Alfalfa Sprouts, The Newest Pathogen Carrier

An E. Coli outbreak was recently reported in sixteen states. The centers for disease control and prevention investigated the situation and found that chopped romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz was the source of the problem. The article states that “at least 53 people in 16 states”(Romo, 2018, p.1). have been affected. An amount of five people have already “developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome”(Romo, 2018, p.1). Also “The CDC said people in the previous outbreak were infected with a different bacterium, as determined through DNA tests”(Romo, 2018, p.1). So, they encourage people to stay away from “any pre-cut romaine lettuce from the region”(Romo, 2018, p.1). This outbreak has caused mild to severe symptoms, so it is important for public to abide by the CDC, while they strive to seek out a cure.

Schwan’s Sales Enterprise had the largest foodborne illness outbreak in history in Marshall, Minnesota around 1994 (Rubenstein, 1998). Cliff Viessman, a tanker truck operator transported a shipment of raw eggs that may have been infected with salmonella bacteria. The suspected contamination was unknown to Viessman’s employees. A foodborne illness is an infection or irritation of the gastrointestinal that caused by food or beverages that contain harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses, or chemicals. The company truck was parked and pressure washed to eliminate the bacteria. The next assignment was to transport ice cream mix to the Schwan’s plant (Rubenstein, 1998). Schwan’s company heard about the bacteria that may have affected their product and

The concerns regarding the health risks of the genetically engineered food came to light in the early 1990s. At this point, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was tasked with advising the public and the public regarding the health risks of GMO foods. However, the White House was bent on promoting the GMO foods and thus staged a conspiracy for FDA to falsify the information and claim that GMO was similar to conventional foods pertaining the health standards (Smith, 2007). This was contrary to the suggestions by many FDA scientists that GMO foods could be having serious health risks that could not be easily detected and thus called for further research in future. Afterward, the biotech companies were found guilty of hiding very vital information regarding the health impact of GMO foods. The health concerns were based on the fact that GMO foods had traces of bacteria and viruses forced into their DNA something that has never been in the human food supply (Swanson, 2014). The research that followed should that GMOs poses huge risks to the health of the consumers including allergies, toxins, nutritional problems, and new diseases. Some of the health conditions correlated with the GMOs is the autism.

Initially, the outbreak and recall was set for bagged spinach on September 14th, but the very next day the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled all spinach, both bagged and fresh. The outbreak was due to a suspected E. coli O157:H7. Because of the outbreak, 200 people were reported to the CDC from 26 states as having been infected with that particular outbreak strain; more than 100 of those cases were hospitalized, and 31 of them developed a form of kidney failure, which resulted in the deaths of three people. So why is a breakout that may only have affected 200 people so important and relevant to everyone? It’s important to make sure that our food is edible and not contaminated because in this situation with spinach—according to data collected through surveys— nearly half (48%) of Americans reported that they ate fresh spinach before the recall and did so frequently. There was no complete resolution on the exact cause of E. Coli on spinach, but it was believed to be from samples taken from a stream and from feces of cattle and wild pigs present on ranches, due to a genetic match from those who were infected. For some consumers, the spinach recall may be a type of “signal event” indicating a wider problem that they do not yet see as having been solved. Although spinach is something that is generally looked at as “healthy” to its consumers, it is apparent that there is still a problem with the safety and health concerning fresh produce for the public. This occurrence in 2006 was a turning point for many, realizing that even what should be our freshest food can be contaminated, and that more effort needs to be taken in order to protect the public from

This case study, finalized and updated onto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks about the Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Wandsworth Infections Linked to Veggie Booty. Publishing this outbreak onto their website makes it very beneficial and helps the public realize the importance of food health. Food health is just as important as overall public health. It is essential because people need to consume food in order to live, and if their food is tainted or contaminated, it would cause health problems and sickness and in some extreme cases, death. Ensuring food health will overall promote public health in the long run.

Consumers who buy this kind of food are looking for the peace of mind that organic and raw farmers are GMO-free and without pesticides, herbicides, the FSMA does not address nor protect the consumers from this synthetic toxic additives. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), almost bans the good bacteria that the body depends on for healthy gastrointestinal health. This strain of bacteria in the gut is becoming more of a health concern, so much so that medical professionals are performing fecal implants to repopulate the healthy bacteria in the gut.

In order to determine if the teams hypothesis was correct we looked at specific criteria like: Temporality, strength of association, dose-response, reproducibility, biological plausibility, and other explanations, cessation of exposure, specificity, and experimental evidence. From the case-control study, there is strong epidemiologic evidence linking alfalfa sprouts to the outbreak. There is clear evidence of temporality because the exposure to alfalfa sprouts came before the onset of E.coli symptoms. Because the cases came from at least 10 different counties in one state it seems unlikely that contamination of the sprouts occurred in the homes of the cases or individually in all the stores where they were purchased. Because two sprouting facilities were associated with the implicated alfalfa sprouts and a single lot of seeds were common to

Foodborne illness, or food poisoning, happens everyday in the U.S. and it is estimated that 48 million people are affected by it every year. Of these 48 million, 128,000 end up in the hospital and 3000 of them die from foodborne pathogens (Tucker, 2014). Foodborne illnesses can be caused by biological, chemical, or physical contaminants. The biological contaminants consist of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Chemical contaminants are pesticides, cleaning supplies, and toxic chemicals. Physical contaminations are dirt, glass, wood, splinters, stones, hair, jewelry, and metal shavings (Tucker, 2014). Salmonella, a bacterium, has been the most common reported cause of food poisoning. Salmonella is most commonly exposed to humans through animal feces and it is usually from animals that give us beef, poultry, and dairy products. People who do not wash their hands after being around animals can also transmit salmonella into our food. The symptoms of Salmonella are abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever (Tucker, 2014). The symptoms will usually resolve on their own in healthy people but may become life threatening in those with compromised immune systems. In order to prevent Salmonellosis, raw eggs should be avoided, as well as undercooked meat, shellfish, and unpasteurized milk and juice (Tucker, 2014). It is also important to always practice hand hygiene before handling any uncooked food products. Escherichia Coli, otherwise known as E. coli, is

A report done by the CDC indicates that within the year of 2013, there have been two reported cases of E. coli. In one case, and investigation done by local, state and federal officials revealed that two consumptions of ready to eat salads produced by Glass Onion Catering and sold at Trader Joe’s had a total of 33 people infected with an outbreak strain of STEC O157:H7. Of the 33 there was 1 person in Arizona, 28 in California, 1 in Texas and 3 in

In June of 1997, the Michigan Department of Community Health became aware of increased reports of E.coli. Fifty-two reports of infections were reported compared to eighteen in June 1996. These results showed a significant increase in the number of cases for residents of Michigan. The cases were found to be from all different locations in Michigan, all were different ages and both male and female. Little was known about the causes of the outbreak except it occurred at a slightly higher rate in women than men. Out of the cases, thirty-eight people interviewed who had the illness, none of them consumed ground beef, milk, were in contact with farm animals, and no restaurants were in common, but they all consumed sprouts seven days before the onset of symptoms. My role as an epidemiologist for this outbreak

coli, another undisclosed truth comes to light in this documentary. To get rid of the E. coli, our meat products are thoroughly cleansed with ammonia. Ammonia is a chemical that most Americans recognize as a household cleaning item, and now this chemical is in our meat. We are being secretly exposed to this chemical and it is not even guaranteed to work 100% of the time. However, this is not the only chemical used in our food. When eating an out of season fruit, Americans run the risk of eating a fruit that is artificially ripened. Since tomatoes cannot grow in America in the winter, they are picked while green from overseas. Once they arrive in America and are ready to go to market, they are ripened with ethylene gas. Ethylene gas “contains traces of arsenic and phosphorus hydride” (Siddiqui). These traces can cause chronic health defects such as “vomiting, diarrhea with or without blood, burning sensation of the chest and abdomen, thirst, weakness, permanent eye damage, etc.” (Siddiqui). As we can see, the major food companies hide very serious issues from the public, because if they knew the truth, many consumers would be appalled and possibly stop buying their products.

Studying the possible explanation of elevated odds ratio for consumption of sprout. Clearly, it is stronger related to the alfalfa ingestion, both patients and controls reported eating alfalfa sprouts for the same 7 days before onset of illness. It is considerate a true assumption between E. coli O157:H7 infection, and alfalfa sprouts.

For the immediate problem, all remaining seeds and alfalfa sprouts from the implicated lot should be removed from the market. People who have purchased sprouts from the implicated lot should be instructed to destroy any remaining sprouts or return them to the store which they were purchased. One might want to examine other lots of seed used for sprouting from these same producers. If there is evidence for fecal contamination, other lots intended for human consumption should also be removed from the market. The producers of these particular seeds should be informed of the need to protect alfalfa and other seeds used in sprouting from contamination during growing, harvesting, and packing. Specific sources of contamination should be identified and eliminated from these growing sites. Addressing seed sprouts as a high risk vehicle for foodborne diseases is a more difficult task. Sprouts appear to be at increased risk for contamination with foodborne pathogens for the following reason: The seeds used to produce sprouts are a natural product, grown in the dirt, surrounded by dirt and the associated feces and bacteria. Therefore, the risk of contamination of the

Accurate evaluation of bacterial colonization as a predictive index for alfalfa sprouts has relied on a quantitative culture technique that provides exact colony counts per gram of tissue by culture of five serial dilutions of the alfalfa water. In this study 1 package of alfalfa sprouts were cultured by a semi-quantitative technique that enumerated the number of gram-negative enteric organism in 1 ml of alfalfa water. Exact colony counts from the experiment were available only from cultures 10-2 and 10-3 CFUs. Other colony counts were reported as less than 10-3 or greater than

This assists physicians by supplying them with new knowledge about the diseases they are treating (Isabel). By identifying unknown pathogens, scientists are able to develop new vaccines that can control or even prevent illnesses from becoming serious. On the other hand, outbreaks can also begin in the pre-packaging of vegetables and uncooked meats. Recently, a case of cyclospora infection found in salad mixes reported to have a microscopic parasite. According to Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, “The parasite is around people at all the time. However, the parasite found in the mixed salad cannot be transmitted from one person to another. But this seems to be from the handling of the mixed salad during production.”