BREAKING NEWS : BEAN SPROUTS CAUSE OF E.COLI OUTBREAK

I have just returned from being interviewed on KRON 4 Television in San Francisco (my second time there this year). The topic was the European E.coli outbreak. Since this is an emerging situation, I made sure that I caught up with the latest news before I left the house for the studio. But wouldn't it. About 5 minutes before the interview aired the news came out. It is now suspected that the outbreak was caused by bean sprouts, served in Hamburg area restaurants. It wasn't the cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuce after all. It was a legume. At least I had blogged the possibility last night - and identified one of the restaurants (see previous blog). It helps to be a step ahead of the "breaking news."

Besides, I can't say I am surprised. What was that famous line is the movie Casablanca after Major Strasser has been shot? "Round up the usual suspects." We tend to go for the obvious first. In this case of deadly food borne illness, the usual suspects were cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes. Most people eat them. So, if people who are ill are asked what they ate in the last few days, they are likely to mention these. Who is likely to say" "Oh, and there were these tiny sprouts in the salad..." That's why it took a while - far too long - to come up with the culprit food.

This is not the first time that a misidentification has happened in the investigation of a food-linked outbreak. Remember the case in the large Salmonella outbreak in the U.S. in 2008 when those poor tomatoes were blamed for everything, and it really turned out to be Jalapeno and Serrano peppers - and only "maybe" tomatoes as well? This isn't the only instance of the wrong food being identified.

To your good health!
TSF

RESTAURANT FOOD MAY BE INVOLVED IN E.COLI OUTBREAK

There is now some speculation that the huge outbreak of super-toxic E.coli in Europe may not have originated at the farm level after all. And, it may not be linked to imported produce - such as cucumbers. In fact, the outbreak could have been "home-grown" in Northern Germany itself, maybe originating at the Hamburg Port Festival. The beautiful festival took place at the beginning of May. That timing sounds just about right. It was attended by about 1.5 million people - both tourists and locals.

The possibility is being investigated. Certainly at least some of the victims attended the event. And reportedly several of them ate at a popular local restaurant called the Kartoffel-Keller - "The Potato Cellar" in English. It is a charming Hamburg restaurant with outdoor tables and vines - straight out of a tourist brochure. The photo is of one of their potato pies. The owner is clearly upset, to put it mildly.

I assume that we'll find out in the next few days whether all of the victims ate there (except for those who caught it second-hand from other people). They are no doubt being questioned right now. But it's possible. And it may not have been the restaurant's fault. If you look at my post of earlier today on E.coli 0157:H7 recalls of the past few months in the U.S., you will see that at least two of the contaminated meat recalls were of ground meat distributed to restaurants only. That is, the distributor sent the restaurant contaminated food. As I say in The Safe Food Handbook, restaurant food tends to be less safe.

Was the source even salad? Or was it potatoes? Or meat? Or, sprouts?

To your good health!
TSF