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.
Two of Charlie’s Angels found themselves taking on a new mission together this week, as actress Cameron Diaz joined bestie and talk show host, Drew Barrymore, on Wednesday’s episode of the latter’s eponymous daytime talk show. Channeling true “besties in the kitchen” energy, the pair gave us a peek at their relationship and revealed Diaz’s most coveted kitchen recipe — which happened to be the special addition to the first meal she made for her now-husband (and Good Charlotte guitarist /vocalist), Benji Madden.
The entire back and forth of giggling through Hollywood-normal memories took place while Diaz demonstrated her recipe for what she calls “Shallot Gold,” a dish which Barrymore noted was pretty much the only reason she and Diaz’s friends ever came over to visit. “She’s going to show us how to make literally something that none of us ever want to come over to the house without it being prepared,” Barrymore said.
But let you get your hopes up for some new recipe that will knock Alison Roman’s shallot pasta off its throne, shallot gold is quite literally just caramelized shallots. Sure, Diaz gives a few tips — like adding a bit of salt to your shallots as they cook down to drive off more of the allium’s water content and coax out the sugars — but at the end of the day, the true key to shallot gold is time.
As evidenced by Diaz reaching for a pan of previously caramelized shallots to put over the roast chicken that miraculously appeared on set (TV magic!), the only way to make shallot gold is to sit there and let those shallots cook down. Caramelization is a wonderful process that does not comply with the time constraints of a television cooking segment. At the end of the day, though, the true treasure in Diaz’s shallot gold might just be the chance to reminisce with a friend during the time it takes for those shallots to transform into caramelized perfection.
So what about that dish she made for her current husband on their first date? Lamb chops, of course. “Mediterranean lamb chops, some couscous, and some broccoli and sautéed zucchini,” Diaz told the audience after Barrymore urged her to reveal the meal. And in case you’re wondering, the shallot gold was mixed in with the couscous.
The entire segment, however, is one to watch, with the pair discussing everything from Gwyneth Paltrow’s disappointment in Barrymore’s previous home’s oven to dual diving experiences — both sky and scuba, the latter of which took place in Tahiti with curious sharks. Much in the vein of other celebrity friends cooking together for television (think: Ina and Faith Hill), the two icons give viewers a show to remember with personal touches that will make anyone feel at home.
With no job and speaking little of the language, Olena Vinykova has relied on her local food bank to cope with the “very hard” situation she found herself in since fleeing Ukraine for Germany seven months ago. If she had arrived any later, her situation could have been even worse.
Surging food and fuel prices mean millions more people in Germany are struggling to make ends meet, forcing many food banks to shut their doors to thousands of new applicants. That includes the one used by Vinykova in Friedberg, about 15 miles north of Frankfurt.
The former nurse, who left her husband and grown-up children in Bakhmut, now on the front line of Ukraine’s war with Russia, asked the Financial Times to “say thank you” to the volunteers for their “amazing” work.
Across Europe food bank use is soaring as the highest inflation for a generation hits the region’s poorest, who spend a greater proportion of their income on energy and food, the hardest.
Charities from Spain to Latvia report 20 to 30 per cent higher demand than last year and expect a further increase this winter. In Bulgaria, one of the poorest countries in the EU, there was a three-quarters jump between September and October in people using the national food bank, according to the country’s food bank director Tzanka Milanova. “Inflation is gnawing away at people’s finances,” said Milanova. “More people end up below the poverty line.” Government bodies have exhausted their budgets for food aid, forcing Bulgarian charities to turn to food banks.
Over a third of Germany’s 962 food banks — called Tafel — have stopped taking new applicants beyond the 2mn they already help. This is the first time many have taken such a drastic step, after which demand rose more than 50 per cent this year for access to the fruit, vegetables, bread and other essentials they collect from shops and donors.
“We could double the number of customers if we took everyone who asked,” said Peter Radl, chair of the Friedberg food bank, which provides a basket of supplies every two weeks to 700 families, of which about 130 come from Ukraine. “But space is limited, we have a total of 120 baskets, and there is only so much our volunteers can do,” he added.
You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.
“It is surprising for a rich country like Germany to have so many people who cannot afford to feed themselves properly,” said Katja Bernhard, a board member of the food bank association for the Hesse region.
Yet soaring energy prices, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have pushed over a quarter of the German population into “fuel poverty” — defined as spending more than 10 per cent of income on energy — up from 14.5 per cent last year, according to the country’s council of economic experts.
More than a fifth of the EU population was already unable to heat their home sufficiently last year, before the latest price surge, according to the latest data from Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.
In November, eurozone price growth slowed for the first time in 17 months, dipping from 10.6 per cent to 10 per cent. But this was little consolation for people struggling to make ends meet, especially when average wages have risen only 4 per cent in the past year.
Energy prices across the single currency area are still almost 35 per cent higher than a year ago, while food, alcohol and tobacco cost more than 13 per cent extra, according to Eurostat.
The price of some essentials has risen even faster. In the wider EU, milk prices have soared 43 per cent in the past year, while pork costs 55 per cent more and Japonica rice 68 per cent more.
In central and eastern Europe, the cost of staples has increased even more sharply. In Hungary, bread prices have risen by 80 per cent over the past year. There, the national food bank works via a network of charitable groups, which has expanded by almost a quarter to 530 this year. Its spokesman András Nagygyörgy estimates it helps 221,000 people, adding: “Since the start of the inflationary spiral, we have been witnessing an inflow of organizations.”
Giovanni Bruno, president of the Italian food bank foundation, estimated an additional 85,000 people had sought their help this year. “Many people who ask for food are now young, even students trying to save money to pay electricity or heating bills,” he said.
