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Food poisoning is often mistaken for the flu. You have undoubtedly
experienced a mild case yourself—few of us escape it.
However, headlines of serious outbreaks are becoming more
frequent and universal. It seems that almost every day we
read or hear of a problem with food poisoning in some area
of the world, with more and more of these episodes occurring
in the United States.
In 1985, over 17,000 people in Illinois were poisoned by
Salmonella typhimurium, and 14 died. The source of this food
poisoning epidemic was contaminated milk. It was discovered
that during the bottling process, contaminated raw milk had
been mixed accidentally with milk that had already been pasteurized.
In the United States, the largest outbreak of food poisoning
recorded to date occurred in 1994, when 3.4 million people
in forty different states ate ice cream that was contaminated
with salmonella from unpasteurized eggs. The ice cream itself
hadn’t been made with unpasteurized eggs, but the tanker
truck that transported the ice cream premix to the manufacturer
had previously contained unpasteurized liquid eggs that had
been contaminated with salmonella. The tankers were supposed
to have been thoroughly cleaned before they were filled with
the ice cream premix, but inspectors found that several tankers
had not been cleaned adequately. They also discovered cracks
in the lining of at least five of the trucks.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, of the
3.4 million people who ate the contaminated ice cream, 224,000
of them suffered from salmonella enteriditis, a form of food
poisoning that causes fever, chills, and bloody diarrhea.
Do you take mayonnaise-dressed salads to a picnic or a potluck
meal? Be aware that they must be kept cold—under 40°F.
In 1975, at a community picnic, 139 people fell ill after
eating contaminated potato salad. The cause was Haemolytic
streptococcus, confirmed by throat cultures of sixty-three
of the sick picnickers.
Another member of the streptococcus family—a gastrointestinal
bacteria called enterococcus—has been raising havoc recently.
Most enterococci are harmless, but one particular strain has
begun to mutate out of the reach of every drug, even vancomycin—the
"biggest gun" in the antibiotic arsenal that, until
recently, was considered the never-fail antibiotic. Because
of its resistance to vancomycin, this harmful strain of enterococci
has been named VRE, which stands for vancomycin-resistant
enterococcus.
VRE is usually found in contaminated microscopic fecal matter.
The bacteria spreads easily because of its ability to live
for days on surfaces like kitchen countertops. Those most
at risk of VRE poisoning are the very young, the very old,
the very ill, and those with compromised immune systems. This
is why patients in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities,
and nursing homes face a greater risk of VRE than most others.
In February 1994, an outbreak of VRE in Los Angeles sickened
thirty-one people. Within six months, half of them were dead.
Every state in the nation has reported cases of VRE, but the
majority have been found in the northeastern United States.
Nonetheless, this is a coast-to-coast problem. Hospitals in
New York and California have confirmed treating VRE outbreaks
involving dozens of patients.
In Massachusetts in 1983, forty-nine people were hospitalized
with septicemia (blood poisoning) or meningitis (an infection
of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord). Fourteen
of the patients died. The root cause of both of these diseases
was traced to Listeria monocytogenes, which was found in a
particular brand of milk. At the same time, another incident
occurred in Connecticut, and the same milk source was at fault.
After a thorough investigation, it was discovered that the
dairy cows that provided this milk had had mastitis and were
infected with Listeria. The puzzling question was how the
Listeria survived the pasteurization process, which had been
done properly according to the investigators.
Recently, a number of outbreaks of Listeria food poisoning
have been linked to pasteurized cheeses, and various studies
have also identified this bacteria in pasteurized nonfat milk
and cottage cheese. It seems frighteningly clear that standard
pasteurization procedures are not capable of destroying the
Listeria bacteria. This is very worrisome in light of the
fact that, in some tests, as much as 12 percent of all raw
milk in the United States has been found to be contaminated
with Listeria bacteria.
The spring and summer of 1996 saw an outbreak of food poisoning
that reportedly sickened more than 1,000 people in eleven
different states. Cyclospora, an intestinal microorganism
that causes intense diarrhea, weight loss, and extreme fatigue,
was identified as the source. Although raspberries and strawberries
were investigated as possible sources, the tests were inconclusive.
Identifying the source of contamination is difficult because
Cyclospora has an incubation period of seven days, and often
several more days pass before the case is reported. By then,
according to the CDC, memories are hazy and trying to track
the course of the disease is difficult. The long incubation
period and delays in arriving at the correct diagnosis have
complicated the problem. Many labs do not test for Cyclospora,
and workers are not adequately trained to detect it.
The deadly E. coli strain 0157:H7 kills about 400 people
every year and sickens another 20,000. In 1993, an episode
of food poisoning occurred in the Pacific Northwest that sickened
upwards of 500 people and caused the death of several children.
The outbreak was traced to undercooked fast-food hamburgers,
but the initial source of the infected meat was never identified.
According to C.T. Foreman, former Assistant Secretary of Agriculture,
a single frozen hamburger patty can contain meat from dozens
of animals, and some of the meat is likely to have come from
meat producers in several different countries. In a case like
this one, it is impossible to track down the true source of
the contamination.
This same lethal E. coli strain has also sickened thousands
of Japanese. All told, 9,412 cases of 0157:H7 were documented
in Japan in 1996 and 1997. As of this writing, 319 of these
people remain hospitalized, and eleven deaths have been recorded.
Although radish sprouts were targeted as a likely cause of
this bacterial contamination, even the most thorough testing
has not implicated the sprouts as the source. The investigation
is continuing.
The Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) claims that
anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 cases of food poisoning caused
by tainted fish and shellfish occur every year in the United
States. Shellfish are the culprits in more than 65 percent
of all cases of food poisoning caused by seafood. Since May
1993, sixteen cases of infection by the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus
have been documented in the Southwest. Raw oysters were the
cause in each case. Half of those people infected with the
bacteria died as a result.
A long-term examination of our use of pesticides, antibiotics,
and other chemicals, and their connections to the spread of
newly evolved deadly bacterial strains needs to be heightened
and accelerated. The use of Probiotics in soil, water, animals,
and humans needs to be implemented. Stricter inspection standards
are definitely in order to help protect consumers against
tainted food products. Luckily, some governmental actions
have been taken that will, hopefully, at least begin to eradicate
this frightening problem.
PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM FOOD POISONING
There are many things that you can do to avoid becoming a
victim of food poisoning. Here are some of them:
• Always wash your hands before handling food.
• Whenever possible, purchase organically raised, antibiotic-free
meat and poultry. Animals raised on factory farms are not
only continually fed antibiotics, they are raised in crowded,
unsanitary environments that encourage bacterial contamination.
• When you bring raw meat, poultry, or fish home from
the supermarket, refrigerate it immediately (or freeze it
for long-term storage). This will slow down bacterial growth.
• Defrost frozen meat, chicken, and fish in the refrigerator,
not on kitchen countertops. Defrosting at room temperature
encourages bacterial growth.
• Never place cooked chicken, burgers, steaks, etc. on
the same unwashed plate that held them raw. Always thoroughly
wash the plate with hot soapy water first.
• When cutting raw chicken or turkey, never use the same
knife or cutting board to also cut up vegetables or other
foods without scrupulously disinfecting them first.
• After any contact with raw meat, poultry, or fish,
always thoroughly disinfect your hands, kitchen countertops,
cutting boards, and utensils with hot water and antibacterial
soap immediately.
• Don’t use the sauce in which raw chicken, meat,
or fish has been marinating (unless it has been brought to
a rolling boil for at least 1 minute.)
• Cook meat, poultry, and fish thoroughly and eat it
as soon after cooking as possible. The center of any cooked
meat must reach 165°F in order to kill bacteria. When
cooking a roast, use a food thermometer to make sure the interior
portion of the meat reaches this temperature. Burgers, steaks,
chicken, and chops should be cooked until they are well done
and no pink remains.
• Never allow any cooked food to stand out any longer
than it takes to serve and eat it. Refrigerate leftovers as
soon as possible. Grandmother used to allow the leftover roast
or turkey to cool down before refrigerating it, but to avoid
giving bacteria time to multiply, refrigerate food promptly.
• Keep the temperature of your refrigerator at 40°F
or lower. Set your freezer to 0°F or lower.
• Don’t use raw eggs that are cracked. They may
contain a double-dose of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella or
worse. When cooking eggs, aim for well-done. Boil eggs for
seven minutes, poach for at least five minutes, and forget
about "sunny side up" and "over easy."
When frying eggs, it takes three minutes on each side before
bacteria are destroyed. Always eat "dry" scrambled
eggs.
• Wash produce thoroughly. Fruits, especially berries,
and salad greens, such as leafy lettuces and spinach, often
harbor contaminants. Never eat such foods until they are washed
well.
• Be suspicious of products in damaged or bulging cans,
cracked jars, or containers with loose lids. The contents
of such items may be contaminated with Botulinum, the most
dangerous of all foodborne bacteria. Throw them away. That
tell-tale bulging can is the result of bacterial-produced
gas and is letting you know that harmful bacteria are at work
inside.
• If a just-opened can or jar of food is obviously moldy
or smells wrong, throw it away; be suspicious of bubbles or
foaminess. In all cases of suspected bacterial contamination,
be sure to dispose of the food and container safely.
• Stay away from foods, especially those made with mayonnaise,
salad dressing, and milk products, that have been un-refrigerated
for more than an hour or two. Be especially leery of such
items at picnics or potluck meals.
• When eating at salad bars, avoid those that don’t
look clean or those that are not covered by protective glass.
Do not choose items such as chicken and fish, or foods containing
mayonnaise.
Even if you follow all of the safety precautions suggested
above, your best bet for avoiding the serious consequences
of food poisoning is to make sure the friendly bacteria are
well represented in your gastrointestinal tract. Although
laboratory-created antibiotics are no longer as effective
as they once were, the powerful natural antibiotic weapons
wielded by the friendly bacteria are as potent and powerful
as always against invading bacteria.
TIPS FOR TRAVELERS
In most places, especially in Europe, those who are dining
out order bottles of mineral water (sparkling and still) for
the table as routinely as they select the wine for each course.
I have observed that only Americans are satisfied with local
water from the tap, and that’s asking for trouble, for
tap water is characteristically a breeding ground for bacteria
and other microorganisms.
To minimize your risk of picking up unfriendly bacteria when
traveling out of your local environment, follow these simple
rules:
• Drink only bottled water.
• Eat only fruit that you can peel(and personally peel
it yourself).
• Eat only cooked foods.
• Eat only meats that have been cooked to the well-done
stage.
• Don’t eat anything from street vendors.
Unless I am dining in a private home and know that the standards
of my host are as high as mine, I even give up salads, although
I love the crunch of crisp, raw greens. If dirty fingers have
torn the lettuce, there’s an excellent chance that the
salad is contaminated with bacteria.
To make sure your trip isn’t ruined by food poisoning
that can cause an upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, or worse,
always travel with Probiotics. To boost your first line of
defense, two weeks before your departure, take the recommended
levels of the "big three" Probiotics (L. acidophilus,
B. bifidum, and L. bulgaricus), either in capsule
or powder form. You need all three of the friendly bacteria
to make sure your defensive capabilities are equal to whatever
threats may arise. While you are on your vacation, take your
Probiotics daily to keep your friendly bacterial forces up
to strength. You might want to carry a pocketful of wafers
made from L. bulgaricus LB-51 to nibble on at the first
sign of stomach upset or indigestion.
If you suffer any signs of food poisoning, I hope you’re
carrying your powdered Probiotics. Remember, food poisoning
affects the stomach before it attacks your intestines. Slowly
sipping diluted Probiotics through a straw will help keep
your stomach from rejecting the treatment.
When I travel, I may stay in a small village motel one night,
a four-star hotel the next, and an ancient traveler’s
inn the night after that. Wherever I go, my Probiotics go
with me, and I see to it that my traveling companions are
supplied as well. It pleases me to be able to tell you that
I have never had a trip ruined by inadvertently eating spoiled
food or drinking bad water. Although I insist that we all
avoid as many problems as possible by following the simple
rules I outlined above, I rely heavily on a stepped-up intake
of friendly bacteria. I know the "home guard" keeps
us well protected.
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