Level 4 Reading 3A

Reading 3A

HOW SAFE IS OUR FOOD? The everyday activity of eating involves more risk than you might think. It is estimated that each year in the United States, 48 million people suffer from foodborne diseases; 128,000 of them are hospitalized, and 3,000 die. In the developing world, contaminated food and water kill over half a million children a year. In most cases, virulent types of bacteria are to blame. Bacteria are an integral part of a healthy life. There are 200 times as many bacteria in the intestines of a single human as there are human beings who have ever lived. Most of these bacteria help with digestion, making vitamins, shaping the immune system, and keeping us healthy. Nearly all raw food has bacteria in it as well. But the bacteria that produce foodborne illnesses are of a different, more dangerous kind. Bad Bacteria Many of the bacteria that produce foodborne illnesses are present in the intestines of the animals we raise for food. When a food animal containing dangerous bacteria is cut open during processing, bacteria inside can contaminate the meat. Fruits and vegetables can pick up dangerous bacteria if washed or watered with contaminated water. A single bacterium, given the right conditions, divides rapidly enough to produce billions over the course of a day. This means that even only lightly contaminated food can be dangerous. Bacteria can also hide and multiply on dishtowels, cutting boards, sinks, knives, and kitchen counters, where they're easily transferred to food or hands. Changes in the way in which farm animals are raised also affect the rate at which dangerous bacteria can spread. In the name of efficiency and economy, fish, cattle, and chickens are raised in giant "factory" farms, which confine large numbers of animals in tight spaces. Cattle, for example, are crowded together under such conditions that if only one animal is contaminated with the virulent bacteria E. coli O157:H7, it will likely spread to others. Tracking the Source Disease investigators, like Patricia Griffin, are working to find the sources of these outbreaks and prevent them in the future. Griffin, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, has worked in

the foodborne-disease business for 15 years. Periodic E. coli outbreaks turned her attention to the public food safety threat that exists in restaurants and in the food production system. Food safety is no longer just a question of handling food properly in the domestic kitchen. "Now," Griffin says, "we are more aware that the responsibility does not rest solely with the cook. We know that contamination often occurs early in the production process— at steps on the way from farm or field or fishing ground to market." Griffin's job is to look for trends in food-related illness through the analysis of outbreaks. Her team tries to identify both the food source of an outbreak and the contaminating bacteria. To link cases together, the scientists use a powerful tool called PulseNet, a national computer network of health laboratories that matches types of bacteria using DNA analysis. PulseNet allows scientists to associate an illness in California, say, with one in Texas, tying together what might otherwise appear as unrelated cases. Then it's the job of the investigators to determine what went wrong in the food's journey to the table. This helps them decide whether to recalls a particular food or to change the process by which it's produced. In January 2000, public health officials in the state of Virginia noted an unusual group of patients sick with food poisoning from salmonella. Using PulseNet, the CDC identified 79 patients in 13 states who were infected with the same type of salmonella bacteria. Fifteen had been hospitalized; two had died. What was the common factor? All had eaten mangoes during the previous November and December. The investigation led to a single large mango farm in Brazil, where it was discovered that mangoes were being washed in contaminated water containing a type of salmonella bacteria. Salmonella contamination is a widespread problem; salmonella cases involving contaminated chicken, melons, coconut, and cereals were reported in 2018. The mango outbreak had a larger lesson: We no longer eat only food that is in season or that is grown locally. Instead, we demand our strawberries, peaches, mangoes, and lettuce year-round. As a result, we are depending more and more on imports. Eating food grown elsewhere in the world means depending on the soil, water, and sanitary conditions in those places, and on the way in which their workers farm, harvest, process, and transport the food. Reducing the Risk There are a number of success stories that provide hope and show us how international food production need not mean increased risk of contamination. Costa Rica has made sanitary production of fruits and vegetables a nationwide priority. Fresh fruits and vegetables are packed carefully in sanitary conditions; frequent hand washing is compulsory; and proper toilets are provided for workers in the fields. Such changes have made Carmela Velazquez, a food scientist from the University of Costa Rica, optimistic about the future. "The farmers we've trained," she says, "will become models for all our growers." In Sweden, too, progress has been made in reducing the number of foodborne disease at an early stage. Swedish chicken farmers have eliminated salmonella from their farms by thoroughly cleaning the area where their chickens are kept, and by using chicken feed that has been heated to rid it of dangerous bacteria. Consequently, the chickens that Swedes buy are now salmonella-free. These successes suggest that it is indeed feasible for companies and farms to produce safe and sanitary food, while still making a profit.

♪

♪