PROVIDENCE – The beat goes on when it comes to the recall of food products potentially contaminated with dangerous bacteria, including whole wheat waffles, frozen shrimp, and beef, veal and bison products.

In the last two weeks, the recalls have involved suspected contamination from some of the usual, nasty suspects: Listeria, Salmonella and E.coli

• On Sept. 20, Kellogg recalled some 10,000 cases of Kellogg’s Eggo Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles because of potential contamination with Listeria.

• Also on Sept. 20, Censea recalled its frozen Headless Shell on Black Tiger Shrimp, imported from Vietnam, because of potential contamination from Salmonella.

• And, on Sept. 26., Adams Farm Slaughterhouse located in Athol, Mass., recalled its beef, bison and veal products, because of potential E.coli contamination, after an investigation traced seven patients in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and West Virginia that became ill with E.coli contamination linked to products from the slaughterhouse.

We prevent outbreaks
The man responsible for keeping Rhode Islanders safe from food-borne contamination is Ernest Julian, a long time public health professional with the R.I. Department of Health, who is chief of the Center for Food Protection in Rhode Island. He’s been in that position for 27 years.

Julian oversees a division with some 38 employees, including 18 inspectors, responsible for inspecting some 7,300 licensed facilities, including food facilities at the state’s beaches.

Julian described his job as follows: “In my mind, my job is making sure that people don’t become ill from food, preventing illnesses, hospitalization and deaths. We prevent outbreaks.”

With the resources he has available, the goal is to provide the best protection possible, he told ConvergenceRI in a recent phone interview.

Relative risk
Julian said that the starts off every single day, reviewing what has been recalled, and its relative risk.

“It’s all about relative risk,” he explained. Since the first of the year in 2016, there have been some 106 recalls, with 44 percent due to potential contamination from Listeria.

Another 24 percent of the food being recalled is due to allergens that could be life-threatening, Julian continued, saying that it’s important to get the information out to consumers immediately.

Another high priority, Julian said, was contamination from Salmonella. Some 14 percent of the recalls were because of Salmonella contamination.

Raw dough
One of the recalls earlier this year was because of E.coli contamination in Gold Medal Flour, according to Julian.

If the people cook the flour, there didn’t seem to be a problem, according to Julian. The problems, he explained because people were eating the raw cookie dough, or kids were playing with it.

Prescriptions for safety
At a recent gathering of food borne safety experts hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, Julian said that there was good deal of focus on the spread of norovirus as a result of ill workers preparing foods.

“This particular virus can last for days and even months,” he said. The best practices is to have food preparers practice excellent hand washing and to wear gloves when preparing salads.

“I think that people often take food safety for granted,” Julian said.

The division that Julian oversees is now involved with Lean process, working with customer service practices to improve protection and help the food industry protect the consumer by providing a safe, high-quality food product.

High turnover
One of the challenges in the food industry is the high turnover of businesses, with more than a thousand new places opening every year, according to Julian.

Another challenge is the high turnover of employees working in the food industry: managers turn over every nine months, employees every three or four months, according to Julian.

The high turnover rate results in a need for constant training around refrigeration and improper cooling of food.

In terms of food safety, there should be a manager in charge of food safety that’s present when are preparing food, he said.

“I think the big thing is prevention, to thoroughly cook the food,” Julian said. “One thing you don’t want to do is to undercook hamburgers for young children; E.coli can permanently destroy their organs.”