Food is one of the foundations of health. Not to mention, it tastes pretty good too.
However, do you ever think about how safe your food is to eat?
In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted consumers of a serious E.coli outbreak affecting romaine lettuce. Two months later, consumers received additional alerts for salmonella found in melons and Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal.
That’s three major food alerts within two months.
Three.
E.coli and salmonella are both bacteria that can cause serious foodborne illnesses, and, in some cases, death. So if you did not consider the safety of the food you eat before, you may want to now.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), E.coli and salmonella are two different types of bacteria that often are found in similar places. Both can live in raw meat, fruits and feces; however, E.coli bacteria live in the intestines, and salmonella is the most common cause of food poisoning.
“It boils down to those practices utilized on individual farms,” Scott Monroe, food safety educator at Purdue Extension, West Lafayette, said. “Some of the foodborne pathogens occur naturally, and they do not discriminate. They can be found on large and small farms.”
Sometimes pinpointing the source of the contamination is difficult as is the case with Kellogg’s Honey Smacks where government officials are still trying to determine what caused the contamination.
“Being able to figure out where it comes from and being able to prevent outbreaks is hard to do,” Melissa Miller, central division senior food safety manager for Kroger, said. “Food gets inspected when it gets to the warehouse. Once it gets to the store, it’s ready for us to stock.”
Miller also said the corporate office receives food safety notifications as soon as they are found. Often times, the store will have the products pulled before the alert goes out to the general public.
But even if the source of the outbreak is pinpointed, it can still be difficult to find out where the food item picked up the bacteria originally. Monroe said there are specific methods known as Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) that farmers and manufacturers follow to prevent contamination. Many of the best practices pertain to soil, water, animal welfare and worker hygiene, he said.
It’s almost impossible for a consumer to go into a grocery store and tell if an item is contaminated with E.coli or salmonella. However, there are a few things you can do to reduce your risk contamination, according to Amanda Deering, clinical assistant in the department of food science at Purdue University.
When you wash produce, you give the bacteria the nutrition it needs to survive so do not wash your produce until you are ready to eat it.
Refrigerate produce as soon as you can. Bacteria are less likely to grow in colder temperatures.
Even that bag of pre-washed salad that should be ready to serve is not exempt.
“Pre-washed salad should be considered as safe as possible,” Deering said. “However, it can still have contamination present, so I wouldn’t consider it risk free.”
Contact staff writer Loren Dent at 317-762-7853.
Keep your food safe
Looking for a resource for consumer food education? Visit fightbac.org to learn how to keep safe from food bacteria.
