Last year it was the bagged spinach. This year it’s tomatoes. Just when you think a nice cool salad would be perfect on a hot, muggy day — BAM! Salmonella strikes again.
Here’s what’s going on this time:
US Salmonella outbreak explained
New ScientistThis week, the world’s biggest restaurant chain, McDonalds, stopped topping their Big Macs, Quarter Pounders and sandwiches with sliced tomatoes due to concern over a Salmonella outbreak that has affected at least 145 people, resulting in 23 hospitalisations.
Wal-Mart and some US grocery stores have shelved several varieties of the fruits, while federal investigators determine where the tainted tomatoes came from.
Here’s our guide to why Salmonella outbreaks seem to be increasing in frequency and why cleaner vegetables might mean more outbreaks.
(snip)
How common are Salmonella outbreaks on vegetable and fruit produce?
A recent census of produce outbreaks between 1996 and 2007 counted no fewer than 33 epidemics from Salmonella-contaminated fruits and vegetables. In five of them, tomatoes were the culprit. Cantaloupe melons and sprouted seeds, such as clover and alfalfa, were also common victims. Animal pathogens tend to infect only a limited range of plants.
(snip)
Shouldn’t consumers and regulators demand cleaner produce?
Not necessarily, Warriner says. More thorough washing will also kill off the harmless bacteria that coat tomatoes and other produce. These bacteria compete against pathogens like Salmonella.
Warriner’s lab found that tomatoes coated with a harmless form of a bug called Enterobacter were less likely to test positive for Salmonella. “If we make them too clean then it’s going to be a bigger problem. Salmonella seems to like it when there’s no competitor,” he says.
(shaking my head) We were just watching news of a tomato processing facility where they spray the tomatoes with bleach water. We thought that was a good thing.
I guess not.
5 Comments
Hi Katie- I wandered over here from the Confluence- nice looking blog!! I am a restaurant person- been in that industry all my life (sighs-if only I knew then…..) (not an industry you want your kids to go into by the way)
The salmonella thing makes me crazy! Lots of causes for these outbreaks.
1. Americans are sani-phobic! We kill all the germs so we never become immune to them. Trust me on this- I am too tired to go get the research, but it’s out there. I have chickens, dogs, cats (inside and outside) and horses. We let the chickens run around all over, including the veggie garden (gotta control the bugs, but no poison on my food thank you) Nobody in my family gets “the stoamch flu.” We are exposed to lots of germs every day and just make sure we wash our hands with soap and water and rinse the veggies good before we pick them.
2. Mega-farming! The conditions on the mega-farms are horrible! The migrant workers that do the picking of tender crops like tomatoes get paid by the amount they pick. Their is no time to put down the basket, walk all the way over to the end of the field and use the porta-potty. Trust me- it’s true- if they have to go tht bad, they go right there in the field. So- no handwashing after that either.
I just reread what I wrote- sorry to be such a downer but it gets my goat that the giant agri-businesses get away with this junk.
Buy local! from small family farms, if you can find them! Start a co-op. Find someboyd who has a few acres of lawn and go in with them on converting that energy sucking lawn into a veggie garden. A family can grow all it needs on a very small garden plot- about 20×20.
I will go away now- sorry for ranting on your blog!
Melissa, I’m GLAD you spoke up. I’m about to retire and I’m thinking about a garden for next year. I think the full 20×20 would be too much right off the bat. But some zucchini and tomato and something else would be nice.
What you said about the farm workers is why we wash ALL our veggies with baking soda before eating.
Melissa, I couldn’t agree more about the mega-farming.
We love our tomatoes and worry about safety. We grow our own even though we have a very small yard. Two plants for med size, one for Roma, One for Grape and one for those nice little golf ball size. Two are along the back fence the the others are in nice big pots. We also grow a couple of Basil and some melons. Trouble is that I live in Wisconsin and we don’t get much produce early.
There is a local market that sells produce from Pinos Inc. who claim to take extra care with their produce. Anyone know anything about that?
Great discussion going on here!
Melissa, you make so many essential points there, definitely not a rant! I agree wholeheartedly with your point of view.
KB, I don’t think I’d be too alarmed by them spraying with a weak bleach solution because that would definitely kill any bacteria and shouldn’t leave a residue, unless it was mixed with some surfactant. But then we only eat the ones we grow organically and we are loathe to using pesticides in our garden.
Marge, I hear you about the short growing season in WI … I lived there 7 years when I was in grad school. And I just love the state … almost as great people (hehe) and so beautiful. I hope Kenosha is safe from the flooding .. sounds like it’s been mostly in the Dells and S. WI.
I’m not worried about this one … spinach gave us a scare (we buy that) but avoid tomatoes … I love em to death, but the pale avatars of tomatoes we get here aren’t worth the money and taste awful. We just gorge ourselves while they’re in season and then if we have an abundance, I can them with peppers and spices to turn them into salsa over the winter.
IVG,
I didn’t mean to imply that I’m afraid of the bleach solution — we actually liked the thought. I hate soap and detergents for being hell to rinse out. But bleach in water rinses fairly easily.
My concern was Melissa mentioning that the bleach kills protective organisms making me realize that (once again) there’s always something….