Has Eating Become a Virtual Game of Russian Roulette?

With all things considered it would just be easier to sew our mouths shut as the risk of testing positive for Salmonella, Hepatitis or E. coli can happen virtually anywhere at any time, and to anyone. Pick the wrong restaurant or fresh produce and you may have just sentenced yourself to serious illness, and possibly death by doing what comes as natural as breathing, and that is eating.

Salmonella, Hepatitis and E. coli seem to be popping up virtually everywhere, and in everything from onions, spinach, raw oysters, milk, peanut butter, and now organic baby food and cantaloupes that have tested positive for Salmonella. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now sending out warnings of the dangers of drinking milk that has not been pasteurized, known as raw milk. Raw milk potentially contains a wide variety of harmful bacteria including Salmonella.

Forty-five outbreaks of foodborne illness that implicated unpasteurized milk, or cheese made from unpasteurized milk accounted for 1,007 illnesses, 104 hospitalizations, and two deaths. This is based on information in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the week of March 2, 2007. The actual number of illnesses was almost certainly higher because not all cases of illness are recognized and reported. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/rawmilk.html

The FDA advises consumers to avoid eating raw oysters harvested from San Antonio Bay, Texas after February 1, 2007, as a result of reports of illnesses in people who attended a Maryland event where these oysters were served. The implicated oyster beds in the San Antonio Bay were closed by the Texas Department of Health Services on February 24, 2007 and remain closed. At least twenty-five people reported symptoms of illness including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping. The cause of the illness is linked to the Norovirus, and affected individuals often experience low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness. Most people show symptoms within 48 hours of exposure to the virus. The illness typically lasts one to two days. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus.htm

In another incident involving tainted food, Dole was forced to recall cantaloupes distributed to wholesalers on the east coast as well as ones shipped to Quebec. Most of the cantaloupes that made it to both the east and west coast tested positive for Salmonella and were all from the same grower in Costa Rica. Detecting Salmonella can sometimes be tricky unless you are tested for it as it mimics flu symptoms.

So how did the cantaloupes become infected with dangerous bacteria? Apparently the salmonella came from the plastic containers holding the cantaloupes after they go through the harvesting and the washing process. It is common to think that salmonella derives from a lack of hand washing around prepared foods, but it is more than likely due to bird or animal feces that somehow made its way to the containers holding the cantaloupes. Common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/dole02_07.html

The statistics are almost as bad as playing Russian Roulette as you just never know what food will be the next to be touched by this sometimes fatal bacteria. Salmonella is one of the most common intestinal infections in the U.S., and overall it is the second most common food born illness, coming in right after the Campylobacter infection. The reported incidence of Salmonella illnesses are about 17 cases per each 100,000 people.

Once Salmonella is digested it passes through the stomach to the intestine, and here, it binds to the walls of the intestines. Once it has gained access to our insides, it then travels to the liver or spleen. Salmonella has evolved mechanisms to prevent our immune system from doing its job efficiently. In the liver, the Salmonella can grow again, and be released back into the intestine. Not all of the Salmonella passes through the intestinal wall, and many of them are expelled from the intestine in the form of diarrhea. In regions with poor sanitation, this bacteria can than survive in the soil or in rivers and infect the next person or animal that comes along.

Hepatitis A is most common in school-age children in the United States. It is spread when the virus, usually on the hands, food, or water contaminated by feces gets in the mouth and is swallowed. Those that are most likely to get it are those who have close personal contact with someone with hepatitis A, those who swallow the virus in infected food or water, and those who are part of an outbreak or who travel internationally. Hepatitis A continues to be one of the most frequently reported vaccine preventable diseases in the United States. Although Hepatitis A occurs in virtually every area of the U.S., certain states and counties have higher rates than others.

Escherichia coli are common bacterium, but certainly not the most abundant inhabitant of the human intestine. It is also known to live in the intestine of many other animals, wild as well as domestic. Normally, E. coli does not cause disease although some strains frequently cause diarrhea in travelers, and it is the most common cause of urinary tract infections.

The FDA has started a Pilot Food Program that alerts consumers so that they can identify recalled food products. Easily identifiable labels containing potential food hazards hopefully will improve food safety. Typical significant food risks include, among others, foods contaminated with dangerous microorganisms such as Salmonella, E. coli, Hepatitis A, Listeria monocytogenes and allergens in foods such as nuts, dairy, soy, and fish ingredients.