Salmonella

“There are only two reasons to sit in the back row of an airplane; either you have diarrhea, or you're anxious to meet people who do” - Henry Kissinger

Since Oct 1, 2008 a new nationwide salmonella outbreak has struck 42 states according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Nearly 400 people have become ill in the outbreak with one possible death. The cause is not yet known. Food borne illness investigations can be very complicated, and it can take weeks or months for health officials to interview patients, find common links in what they ate, test suspected foods and come up with a clear-cut cause. The CDC says, “The investigation is labor intensive and typically takes weeks. It is not always successful.”

Each year there are 40,000 cases & 400 deaths from the bacteria called Salmonella. They are microscopic living creatures that pass from the feces of people or animals to other people or other animals. An American scientist named Salmon, for whom they are named, discovered them.

Salmonella can often seem like a typical stomach bug. Most people develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. However, in 18% of the cases, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.

While most persons with diarrhea recover completely within a week, it may be several months before their bowel habits are entirely normal. A small number of persons with Salmonella develop pain in their joints, irritation of the eyes, and painful urination. This is called Reiter's syndrome. It can last for months or years, and can lead to chronic arthritis that is difficult to treat. Antibiotic treatment does not make a difference in whether or not the person develops arthritis.

Food animals are the most important source of human Salmonella infections. Transmission of Salmonella to humans can occur via various food vehicles, including eggs, meat, poultry, and produce, and via direct contact with animals and their environments.

There is no vaccine to prevent salmonellosis. Consumers can reduce their risk three ways:

1. Following safe food-handling recommendations
2. Avoid raw meats and dairy
3. Wash your hands

1. Safe food-handling recommendations

• Wash raw fruits and vegetables before eating. Rub or brush firm-skin fruits and vegetables under running tap water. Never use detergent or bleach to wash fresh fruits or vegetables as these cleaners are not intended for human consumption.
• Uncooked meats should be kept separate from produce, cooked foods, and ready-to-eat foods.
• Hands, cutting boards, counters, knives, and other utensils should be washed thoroughly after touching uncooked foods.

2. Raw Meat & Dairy

• Avoid consumption of unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk products, raw or undercooked oysters, raw or undercooked eggs, raw or undercooked ground beef, and undercooked poultry (see http://www.fightbac.org/)
• Raw eggs may be unrecognized in some foods, such as homemade Hollandaise sauce, Caesar and other homemade salad dressings, tiramisu, homemade ice cream, homemade mayonnaise, cookie dough, and frostings.

3. Hand Washing

• Hands should be washed before handling food, and between handling different food items.
• Always wash after visiting a bathroom
• People should always wash their hands immediately after handling a reptile or bird, even if the animal is healthy. Adults should also assure that children wash their hands after handling a reptile (including turtles) or bird (including cute baby chicks), or after touching its environment.

Bottom Line

Despite pasteurization of milk, cleaner public water, food processing health laws, etc, Salmonella won’t go away and remains the main cause of food borne illness in America. In fact it may be winning. Some Salmonella bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, largely as a result of the use of antibiotics to promote the growth of food animals.

See http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/salmonellosis_gi.html for more details.

Update

Large tub, institutional peanut butter (made for retirement homes, hospitals, etc) is the current suspect for this outbreak. It puzzles me how peanut butter could become contaminated (but then I buy pure PB with just peanuts and salt as the ingredients). Apparently this is not the first instance of bad peanut butter. Two years ago ConAgra recalled its Peter Pan brand peanut butter, which had been linked to at least 625 salmonella cases in 47 states.

As of Jan 20, 453 people were ill and 5 dead in 43 states. Recalls have been issued for products containing peanut butter like Clif Bars and Luna Bars, as Kroger peanut butter ice cream, ZonePerfect peanut butter bars, and Meijer peanut butter crackers.

So far is there is NO recall on jars of peanut butter.