| From: Emma | 10/01/2000
11:38:00 |
| Subject: Food poisoning | post id:
25046 |
| Is meat or vegetables the most
common cause of food poisoning? Is meat or vegetables the most common cause of salmonella poisoning? | |
| From: Zardoz ® | |
| Subject: Medical | |
|
Are some foods more likely to cause foodborne illness than others? Just about any food can become contaminated if handled improperly. However, foods rich in protein, such as meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, are frequently involved in foodborne illness outbreaks for 2 reasons: Protein-rich foods tend to be of animal origin. Therefore, microorganisms of animal origin are frequently found in animal foods. Animal foods are rich in protein that bacteria break down into amino acids, which are an important nutrient source to some bacteria. Bacteria also need moisture in order to survive and reproduce. Thus, they thrive in foods with high moisture content. These include starchy, egg-rich foods and cream-based foods, such as potato or pasta salads, cream-based soups, and custard or cream pies. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-topfd.html | |
| From: lentil | 10/01/2000
12:05:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25056 |
| Vegetables are also a good source
of food poisoning. Food poisoning differs from food-borne infection (like
salmonella infection) in that it is caused by toxins produced in the food
by bacteria. Staphylococcal food poisoning can occur after ingestion of
many types of food, but especially those with high salt or sugar content,
and things like salads left at room temperature for picnics (beware the
potato salad). Botulism (caused by the toxin form Clostidium botulinum)
often occurs in vegetable based foods (especially home-made canned foods)
because C.botulinum is found in the soiland can contaminate vegetables and
the spores are resistant to the heating process involved in making tinned
foods. The botulinum toxin is very potent, nanograms of toxin is
sufficient to cause death. Salmonella infection is usually associated with meat, especially poultry and their eggs. Raw eggs can be a very good source (again beware the potato salad, especially if it is made with fresh mayo). Other food-borne infections, such as campylobacteriosis and listeriosis, are mostly associated with meats and dairy products. Food-borne infection generally takes longer for the symptoms to show than food poisoning, because it takes some time for the organism to establish infection and begin to multiply, whereas with food poisoning, the toxin takes effect immediately. | |
| From: Dan B. | 10/01/2000
12:30:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25067 |
| Meat for sure. The most common method of which is the preparation of said meat. Chicken and pork are particularly bad in leaving an oily layer on plates when raw. The oil/fat more often than not contains bacteria, but in the fridge, this is unable to multiply at a significant rate. Cooking the meat kills the bacteria outright, but putting cooked meat on the same plate used to transport it to the hot plate is where the problem lies. After cooking, the meat cools fairly rapidly to have a surface temp of about 50°C, which heats the plate to between 25 and 40°C. The ultimate breeding temp for bacteria. The low count bacteria in the oil suddenly multiplies exponentialy and reaches levels high enough to cause food poisoning in about 10 minutes. So remember folks, NEVER put cooked meat on the same plate as raw meat. (Unless it's been washed with detergent in boiling water). Dan. | |
| From: michael c | 10/01/2000
14:26:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25130 |
| FDA is a
site that discusses this topic, with a lot of good information. They
say: "Food is a chemically complex matrix, and predicting whether, or how fast, microorganisms will grow in any given food is difficult. Most foods contain sufficient nutrients to support microbial growth. Several factors encourage, prevent, or limit the growth of microorganisms in foods, the most important are aw(available water), pH, and temperature. " Michael C J | |
| From: lentil | 10/01/2000
15:30:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25143 |
| Unfortunately, smelly food isn't
always a good indicator of contamination with food poisoning/food-borne
infection causing organisms. The bugs that cause spoilage aren't the same
ones that make you sick. Some of the nasties will produce no smell at
all. I did hear about a space age gadget which people are hoping to develop which emits a light signal of some sort which will interact with organisms in the food and the signal that is sent back can tell you whether there are any nasties in there. I think that different spectra of light interact in different ways with molecules on the surface of the bugs, and when you put all the information together, you get a "fingerprint" for particular organisms which are likely to cause trouble. As I said all a bit spaceage and unlikely to be available to the average person to check out the dodgy looking yoghurt lurking at the back of the fridge. | |
| From: Freezer | 10/01/2000
15:31:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25144 |
| What about dairy products? Do
they cause it at all? | |
| From: lentil | 10/01/2000
15:39:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25148 |
| Dairy products do cause food
related illness. Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, E.coli, Yersinia.
One of the major problems is Listeria in milk products such as soft
cheeses, especially for pregnant women. | |
| From: ray | 10/01/2000
17:31:00 |
| Subject: re: Food poisoning | post id:
25197 |
| The conditions required for most
bacteria to grow are: 1 Available moisture (that is why dried meats etc. last longer) 2 Food source (most bacteria love protiens - hence meat is a bady) 3 Correct temperature (below 0C most bacteria will not grow but most will survive, 0-4C bacteria growth is minimal, 5-60C most bacteria will thrive and grow exponentially, above 60C most bacteria are killed) 4 Oxygen (most bacteria, but not all, require oxygen to grow). 5 Correct pH (most bacteria dont like highly acidic solutions) There are two types of poisoning which can occur: 1 Excessive load: food consumed which is rich in harmful bacteria is rejected by the body. 2 Toxic poisoning: toxins excreted by harmful bacteria into food actually poison you. Since cooking food to a temp above 60C kills most bacteria, excessive load poisoning is fairly easy to control. Unfortunately some bacteria produce toxins which are heat resistant (ie they will not break down when heated) and these will poison you. The best way to avoid food poisoning is to not introduce the bacteria in the first place (hygenic food handling) and always store it in conditions which prevent growth of bacteria (ie chilled, dried, etc) It is a myth that bacteria will grow in pure oil - there is no moisture!!! The same goes for many sweetened, salted, and dried products. These all rob the food of moisture, thus limiting growth. I would never eat any food where bacteria growth is possible that has been held at room temp for more than 2 hours at any stage of the preparation process. The most common cause of poisoning from vegetables is when they are "cleaned" using infected water and served uncooked. (I highly recommend you dont conduct this experiment by eating salads or unpeeled fruits in developing countries) :-) | |