Posted on 12/02/2005 11:10:55 AM PST by BurbankKarl
Health officials on Thursday identified lettuce as the likely source for a hepatitis A outbreak in Los Angeles County and urged residents to thoroughly wash the vegetable before eating it.
At least 60 people have fallen ill from the virus in Los Angeles County over the last three months. Officials are concerned because the outbreak comes after years of declining hepatitis A cases, but they have been unable to link the outbreak to a particular farm or type of lettuce.
There were at least two outbreaks: one in a downtown Los Angeles restaurant in September that affected 13; the other at an event catered by a Hollywood company in October where 19 fell ill. The other cases were scattered.
Officials would not identify the specific locations of the outbreaks, saying there is no ongoing risk at those sites.
"We believe lettuce was the problem in these events," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, public health director for Los Angeles County.
"This is a problem that deserves real attention, and people eating in a restaurant should ask if the produce is being cleaned carefully."
Fielding added that consumers should wash even salads that are packaged and labeled as washed. Packaged lettuce has been linked to E. coli outbreaks, including a case this fall involving salads packaged by a division of Westlake Village-based Dole Food Co. in Salinas, Calif. The salads sickened more than a dozen people in Minnesota.
Officials had initially observed an increase in hepatitis A in homeless patients in the downtown Los Angeles area, although those numbers are dropping, said Dr. Laurene Mascola, director of the county's acute communicable disease control unit.
The county has observed declining hepatitis A rates since 1999, when health officials began advising that children be vaccinated against the disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
eeeewwwwwwww! I won't be eating my veggies for a long time now. LOL!
During the early years of the US(then a colony of England) people used to think that tea warded off such diseases not realizing it was the boiling that did it:)
Duly noted, and thanks.
IOW, hispanarepublic is right the live organisms do not go up through the plant but get there by water splashing unassimilated manure up onto the plant. The pathogens are on the surface of the plant rather than in the make up of the plant.
And NASA brought back parts of an unmanned Lunar probe. They were contaminated with staph (decom at the mfg plant wasn't
that great). That bacteria was brought back to life after spending several years exposed, on the Moon.
I don't think I'd sweat the plague so much as unexploded munitions.
And unwashed, or uncooked veggies.
Isn't this special???
On the bright side, beer and donuts are still considered safe.
You left out:
fish = mercury poisoning
I think it is still safe to eat chocolate.
I eat oysters & don't mind risking death to do so.
ping
3. More Studies indicate E. coli O157: H7 Can Contaminate Lettuce in the Field
Different studies continue to examine the possibility that E. coli could contaminate lettuce tissue during the crop growth and eventually be present in high levels at the consumption point. Studies conducted by USDA-Beltsville researches and by a group of food scientists at Rutgers University showed results suggesting that pre-harvest crop contamination from irrigation water can occur through lettuce roots or by contamination of leaves.
In the first study E. coli in young plants multiplied few days after inoculations of the soil. This study was conducted in greenhouse conditions and may not be indicative of what is really occurring in the lettuce fields. Research from British scientists showed previously that 50% of all E. coli declines in less than four days in soil at temperatures between 50 and 77 F. This suggests that under normal conditions most E. coli in soil declines rapidly. However, if irrigation is not furrow or underground, or if E. coli is present in the field right before the harvest day, the possibility of high pathogen numbers at the retail site increases. The study conducted in growth chambers by Rutgers scientists demonstrated that repeated spray irrigation containing E.coli O157:H7 results in contaminated lettuce at harvest.
Other results have suggested that lettuce tissue damage incurred in the field increases the potential risk for E.coli contamination. In injured tissue, even chlorine treatments (100 ppm) may fail to reduce E. coli. Removal of E. coli and other pathogens from lettuce is better achieved with chlorine solution at warm temperatures (50 C). The warm water also extends the shelf life and visual quality of fresh-cut lettuce by keeping the enzyme that leads to tissue darkening along the cut edges from activating.
Although research suggests that there is a potential risk of E.coli-contaminated lettuce, the reality is that E.coli brought from crop fields has not been a real problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 73,000 E coli O157:H7 infections occur each year, with 61 deaths, but very few cases has been linked with lettuce contaminated in the field. Water quality, irrigation prior to harvest and postharvest disinfecting treatments, appear to be of paramount importance in reducing the risk of E. coli in lettuce at consumption point.
Well, yes. I guess you're right!
So......if I boil my water a LOT, may I safely have coffee?
:)
I only eat Oysters while sipping Vodka - I figure that will keep me safe.
Works for me!
The upside for the agricultural guest worker is obvious, he can freely visit Mexico or wherever he comes from
We have 20 million illegal aliens. They've gotten so comfortable here they have moved from agriculture to construction, hotels, restaurants etc. To easier, higher paying jobs. We do need a guest worker program for about 1.5 million in agriculture, food production and meatpacking. Otherwise our farmers and food processors go out of business, jack up prices and we will be importing more of that awful Mexican and 3rd world produce.
Non agriculture illegals need to get the boot via:
As summer approaches and cooler and quick meals become popular items, it is good to pay attention to the new possibilities for bacterial contamination. Consumers will want to make sure that their food comes from reputable sources and that "home garden grown" food has been cared grown under safe conditions as well.
Researchers have discovered lettuce can suck deadly E. coli bacteria up from the ground through its root system. The finding, which one scientist described as astounding, could have major implications for the food industry. Until now, it has generally been believed that E. coli contamination of lettuce and other fruit and vegetables happened only on the outside and could be cleaned by water, steaming or irradiation or denatured by proper cooking.
However, researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey found lettuce fertilized with manure or irrigated with water contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 can take the bacteria up through its root system. The researchers were quoted as saying, "We have demonstrated that lettuce grown in soil containing contaminated manure or irrigated with contaminated water results in contamination of the edible portion of the lettuce plant. Moreover, the results suggest that edible portions of a plant can be contaminated without direct exposure to a pathogen but rather through transport of the pathogen into the plant by the root system."
Douglas Powell, an assistant professor in the department of plant agriculture at Guelph University, Ont., was cited as saying that previous research had indicated similar contamination, adding, "What this means is the need for cleanliness from the farm to the fork. It is a matter of reducing risk." He said it is important farmers irrigate using clean water that is not contaminated.
Last year new data from Atlanta's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that salads and salad bars were responsible for 35% of food-borne illnesses in the United States transmitted by produce. Greater awareness that raw fruit and vegetables can be contaminated by manure or water carrying E. coli O157:H7 has led to stores and supermarkets taking greater precautions.
University of California, United States Department of Agriculture, and San Joaquin County Cooperating
Manure will clean itself of pathogens if it is handled correctly, it heats up like you wouldn't believe and the bacteria is killed naturally. If I used manure I wouldn't use any that wasn't over a year old.
If you want to get technical we do put some fertilizers and minerals on the plant rather than into the soil but we don't use manure, we use commercial products.
Please read the post directly above in #117.
Wow, I didn't know that but see my #118.
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