A never-ending stream of diarrhoeal agents emerges from my revision of Food Safety: the latest food- and water-borne pathogens I've looked at are common in less developed countries, and include Vibrio (cholera), Shigella (bacillary dysentery), Cyclospora (a parasite) and Hepatitis A.Then there are more examples specifically of toxin-forming bacteria that we get over here: Bacillus cereus (typically found in reheated rice), Clostridium botulinum (causes botulism), Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus aureus. E. coli O157 was first recorded only in 1982, and we examined two UK outbreaks: one in Scotland in 1996 which wasn't handled very well, and the second in Wales in 2005 when some lessons had been learned. I've been washing my hands much more frequently recently.
Lastly (for the moment anyway), enterotoxins from non-bacterial sources. Deadly aflatoxin from fungus Aspergillus flavus, poisonous mushrooms like the fly agaric and ink cap, toxins from planktonic algae that are accumulated by shellfish, and the old favourite: pufferfish or fugu, which uniquely (in this context) doesn't give you diarrhoea. It kills you by paralysing you with a neurotoxin instead.
It's a wonder any of us lives to old age, what with having to eat something every day that might have fatal consequences. I'll be glad when this module is over and I recover my sense of proportion. Perhaps next term we can cover all the food-borne microorganisms that are delicious and don't harm us, like those in yogurt, bread, beer, blue cheese...
5 comments:
I have done a food hygiene course with work and came to the conclusion I was never going to eat anything ever again. Thankfully I am a veggie, so don't have to worry about alot of the nasties you list. However, I love a takeaway and have got into the habit of microwaving rice to the point of exploding to avoid BC..... So far so good!
Yikes!!
My head whipped around when I read re-heated rice...
um - dear friend - could you be a bit more specific?
Bacillus cereus forms heat-resistant spores, which will germinate and produce a heat-resistant toxin if they are given time to grow at the right temperatures. So the key thing is to cool cooked rice quickly and not give any bacteria the time to grow.
It's not usually a problem at home unless you cool and reheat rice more than once, but in restaurants they will cook a huge batch of rice and store it ready to heat for customers, and perhaps add yesterday's leftovers to today's batch...
Keep asking the questions, it's great for revision!
Just stick to Pot-Noodle, the radio-active half life does for any bacteria, so it's completely safe to eat.
Our species has evolved over millions of years, alongside these nasties.
While some of the bugs listed, like cholera are very serious, most will just give you a dose of the shits, and (provided you are adult and healthy) you'll come out OK on the other side.
Of course, it's a major social gaffe to infect all your wedding guests with Bacillus cereus and so it make sense to follow good practice, but like Lola says, we need to keep a sense of proportion.
Post a Comment