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When fruit and vegetables are BAD for you: Getting your five-a-day is responsible for HALF of all food poisoning cases

  • Fruit and vegetables cause 46% of all food poisoning cases in the U.S.
  • Leafy greens, like spinach and lettuce, are the most common cause because they tend to be eaten raw so bacteria are not killed
  • In extreme cases, contaminated bagged salad can cause kidney failure
  • Meat and poultry causes just 22% of food poisoning cases

By
Emma Innes


PUBLISHED:

11:09 EST, 18 July 2013

|

UPDATED:

11:32 EST, 18 July 2013

Fruit and vegetables are responsible for 46 per cent of food poisoning cases, recent research shows.

The study by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that leafy vegetables, namely lettuce and spinach, are the worst offenders.

It also showed that meat and poultry are responsible for 22 per cent of food poisoning cases.

Fruit and vegetables are responsible for 46 per cent of food poisoning cases - and leafy greens are the worst offenders

Fruit and vegetables are responsible for 46 per cent of food poisoning cases – and leafy greens are the worst offenders. Meat and poultry are only responsible for 22 per cent

The study found that every year one in six people in the U.S. fall ill with food poisoning – about nine million people.

The majority of cases of foodborne illness caused by leafy vegetables are caused by pre-cut greens which are bought in plastic bags.

The reason for this is that these products tend to be eaten raw. In contrast, the bugs in meat and poultry that many people would expect to be the cause of most cases of food poisoning, are usually killed during cooking.

Every year one in six people in the U.S. fall ill with food poisoning - about nine million people

Every year one in six people in the U.S. fall ill with food poisoning – about nine million people

Dr Michael Doyle, director of the
University of Georgia’s Centre for Food Safety explained to Modern
Farmer that lettuce is particularly dangerous as harmful bacteria can
form within the plant tissue.

This means that when the lettuce is washed, the bacteria will not be washed away.

He added that leafy greens can cause E.Coli, salmonella, and listeria.

These bugs tend to come from animals which carry them in their intestines.

If the animals’ manure gets into soil or water, it can contaminate vegetables.

Salmonella is especially likely to be transmitted in this way as manure can be blown around by the wind when it dries out, and salmonella is known to be tolerant to drying.

In extreme cases, contaminated bagged salad can cause fatal kidney failure, according to Dr Doyle. 

Dr Doyle says that the only way to prevent lettuce-related food poisoning is to ensure that farmers are doing something to kill bacteria in the field, as soon as the leaves are picked.

He believes that farmers should be using disinfectants to achieve this – he says that currently they typically use chlorine but that this is not very effective at killing bacteria.

However, Dr Doyle accepts that the odds are in the consumers favour as millions of bags of salad are sold every year and the number of food poisoning cases is small.

This data is supported by a recent study from the Food Standards Agency which showed that there are 120,000 extra cases of food-related illness during a British summer.

Dr Lisa Ackerley, a microbiologist, believes this is not due to undercooked meat so much as poor hand, surface, and utensil hygiene when people are cooking outside.

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The comments below have not been moderated.

Oh well this really will not do. We’d better get the bleach out and scrub our kitchens until we can see our ill looking faces in every surface! What a joke. Maybe I’m lucky (if so I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging) but I can not remember ever getting food poisoning from any food I’ve prepared myself. And no, I don’t wash my hands or clean very often. maybe that’s just chance, but I’m convinced we’re killing ourselves with cleanliness. These ‘contaminants’ havnt just appeared from nowhere, it must be something we’ve done either to our food or to ourselves that makes us ill. cant remember ever knowing of an animal get sick from the common bacteria on their food? I have no scientific knowledge however so ignore me, sorry.

therealdjcamm
,

Falmouth, UK,
18/7/2013 21:06

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I always wash salads and fruits very thoroughly and never had a problem, however I did twice have food poisoning from eating out, once with fish and once with trifle, never eaten in those establishments since.

edithbella
,

portsmouth, United Kingdom,
18/7/2013 21:05

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I never wash my fruit or salad oops maybe i should…

Lia
,

Uk, United Kingdom,
18/7/2013 21:04

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ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Me
,

London,
18/7/2013 20:55

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Next thing you know there’ll be an article on the DM promoting that air and water diet, because all foods will obviously kill you… *rolls eyes*

Fems
,

Netherlands,
18/7/2013 20:52

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Heh Larry, you are all so fat and juicy and ready to eat. Yum, Yum. You seriously think anyone is going to take someone living in Arkansas as a dietary expert. Give us a break. The US of A is a battle of the fittest, who can eat the most until the food runs out. You guys ate all the pies.

– Ade , Kobe, Japan, 18/7/2013 20:29
Fat American jokes are your scientific rebuttal, Ade? Thanks for proving my point. @Zola, there are a few researchers who are decrying GMO foods, and very few of them are in the field they’re making comments about. It’s sort of like astrophysicists and engineers giving lectures on climate change. As I said, we will not be able to feed all the people on this planet without genetically engineered foods. Whether you believe it or not, we’ve been eating genetically engineered foods since the invention of agriculture. Through science, we’ve learned to do it better. You’ve been lied to by alarmists. These foods are perfectly safe.

Larry
,

Arkansas, United States,
18/7/2013 20:51

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Larry , Arkansas, United States…………..There are several global researches by legitimate scientists on GMO foods, with varying degrees of toxicity found in GMO’s links to various fatal diseases. Sadly the uneducated deny that GMO’s are dangerous. As you are so inclined to be one of doubters, why don’t you pour yourself a lovely glass of Round Up, drink it, as it is the same ingredient found in GMO’s.

ZolatheGod
,

London, United Kingdom,
18/7/2013 20:33

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Certain vegetables and fruits are notorious for carrying diseases. Tomatoes should never be eaten in low-lying areas of most parts of the world, particularly anywhere further East than Turkey, The irrigation water that’s used to supply them is frequently polluted with human sewage, including industrial pollutants from villages and towns.

Ptolemy
,

Preston, United Kingdom,
18/7/2013 20:31

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do not buy bagged salad anymore because of what they put in it to preserve it causes problems for asthmatics

mylife somewhere
,

liverpool,
18/7/2013 20:31

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In the US. They also have GMO food and don’t label it. Wonderful. – LastofTheDruids , Exeter, 18/7/2013 19:05 And, those foods aren’t harmful. No credible, scientific evidence has been show to prove that they are. GMO foods are the only way that we’re going to be able to feed all the people on this planet. But, you keep on being a science denying, flat earther who sheepishly follows these uneducated vegan, neo-hippies who only veil their real attempts at the eradication of private property and meat eating through the guise of “organic.”
– Larry , Arkansas, United States, 18/7/2013 20:07

Heh Larry, you are all so fat and juicy and ready to eat. Yum, Yum. You seriously think anyone is going to take someone living in Arkansas as a dietary expert. Give us a break. The US of A is a battle of the fittest, who can eat the most until the food runs out. You guys ate all the pies.

Ade
,

Kobe, Japan,
18/7/2013 20:29

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