Dr.
Doug Powell, a food safety communications expert, is praising the
Middlesex-London Health Unit for speaking up, rather than waiting for more
information, about a rash of salmonella cases.
Jennifer
O’Brien of the London Free-Press reports that 14 cases of salmonella in a week -- compared to a monthly August
average of nine — has mystified health inspectors who couldn’t find a “common
thread” among those affected.
Stephen Turner, director of environmental health
and infectious diseases said, “We look for relationships — common restaurants,
grocery stores, a common workplace . . . whether they’ve purchased a common
product.
“We haven’t found that. That is why it’s raised our
eyebrows so we are investigating diligently.”
Usually health units wait until they can confirm
the source of an outbreak of food poisoning, usually saying they don’t want to
alarm the public.
