Almost 70 people have been struck down with food poisoning and a kitchen has been closed after an outbreak at a deluxe hotel on the New South Wales Central Coast.
NSW Health and the NSW Food Authority are investigating which food may have been contaminated after illness among many of the 230 people who attended a two-day conference held at the Crown Plaza Terrigal Pacific hotel on 30 November. More than 30 people needed emergency department treatment.
NSW Health executive director of public health, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said anyone who felt unwell or had concerns after the conference should seek medical care, get in touch with their local public health unit, or contact conference organizers, the Aboriginal Languages Trust.
As a precaution, the hotel voluntarily closed its kitchen, which is also required to do under the Food Act 2003. Of those with symptoms, 27 have confirmed salmonella infections.
NSW Food Authority acting director for food safety, Anthony Zammit, said there was no ongoing risk to health from the venue.
“Our compliance officers have visited the venue to collect samples and the investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Salmonella is usually spread to people through eating food from infected animals such as under-cooked meat and eggs. It can also be spread from person to person, but this type of transmission usually occurs over several weeks.
While most people recover with rest and fluids, some can experience severe infection and may require admission to hospital for rehydration. Those who are immunocompromised are particularly susceptible to more severe complications such as blood infection and inflammation of the blood vessels.
Guardian Australia has contacted the Crown Plaza Terrigal Pacific hotel for comment.
Mixologists around the city are celebrating DC Cocktail Week through Sunday, December 4. Find special cocktail pairings, and join in on extended happy hours and other events happening throughout the week. Tiki TNT, Jaleo, Andy’s Pizza in NoMa and many more are serving food and beverage combo specials.
Head to Estuary (950 New York Ave., N.W.) at the Conrad Hotel for its Winter at Bay outdoor menu, which is happening until Friday, December 23. Warm up by the fire with holiday cocktails, grilled oysters, hushpuppies, and more. Reservations can be booked here.
In celebration of its two-year anniversary, Pennyroyal Station (3310 Rhode Island Ave., Mount Rainier) is hosting all-day happy hours on Thursday, December 1 and Friday, December 2. Look for $8 beer and shot combos, $5 drafts, and lots of discounts on chef Jesse Miller’s twists on fried tomatoes, mac’ and cheese, and deviled eggs.
Learn to make handmade dan dan noodles with crispy pork at Cookology (4238 Wilson Blvd., Arlington) on Saturday, December 3. Participants in the nighttime social cooking club will also learn to prepare pickled bok choy, egg tarts, and a boozy drink (additional drinks will be available for purchase). The cooking class costs $109 and starts at 6:30 PM. Buy your tickets here
Catch FIFA World Cup action at the Navy Yard location of Atlas Brew Works (1201 Half St., SE) on Saturday, December 3. The brewery opens its doors 10 AM for $5 pints of Bullpen Pilsner and the US/Netherlands game (for other bars showing the game, head here).
Maydān (1346 Florida Ave., N.W.) is putting on a five-year celebration and holiday market on Saturday, December 3. Stop by for shawarmas and spreads from the restaurant, unique wine tastings, and plenty of handmade items from local vendors. The market will run from 10 AM to 2 PM and tickets are $15. Proceeds will benefit the Children of Persia and The Center for Human Rights in Iran.
Capitol Cider House (3930 Georgia Ave., NW) will host Fahrenheit99 & Co. for a candle-making party on Sunday, December 4. Learn to make your own candles while drinking cider and munch on snacks from Sassy Chef’s Kitchen. Tickets are $72 and come with everything you’ll need to make an 8 ounce vegan candle, plus a glass of cider, bites, and an additional gift to take home. The event starts at 2PM.
Jack Rose (2007 18th St., NW) throws its ninth annual Repeal Day event on Sunday, December 4. It’ll feature a vintage spirits tasting, bottomless Champagne specials, and deals on prohibition-era cocktails. From 4:30 to 6:30 PM, owner Bill Thomas will host a ticketed tasting of rare bottles of whiskey, rum, and Armagnac dating back to the 1930s. The celebrations and food specials will run from 7 to 10 PM; the spirits tasting will cost $110 and include two welcome cocktails and snacks.
Join a pizza-making class at In Bocca Al Lupo (2400 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) on Monday, December 5. During the one-hour session, participants will learn to make Roman and Neapolitan pizzas from start to finish. After, sit down with your classmates for a glass of Italian wine and a few slices. The class costs $75 per person and you can purchase tickets here.
A new drought-tolerant variety of durum wheat has been created as part of an international breeding program to boost climate resilience in the food system by increasing crop diversity.
Durum wheat is used to make pasta, pizza crusts, and flatbreads such as pitta and chapatis, as well as for couscous, bulgur and pastry for desserts such as baklava.
The new wheat Jabal, which means “mountain” in Arabic, was developed by farmers and crop scientists by crossing a commercial durum wheat with a wild relative from an arid region of Syria, to create a new durum variety which can withstand drought.
It’s part of the Crop Trust’s wild relatives project, which is using genetically diverse crop varieties to help develop more resilient and adaptive varieties of wheat, barley, rice, and potato that can withstand erratic and extreme weather conditions caused by the climate breakdown.
While it is not yet commercially available, farmers in Morocco will be the first to start growing the new version of durum wheat, which is widely eaten in north Africa and the Middle East, in about three years. Morocco is suffering its worst drought in four decades, and grain production is down by about 70% due to extremely dry conditions.
Breeders and farmers in drought-affected areas planted numerous new durum wheat varieties between 2017 and 2021. Jabal stood out as it was able to flourish and produce grains while all commercial varieties of durum failed. Its distinctive black spikes also produce high yields of plum grains that are made tasty bread, scientists say.
Jabal’s black spikes. Photograph: Michael Major/Crop Trust
“Many farmers said it was love at first sight when they saw it standing strong when all other varieties were being destroyed by drought,” said Filippo Bassi, senior scientist with the durum wheat breeding program at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (Icarda) in Lebanon.
Wheat, the most widely consumed grain globally, is grown on every continent apart from Antarctica and eaten by billions of people.
Crop failures due to lost biodiversity and extreme weather events such as drought, extreme heat and floods have led to rising wheat prices and food insecurity in many parts of the world, exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine, as both countries were major wheat exporters.
Last year, prices for durum wheat soared by 90% after widespread drought and unprecedented heatwaves in Canada, one of the world’s biggest grain producers, followed a few months later by record rainfall. Over the last century, Canadian farmers have increasingly relied on genetically similar high-yield wheat varieties, elbowing out crucial diversity.
It takes years to breed new varieties of wheat, in a complicated, never-ending race against time, as global heating drives climate disasters and the emergence of new, adapted or more aggressive pathogens.
Wild relatives are considered the more resilient cousins of commercial crops, having evolved in nature to survive tough conditions such as extreme heat, drought, flooding and poor soils. Plant breeders are increasingly looking to wild and other forgotten varieties stored in seed banks for useful genetic diversity, which was sidelined in favor of yield, uniformity and profits after the Green Revolution.
But the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems warns that in addition to genetic diversity, building resilience in the food system also requires diversity on farms and in landscapes, as well as more farmer led initiatives.
“Farmers have domesticated 7,000 different crop species and have donated more than 2.1m plant varieties to international gene banks, but most of the profit from this effort has been captured by four or five international seed companies,” said Pat Mooney, an expert in agriculture diversity and biotechnology. “[Jabal] shows what can be accomplished with multilateral cooperation where farmers are at the center of decision-making.”
