Football fans may want to rethink that visit to the concession stand during the Indianapolis Colts' big Sunday game against the New England Patriots.

Marion County health inspectors cited the food contractor, Centerplate, at Lucas Oil stadium for food safety violations -- including mice feces in storage rooms, kitchens and an oven. Inspectors also found actual mice (not just evidence of them) in the kitchen area, both dead and alive.

The Marion County Health Department issued 42 citations and $3,900 in fines in all against the Stamford, Conn.-based food service company.

Coffee beans. Photo: Monika Bartyzel

• Co-owner of Seattle's Coffee Works defends a price hike of 50 cents per pound on their espresso blend.
• In a world of tightening budgets and resource concerns, how to make the most of your money and not waste food.
• Fall gets fancy and frugal with art lectures and free appetizers at Hotel 1000.
• To help food safety concerns, the Obama administration has launched a new informative Web site, http://www.foodsafety.gov.
• How to fight the bitter taste in eggplant dip.
• Frank Bruni's "Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater" tells how he went from adult bulimic to New York Times food critic.
• Restaurants: Bastille Cafe & Bar in Ballard is on its way to prime French fare, Greenwood's Aloha Ramen dishes "satisfyingly chewy" noodles and Lola sizzles with Mediterranean meals.
• Recipes: Cool Summer Minestrone; Fresh Corn Omelet with Smoked Mozzarella and Basil; Roasted Eggplant Spread with Onion and Sweet Pepper; Salmon, Red Potato and Green Bean Salad; Smoky Chicken and Three-Bean Salad; Classic Barbecue; Toasted Pecan Rice and more.

Kielbasa. Photo: Brad.K, Flickr

• Once frequented by steelworkers' wives, one can still time-travel to the 1930s at the South Side's Schwartz Market for everything from kimchi to organic produce.
• Churchview Farm, once an oversized garden, is now a community-supported "farmette" serving 17 families, with 60 on the waiting list for next year.
• Drinking in celebration of the kids heading back to school with a "wheels up" party, and a menu that works for that or a nice Labor Day shindig.
• A contest will help two home cooks and professional food writers create a cookbook full of their online food community's best recipes.
• In the aftermath of the E. coli/cookie-dough issue, food safety becomes a high priority in the White House.
• Recipes: Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Simple Summer Peach Cake

Bubble tea. Photo: Ben + Sam, Flickr

• Fruits, flavored syrups, and those little tapioca balls make bubble tea a refreshing summer beverage.
• The Embury cocktail lounge boasts Fred Sarkis -- a traditional bartender who crafts his cocktails with old-school flair.
• Another business falls victim to economic woes as Pittsburgh's upscale Wine Loft files for Chapter 11.
• Café Obscura wins dedicated followers with vegetarian fare like toasted cheese.
• A look at Pennsylvania's farmers' markets -- from pick-your-own organic vegetables to hen houses.
• The unusual weather extends the local strawberry season.
• Obama's administration takes a step toward improving food safety regulations via a new food safety proposal.
• Recipe: Charred Thin Asian Pork Chops

Every once in a while it's good to have a refresher course in kitchen safety. The FDA's 1996 flick "Dirty Little Secrets" does just that with a dramatic announcer, toilet paper in the fridge and a copy of "The Silver Palate Cookbook." Did they miss anything? Weigh in.

[Via Public.Resource.Org, BoingBoing]

Patience, everyone. It's almost over.

As Obama and McCain relentlessly feint and parry towards Tuesday, has any word been volleyed more often than "taxes"? Whether your taxes are, not to mention will be, lowered, raised, leveraged, undercut, overspent, distributed, re-distributed, undistributed or even, perhaps, unpaid, it's important to remember the basic fact that taxes fund government. This includes departments, agencies, entities and initiatives concerning food, from growing it to cooking it to eating it. With election day finally ascendant, isn't it time to check in on some of the entities supported by public funds, to see what we're paying for?

When I saw this machine on Inventor Spot, I was truly amazed. I also thought it sounded too good to be true, but that remains to be seen.

The Culinary Prep is a device that cleans food in an "all natural and very effective anti-microbial solution." The makers of the Culinary Prep claim that it removes 95% of bacteria from the raw meats and/or vegetables that you wash in it. It's also about $400, but I guess when it comes to food safety you get what you pay for.

In addition, the Culinary Prep makers say that it reduces spoilage (thus extending shelf life), improves flavor, and still reduces fat and sodium. I can see how this device can extend shelf life, reduce spoilage and all that, and even how that could have an effect on the flavor. It's that fat/sodium reduction claim in addition to everything else that sets off my "spidey sense." What do you think? Would you buy it?

Gourmet Boutique has issued a recall of 286,000 lbs of deli luncheon meat for possible contamination by listeria. The meats were used in sandwich wraps and other ready-to-eat products. The USDA has classified this recall as Class I, "reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death," or what I would call "pretty damn serious."

The list of potentially affected wraps and other ready-to-eat products from the company are listed here.

[via: Consumerist]

Hmm, "risky eating behaviors", that sounds pretty dangerous. That is what I thought when I happened on this article. Some researchers have studied the link between food safety awareness and actual eating habits. The study was aimed at college age adults, but perhaps it can be applied to everyone. It turns out that I, and quite possibly many other people, have eating habits that are "risky".

Apparently, eating things like raw cookie dough, cooked eggs with runny yolks, and sushi (with raw fish), not to mention steak tartare, are all risky foods. Any food that has not been thoroughly cooked or leaves any room for bacteria to hide is risky. In the study there was a "weak" link between higher food safety knowledge and safer eating habits.

The only problem I see is that some foods are supposed to be under or un-cooked. I can see where the food safety advocates are coming from, but, really, a well done steak is ruined (in my opinion), and I was practically raised on chocolate chip cookie dough. Perhaps we all should try to be aware of the risks and take all the precautions, but go ahead and eat our sushi raw. Does anyone have another take on this? Is there some additional information that you'd like to share?

This Week's Food Safety Terror Alert has gone a depressing shade of blue (which isn't even on the meter) for a voluntary recall by Stonyfield Farm of their 6-ounce cups of Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt based on reports that customers have found plastic or glass fragments in the products.

The affected yogurts have codes printed along the cup bottom that start with the following dates:

• Apr 13 08
• Apr 14 08
• Apr 15 08
• April 25 08
• Apr 26 08

If you have questions, you are advised to contact Stonyfield Farm Consumer Relations at 1-800-PRO-COWS or email crelations@Stonyfield.com.

Between beef recalls and threats of mad cow disease, the simple action of eating is quickly becoming less of a pleasurable activity and more of a chore, or, in some cases, a big wager.

Think you know your salmonella from your E.Coli? Feeling bored? Test your smarts with National Geographic's food safety quiz. Yes, I know, online quizzes are pretty nerdy, but this one actually provides you with decent information. After you answer each question, the site gives you a brief synopsis of the topic, so you can bulk up on your food safety knowledge for your next dinner party.

Or, even better: when the weather gets warmer and you attend a picnic, turn to your friend as she takes her first bite of chicken salad and bust out with, "Did you know that food borne illnesses are more common in warmer weather?" and watch her spit out her food and glare at you. If nothing else, your new found knowledge will provide you with hours of entertainment.

And when you're finished with that quiz, you can get to know your inner organic foodie. Because, seriously, we know you have nothing better to do.

I'm usually glad to peruse tomorrow's New York Times headlines when it comes to food as I did last night. I say usually because last night the news I learned was rather disturbing. The FDA has issued an alert about the safety of five types of farm-raised seafood imported from China. It seems that multiple tests showed contamination from carcinogens and antibiotics.

The five types of seafood in question are shrimp, catfish, eel, basa (a type of catfish) and dace (Chinese mud carp). These fish will have to be tested before they can be sold in the U.S. The FDA noted that there's no immediate health threat, but that prolonged exposure could cause health problems. Somehow that doesn't make me feel very safe, probably because I've consumed more than a few cans of canned dace with black bean sauce in my day. And the ban may not be such good news for fish eaters in general, either. Chinese seafood accounts for 21 percent of all seafood imports. Shrimp lovers may be hit especially hard since it's the number one seafood imported from China.

Think your imported fish from China or those fancy baked goods from Canada are oh la la luxe? Think again.

ABC news reports that while 13% of the US annual diet is made up of imported foods that include things like frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru, blackberries from Guatemala, and packaged foods from Canada, India and the Philippines, a mere 1.3% of all imported foods are actually inspected. That means the other 98.7% of imported foods are released into the American market without a check for filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to salmonella.

What does this mean? Just be careful, ok?

With the recent rash of e. coli that's broken out and gotten all of us itchy about spinach, it's time for a little brush-up on food safety. Of course we all know about safe handling of eggs and poultry - wash everything, and cook it until it's dry as a bone (or something like that).

But fruits and vegetables require safe handling as well. Take, for instance, a cantaloupe. Bacteria can "hang out" in the nook and crannies that are characteristic of the camataloupe's webbed skin. We certainly don't eat the skin of a melon, but if there are harmful things on the outside, they can get onto the surfaces of the inside flesh that you eat when you cut through the peel.

There are several online sources that provide helpful hints for safe-handling of food. The government site, FoodSafety.gov has alerts and warning on its front page. We have mentioned the site before here at Slashfood, but FightBac is also a great resource for information about how to keep your food free of bacteria. Another good resource to which a reader tipped us off (thanks, Jen!) is the Consumer Reports Safety Blog, which has a section dedicated to food safety.

The issue of food-borne illnesses and safe-food handling comes up a lot during the Holidays when we're playing with turkeys and setting out food on the buffet that could be out there at room temperature for hours on end, even overnight.

However, food safety is important everyday, and the Partnership for Food Safety Education has launched a website dedicated entirely to food safety from bacteria based on the success of their offline FightBac! campaign.

The site has information about food-borne illnesses, their causes, symptoms, tips on how to safely handle food, and resources for more information and education.