Fun Things You Didn't Know about Food-Borne Illness
Former BB guestblogstress Maggie Koerth-Baker has a piece up on MSN today about food-borne illnesses -- a topic near and dear to my gut, having just spent a few weeks on the road in rural Central America, where every food choice one makes as a visitor is not so much, "will this taste good" as "how likely is this to give me a week's worth of the runs"?
"Ironically, three days after turning that in, I actually came down with what is likely mild foodborne illness myself," tweeted Maggie, "It's fun!" Here's a snip from the section about Campylobacter (shown above, from Flickr user dokidok's stream):
Campy" is the leading cause of bacteria-related diarrhea in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In fact, experts say it's likely you've had a run-in with Campy before, and just not realized it. So why the low profile?Take a Bite Out of Food-Borne Illnesses This Summer (MSN Health)There are a couple of reasons. First off, campy's just not that mean of a bug. Catch it and you can expect a week of flu-like symptoms, plus diarrhea. "I'm not volunteering to get it, but at the same time it generally doesn't result in hospitalization or death," says Jim Dickson, a professor of animal science at Iowa State University and head of the multi-university Food Safety Consortium.
Campy's pattern of infection is also a factor. The big-name food sickness outbreaks tend to be multi-state affairs, involving hundreds of people. Campy, in contrast, is more sporadic. An "outbreak" often means a bad week for one family. That's because this bug is a delicate creature. Heat it up, dry it out, deprive it of oxygen--lots of things will kill it quickly.
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wooo. tv on the boingboing. I can't tell if i'm more shocked or riveted!
Why does it seem everything these days has to turn into a climate change tract? There are enough interesting facts about foodborne illness that you shouldn't have to resort to AGW.
After going through Food Safety in culinary school, no one in the class went out to eat for weeks. It is amazing how many ways you can harm someone while preparing food. The sad part is that people worry more about trichinosis in pork (12 cases/yr in US) than the fact that the vegetable crisper is positioned at the bottom of the fridge below where you probably store raw meat. Which is a huge cross-contamination no-no.
"campy's just not that mean of a bug"????
I contracted Campylobacter in the UK in 2006 and even though it was treated with antibiotics, I ended up in hospital with colitis two months later. Still dealing with the ramifications of that....
I also got a case of Campylobacter in '93 and it was by no means like a mere flu. I lost about 40 pounds in the span of the most severe part of it that lasted 2 weeks and had various digestive problems for about 6 months after that. My stomach shrank so much that I could only eat a bite or two then wait for that to move on 15-30 minutes later, then another bite....
I'm sure most cases are not as severe, but it can really, really lay you out.
I had campylobacter. 106° fever. That's 41° for you foreigners. My only residual health problem is a phobia of handling raw poultry.
Last year in NZ a couple of health authorities spoke publicly about campylobacter. One said that selling fresh poultry should be banned and all poultry should be sold frozen. People didn't really like that idea. Perhaps we just need more public education about safe cooking practices. Apparently heaps of young people don't know much about cooking at all anymore, so good food hygiene lessons aren't being passed on.
wow ive never heard of that bug. thats kinda creepy. i wouldnt want one of those getting anywhere near me. personally ive never had food poisoning so i dont know what its like but from reading what u guys had it seems like it really sucks!
Is there some advice you could give after having travelled in rural Central America? I am curious as I am headed there in a few weeks!
Key advice: Drink Coca-Cola. Don't drink ice cubes, don't let them in your drink. Get one of those "UV" water-cleaner sticks BB has posted about in the past.
Coke is a favourite drink in many developing areas as it's bottled under strict conditions, and it majorly f*ks up any bad boy it comes into contact with (including you, but that's just a question of damage trade-offs).
There was another food borne illness outbreak in Boston following a meal at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. This article has some information on what happened there, but also has some good information on a variety of food borne illness pathogens:
Food Poisoning Sickens Students Attending Prom at Boston Park Plaza Hotel: http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/6781#more-6781