Healthy Foods May Carry the Greatest Risk of Food-borne Illness

It’s ironic, but many of the most healthy foods that we’re urged to eat are the ones that can carry the greatest risk of food-borne illnesses. This emerges from a report of 2006 diseases in the recent issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (That year is the most recent one with detailed information.)

For food-related outbreaks that could be attributed to a single food item, poultry was top (21%), followed by leafy vegetables (17%) and fruits and nuts (16%). Over half the outbreaks were caused by norovirus, which is transmitted by faecally contaminated food or water and by person-to-person contact. Interestingly, people with blood type O are more often infected, while blood types B and AB confer partial protection. Most norovirus outbreaks occur in closed or semi-closed communities; cruise ships are a good example.

Salmonella was responsible for 18% of outbreaks; the illness is much more serious than norovirus, and was associated with one death in 2006. Although there were only relatively few dairy-related outbreaks (3% of the total), 70% of them were attributed to drinking unpasteurized milk, a practice which has become fashionable in some circles.

Good hygiene is clearly important in reducing the numbers of outbreaks of foodborne illness. It can start (and end) with adequate hand washing – which is also essential in helping control flu, something we’d do well to remember as the second round of H1N1 approaches.