Food producers in New Zealand are taking an unusually virulent E. coli outbreak in Europe seriously. At least 48 people have died and more than 4,000 have become infected in an outbreak that began in Germany last May.
The E. coli 0104:H4 contamination has European authorities in a flurry after the latest outbreak in France this week which saw 10 people with bloody diarrhoea admitted to hospital.
The consumption of sprouts is now believed to be the source of the outbreaks.
The strain of E. coli found in the European outbreak is much more virulent than the common strain which is found in the gut of humans and animals.
It has picked up extra genes which allow it to produce cell toxins which can penetrate the cells of the gut and result in the potentially fatal Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) causing serious diarrhoea, kidney damage, and finally death.
“The industry is quite concerned but we are also concerned that people should not panic at this stage,” said Dr. John Brooks, Professor of Food Microbiology at AUT University.
However, when an E. coli bacterium that normally resides in the gut becomes a dangerous pathogen responsible for very high rates of kidney damage and death, then it becomes a “wake-up” call for the food industry, he said.
Dr. Brooks addressed the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology Conference in Rotorua last week, where New Zealand food producers discussed the implications of expanding testing requirements.
Food safety requirements by New Zealand’s trading partners that include testing for E. coli 0157:H7 would be ineffective, said Dr. Brooks, because the country’s high quality products have very low levels of these organisms, if any.
Dr. Brooks said that importers like the United States might refuse to buy New Zealand meat if it had not been tested. Exporters needed to consider what they would do if this happened.
Sampling would be extremely expensive, “but it won’t make the food any safer,” Dr. Brooks said.
A number of countries have now banned the import of vegetables from the European Union. In June, Russia introduced a ban on meat and milk products from over 300 German companies, following concerns about E. coli.
Hygienic processing practices, secure distribution chains and consumer education about safe food handling will help keep pathogens out, said Dr. Brooks.
Associate Professor Michael Baker, epidemiologist from the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, says there is an enormous investment in food safety in New Zealand.
Public health services have made considerable preparations over the years for the scenario of a widespread E.coli outbreak, he said.
On the other hand, New Zealanders eat a lot of uncooked food, he said, and are encouraged to eat lots of vegetables, making them more vulnerable to food contamination.
“Basically this is a disease than can quite easily be managed, prevented and controlled,” says Associate Professor Baker.
New Zealand is a small country and less vulnerable to such E. coli outbreaks–the amount of imported fresh food is very little compared to that in Europe.
Egyptian fenugreek seeds from Egypt are the latest suspect in the E. coli 0104:H4 infection. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is advising people “not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly.”
The seeds, thought to be the source of the infection, were imported in 2009 or 2010 and grown on farms in Europe.
Dr. Brooks says that the source of the contamination has yet to be proved and tomatoes and cucumbers had already been suspected as the culprits.
Steffan Browning, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association NZ says growing more of our own food and being less reliant on overseas produce would leave consumers less exposed to pathogens coming in with imported produce.
Genetic engineering experiments such as those carried out by AgResearch Rurakura facility, “where different genetic components including bacteria are being put into animals and horizontal gene transfer hasn’t been checked for...” could also pose a risk, he said.
Encouraging organic agricultural and husbandry farming that avoid the widespread use of antibiotics promotes healthy animals and would further reduce the risk of virulent E. coli pathogens, Mr. Browning said.
The E. coli 0104:H4 contamination has European authorities in a flurry after the latest outbreak in France this week which saw 10 people with bloody diarrhoea admitted to hospital.
The consumption of sprouts is now believed to be the source of the outbreaks.
The strain of E. coli found in the European outbreak is much more virulent than the common strain which is found in the gut of humans and animals.
It has picked up extra genes which allow it to produce cell toxins which can penetrate the cells of the gut and result in the potentially fatal Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) causing serious diarrhoea, kidney damage, and finally death.
“The industry is quite concerned but we are also concerned that people should not panic at this stage,” said Dr. John Brooks, Professor of Food Microbiology at AUT University.
However, when an E. coli bacterium that normally resides in the gut becomes a dangerous pathogen responsible for very high rates of kidney damage and death, then it becomes a “wake-up” call for the food industry, he said.
Dr. Brooks addressed the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology Conference in Rotorua last week, where New Zealand food producers discussed the implications of expanding testing requirements.
Food safety requirements by New Zealand’s trading partners that include testing for E. coli 0157:H7 would be ineffective, said Dr. Brooks, because the country’s high quality products have very low levels of these organisms, if any.
Dr. Brooks said that importers like the United States might refuse to buy New Zealand meat if it had not been tested. Exporters needed to consider what they would do if this happened.
Sampling would be extremely expensive, “but it won’t make the food any safer,” Dr. Brooks said.
A number of countries have now banned the import of vegetables from the European Union. In June, Russia introduced a ban on meat and milk products from over 300 German companies, following concerns about E. coli.
Hygienic processing practices, secure distribution chains and consumer education about safe food handling will help keep pathogens out, said Dr. Brooks.
Associate Professor Michael Baker, epidemiologist from the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, says there is an enormous investment in food safety in New Zealand.
Public health services have made considerable preparations over the years for the scenario of a widespread E.coli outbreak, he said.
On the other hand, New Zealanders eat a lot of uncooked food, he said, and are encouraged to eat lots of vegetables, making them more vulnerable to food contamination.
“Basically this is a disease than can quite easily be managed, prevented and controlled,” says Associate Professor Baker.
New Zealand is a small country and less vulnerable to such E. coli outbreaks–the amount of imported fresh food is very little compared to that in Europe.
Egyptian fenugreek seeds from Egypt are the latest suspect in the E. coli 0104:H4 infection. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is advising people “not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly.”
The seeds, thought to be the source of the infection, were imported in 2009 or 2010 and grown on farms in Europe.
Dr. Brooks says that the source of the contamination has yet to be proved and tomatoes and cucumbers had already been suspected as the culprits.
Steffan Browning, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association NZ says growing more of our own food and being less reliant on overseas produce would leave consumers less exposed to pathogens coming in with imported produce.
Genetic engineering experiments such as those carried out by AgResearch Rurakura facility, “where different genetic components including bacteria are being put into animals and horizontal gene transfer hasn’t been checked for...” could also pose a risk, he said.
Encouraging organic agricultural and husbandry farming that avoid the widespread use of antibiotics promotes healthy animals and would further reduce the risk of virulent E. coli pathogens, Mr. Browning said.
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