Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a portable, self-powered ultraviolet-C device called the Tribo-sanitizer that can inactivate two of the bacteria responsible for many foodborne illnesses and deaths.
Chlorine and chlorine dioxide are two popular, but very different chemicals that are commonly used to treat water against lots of different bugs including legionella and other potentially dangerous bacteria. Both have their advantages and disadvantages especially when it comes to the control of Legionella bacteria in water systems.
Posted in Food Microbiology Research, HPP, Research, Technology
Following a rise in cases of Salmonella linked to poultry products imported from Poland, the FSA is reminding consumers of its safe handling and cooking advice.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) along with Food Standards Scotland (Opens in a new window) (FSS) and the UK Health Security Agency (Opens in a new window) (UKHSA) is reminding consumers to take care when handling and cooking poultry products at home, including chilled and frozen chicken and turkey drumsticks, breasts, thighs and chicken pieces. This is because of a recent rise in cases of food poisoning caused by Salmonella Enteritidis linked to poultry products imported from Poland.
Our advice is to:
An investigation is ongoing into multiple strains of Salmonella linked to poultry products imported to the UK from Poland. There have been over 200 human cases of salmonellosis caused by specific genetic strains of Salmonella Enteritidis that have been linked to poultry products such as meat and eggs, this year.
The FSA is in discussion with officials in Poland and the EU to ensure all necessary steps are taken to improve the safety of poultry and eggs imported from Poland. The forthcoming import controls on food and feed coming into the UK from the EU will also allow us to check these controls are in place and help to uphold the UK’s high food and feed standards and to protect public health.
Our advice is to always take care when storing, handling, and cooking poultry products such as chicken, turkey and duck to help reduce the risk of food poisoning to you and your family.
You should always check the cooking instructions on food packaging, as different brands of the same type of product might have different instructions. Cooking food at the right temperature and for the correct length of time will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed. At the same time, make sure that any surfaces and equipment that come into contact with food are clean to avoid risks from cross contamination and always wash your hands before and after handling food.
A number of the cases have involved the consumption of eggs produced in Poland and used in meals in restaurants and cafes. We are therefore asking local authorities to remind food businesses about the importance of good hygiene practices.
Salmonella is a type of stomach bug that causes stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. Symptoms typically resolve themselves within a few days, however, they can be more severe with fever and dehydration, especially in young children, those who are pregnant and those with weakened immune systems.
Salmonella can be spread from person to person as well as from food, so anyone affected should follow good hygiene practices, such as washing hands thoroughly after using the bathroom and avoiding handling food for others where possible, if you have symptoms.
Salmonella is a common bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Salmonella can be found in a variety of different foods but raw meat (processed and unprocessed), undercooked poultry, eggs and unpasteurised milk are the most commonly reported foods causing salmonellosis. Inadequate cooking and cross-contamination in the kitchen during food preparation can lead to salmonellosis. The bacteria can also spread from person to person.
Babies, children, pregnant women, and older people should only eat runny or raw eggs if they have a British Lion mark (Opens in a new window) or are produced under the Laid in Britain egg assurance scheme (Opens in a new window). This advice does not apply to individuals who are severely immunocompromised.
Please see our Salmonella guidance and the NHS Choices page on food poisoning (Opens in a new window) for more information on this foodborne disease. Our Home food fact checker also has advice on how to store, cook and reheat food at home.
Oxymel, a combination of honey and vinegar, has been used as a remedy for wounds and infections in historical and traditional medical settings. While honey is now clinically used to treat infected wounds, this use of a complex, raw natural product (NP) mixture is unusual in modern western medicine. Research into the antimicrobial activity of NPs more usually focuses on finding a single active compound. The acetic acid in vinegar is known to have antibacterial activity at low concentrations and is in clinical use to treat burn wound infections. Here, we investigated the potential for synergistic activity of different compounds present in a complex ingredient used in historical medicine (vinegar) and in an ingredient mixture (oxymel). We conducted a systematic review to investigate published evidence for antimicrobial effects of vinegars against human pathogenic bacteria and fungi. No published studies have explicitly compared the activity of vinegar with that of a comparable concentration of acetic acid. We then characterized selected vinegars by HPLC and assessed the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of the vinegars and acetic acid, alone and in combination with medical-grade honeys, against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus . We found that some vinegars have antibacterial activity that exceeds that predicted by their acetic acid content alone, but that this depends on the bacterial species being investigated and the growth conditions (media type, planktonic vs. biofilm). Pomegranate vinegars may be particularly interesting candidates for further study. We also conclude that there is potential for acetic acid, and some vinegars, to show synergistic antibiofilm activity with manuka honey.
Posted in Food Microbiology Research, High Pressure, HPP, Research
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