Salad recall and food borne illness

If you've seen the news lately, you have probably noticed there is another bagged lettuce recall. This recall has not affected us here in Missouri, but has affected people in six states. The lettuce recall is due to a sample testing positive for listeria. The last Dole salad recall was due to salmonella.

For more information about this recall, you can check the FDA's website for their press release.

How can you keep you and your family safe in this era of food recalls and food borne illness outbreaks? What is the difference between the various food borne illness?

1. You can sign up for FDA recalls on their website. They are emailed to you or you can view them online.
2. Sometimes the food being recalled has already been eaten or past the "use by" date when it's recalled. In that case, there is really nothing you can do.
3. If you are buying bagged lettuce or bagged produce with a stamp that says "pre-washed" or "triple-washed" or indicates that it does not need to be washed before eating, then you don't need to. Cleaning it at home will not remove any more bacteria and actually may even contaminate it more if your sink and surfaces are not clean. You cannot wash salmonella or listeria off produce either.
4. Wash produce before consuming. This means the outside of all produce, including melons and bananas, even if you don't eat the peel. You may need to scrub the outside. The outside can have bacteria that can contaminate the inside if not washed first. After cutting up fruit, it needs to be stored in the refrigerator for safety, do not leave out longer than 2 hours (or 1 hour when the temperature is above 90 degrees).
5. Bleach, a bleach solution, or a produce wash is not needed to safely clean the outside of produce. Some restaurants may use this technique, but is not recommended by FDA.
6. If you are pregnant, be extra careful with what you are eating. Pregnant women are 20 times more likely to contract listeria.

In 2011, there was a listeria outbreak due to contaminated melons. Unlike other bacteria, listeria can grow in the refrigerator. Listeria is also known to contaminate ready-to-eat foods, such as deli meat, hot dogs, smoked seafood, and store-made deli salads. Foods that have unpasteurized milk are also culprits. Listeria can grow and contaminate other foods in the refrigerator. Keeping your refrigerator at 40 degrees or below helps keep listeria from growing rapidly. Keep your refrigerators clean, sinks and surfaces clean, and wash your hands. Foodsafety.gov has more about listeria on their website.

Reptiles (turtles, snakes, etc) and baby chicks carry salmonella on them and we normally think of eggs and chicken as salmonella culprits. Other sources include unpasteurized milk and juice and contaminated produce. To prevent salmonella, cook all meat and eggs to the proper temperature and do not consume unpasteurized milk. Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot, keep your sinks and surfaces clean, separate raw foods from ready-to-eat or cooked foods, and wash your hands. Children who play with turtles, frogs, etc especially need to wash their hands afterward. Get leftovers into the fridge within 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees). Foodsafety.gov has more about salmonella on their website.  

E. coli lives intestines of humans and animals. There are many different strains and most do not affect us. E. coli O157:H7 is the most harmful and the one we hear about when people have food borne illness from E. coli. Undercooked meat, unpasteurized milk, sprouts, contaminated water, and some farm animals are sources of E. coli. To prevent E. coli, the suggestions are similar as the ones above - cook properly, chill properly, clean surfaces and hands, and keep foods separate. Wash hands after contact with farm animals as well. For more on E. coli, you can look at Foodsafety.gov.

Norovirus, campylobacter are two other types of food borne illness, as well as a few others. You can read more about them and how to keep you and your family safe at the foodsafety.gov website.