Cocaine Princess here.
Don't you just love my catchy post title?!
One of the tell tale signs that summer is winding down is the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) also known as The Ex, an annual fair (North America’s 7th largest) that takes place in Toronto during the 18 days leading up to Labour Day. Part of the CNE experience is the food including a food truck rally where nearly 20 different food trucks line up next to each other. Every year at the CNE there is always that one must popular food item that fair go-ers will wait in line for and 2013 belonged to the highly anticipated “Cronut Burger.” A cheeseburger sandwiched between two doughnut-croissant hybrid pastries. Earlier in the week 34 people fell violently ill (vomiting, severe stomach cramps, passing out). The one common thread they shared? They all consumed the burger. Since last Wednesday the total had reached 150 people and international agencies including WHO were ready and waiting to launch a full scale investigation. Could this be a serious epidemic as in the movie “Contagion”
Don't you just love my catchy post title?!
One of the tell tale signs that summer is winding down is the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) also known as The Ex, an annual fair (North America’s 7th largest) that takes place in Toronto during the 18 days leading up to Labour Day. Part of the CNE experience is the food including a food truck rally where nearly 20 different food trucks line up next to each other. Every year at the CNE there is always that one must popular food item that fair go-ers will wait in line for and 2013 belonged to the highly anticipated “Cronut Burger.” A cheeseburger sandwiched between two doughnut-croissant hybrid pastries. Earlier in the week 34 people fell violently ill (vomiting, severe stomach cramps, passing out). The one common thread they shared? They all consumed the burger. Since last Wednesday the total had reached 150 people and international agencies including WHO were ready and waiting to launch a full scale investigation. Could this be a serious epidemic as in the movie “Contagion”
Epic Burgers and Waffles, the creator of the Cronut Burger voluntarily closed their operation until the city’s board of health could look into the cause and released a statement which included that during their time of operation the CNE had given them a clean bill of health and their employees had been all trained in food safety. So what could have caused the mysterious illness? Let’s first take a look at this freak of nature:
Could it have been the Maple Bacon Jam? (Ick!) With the exception of mint jelly, who puts jam on their meat and especially as a hamburger topping? I’ll be the first to admit that I have peculiar taste buds but I’d never put any type of jam on my hamburger. Maybe the combination didn’t sit well with the digestive system of those who were affected.
Or was it something more sinister? This would be a great time to insert that “Dum Dum Dum” music.
Food samples were taken to the lab for testing and early lab results revealed the cronut burger was contaminated by “staphylococcus aureuas toxin," a bacterial toxin that can cause food poisoning. If the hamburger joint was given a clean bill of health, what happened? I say it was sabotage, perhaps a rival in the food truck business.
Questions: What do you think of the burger? Would you ever eat something like this? Instead of ketchup or mustard would you put jam or even marmalade on your hamburger?
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And now for something unrelated to this post, today is known as National Go Topless Day. In 1971 the US Congress made Aug 26th (or the Sunday closet to Aug. 26th) a nationally recognized date and named it "Women's Equality Day" and is summoned to commemorate this date each year. In other words, women should have the same constitutional right that men have to go bare-chested in public.
I had no idea such a day existed or that there is even something called a Boob Map.
I had no idea such a day existed or that there is even something called a Boob Map.
XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess
