Prevent Food Poisoning

Preventing food poisoning

Harmless Bacteria as a Natural Weapon Against Disease Causing Bacteria

Antibiotic and chemical resistance of certain bacteria are already debilitating and killing people, in ever-increasing numbers. What is the future of novel antimicrobial compounds? We have heard about the natural- born killers of bacteria…their phages. Now we have some bacteria that could be hired to do the same job!

Washington post reported an interesting story today on the use of natural weapons against disease causing bactereia. Eric Brown, a microbiologist at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and a team of FDA scientists trying to prevent salmonella contamination in tomatoes have stumbled upon what they believe are powerful, naturally occurring "good" bacteria that can slaughter the "bad" bacteria that have become a persistent problem in fresh fruits and vegetables because they harm humans. It's a variation on the "enemy of my enemy" philosophy, with scientists like Brown cultivating hostile relatives of harmful bacteria to perform a sort of microscopic fratricide before the bugs can harm humans.

It would be interesting to see how this works in the field.

Adulteration of Milk in India – What is the Government Doing About It?

In September 2008, several thousand babies in China became ill , having suffered acute kidney failure, with several fatalities, having been fed formula milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. Twenty-two brands of milk powder were quickly identified as containing melamine and were recalled from the market. Allegedly, someone in the supply chain, milk supplier or manufacturer, was adding melamine to the milk formula to artificially inflate the reading for protein levels. In January 2009, two men were given death penalty and another life time imprisonment for their involvement in China's contaminated milk scandal. Still, the public blamed the government for its slow reaction.

Let us now look at what is happening in India in the past few months.

1. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 9. The Centre of Indian Consumer Protection and Research (Coinpar), a consumer rights organisation in the city, which tested eight brands of milk available in the market and also milk sold by cycle vendors, has reported the presence of the chemical, formalin, in three samples.

2. KOCHI , Sept 1. Milk samples from three plants have been found to contain poisonous substances like formalin, sodium bi carbonate and sodium carbonate, leading to subsequent orders for their closure by the authorities.

3. PUNE, Sept 18. The Pune rural police busted a milk adulteration racket in Patas near Duand, about 50 km from the city, in the wee hours of Thursday by arresting a gang of six suspects. According to the police, the gang used to mix lactose powder and caustic soda in the milk to raise the degree and fat contents of the milk at a dairy named as L V Dairy. The police have also seized two tanker containing around 17,000 litre of milk, three gunny bags of lactose powder, five gunny bag containing caustic soda and five bags of the milk powder totalling to Rs 93.59 lakh.

4. LUCKNOW, Sept 26. Bulandshahar police on Friday evening arrested two persons after a total of 1,000 litres of adulterated milk was seized from them. Police also seized bulks of cheap quality glucose, pastel colours, dry milk powder, soya oil and a host of hi-tech machinery used for extracting fat from milk and packaging material.

The contamination of this sort is not just limited to milk, the chemicals reach all products that use this milk including yoghurt, sweets, cheese, ghee, butter and baby food. Regardless of crushing business pressure, there is no excuse for the adulteration of food in this way. Diluting a product with water, the old approach, is highly unethical and can lead to malnutrition, but addition of formalin can cause a number of detrimental effects .

There is no reason to imagine that we come to know about all cases of adulteration and to believe that people behind these cases are punished. Such issues seem to be of least concern to the Indian government that is struggling to sort out the food shortage issues.

Consumer Advisory : Buy milk from a trusted source. Even if you pay a little more, go for reputed brands. Your neighbour’s cow is always a better choice if you can keep an eye on what is happening after the milking process!

Dubai Municipality's Food Safety campaign Targets Households

Food safety message hits home

Praveen Menon and Matt Kwong

• Last Updated: August 26. 2009 10:19PM UAE / August 26. 2009 6:19PM GMT

Housewives are being targeted by Dubai officials in the Safe Kitchen Initiative. Ryan Carter / The National

DUBAI // Normally, food inspectors spend their time haranguing restaurants about the need for good hygiene. Now, they are taking aim at a new group: housewives who prepare meals for their families every day.

The Dubai Municipality launched what it is calling its Safe Kitchen Initiative to promote the correct preparation of meals.

To kick off the initiative, food inspectors will make a one-hour presentation at Lulu Hypermarket in Al Qusais starting at 8pm on Monday.

They will highlight kitchen dos and don’ts and will try to dispel some myths about food poisoning.

“The programme will be for an hour and people who are attending can ask questions regarding food safety and food poisoning,” the department said.

Anybody can attend, but officials are especially hoping housewives are in the audience since many cases of food poisoning are blamed on incorrect handling of food in homes.

The municipality has recorded 60 cases of food poisoning so far this year, two-thirds of which involved people eating at home.

If the demonstration is well-attened more will be organised in other malls and shops.

Do you wash your hands?

Hand hygiene is a serious matter. Despite the proven health benefits of hand washing, many people don't practice this habit as often as they should — even after using the toilet. My friend, Satish Kevin who works at Novotel in Hyderabad uses an interesting strategy to encourage his staff to wash hands after using the toilet.

“This is the poster which I've put up on the doors in our staff toilets. i.e; when a person sits on the W/C this poster is right in front. The person sitting inside, has no chance to miss out reading it” says Kevin.

I think it is a damn good place to provide a reminder to wash hands. His staff need to carry something to read when they go to the toilet to avoid reading what is on the door!

Wash Hands, Keep Infections Away

Cold foods - Are they a concern in Dubai?

Food safety is pretty high on everyone's list of "things to be aware of," especially in light of the recent food poisoning inscidents in Dubai. Media has been talking about the role of the enforcement agencies, but belive it or not, a good deal of food poisoning is caused by improper food handling by consumers.

Let's us look at an organism that Dubai food safety circle never talks about - Listeria Monocytogenes. We do not really know about the prevalence of the organism in Dubai because this is not an organism that our routine microbiological tests cover. Hospitals don’t test for the organism, so we do not know whether people are affected by this organism. What we know is that cold food is very popular in Dubai and Listeria Monocytogenes, an environmental pathogen, are bacteria that can cause a serious illness called listeriosis. These bacteria are found widely in nature and can be transmitted through food. Ready-to-eat products, such as deli meats and salads, cooked poultry products, smoked seafoods, soft cheeses and foods with a long refrigerated shelf life are often linked to outbreaks of Listeria. Once food is contaminated with Listeria the bacteria multiply quickly, even at the recommended refrigeration temperatures of 2 - 4ºC.

Why Should Dubai worry about Listeria Monocytogenes?

Look at our supermarkets; Aren’t we seeing more and more chilled food counters? Aren’t we seeing more salads, cold sandwiches and cold cut meat?

Our shops offer a variety of soft cheeses and other milk products that are known to be sources of Listeria M.

How about our weather? It is 45 ºC outside and any one who buys cold food exposes the food to this temperature for at least an hour. Many food safety experts recommend that cold food exposed to warm conditions for more than an hour should not be eaten!

Who is at risk of Listeria infection?

Listeria infection can affect people differently. Healthy people may develop few or no symptoms. However, for some people, the infection can be serious enough to require hospitalisation and be a threat to life.

People who are at particular risk of infection include:

Anyone whose immune system has been weakened by disease or illness, for example:

Cancer

Leukaemia

Diabetes

AIDS

Liver or kidney disease

The elderly

Pregnant women and their unborn babies

Anyone on medication such as prednisone or cortisone as this can also suppress the immune system. This includes organ transplant patients.

Newborn babies

Recommendations:

Wash raw vegetables thoroughly before eating.

Avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk or foods made from raw milk.

Keep cold foods cold at or below 4.4oC). Do not keep them out for longer than two hours at room temperature before eating.

Read and follow label instructions to "keep refrigerated" and use by a certain date mentioned on the label.

Additional recommendations to high-risk individuals:

Avoid soft cheeses such as Feta, Brie, Camembert, and blue-veined cheeses. There is no need to avoid hard cheeses, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt.

"Left-over" foods or "ready-to-eat" foods such as hot dogs, should be reheated until steaming hot before eating. Avoid microwave preparation of these foods.

Although the risk of listeriosis associated with foods from delicatessen counters is relatively low, high risk individuals such as pregnant women and immuno-suppressed persons may choose to avoid these foods or to thoroughly reheat cold cuts before eating.

• Further Reading
  http://www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas/diseases/listeria_facts
  http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/common/listeria.html
  
  
  
  

Food Safety Music- Stomach Ache Tonight

Food Safety Music

Food Safety Music features Dr. Carl Winter's hilarious and educational food safety music parodies.

Consumer Complaints

At-Home Safety: Store Food Safely to Avoid Food Poisoning

Dear Consumers,

It is summer time in Dubai and the temperature hits 45⁰C on a normal day. Some food can get bad enough to cause illness within a couple of hours if left at this temperature.

Although food safety is important any time of the year, during the hot weather months, it's important to be extra cautious to prevent food from going bad. There are a few simple precautions you can take to ensure safe storage of food at home:

· Observe the “1-hour” rule.

Foods requiring refrigeration, including cooked food, vegetable salads, takeout food, and leftover foods shouldn’t be at room temperature longer than an hour. Perishable foods like poultry, meat, eggs, milk, should also be kept under refrigeration.

· Store leftovers safely.

Hot foods can go straight into the refrigerator or freezer. They shouldn’t be left out to cool on the counter. Cool hot foods rapidly by dipping the bowl or container in ice or a cold-water bath. Leftovers from a large container will cool more quickly when divided into smaller, shallower containers. In general, leftovers should be used within 2 days.

· Don’t over-stuff the refrigerator.

A refrigerator that is too full will result in blocked air circulation, hampering the cooling process.

· Know when to toss.

An opened package of cold cut meat or milk can be kept for 3 days in the chiller. Follow the instructions on the label after opening. Three days is a safe storage time for deli or homemade egg, chicken, ham, tuna or pasta salads. Fish spoils much faster, so use it within 2 days or freeze it as soon as you buy.

· Set the temperature.

A refrigerator temperature should be at or below 5⁰C. The freezer should be kept at –18⁰C.

If in doubt, throw it out. Any foods that look or smell suspicious should be tossed.

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