It could be on that raw meat, hiding in those eggs.
Or maybe it’s made its way onto your produce.
Contaminated food looks and smells totally normal, so you won’t know it’s there until
you get sick.
It’s called salmonella.
“A deadly salmonella outbreak.”
“Two people have died now.”
“Salmonella in raw turkey.”
“Salmonella concerns are expanding an already massive beef recall.”
You’d expect that if food companies and safety regulators found salmonella during
processing, they’d keep that food from reaching your fridge, right?
Nope, they know about it.
And the fact that they don’t prevent it from getting there is one of the main reasons
why salmonella outbreaks are still a regular, dangerous occurrence.
Salmonella is the most common food-borne bacteria.
It’s found in the gut of most animals and usually gets into food through the slaughtering
and processing of raw meat.
It finds its way into your system when you eat contaminated meat that hasn’t been fully
cooked or food that was mishandled.
It can cause diarrhea, cramps and fever and generally goes away on its own in a few days.
Severe salmonella infections typically need to be treated with antibiotics.
But half of all strains now are antibiotic resistant.
More than a million Americans get sick every year from salmonella and nearly 400 die from
their infections.
Compare that to the more well-known E. coli bacteria, which only kills about 20 Americans.
That big difference has a lot to do with how the US regulates the two.
In the early 90s, there was a massive E. coli outbreak traced back to Jack in the Box restaurants.
Contaminated burgers sickened 700 people and killed four children.
This prompted the US Department of Agriculture to establish robust inspections and testing
for E. coli during meat processing.
And to classify E. coli as an “adulterant.”
Typically adulterants are prohibited substances like sawdust or toxic chemicals.
And food found with adulterants can’t be legally distributed.
When an adulterant like E. coli is found, the contaminated meat must either be destroyed
or fully cooked into ready-to-eat foods.
This classification allows the USDA to stop tainted food from going to market before consumers
get sick.
After E. coli was labeled as an adulterant, the number of reported cases dramatically dropped.
But here’s the thing: the USDA doesn’t consider salmonella an adulterant.
So if regulators find it during inspection, that salmonella-tainted food still goes to
your grocery store.
The USDA will only recall the meat after people get sick.
The USDA has found that about 18% of ground chicken sold in the US is contaminated with
salmonella.
15% of ground turkey and 4% of whole chickens also have it.
For the last 15 years, salmonella has stayed the most common food borne illness while E. coli
infections are drastically lower.
Food safety watchdogs believe that if the USDA made salmonella an adulterant, the number
of salmonella incidents - and deaths - would drop just like E. coli did.
Some, like the Center for Science in the Public Interest, petitioned the USDA to classify
antibiotic-resistant salmonella strains as adulterants.
But the USDA denied the petition saying that “ordinary methods of cooking and preparing
food kill Salmonella.”
Because fully cooking meat does kill off any salmonella.
The same argument could be made for E. coli, which is also killed by cooking.
But since most Americans like their burgers undercooked, and E. coli is most often found
in beef, the USDA argues E. coli deserves stricter regulations than salmonella.
No one is purposefully eating a medium-rare turkey burger.
Yet people are still undercooking poultry, even if just by accident.
In a study conducted by the USDA, 45% of people failed to fully cook their turkey burgers,
putting them at risk of salmonella poisoning.
And even if you’re cooking your meat right, salmonella can still find it’s way to lurk
in your kitchen.
48% of people contaminated spice containers.
97% of people failed to wash their hands every time they were supposed to.
So, how can you protect yourself from the salmonella that could be in your fridge?
First, keep raw meat away from everything else.
Never, ever, wash poultry.
And wash your hands after you touch raw meat - every single time.
Because until the USDA updates the list of adulterants, salmonella prevention is on you.
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