat quickly (to meet the FSIS performance standard). Carl Custer’s notes indicate that it was infamous for causing gas gangrene. During cooking of meat the spores germinate and these can grow incredibly fast if the r...
Jun 04, 2013•1 hr 20 min
The guys started the show with some news and general chit chat, including hockey, an article about fighting bacteria with mucus, Linked In (perhaps the creepiest social network), Don’s Silver Beaver Award, surely a ’Major Award’, and the TV they are watching: Arrested Development, Adventure Time and Game of Thrones. The new ‘Food is the New Rock’ podcast (suggested by fan of the show Brian Sauder - @BSauders) that provides a blend of food and music topics, reminded Ben of this Freganism Barfblog...
May 15, 2013•1 hr 50 min
After discussing their podcast companion beverages, the guys got stuck into answering listener Tom’s (whom Ben met at the Consumer Federation of America’s National Food Policy conference) request for guidance on research areas in food safety. Don’s advice was that Tom should follow his passion and from there pick a university or faculty members to work with. This then turned into a broader discussion about education, with a focus on distance and online learning. Don then talked about his attenda...
May 15, 2013•1 hr 45 min
Once again, Skype and Call Recorder weren’t playing nicely for Ben while Don felt a bit like Michael Douglas in the Wonder Boys. Don has been investigating Google Hangouts for running a online live show though Michelle Danyluk didn’t think they could do a live show at IAFP, unless maybe it was in the format of an 80’s dating show, like the one on Mallrats. Ben had some follow up to his son, Jack, vomiting on a Delta plane reported in Episode 37 . While Ben initially thought the etiological agent...
Apr 25, 2013•1 hr 30 min
The guys started with some follow up on The Wire, The Newsroom, what colored food does to your poop, Mike Batz’ link to Craig Goldwyn’s Huffington Post article on sprouts, T. gondii in Romanian animals, and F’ed up. Aaron’s email then prompted a discussion about Plague Inc., the CDC’s interest in it and CDC’s own game Solve the Outbreak. The guys were impressed by how progressive the CDC is in terms of social media and new ways of engaging the public. Don then provided some info about HDScores, ...
Apr 09, 2013•1 hr 42 min
After some initial expected Skype problems the guys talked about a range of topics including their favorite beers, Apple phobias, The Wire, about (not) working from home and Telecommuting policies, writing papers using DragonDictate, Don’s Squarespace 6 trial and Ben’s The Newsroom sharing system. The guys then critiqued some obfuscated food safety messages about Listeria put out Partnership for Food Safety Education. The discussion then turned to the horse meat scandal and that audits are a too...
Mar 26, 2013•1 hr 44 min
Don was excited about his new “Dan Benjamin approved” microphone and headphones and Ben was excited about Folding Text. After emailing with Marco, from the Neutral podcast, Don is planning on moving Food Safety Talk to Squarespace 6, which should allow them to get better download tracking information. Don and Ben also sent shout-outs to David Tharp (IAFP), Ian Jenson (Meat and Livestock Australia) and Renee Boyer’s Food Safety class. The discussion then returned to the reusable bag discussion (s...
Mar 14, 2013•1 hr 29 min
Participating in the Krispy Kreme Challenge challenged Ben in more ways than one. Don is looking for a new podcasting mic and he is getting some guidance from Dan Benjamin’s guide. The guys discussed the download statistics for the podcast and Folding Text to manage their pre-show notes, as well as Don’s homework, The Newsroom (Canadian TV series), which prompted Don to correctly note the excessive plaid fashions. Bill Hallman had provided some further thoughts on the “no illness language” in re...
Feb 23, 2013