Salmonella sparks bean-sprout scare

[Animal 0]

Salmonella sparks bean-sprout scare

By UNNATI GANDHI

Friday, November 25, 2005 Posted at 5:41 AM EST

From Friday's Globe and Mail

A salmonella outbreak involving contaminated bean sprouts is
raising concern about how safe it is to eat the increasingly popular
crunchy newborn plants.

Fifteen residents of Kingston -- most of them Queen's University
students -- developed salmonella poisoning this week after eating
bean sprouts, and health officials are linking the outbreak to at
least 200 people across Ontario who also became ill over the past
two months.

The outbreak prompted a meeting yesterday of Canadian Food
Inspection Agency officials and federal and Ontario health officials
about whether to issue a provincewide recall of all sprouts.

Retailers across Ontario said they were ready to remove sprouts from
their stores if ordered to do so.


"We're used to recall notices," said Peter Alexander, spokesman for
the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, which represents
25,000 stores across the country, including Loblaw, Dominion and
Sobeys. "We have the ability to contact all our members and pull
product from shelves in less than one hour if necessary."

Mr. Alexander noted that, as a precautionary measure, shipments of
all sprouts from their distribution centres to retailers in Ontario
had been stopped.

Health officials were still trying yesterday to track down the
source of the outbreak to one of eight Ontario bean sprout
producers, but the process is very complex, said Justin Chenier,
spokesman for the Kingston region's public health unit.

"The seeds for the bean sprouts didn't originate in Canada, but all
indications point that it's a local contamination."

Salmonella belongs to a group of bacteria that normally live in the
intestinal tracts of animals and birds, and are usually transmitted
to people when they eat foods contaminated with animal feces. They
most regularly appear in raw poultry and eggs.

While some stores in the Kingston area had stopped supplying bean
sprouts this week, an expert on infectious diseases said he doesn't
see banning the vegetable as a solution.

"Salmonella is the second most common bacterial cause of infectious
diarrhea in North America and particularly in Ontario," said Andrew
Seymour of Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in
Toronto."Bean sprouts are one source out of many. If you were to
eliminate bean sprouts, the total impact on salmonella infection
would probably be quite small," Dr. Seymour said.But while
statistics provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada show that
salmonella poisoning is a fairly common occurrence with roughly
6,500 cases reported annually, Dr. Seymour said there has been a
steady increase in cases involving bean and alfalfa sprouts in
recent years across the continent.

"Bean sprouts are getting riskier," he said, calling the sprouts'
seeds perfect "vehicles for salmonellosis."

"The reason there is such a risk of them getting contaminated is
that these seeds are often stored for prolonged periods of time in
cool and dry conditions during which the salmonella can stay stable.
When they actually sprout, the numbers of bacteria can increase
three- or fourfold."

For otherwise healthy individuals, one would have to have ingested
about 10 million of the bacteria before having the most common
symptoms of the intestinal illness, including diarrhea, fever and
stomach cramps.

But the infection could be life-threatening with just 1,000 of the
bacteria for others, such as seniors, infants, people infected with
HIV or with weakened immune systems from other causes.

Among the latter are some cancer patients being treated with an
immunosuppressant medication.

"Until they've identified the source, it would be prudent to avoid
eating bean sprouts, particularly those people at high risk," Dr.
Seymour said.

When it comes to prevention, contaminated bean sprouts look, feel
and smell perfectly normal and that's part of the problem, he said.

"You can't adequately wash them, and most people don't cook them
because they're eaten raw, so the bacteria can survive and thrive
there quite easily," Dr. Seymour said, dispelling the myth that
prepackaged sprouts are safer.

Fruits and vegetables are poor surfaces for bacteria to thrive. They
don't have the protein, moisture and pH levels of meats and eggs.
But vegetable farmers often use manure to fertilize their fields, or
are often downstream from livestock.

"It's very difficult in farm lands to keep them from harbouring
these organisms," Dr. Seymour said.

Sprouting facts

Sprouted seeds and beans have enjoyed increasing popularity in
recent years. But raw sprouts have been linked to outbreaks of food-
borne illness involving salmonella and Escherichia coli 0157:H7.

Who is most at risk?

Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria can affect everyone.
However, young children, the elderly and people with weak immune
systems are most at risk.

What are the symptoms

of salmonella and

E. coli infection?

Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, an illness characterized by
fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea. The illness can last as long as
seven days and severe cases may require hospitalization. E. coli
0157:H7 produces toxin in the body that causes illness characterized
by stomach cramps, vomiting, fever and bloody diarrhea and can occur
within two to 10 days of ingesting contaminated food. Infection can
lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which can cause acute kidney
failure. People with symptoms should contact their doctor.

How do sprouts become

contaminated?

Scientists believe the seeds used for sprouting are the most likely
source of contamination. Salmonella or E. coli bacteria can lodge in
tiny seed cracks and are difficult to eliminate. These bacteria can
multiply during sprouting in warm, humid conditions.

What can consumers do?

As with many other foods, proper cooking kills bacteria.

Consumers should request that raw sprouts not be added to their
food. Homegrown sprouts are also risky if eaten raw.

Sources: Canadian Food Inspection Agency and U.S. Food and Drug
Administration

[animo-aequoanimo 0]

C'est un peu "normal" avec ces produits qui végètent dans l'humidité; c'est déjà arrivé aussi avec la luzerne. Ils te vendent ça dans des sacs ou des contenants qui manquent d'aération.

[Animal 0]

je crois que ça dépend aussi de la terre utilisée pour faire pousser ces légumes,,,,, Si elle est engraissée avec du purin, faut pas trop se poser de questions !

[animo-aequoanimo 0]

Tout à fait !