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By Lucy Townsend BBC News Magazine
Twenty-five years ago minister Edwina Currie sparked a scare over salmonella in
eggs and had to resign amid outrage from farmers and plummeting sales. The
panic has shaped the way we think about food safety.
There are foods that people instinctively associate with the risk of poisoning
- raw chicken, raw egg, shellfish.
At the time of Edwina Currie's remarks - which were perceived to have
dramatically exaggerated the prevalence of the disease in eggs in the UK -
there were 12,302 cases of the salmonella PT4 strand most commonly found in
poultry.
It dropped by 54% in the three years following the introduction of the British
Lion scheme in 1998, which saw hens vaccinated against salmonella, and last
year there were just 229 reported cases.
But people are still mistrustful.
How to avoid food poisoning
Wash your hands, wash your worktops and wash your dishcloths and tea towels -
and let them dry
Take care with raw meat - chop it on a separate board, keep it away from
ready-to-eat food and store on bottom of fridge (to avoid dripping)
Ensure your fridge is below 5 C; cool leftovers quickly after heating (within
90 minutes) and eat within two days
Respect use-by dates
Source: NHS Choices
Pregnant women, the elderly and young children are warned against eating a
runny yolk, and forums on parenting websites contain discussion threads on the
perils of raw cake mix.
"The saying was that salmonella and eggs go together like a horse and
carriage," says Sarah O'Brien, professor of Infection Epidemiology and Zoonoses
at the University of Liverpool. "But that's not the case. Improved testing
methods and improved treatment mean foods that used to be unusual causes of
outbreaks have become the usual suspects."
It's impossible to precisely tally the number of cases caused by each type of
food, but from what is known there are some less-expected culprits.
Watercress, beansprouts and curry leaves are believed to have been behind some
of the most high profile outbreaks of food poisoning recently. People have died
after eating contaminated celery, peanut butter and cantaloupe melon.
Edwina Currie holding an egg Edwina Currie (seen here in 2004) lost her job
over salmonella controversy
One of the more unusual outbreaks of food poisoning happened in 1951 in the
French town of Pont-Saint-Esprit. Five people died and many suffered
hallucinations after eating rye bread contaminated by ergot, a poisonous
fungus. Ergot poisoning is, thankfully, easily avoided.
"Any food can be poisonous if it is not prepared or stored correctly," says Dr
Haruna Musa Moda of the Food Research Centre at Manchester Metropolitan
University.
"Chicken, eggs and shellfish are classed as high risk, but so are rice, pasta,
couscous - starchy foods that have high moisture content. Ready meals and
cooked meats are also on the high risk list, but people don't tend to think
about them so much."
Many people are completely unaware of the dangers of eating reheated rice or
pasta. Our perception of the risks is shaped by high-profile incidents.
Currie's remark that "most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now
affected with salmonella", caused a 60% drop in egg sales and she was forced to
resign. The loss of revenue meant four million hens were slaughtered.
E.coli
Short for Escherichia coli - type of bacterium present in gut of humans and
other animals
E.coli infection happens when mutant strains are introduced to body, usually
through food
119 people were infected during E.coli outbreak in Northern Ireland in 2012;
several people died in Germany in 2011 after outbreak
BBC Health: E.coli infections
Q&A: E.coli outbreak
But while the industry recovered, the egg's reputation for potential menace was
longer lasting.
Salmonella in UK eggs is now very rare, but the official line that raw egg
should be avoided will remain. "It is about knowing that the risk exists, even
if it is small," says Bob Martin, of the Food Standards Agency.
Despite episodes like the Sainsbury's watercress recall it is hard for people
to understand that non-animal products can be a risk. Beansprouts - including
aduki, alfalfa, lentils and mung beans - have been associated with a number of
health scares including an outbreak of salmonella in the UK in 2010.
"Salad leaves and green leafy vegetables can become contaminated with bugs,
like salmonella and E.coli O157, from the soil," adds O'Brien. "Bagged salad,
in particular, can have bugs that stick to the cut edge of the leaf - that is
where the nutrients are and the bugs can be quite hard to get rid of by
washing."
There are around one million cases of food poisoning each year, according to
the Food Standards Agency. The majority are caused by the bug Campylobacter -
commonly found in uncooked poultry, it is thought to be present in the vast
majority of chickens.
chopping chicken
But rice is also a common cause. It can contain Bacillus cereus, which is
resistant to heat.
"It's one that a lot of people don't know about, but you do have to be very
careful with rice," says Martin. "It's not that rice itself is dangerous but
after it's been cooked there are spores of bacteria that can germinate."
The advice is to cool it quickly if it is likely to be eaten later. "Take the
worst of the heat out but then put it in the fridge, it doesn't need to be room
temperature any more - fridges have improved," adds Martin.
He also advises spreading it in shallow dishes to speed up cooling, or more
simply, just cook the amount you want to eat. It's a very bad idea to eat rice
that's been sitting in a buffet at room temperature after being cooked. Any
reheating at home should be thorough but is only safe if the advice above has
been followed.
More from the Magazine
toilet seat
The toilet seat has acquired an unfair reputation as the dirtiest item in the
average household. But scientists say there are far filthier places in our
house, some of them where we least expect.
How dirty are toilet seats? (November 2012)
There is also official advice on the preparation on greens and salad. Wash
vegetables under water rather than under a tap so germs are not sprayed around
the kitchen. Vegetables should also be washed before they are peeled.
"Bear in mind that vegetables come from the soil which is a living thing. In
some farms they are grown in soil with animal manure," adds Martin.
"The basic message is that all food should be treated with respect, don't abuse
it, don't expect too much from it."