Seeds withdrawn in salmonella scare

[Guest guest]

Isn't this just amazing - I try to eat a healthy wholefood diet and wonder why I

have had 3 bouts of terrible, terrible Diarrhoea!

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/seeds-w\

ithdrawn-in-salmonella-scare-1632407.html

Unacceptable risk of food-borne diseases from ready-to-eat seed packs

 

Tesco, Waitrose and well-known health food shops have withdrawn tens of

thousands of packets of edible seeds in one of the biggest product recalls for a

decade after a survey found " unacceptable " levels of salmonella and E. coli.

 

 

One in 50 packs of ready-to-eat seeds such as sesame and sunflower was found to

be contaminated with dangerous levels of the food-borne diseases, which can

cause serious illness in fit people and death in the vulnerable.

 

The study's authors pointed out that although there was no direct link to the

contaminated seeds, 137 people in England and Wales fell ill from six sub-types

of salmonella found in the seeds during the six-month study. Many more ill

people are likely to have not reported their symptoms to GPs. The Health

Protection Agency and the local authority group Lacors, which conducted the

study, warned food manufacturers and retailers to improve hygiene during

harvesting and drying of seeds

 

The study was carried out because seeds - a popular snack among health-conscious

shoppers wishing to avoid high-calorie chocolate and sweets - have become

associated with at least seven outbreaks of salmonella in countries such as

Germany, Norway, Sweden and Australia since 2000.

 

To gauge levels of contamination here, environmental health officers from 317

local authorities collected 3,735 packets of ready-to-eat seeds from 3,390

supermarkets, health food shops, convenience stores and market stalls between

October 2007 and March 2008. They were analysed in 32 food laboratories.

 

Twenty-three samples - 0.6 per cent - were contaminated with salmonella and E.

coli was detected at unsatisfactory levels in 55 samples, or 1.5 per cent,

putting the proportion of dangerous food-borne disease at 2.1 per cent of the

total.

 

Melon seeds had the highest proportion of salmonella - 8.5 per cent - but the

bug was also found in sesame, linseed, sunflower, alfalfa and mixed seeds. E.

coli was found in melon, pumpkin, sesame, hemp, poppy, linseed, sunflower and

mixed seeds.

 

" Our study found that the vast majority of ready-to-eat seeds we tested were

safe to eat. However, a small number were contaminated with salmonella or high

levels of E. coli, which is concerning, " said Jim McLauchlin, the HPA's director

of microbiology.

 

" This is clearly unacceptable and in each case the retailer publicly recalled

the contaminated batches and food alerts were issued by the Food Standards

Agency advising consumers not to eat the affected products, " he said.

 

As a result of the study, 10 retailers and wholesalers withdrew packets of seeds

at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. Tesco and Waitrose each issued two

recalls for salmonella contamination; for seed mixes in the case of Tesco; and

alfalfa and mixed seeds in the case of Waitrose.

 

Holland & Barrett, Julian Graves, The Health Store, TRS Wholesale and Imperial

Snack Foods also recalled the seeds.

 

Salmonella was detected in seeds produced in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Guatemala,

India, Nigeria, the US and west Africa. Unsatisfactory levels of E. coli were

detected in seeds produced in Argentina, Austria, China, France, India, the

Netherlands, the UK, the US and west Africa.

 

The seeds may have become contaminated as they were left outside to dry in the

sun in developing countries or because of poor hand-washing (the HPA says E.

coli is traditionally regarded as an indicator of faecal contamination) or other

factors.

 

 

 

 

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