It’s been a busy week since publishing, “Safe Ice Misinformation Campaign Exposed.” That posting highlighted some of the key points made during a February 28th public teleconference conducted by NSF International, an independent, not-for-profit organization which develops safety and certification standards in numerous areas, including ice machines, in order to protect the public health.
The questions we’ve received since then demonstrate the significant interest generated by our readers wanting to know 1) if there were other specific instances of misinformation that can be shared and 2) the actual extent of the misinformation campaign conducted by Robert Almblad and his Safe Ice Healthcare staff, including teleconference attendees PR Director Michael Rinder and Business Strategist Dave Richards.
In light of this, we will first take up point number one. A reliable source who attended the teleconference made the following excellent observations and questions:
- Almblad cites a number of studies to support his airborne contaminant claims regarding ice machines on his website. He even stated during the teleconference that they were done by a “microbiologist university”, which seems to have been a flustered mangling of the fact that one of the staff he featured on his site was Dr. Daniel Lim of the Center for Biological Defense at the University of South Florida (“USF”).
- Dr. Lim is a nationally renowned expert on biological warfare. [We explored his relationship to Almblad in an earlier posting entitled, “The Odd Couple.”]
- These studies were ripped to shreds by two highly qualified microbiologists with FDA experience who were brought to the teleconference by Scotsman Industries. They had run their own tests and could not duplicate Almblad’s test results in their machines, like contaminants being sucked up through the drain pipe. They also did their own research and found no evidence which supports his claims of airborne contaminants.
Here then are the pertinent questions:
- Why didn’t Almblad mention Dr. Lim’s name as his paid microbiologist and member of his Safe Ice Healthcare staff?
- Like Scotsman Industries did in order to prove their point, why didn’t Almblad bring Dr. Lim with him to help prove his own case?
- Why didn’t Almblad bring up the specific findings of studies reportedly done for him by Dr. Lim in countering the claims of Scotsman Industries?
It turns out that later in the teleconference, one other thing was pointed out by Scotsman Industries which helps provide possible answers to these questions:
- Scotsman’s microbiologists stated that if the studies Almblad cites were carefully read, each one proved that the illness involved was not caused by airborne contaminants but from one of three things: poor hygiene, contaminated water or a contaminated ice scoop.
Add this all up and it starts looking like Almblad was possibly so unhappy or impatient with his own test results that he resorted to using Dr. Lim’s name and twisting the truth in order to forward his own theories and force his own agenda for changing the NSF standards regarding ice machines.
When you look at it, it’s actually quite surprising that USF and Dr. Lim ever linked themselves to Almblad’s operation in the first place. However, in light of what was revealed during the February 28th teleconference, perhaps Dr. Lim’s involvement was just another piece of the Safe Ice Healthcare misinformation campaign designed to give it creditability.
After all, it is a documented fact that Almblad has scammed investors, creditors and former employees. Now he seems to be working on the ice machine industry. Should he really be spreading outwards like an airborne contaminant (sorry, couldn’t resist) to major universities and nationally renowned doctors on biological warfare?
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As always, if you have any questions you’d like to ask or information you’d like to contribute, please feel free to do so at laserkeyblog@gmail.com