SHOULD PREGNANT WOMEN EAT PREPARED SALADS?

Every day this blog is read by pregnant women from around the world who want to know what they should eat and not eat. They are right to be concerned. Good nutrition during pregnancy is important for the baby to grow and develop. But there is also the safety side.

Unsafe, contaminated food can cause birth defects, harm the health of the child and even cause stillbirths and miscarriages. You will very rarely find ready-to-eat, packaged salads on a list of "Foods to Avoid While Pregnant". But I am going to put it there Why? Aren't salads a healthy food? They may be, but there are just too many incidents of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria turning up in those beautiful bagged and clam-shell salads.

For instance, at the present time River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC of Salinas, CA is recalling retail and foodservice bagged salads, because of this bacteria (see previous post). And the recall is spreading. Pacific Coast Fruit of Portland, Oregon bought and used the salads that were recalled by River Ranch in some of their retail (clamshell style) and food service processed bagged salads. Given past experience, I expect more "spinoff" recalls. Pregnant women would be wise to avoid any brand of prepared salads to avoid Listeriosis.

To your good health,
TSF

UPDATE: And - don't forget: it's not just Listeria bacteria that often crop up in prepared salads. At the present time ((11/14/2013) there are ongoing recalls of prepared salads also because of E.coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella bacteria (by different food companies). Pregnant women don't need these bacteria either...

DANGEROUS BACTERIA IN FRESH PRODUCE

Yes, fruits and vegetables are healthy, and most of us should eat more of them than we do. But, it is not at all unusual for them to carry bacteria (as well as other contaminants) of one kind or another.

Two of the most common in the United States and Canada - as well as other industrialized nations - are Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. Although there are exceptions, a common pattern is for Salmonella to turn up in whole fresh fruits and vegetables, and for L. monocytogenes to turn up in "ready-to-eat" fresh produce (cut, shredded, bagged etc.). A couple of current recalls in the U.S. illustrate this pattern.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the dangerous Listeria bacteria in bagged salad - something that tends to happen several times each year. River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, California is initiating a recall of both retail and foodservice versions of their bagged salads. Caribe Produce LTD Co. of McAllen, Texas, is recalling 286 cases of fresh papayas that they imported from Mexico because Salmonella bacteria turned up in testing. The papayas are sold individually with a label of “3112 CARIBEÑA Papaya MARADOL PRODUCT OF MEXICO."

All this does not mean that you have to stop eating fruits and vegetables. But follow best safety practices, as outlined in The Safe Food Handbook (just published in second edition).

To your good health,
TSF

SALADS ARE ONE OF THE RISKIEST FOODS TO EAT

The Safe Food Handbook calls salads one of the riskiest types of food we can eat. In fact, it could well be that more food borne illnesses originate in salads each year than in any other type of food. Why?

The main reason is that we eat them raw. Meat may carry more bacteria, but we can do something about it: we can cook it. But we do nothing about our salads, except wash each item, peel where we can, and hope for the best. Some of the time it works. But sometimes it doesn't. The reason is that the microbes have got under the skin, right into the flesh - the parts we eat. And, salads are so easy to contaminate in the kitchen, from unclean surfaces or contact with other raw foods that carry bacteria. Salads in a restaurant are particularly risky.

As reported by CNN World, Dr Nicola Holden, from Scotland's James Hutton Institute, noted that food poisoning cases linked to vegetables appeared to be on the increase. "We have seen a rise in the number of outbreaks associated instead with fresh fruit and vegetables; in particular foods that are eaten raw or lightly cooked, like salad vegetables, fresh fruit and sprouted beans," she said.

What is happening in Europe right now with the current outbreak could underline this point. That is, if it really turns out to be one of the salad items that is responsible. It is not proven yet.

To your good health!

TSF

E.COLI HAS US PASSING ON THE SALAD

There is still no solution to the mysterious E.coli bacteria outbreak in Europe. We don't know what the source was, but the main suspects are still cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes.

People are getting nervous and forgoing their salad. First in Spain, now in other European countries as well, farmers are having to throw out their vegetable crops, or feed them to the goats and pigs. The market vendors are suffering too. The German government has advised people not to eat raw vegetables. That means no cucumber salad, no tomatoes on your sandwich, and no salads.

In Hamburg, the center of this deadly outbreak, the main market has few customers and sales have fallen. Even the U.S. military bases in Germany are pulling tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers from the menus, salad bars and commissary shelves. And American Airlines has taken green salads off its menus on flights out of Europe.

But it's not just in Germany. People in other European countries are also being more cautious about fresh vegetables and especially the three main suspects. Even in Britain, farmers are having to discard tons of salad crops because of poor demand - not just of cucumbers, but also of lettuce, tomatoes - and even peppers. As of today, there have been at least 11 confirmed cases of this illness in the UK - four among visiting Germans, and the rest among Brits who recently visited Northern Germany, or, had close contact with someone from there.

Russia has gone so far as to ban import of all vegetables from Europe, which will also hit European farmers hard since it is a major market for their produce.

With all these bailouts and other problems, that's all the EU needed.
To your good health!

TSF

WHAT'S REALLY IN BAGGED SALADS?

Most of us eat bagged salads at least once in a while - me included. But I have decided to eat them less. Here's why.

First, it's that bacteria issue. Those bagged greens are not as clean as they look. In fact, outbreaks and recalls have persistently plagued the bagged salad industry. The research I have reviewed suggests that maybe at least 5% of pre-washed, bagged greens carry some bacteria. Maybe in half of these cases it's just some relatively harmless E.coli or Listeria (not the dangerous ones). The rest of the time, it's a few, or more than a few bacteria such as one of the Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, or E.coli 0157, which can harm us, particularly if we are more vulnerable (like pregnant women, older adults). So much for triple washing!

I'm not saying that the fresh head of lettuce won't have microbes on it too, but at least it won't carry an added dose from sick plant workers or from badly sanitized equipment that may have got in during the washing, shredding and bagging process. I'll just stick to those "bad bugs" (and the not-so-bad ones) that were there when my lettuce was in the field.

There are also two other reasons that I am not too happy with the bagged stuff. First, those salad greens are usually washed in chlorinated water - a pretty strong solution, much stronger than our tap water. Personally, I'm not overly worried about chlorine, but my general philosophy is "the less chemicals the better." Besides, I have read a couple of opinion-pieces (note - I am not saying these are based on reliable research) about potentially unhealthy chlorination by-products. I also wonder why some European countries don't allow washing of fruits or vegetables with the high-chlorine solutions that U.S. and Canadian industry uses. Maybe they know something that we don't.

Then there is that "air" that's inside the bag. No - not normal air, it's Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP). The oxygen level has been lowered, and nitrogen or carbon dioxide has been added. This extends shelf life and prevents the salad leaves from turning brown. Alright, a little bit more of nitrogen or CO2 won't hurt us - at least as far as we know and it's for a good cause. I just don't like the idea. It's a personal preference. I want my salads to breathe normal air just like I do.

TSF