July 2011 - E coli scares
The recent tragedy in Europe which resulted in 3255 people developing severe food poisoning, with 35 deaths, over 800 suffering severe kidney problems (including about 100 who will need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive) highlights the problems that can arise from food poisoning.
This was not a lone problem. Since this well-publicised outbreak, another tragedy has occurred in France where hamburger patties contaminated with E coli resulted in children suffering kidney failure severe enough to need blood transfusions and dialysis.
If every outbreak of food poisoning made it into the news, there would be little room for anything else. These particular cases received so much publicity because they were so severe.
E coli are bacteria. There are hundreds of different strains. Many are harmless and some are positively beneficial. Babies are born without any E coli but within 40 hours of birth, dozens of strains will be setting up home within their intestine. These are not harmful and some begin an important task of making vitamin K.
All animals have E coli in their intestine. Unwanted bugs are excreted in faeces. Animals do the same thing. We need to avoid re-infecting our bodies with harmful strains that have been excreted by humans or animals.
The way to do that is simple: wash your hands with soap and water before touching food, especially food that is not about to be cooked. Special antibacterial wipes and solutions are not necessary. Soap does the trick.
Those of us who are a bit older will remember that before eating, the dinner bell rang to signal that everyone had to go to the bathroom and wash their hands before coming to the table. It’s a habit we should reinstate. The need to wash your hands after using the toilet and before touching food is also made more difficult by the current trend towards snacking instead of sitting to the table.
Antibacterial solutions wipe out many harmless bacteria and our bodies lose their ability to cope with bugs. Experts advise us not to use them or we will become so fragile that we will have little resistance to bugs.
E coli are killed by heat. That is why raw salad vegetables were suspected of causing the outbreak in Germany. It is also why we should cook chicken thoroughly. Most of the E coli in chickens in Australia are not a harmful strain, but some can be. It is also why we need to defrost turkey completely so the temperature of the oven will be enough to kill any E coli in its intestine. If the centre of the turkey is frozen, the bugs won’t be killed and will multiply and re-infect the rest of the leftover turkey.
The first suspect in the recent E coli outbreak in Germany was cucumbers from Spain. When testing cleared them of suspicion and new cases occurred in people who had not been exposed to the cucumbers, the next suspects were lettuce and tomatoes. Detective work cleared them too. The eventual blame was sheeted home to sprouts from an organic farm.
Finding the culprit for such an outbreak – this one ranked by Food Safety News as the deadliest in recorded history – is never easy.
Tests of the sprouts (from lettuce, azuki beans, mung beans, fenugreek, alfafa and lentils) were unable to confirm that they harboured the strain of E coli, but they were convicted on the basis that the farm had supplied sprouts to all 26 restaurants which had served food to those affected. One report also found that a kitchen worker ate infected sprouts and then passed the bacteria to about 20 people for whom she prepared food through a catering company.
A prominent industry group in the United States then made a big fuss about the fact that the sprouts were from an organic farm and claimed this was because organic farms used animal manure. In fact, the farm in question did not use any form of animal manure or fertiliser. Sprouts are grown without soil and whether the farm is organic or not is irrelevant. The hamburger patties that caused the outbreak in France were not from an organic farm, and the organic food critics did not comment on this outbreak.
Sprouts of any kind do pose a potential hazard at any time because they are grown in warm conditions that are conducive to bacterial growth. It probably makes good sense not to give sprouts to infants, the frail aged or anyone with a compromised immune system.
We need strict standards for all food production, conventional or organic. As it happens, the organic industry in Australia has well-developed standards for compost used on crops to minimise the risk of food poisoning. The standards are listed at:
http://www.daff.gov.au
and certified organic organisations check their members’ farms regularly.
Special dangers for home gardeners
Home gardeners who add animal manure to their own compost should ensure they follow proper procedures to minimise risks. Safety tips for animal manure include:
· Try to source organic manure and ensure the animals have not been given antibiotics or hormones or eaten crops or waste sprayed with pesticides.
· Compost chicken or other poo, allowing the pile to reach a temperature of 55˚C to kill disease-causing bacteria. Once the heat generation has gone, leave the stable compost for at least 4 more weeks to mature. It should look like rich earth with no discernible ‘pieces’ of poo.
· Dig organic compost into the soil. Do not place organic compost around salad vegies or anything that will be eaten raw. Do not apply around crops within 60 days of harvest.
· Never use manure from dogs, cats or pigs as these animals can carry parasites.