Ben begins the podcast by praising Everything Zen. He then recounted an incident where he dropped the iPhone in the toilet and discovered that it was not waterproof. The conversation continues with talk about family vacations, The Wire, Making a Murderer, Jessica Jones, The Affair, Death in Paradise, and Star Wars. The guys reminisce about Food Safety Talk 85, (I am the Jerky Police) as Ben talks about a Beef Jerky outlet near his house.
The guys talk about Chipotle (again) and FDA’s report that two Chipotle outbreaks were linked to two different strains of E. coli O26. Don predicts at least one more Chipotle-related outbreak in 2016, while Ben predicts zero. The guys weigh in on claims that Chipotle was a victim of cooperate sabotage in retaliation for their anti-GMO menu. The guys also offer their thoughts on Chipotle’s decision to fire Norovirus infected employees and managers. Ben thinks that both the Chipotle outbreak and the recent Blue Bell incident are learning opportunities on what not to do.
The discussion turns to a recent paper by Larry Beuchat on the survival of Salmonella in cookies and cracker sandwiches, as well as an older paper by Scheinberg and others on the pathogens in poultry in farmers markets.
They conclude with a discussion on science communication.