Food Crisis Warning: Salmonella Egg Recall is Nothing Wait Until You See What's Around the Corner ...

Fourteen months ago, on 10 June 2009, I commented on food safety and countless outbreaks involving escherichia coli and salmonella within the next five years. We are a country that savors food and yet our food storage, transportation systems are breaking down.

While only a part of my comments were filmed, we additionally covered four topics:

1. Beyond the swine flu, do restaurant owners know something worse is just around the corner? How do outbreaks affect business?

2. How are restaurants preparing and ensuring the public their food is clean and safe?

3. Food transport/storage and temperature control. Does the public know that the seafood and ceviche when not kept within safe temperature threholds creates exponential rises in bacteria?

4. What about the food storage and mold such as the tylenol recall?

Take home point:

Harsh chemicals create runoff that yield erosion and stronger micro-organisms. Germs are everywhere and creating more germs that are lethal is a foolish manuever. Consumers need to insist that restaurants stop using harsh chemicals as this creates a very large footprint for multidrug, multichemical resistant microbes.

The egg recall seems to have everyone's immediate attention according to the following Washington Post publication: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/20/AR2010082005649.html

However, the real threat originating from waste and waste water problems water (see previous posting on growth trends) began the real threat. Similar to a story originating out of the movie "I AM LEGEND" is the NDM-1 also known as New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase) -1 positive bacteria .   First discovered in December of 2009, the gene for NDM-1 is a part of a gene family that encodes for beta-lactamase enzymes called carbapenemases. Any bacteria that carries such genes are known as super-bugs or super-bacteria given infections with such bacteria are extremely complicated to treat.

Numerous international health protection agencies have stated that most bacteria isolated with the NDM-1 enzyme are resistant to all standard intravenous antibiotics for treatment of of severe infections. 

References to read up on for NDM-1 enzymes:

1. HPA. National Resistance Alert: carbapenemases in Enterobacteriaceae. Health Protection Report[serial online] 2009; 3 (4): http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/archives/2009/news0409.htm#enterora.

2. Nordmann P, Cuzon G, Naas T. The real threat of Klebsiella pneumoniaecarbapenemase-producing bacteria. Lancet Infect Dis2009; 9 : 228-36.

3. Vatopoulos A. High rates of metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniaein Greece - a review of the current evidence. Euro Surveill2008; 13 .

4 . Pournaras S, Protonotariou E, Voulgari E, Kristo I, Dimitroulia E, Vitti D, et al. Clonal spread of KPC-2 carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniaestrains in Greece. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2009 ePub Jun 13.

1. Carrer A, Poirel L, Eraksoy H et al. Spread of OXA-48-positive carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniaeisolates in Istanbul, Turkey. Antimicrob Agents Chemother2008; 52 : 2950-4.

2. Yong D, Giske CG, Toleman M et al. A novel subgroup metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL), NDM-1. 48th Annual ICAAC/IDSA 46th Annual Meeting, Washington DC, October 25-28, 2008 2009; C1-105: 87.

3. Pitout JD, Laupland KB. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: an emerging public-health concern. Lancet Infect Dis2008; 8 : 159-66.

4. Zahar JR, Lortholary O, Martin C et al. Addressing the challenge of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. Curr Opin Investig Drugs2009; 10 : 172-80.