Katherine Nichols of the Star Bulletin reports that it doesn’t seem possible that the dull and rather distasteful topic of food safety could be amusing and even entertaining — until you hear Henry “Food Cop” Holthaus tackle the material.
Chef Henry, a chef-instructor at Kapiolani Community College, has been teaching culinary students about food safety since 1992, and will take his act to the airwaves beginning tonight in a weekly show entitled “Shig Happens! Food Safety with Chef Henry Food Cop.”
“Shig Happens! Food Safety with Chef Henry Food Cop” Debuts at 8:30 tonight on Oceanic Channel 55 The play on words foreshadows the low-budget charm that follows. “Shig” is short for shigella, a bacteria that causes foodborne illnesses when cooks fail to wash their hands with soap and water (or — gasp — at all) after using the restroom or changing a diaper.
The nasty illness that results is called shigellosis. “We’re going for the shock value here,” said Chef Henry, who served his own Hawaiian Passion Hot Sauce at the show’s premiere for friends and family last week in the Sony Lab on KCC’s campus.