As People's Taste For Exotic Foods Increases, So Too Does Health Risk

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010711061535.htm

Source: University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign (http://www.uiuc.edu/)

Posted 7/11/2001

As People's Taste For Exotic Foods Increases, So Too Does Health Risk

 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Food-borne pathogens long considered rare on North American

plates are an emerging problem, and

restaurant and home chefs should be more diligent about washing their fresh

produce, University of Illinois food

scientists say. Such is the message gleaned from follow-up work on a

Shigella-infected bean salad that sickened

customers at a Chicago restaurant in 1999.

" Recent nationwide outbreaks in 1998, particularly in California, and in 1999 in

Chicago suggest that Shigella may be an

emerging pathogen in the United States, " said Meredith E. Agle, a doctoral

student in food microbiology. " With the

globalisation of food and more people having more exotic tastes, we believe

pathogens will be showing up more regularly

from developing countries where poor sanitation and water quality make the

shipment of bacteria-free produce very

difficult. "

 

Agle has been studying the bean salad recipe and Shigella's ability to survive

in it. She shared preliminary data June

26 at the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting in New Orleans. Among

her findings: A commercial produce wash

was no more effective than water for removing the Chicago outbreak strain,

Shigella boydii, from parsley and cilantro.

 

In addition, she said, Shigella in the infected bean salad, re-created in the

lab, did not grow but remained at

infectious levels for up to six days of normal temperature storage in a

refrigerator. At room temperature, Shigella grew

rapidly, she said.

 

Agle said parsley and cilantro were suspected in the Chicago case because the

infected plants in the 1998 outbreaks,

which involved Shigella sonnei, had been traced to a Mexican farm. Many of the

ingredients in the Chicago case were from

Mexico and were not washed before being put in the bean salad. Shigella, which

comes in four strains and is similar to

E. coli, causes shigellosis, an infectious disease that leads to diarrhea, fever

and stomach cramps, beginning about 24

hours after exposure and continuing for a week. Shigella sonnei is the most

common strain associated with disease each

year in the United States. Shigella boydii is associated with Mexico and South

America.

 

Why shigella is so difficult to remove from parsley and cilantro is being

studied. The pathogen may create a biofilm,

similar to dental plaque, which clings firmly to the produce, Agle said.

Irradiating parsley successfully removed

pathogens but left it with a slightly cooked texture that many people may not

find as palatable as raw parsley, she

said.

 

" The message from this research is pretty clear, " said Hans P. Blaschek, head of

the UI department of food science and

human nutrition, who supervises the lab where Agle works. " People need to

properly store their fruits and vegetables in

a refrigerator and, more importantly, wash them thoroughly. The actual physical

manipulation of the produce during the

washing process appears to be the most important factor in removal of the

pathogen. "

 

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Good Health & Long Life,

Greg Watson,

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gowatson

gowatson