Resistant bacteria in raw food and salad?
Raw vegetables and salads as part of a healthy and balanced diet. In many supermarkets there are already ready-to-cut and wrapped in foil. German researchers have now found that such products can be contaminated with antibiotic-resistant germs.
The investigations show that a considerable variety of drug-resistant germs frolicking on packaged fresh products. "This wear resistance to each of a plurality of Antibiotikaklassen", Prof. Dr. Kornelia Smalla from the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI) says. Together with a working group under the Smalla Mix-salads, Rucola, and the spice plant coriander from different German supermarkets was looking for.
The experts focused on the studies on Escherichia coli-bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic Tetracycline-resistant. Tetracycline antibiotics are used in animal husbandry, where you around in the gut of farm animals, the development and propagation of resistant germs. These germs, but also a part of the antibiotics are excreted and then go about organic fertilizer such as manure on the fields.
"This worrying evidence of plant falls in line with similar findings in other foods ein", Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel, President of the Federal Institute for risk assessment (BfR) says. "What this means for the risk to health of consumers, will now be assessed urgently." The BfR, due to the study, the following recommendations:
- Raw vegetables, leafy salads and fresh herbs before eating, wash thoroughly with drinking water,
- Pregnant women and people with weakened immunity due to old age, previous illnesses or medication, refrain as a precaution, best to pre-cut and packaged salads and instead choose salads made with fresh and thoroughly washed ingredients,
- People with weakened immune system should heat the vegetables and fresh herbs before eating is sufficient: At best a minimum of two minutes at 70°C in the Interior of the food.
BfR/NK
