The most recent in a string of meals security remembers, the CDC is recalling Mexican cucumbers attributable to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at the least 68 individuals in 19 states.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The record of current meals remembers is rising longer with some veggies imported from Mexico. NPR’s Allison Aubrey has ideas for minimizing your danger of getting sick.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: When the CDC introduced an investigation of yet one more foodborne sickness outbreak – this time, cucumbers contaminated with salmonella – it was the most recent in what meals scientist Don Schaffner of Rutgers College says is a string of unhealthy luck.
DON SCHAFFNER: Carrots, onions, Boar’s Head. There was an E. coli-in-ground-beef outbreak. So yeah, that is greater than typical.
AUBREY: Schaffner says there isn’t any purpose to assume these outbreaks are linked. They’re completely different meals sourced from completely different areas and brought on by completely different pathogens. The brand new investigation factors to cucumbers, together with these recalled from SunFed Produce. A complete of 68 individuals in 19 states have been sickened. Eighteen have been hospitalized. Martin Bucknavage, who’s a meals scientist at Penn State, says there are a number of components to assist clarify how rapidly contaminated meals could be linked to clusters of illness in these current outbreaks.
MARTIN BUCKNAVAGE: Our detection and our tracing again to the supply is a lot better than it was once.
AUBREY: And that is useful as a result of remembers can occur quicker, and contaminated produce could be faraway from retailer cabinets and tossed out of our fridges. Linda Harris is a meals scientist at UC Davis. She says there are steps individuals can take to restrict their danger. She says, sometimes, salmonella won’t multiply on the outer floor of a cucumber. But when it will get into the flesh, it may possibly, particularly if it is too heat. So preserving lower produce cool is essential.
LINDA HARRIS: As soon as you narrow cucumbers or any type of produce – as soon as you narrow it, keep in mind, in case you’re not going to eat it immediately, to get it into the fridge inside a few hours.
AUBREY: To a sure extent, it’s attainable to rinse the micro organism off by rubbing the produce beneath working water. Harris says you should not use any type of cleaning soap, and it is best to not soak produce in a bowl as a result of if there have been salmonella on one piece, soaking it will contaminate the water and probably the entire produce within the bowl. Rutgers’ Don Schaffner says peeling may help cut back micro organism, nevertheless it’s not a assure, as some micro organism might switch from the peel to the flesh.
SCHAFFNER: And so peeling will not be a dependable approach of eliminating the danger of salmonella on cucumbers.
AUBREY: Warmth can kill the micro organism, which is how salmonella poisoning is greatest prevented in meat. However with contemporary produce, rinsing and refrigeration are your greatest bets.
Allison Aubrey, NPR Information.
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