New Mouse Flavoured Maltloaf

On BBC News Today:

A man got the shock of his life when he opened a loaf of bread and found a whole mouse inside.

North Antrim Magistrates Court heard how a man purchased a Hyndman's malt loaf from a supermarket in the Ballymoney area before Christmas 2007.

When he unwrapped the loaf he discovered the small lifeless mammal embedded in the base of the bread.

The judge fined the company, D Hyndman and Son Ltd, Maghera, £1,000 plus costs for placing unsafe food on the market.

The picture is well worth having a look at unless you eat maltloaf.

Yep that's pretty darn disgusting - I gave my children some malt loaf at breakfast as well. Better not show them this.

On a serious note in a case like this I suppose the Environmental Health Officer must rule out as far as is possible the possibility of sabotage which is an ever growing problem in our litigious society. I guess they would do this by visiting the manufacturer and checking food safety systems and especially in this case pest control systems. That or they could check the barcode on the rodent.

Regards,
Simon

I found the article on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.u...and/8092921.stm

It mentions that the judge took into account the steps taken by the company.

"Due diligence" pays off.

Gail

I found the article on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.u...and/8092921.stm

It mentions that the judge took into account the steps taken by the company.

"Due diligence" pays off.

Gail

Sabotage is the defence and without even going to the factory to see the pest control systems it just seems to fit logically.

So how do we avoid sabotage?
What control measures could have detected / prevented this?

I'm suspicious of anyone who says they have "no complaints"!

On malicious contamination, it should be considered as part of the HACCP but the fact is you can only go so far. I think you have to motivate people to want to do well as well as some level of security. E.g. invest in training in people (esp food hygiene etc.) and respond to their concerns. Also if someone is being made redundant or sacked and is obviously cheesed off with the company it should be considered that there is a real risk of deliberate contamination and so garden leave should be an option.

Then there's the security things. Limit access to food areas for trained staff only. Camera's aren't much of a deterrant but at least you can nail the b****** who did it later!

I was delighted to find this story because pest control is one of my favourite subjects.

Is an inspection every 6 weeks really adequate?
What if an inspection is missed? That's nearly 3 months.

Also if your technician isn't paricularly good you could only have one qualified person inspect your premises every 6 months.

I have worked with the biggest names in pest control and believe me you need to manage your contractor.

There are not enough details in this case but were the tins left open or covered overnight?
Why are there 131 bait stations? I smell a rat

The other thing I want to know is why is there a tendancy towards non-toxic baits? If I've got a rat or a mouse in my factory I don't want to just detect if I want to get rid of it.

That's enough of a rant for now!

Why are there 131 bait stations? I smell a rat

The other thing I want to know is why is there a tendancy towards non-toxic baits? If I've got a rat or a mouse in my factory I don't want to just detect if I want to get rid of it.

I thought 131 seemed a lot.

We're inspected once a month which seems to be effective but the key is what happens if activity is detected? You shouldn't wait another 6 weeks to see if the action has been effective!

I think toxic on exterior of building, non toxic inside for the same reason of deliberate contamination...

The other thing I want to know is why is there a tendancy towards non-toxic baits? If I've got a rat or a mouse in my factory I don't want to just detect if I want to get rid of it.

I would have SERIOUS questions about anyone who places bait stations in a food facility. They are only appropriate for outside - or are we just crossing our fingers and praying we don't poison a customer? Internally traps should be used, no?

Yes if I use anything inside it would be a CO2 trap

Dear Tony,

CO2 trap

Is this like the gun the divers use in Thunderball?. Seems a bit excessive.

I think the problem for many companies is the external environment around the factory over which they have no (legal) control.

Rgds / Charles.C

We have CO2 traps inside our site. They're AIB approved. I had a pest contractor tactfully say it would "put the rodent to sleep". I think my words were "it suffocates it then?"

Yep Charles. We've had problems with that. A contractor told me though that in the UK it's illegal for someone to harbour rats.

Dear GMO,

Oh, I see, CO2 has now replaced ether. Charming. I had a quick look on the IT >

http://www.switched....S00010000000001
(some of the reader's comments are not without merit also)

2nd point. Yes, I can believe it's illegal. Unfortunately, I guess it's not illegal to let pets run around on vacant, unfenced, spaces. (I presume this trap still uses bait)

Rgds / Charles.C

Wow! I never thought rat traps could be so sofisticated. We make our own traps here, which only catch the rodents, but then there´s the very disagreeable matter of drowning them. No worries about being humane to rats here.
I´m actually more worried about birds. We´ve got starlings that give us a terrible time. They can´t be poisoned (not just legally I mean, they won´t even go anywhere near poisoned bait), they can´t be caught and we still haven´t been able to scare them away. In fact, there´s a hawk that flies around the vacant lot next door, and these birds are not the least bit scared. Maybe I should try to domesticate it. How about falconry at a food plant?

Yep, radar traps are the ones we use. I didn't know about it texting you though! I'll ask the contractor about that. He told us we have to check them visually!

I used to work for a very large food company. As it had plants all over the world, its food safety standards were written with that in mind. It even stated in it that "Cats should not be used to assist pest control". No mention of falconry though!

I take it you've tried netting and getting rid of areas they can perch? Believe it or not, we have problems with ducks and rabbits sometimes at our site!

It's amazing how a story about a rodent and a malt loaf has turned into a detailed discussion about pest control. Ahh...the little blighter didn't die in vain.

Regards,
Simon

I take it you've tried netting and getting rid of areas they can perch? Believe it or not, we have problems with ducks and rabbits sometimes at our site!

Yes netting and spiked perches. Last resort - Shotgun.

Completely off topic, but:
we have a warehouse in a tropical part of the country (25-35°C year round) and it seemed pretty suspicious that we didn´t have any rodent problems. We do a pretty good job at rodent control, but this was too strange. Sure enough, there was a 4 foot non venoumous snake that was giving us a hand at rodent control! Sadly enough, we found this out when the forklift ran over the snake!
So I guess you can´t use cats, but falconry and non venomous snakes are OK?!

4ft snakes are pets over here it's when they get to 12 ft we start to worry