What are the Least Safe Foods From a Contamination Perspective?
by www.SixWise.com
Deaths from tainted food outbreaks over the past year have
many consumers worried about the safety of our food supply.
Each year, food-borne illnesses result in 5,000 deaths and
76 million cases of illness in the United States, according
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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That hamburger could contain meat from hundreds of
animals, which greatly increases the risk of contamination.
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Specifically, outbreaks of illness have occurred in the last
12 months from contaminated spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peanut
butter, and, most recently, pet food. As a result, wary Americans
have resorted to changing their buying habits, according to
the US Grocery Shopper Trends 2007 report prepared by the
Food Marketing Institute.
The report found that only 66 percent of shoppers are confident
that the food they buy at the grocery store is safe, down
from 82 percent in 2006. And, 38 percent of consumers have
stopped buying certain fresh produce and meat items, up from
just 9 percent in 2006.
The items cited as most offensive were spinach (71 percent
have not purchased it because of contamination concerns),
lettuce (16 percent), bagged salad (9 percent) and beef (8
percent).
Meanwhile, the CDC says that certain food-borne infections
have, indeed, been on the rise since 2004; namely E. coli
infections, which have increased 50 percent, and Vibrio
infections from eating raw shellfish, which have increased
a whopping 78 percent in the last decade.
Which Foods are Most Likely to be Contaminated?
It's certainly understandable that Americans are being more
cautious about their food nowadays, but are our fears surrounding
spinach, lettuce and other foods justified? Or are there other,
truly scary, foods that we should be looking out for?
Of course, any food has the potential to be contaminated,
while even risky foods are sometimes safe. Here we've compiled
the foods that tend to be the least safe from a contamination
perspective, and justly deserve to be consumed with an air
of caution.
1. Clams, Oysters and Mussels
These shellfish are "filter-feeders," which means
that they strain microbes from the sea for many months. If
they live in less-than-pristine environments with pollution
(which, sadly, is often the case), they can absorb contaminants
from seawater and transfer them to you. There is an even higher
risk if the shellfish is eaten raw.
2. Ground Beef
"A single hamburger may contain meat from hundreds of
animals," according to the CDC. Because so many products
have been mingled together, the risk of contamination is higher
than eating meat from just one animal. For instance, if any
one animal out of the hundreds that were added to a large
batch of ground beef is contaminated, the whole batch becomes
contaminated.
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It seems harmless, but if your French toast is coated
with eggs from a huge batch, it could be risky.
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3. Pooled Eggs
Similar to ground beef, when eggs are cooked in large batches
in restaurants the risk of contamination is higher than if
you just consumed one or two eggs. Large batches of any type
of egg -- from eggs benedict to scrambled (and even French
toast) -- could be risky.
4. Chicken (Raw or Undercooked)
A Consumer Reports study that tested 484 fresh, whole broiler
chickens found that about half of them contained the pathogenic
bacteria salmonella or campylobacter. Further, 90 percent
of the campylobacter bacteria and 34 percent of the salmonella
showed some resistance
to antibiotics, which means people sickened by these bugs
may have a hard time getting rid of them.
Meanwhile, "a broiler chicken carcass can be exposed
to the drippings and juices of many thousands of other birds
that went through the same cold water tank after slaughter,"
according to the CDC.
The risk comes from eating raw or undercooked chicken and
from cross-contamination (raw chicken juices dripping onto
vegetables, or using a plate from raw chicken to serve cooked
foods, etc.).
5. Fruits and Vegetables (Raw)
Because so many fruits and vegetables are consumed raw, they
do pose a contamination risk. Toxins can come from the water
used to wash the produce, from fertilizers, or from a food
worker's dirty hands. Choosing fruits and vegetables from
locally grown sources (that therefore do not have to pass
through as many avenues of potential contamination), peeling
them (if possible) and washing them before you eat them can
help to reduce the risk.
Recommended Reading
What
is REALLY in a Hot Dog? And How Unhealthy Are They?
Does
Early Exposure to Food Allergens Increase Tolerance to Them?
Sources
Foodnavigator-USA.com
ConsumersUnion.org
U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention