Wellness

[dex]

@SeaMaiden @They never say much about how food becomes contaminated .I think they don’t want people to get upset about the food safety issues.

[Cakers3]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

Wonder how Hep A got in the berries?  Did anyone say?

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@SeaMaiden   My understanding is that it is fecal-to-oral so people picking berries can cause contamination.  Or water used in irrigation that was contaminated by an infected person.

SInce freezing the berries will not kill the virus and are ready to eat-that is a problem

Heating the berries (baking e.g.) will kill the virus.

I'm not a farmer; this is just what I've read so if anybody else has answers please post.

I haven't seen anything about the source of this contamination so far.

[Mindy D]

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@dex wrote:

@SeaMaiden @They never say much about how food becomes contaminated .I think they don’t want people to get upset about the food safety issues.

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They do say. Contamination depends on the food. Things grown in soil can become contaminated with ecoli bacteria. This group of bacteria is present in the intestines of humans and animals. In the case of the particular strains that are most harmful the contamination is usually from cow dung that gets on the field via run off from nearby water. Most ecoli is killed by cooking at high temperatures. Certain ecoli produce a poison, called shiga toxin that usually can be destroyed by heat. It’s this toxin that causes kidney damage and death from consumption of strains such as O157.

  There is also listeria bacteria. The contamination here can be found in soft cheeses, vegetables such as sprouts and many other foods. It causes  particular harm to the fetus. Listeria grow inside the REFRIGERATOR and at cool temperatures. Cooking also destroys listeria. Listeria was what was responsible for the recent avocado recall.

   Then there’s salmonella. Poultry is particularly susceptible to salmonella contamination.  Cooking destroys salmonella but the bacteria can remain on ones hands.