Currently viewing the category: "E. coli"

Soda Fountains and Fecal Bacteria

By On · Add Comment · In bacteria, coliform bacteria, E. coli, hygeine, soda fountains, soft drinks, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
This may not be news, but soda fountains have been found to be rife with fecal bacteria. Just another reason to bypass drinking that nasty stuff. This story is nearly two years old, but the heebie jeebies remain. I was reminded of this grossness, while researching another piece, and wanted to share my thoughts.

If you hadn’t heard the story when it broke January of 2010, here are the details of the study conducted in a region of Virginia:
  • 48% of beverages obtained from soda fountains contained fecal coliform bacteria, 11% contained E. coli (which are mostly harmless, but some can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia), and 17% had Chryseobacterium meningosepticum (which could sicken newborns or adults with weakened immune systems).
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking-water regulations require that all samples test negative for E.coli.
  • Many of the soda beverages from the dispensers fell below U.S. drinking-water standards, according to the findings.
  • It is premature, however, to draw broad conclusions about all soda fountains from a localized study.
  • The samples were contained in petri dishes and the bacteria multiplied within 48 hours, so much so that they became visible to the naked eye as 300 to 400 tiny dots.
  • Researchers were uncertain how the bacteria got inside the beverage machines, but very likely from unclean hands or rags used to wipe down machines.
  • National Restaurant Association and American Beverage Association both assured public that eating out and using soda fountains were safe.
  • A 1998 outbreak was linked to soda fountains after 99 soldiers in a U.S. Army base were hospitalized with gastroenteritis.
Okay, my thoughts: First, scientist have to practice caution with what they claim, so if they haven’t tested something in particular, they can’t make unsupported declarations about it. But I can! Fecal matter on soda fountains are probably from poorly washed hands. The only other explanation that it might be from the rags used to clean the machines is no great comfort. Either way, it’s unhygienic and disgusting.
Next, if soda fountains are contaminated, then so are the water dispensers. So I could easily say, just don’t drink the soda…but now were treading into deeper waters. If the drinking water also at risk, it really doesn’t make me feel comfortable. I guess bottled water is going to be in order. Cha-ching for the restaurants. Or maybe bring your own bottles…or, better yet, eat at home.

Finally, it’s true that this study was done in one small area in Virginia, but my guess is that if a nationwide study would be conducted, they might find similar results. You see, the problem is that soda machines have to be messed with (I worked in the restaurant biz for many years as a student)–the syrup needs to be changed, as does the carbonated water. Anything that needs to be handled frequently always has an increased risk. Further, soda machines are very often maintained by busboys and wait staff. Whereas kitchen employees may be extra cautious about hygiene, servers and bussers may not. And if it’s self-serve…ugh, even worse.

I am sure when the story broke, most restaurants heard the news and went through the extra-diligence to make sure cleanliness became godliness. But that was two years ago. Staffs turn over, and memories are often short; so whether or not the same hygiene is practiced today would be left to be seen. Saying that, I know that at most places where I’d worked hygiene was of paramount consideration.
My major message here is that sodas are nasty across the board. They are bad for your health, and when dispensed in a restaurant, they are at risk for contamination. Yuck! I am pleased that neither me nor my children drink that crap. I would advise you to stay away as well. Thought you’d want to know.

Cookie Recall

By On · Add Comment · In Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), E. coli, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nestle's Toll House Cookies

Here we go again: Nestle’s is recalling its popular Toll House Cookies due to a possible bacterial outbreak. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), various Nestle’s Toll House refrigerated products may be contaminated with E. coli causing food poisoning in people who eat the raw cookie dough.

Nestle’s said the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were investigating reports of 66 illnesses across 28 states tied to E. coli O157:H7. Twenty five people have been hospitalized, but no one has died. A spokesperson from the company has strongly advised people to not eat raw cookie dough–a warning prominently displayed on the packaging. Food poisoning from E. coli can cause cramping, vomiting and diarrhea.

The following Nestle’s Toll House products are being recalled: refrigerated Cookie Bar Dough, Cookie Dough Tub, Cookie Dough Tube, Limited Edition Cookie Dough items, Seasonal Cookie Dough and Ultimates Cookie Bar Dough. If you currently have any of these products in your home, throw them away. The FDA advises against trying to cook the product as handlers may get the bacteria on their hands or cooking surfaces.

I never did get the fascination with cookie dough; I’ve always thought it was nasty. Saying that, I never considered that it was raw food. Duh, in hindsight. Of course it’s raw food and can harbor bacteria, so safety requires cooking it. Bet all those ice cream manufacturers feel dumb now–I sure would. So toss out the Toll House products sitting in your fridge, peeps–you’ll have to settle for Pepperidge Farms this weekend.

The Way Chicken is Done in America

By On · Add Comment · In bacteria, Campylobacter, chemicals, chicken, chlorine, E. coli, Europe, food poisoning, poultry, Salmonella
What’s the difference between a huge and heavily populated industrialized nation and a group of smaller, more traditional countries that band together and take great measures to protect their publics’ health and their environment? What’s the difference between a country whose system sometimes encourages profiteering, even at the risk of public safety, and a de facto confederation that refuses to embrace “modern” food processing practices without question? If you answered, “a whole heckuva lot,” you’d be right.

Take for instance poultry preparation. In the U.S. it is common practice to wash freshly butchered chicken carcasses in a chlorinated wash to disinfect them of Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter, common causes of food poisoning. Salmonella and E. coli are particularly dangerous to humans, so this practice seems prudent, right? Add to that the cost effectiveness of using chlorine (it’s cheap!) and what you’ve got is a nifty little tool for mass chicken consumption. That’s what makes this country great. Everybody eats and somebody profits. Nice.

In that old fashioned land of Europa they do things a little differently. For instance, they refuse to use chemicals to clean and disinfect a carcass. Cave people. They believe instead that hygiene controls throughout the hatching and rearing cycle to better ensure that the bacteria does not develop in the first place. How yesterday. And they are very adamantly rejecting a proposed lifting of a decade-old import ban on poultry products from the U.S.

Of course, some people and some groups are muy pissed off, like, for instance, American poultry farmers. You don’t say. And a couple European folk are PO’d, too. Like EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, who promised his buds in the U.S. that he would work to get the ban lifted. Hey, wouldn’t you be a bit annoyed if you were losing $180 million a year? I would. So, why can’t those sore sports just buck up and buy our chickens?

According to British lawmaker John Bowis, lifting the ban would be “outrageous and unacceptable, and would degrade EU citizens to guinea pigs.” Most vocal against lifting the ban is Europe’s biggest poultry producer, France. According to French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier, “The Americans don’t have to buy our chickens (and) we don’t have to accept theirs.” Amen, mon ami, and you don’t have to accept American genetically modified foodstuffs, either.

We shouldn’t be so brazen about using chemicals (or molecular biology) to disinfect our foods; not until we understand all the risk involved, anyway. I’m all for progress, and lord knows, the risks of infected poultry isn’t something to play around with.* But I’m of the opinion that cleanliness starts in the chicken coop, and in this matter, American poultry farms are severely lacking (I talk in depth about this subject in my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health). Further, there appears to be other options with regard to disinfecting carcasses which are supposedly a little safer. Whether or not this is true, I still tend to side with the Euros on this one: When it comes to the health and safety of my family’s foodstuffs, I rather not mess with chemicals if I don’t have to. Keep food production plants clean to the highest standards, and never, ever, ever let profits dominate public policy when it comes to our health.

*To be fair, here is an excellent piece on the risk cost-benefit analysis in favor of using chlorine to disinfect poultry and poultry preparation stations in production houses–pretty hard to argue with this writer’s reasoning.

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Nick Campos - All Rights Reserved.