Sqirl - Los Angeles

[Sgee]

@PorkyBelly

That same recipe is used in the restaurant, but because the jam is low in sugar and we don’t use chemicals or preservatives there were occasional instances where mold would develop on the surface.

"When this happened we would remove it. To guide this practice I relied on the research and guidance of health experts and to my knowledge thought it was safe.

"I eat the same jam I serve my customers, family and friends and would never knowingly serve any food that would put their health at risk. I realize that I was wrong and I am sorry.

Genuinely scratching my head, as someone hailing from a poor third world country.

Mold on food => trash… Unless you’re starving or completely broke. Even then the mold in pics exceed levels acceptable for desperate consumption, lest in the most dire situations.

Although this incident may explain the Covid disaster in the U.S…

[J_L]

@paranoidgarliclover

Well, as long as that toilet doesn’t contain uncovered jam…

#TotoJam2020

[moonboy403]

The real question is how it’s possible for the jam to develop so much mold in the first place? How long do you have to leave these jam alone to have 1/2 inch of mold covering the whole surface? That in and of itself is insane.

[Sgee]

The storage room temps must be warm. Can happen very quickly, within a couple hours. The stuff from the pics appear to be freaking weeks old though - dusty, covered in spores mold

[aaqjr]

That sounds a lot closer to the truth. Here’s to hoping she chooses to give more attribution & recognition to the Chefs and cooks who helped her along the way… Still gross though.

[moonboy403]

That also begs the question of food safety aside from mold. How can Sqirl store food in an unrefrigerated room? Regular health code violations occur when food isn’t chilled down below a certain temperature within a short amount of time.

THAT much mold can’t possibly be grown within a few hours. It has to be at least days or weeks. And how can she not check her jam daily to prevent something like this from happening?

[Sgee]

I think there is a health inspector in trouble somewhere in LA.

[aaqjr]

The fact that they were too lazy to even throw away the molded part before digging in! Then leaving dirty utensils in the bucket to recontaminate everything.

The person who was ‘Chef’ when that happened needs to share responsibility

[moonboy403]

@aaqjr

The person who was ‘Chef’ when that happened needs to share responsibility

Yes and no. Everyone involved should have the moral obligation to speak up or report these health code violations, but when it involves your job and how one’s livelihood might be depending on that very job, it’s quite a dilemma.

[moonboy403]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2020/07/13/after-la-cafe-sqirl-sold-moldy-jam-its-owner-cited-a-mycologist-to-defend-it-but-he-doesnt-approve/

Wow. Even the WaPo is reporting on this. Still crickets from the LA Times.

In her statement, Koslow, whose jam cookbook hits bookstores next week, said she was acting on the advice of experts in the handling of large jam containers. “With this bulk jam, mold would sometimes develop on the surface that we handled with the guidance of preservation mentors and experts like Dr. Patrick Hickey, by discarding mold and several inches below the mold, or by discarding containers altogether,” she wrote.

Reached by phone in Edinburgh, Scotland, Hickey — a mycologist who studies the structures of mold growth — seemed perplexed that Koslow would drop his name. He does not recall having ever met or spoken to her, he said. He did give a 2014 interview to the BBC in which he suggested that some moldy items found in people ’ s home refrigerators, including jam, would likely be safe to eat with the mold removed. But a commercial operation is far different, he noted in an interview.

For one thing, he said, there ’ s no way of knowing how much of the jam below the surface had been contaminated. “There ’ s a danger that the toxins could build up in that jam and diffuse down deeper,” he said. Another risk is to people working around the area where the scraping was done, he added. While most people breathe in plenty of mold in their everyday lives, scraping mold off — and depositing it into a bucket — could create high concentrations.

Depending on the type of mold, the spores could cause infections, particularly in immunocompromised people, he noted.

Randy Worobo, a professor of food microbiology in the food science department at Cornell University, also called the method unsafe. “Once the mold is on the surface, no matter how you remove it, there will be some mold that carries on,” he said. “Basically, they’re just inoculating the next level.”

While Koslow explained that low-sugar jam is more likely to develop mold, Worobo said there are ways to make and store even low-sugar jams safely, including cooking the fruit to higher temperatures and storing them in smaller containers or sleeves that minimize contact with air. “It’s an unacceptable product quality for a retail level,” he said of a mold-coated jam. “There are a lot of questions for this bakery.”

[aaqjr]

That’s super basic cleanliness that wasn’t happening. Even if you weren’t concerned about getting someone sick with the mold.

[hppzz]

that’s what I heard too from someone that formerly worked there.

who wants to bet a $1 she just desperately googled moldy jam and scrolled until she found the 2014 article to use Dr. Hickey’s good name.

[DTLAeater]

Gosh, once someone is disingenous or lies in a way that is easily disproved (in this case about following guidance from Dr. Hickey), it seriously casts doubt on ANYTHING that they are saying after that. Especially since this is supposed to be a “come clean” beg for mercy post. Evaluating claims is part of what I do for a living and it was a terrible idea to invoke Dr. Hickey’s name if his advice wasn’t seriously considered or understood.

Sqirl IG screenshot:

Washington Post excerpt posted by @moonboy403

@moonboy403

Reached by phone in Edinburgh, Scotland, Hickey — a mycologist who studies the structures of mold growth — seemed perplexed that Koslow would drop his name. He does not recall having ever met or spoken to her, he said. He did give a 2014 interview to the BBC in which he suggested that some moldy items found in people ’ s home refrigerators, including jam, would likely be safe to eat with the mold removed. But a commercial operation is far different, he noted in an interview.

[Chowseeker1999]

@aaqjr

The fact that they were too lazy to even throw away the molded part before digging in! Then leaving dirty utensils in the bucket to recontaminate everything.

And even if they truly “scraped off” the inches thick layers of mold, imagine someone then scooping back into the same bucket (with microscopic mold spores all over the sides of that bucket), and then serving it to the customers. Were all of the helpers careful not to touch any of the sides of that bucket as they scooped up the remaining jam?

[whippedricotta]

I guess this former American Idol producer and district attorney PR power couple will have to combine their superpowers this week to come out unscathed.

[moonboy403]

More like how can any of the mold spores NOT fall back onto the jam below while they’re being lifted.

Jessica Koslow is also nominated as Best Chef West on James Beard this year.

[robert]

What evidence is there the photo is real? Seems like this could be a case of a disgruntled former employee creating a fake exaggerated photo to expose (given Koslow’s admissions) a real health code violation.

@Sgee

Genuinely scratching my head, as someone hailing from a poor third world country.

Mold on food => trash… Unless you’re starving or completely broke. Even then the mold in pics exceed levels acceptable for desperate consumption, lest in the most dire situations.

Americans seem to me overly paranoid about mold, especially on foods that are made using traditional methods of preservation that predate refrigeration. (Though that does not include low-sugar jams.)

[moonboy403]

@robert

What evidence is there the photo is real? Seems like this could be a case of a disgruntled former employee creating a fake exaggerated photo to expose (given Koslow’s admissions) a real health code violation.

She certainly didn’t deny it when given the opportunity.

[robert]

She effectively denied it in describing practices and health inspections that would have made just a moldy mess impossible.

Unless that photo above was of a trash container rather than a bucket of jam.

[moonboy403]

@robert

ectively denied it in describing practices and health inspections that would have made just a moldy mess impossible.

I don’t think you’re caught up on this whole situation. Jessica Koslow released a long statement admitting to the whole moldy mess…