Salmonella illnesses prompt recipe fixes

A St. Paul restaurant tightened its food safety procedures shortly after diners at two parties, held three days apart earlier this year, tested positive for salmonella infection, according to city inspection reports recently obtained by Whistleblower. On Jan. 12, Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market at 289 E. 5th St. served a dessert with buttercream that "likely contained undercooked egg," a St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections report said. Unaware of any problem, the buttercream was served at the second event three days later, according to Heartland owner Lenny Russo. Russo said he gets eggs from small farms and now pasteurizes them by heating them to 155 degrees, about 10 degrees higher than required. "I feel confident we're very, very safe. We instituted new best practices."