E. coli bacteria keeps appearing in foods we
sample from businesses. So, what is it and how does it find its way into our food?
The full name is Escherichia Coli.
The bacteria can be found naturally in the gut of humans and animals and on
fruits and vegetables, particularly those grown in the ground that have been
fertilised with manure.
The presence in foods is an indication of faecal
(poo) contamination – either from the food handler, or from the foods they are
using / preparing. It’s presence in ready-to-eat food is unacceptable because
it suggests:
- unhygienic food handling,
- inadequate cooking,
- lack of washing of salad ingredients
- and/or cross contamination that may have occurred during food preparation.
Recently there have been various outbreaks in
Australia and overseas where E.coli has been the culprit. A variety of foods
have been implicated, including unpasteurised apple and orange juices, sprouted
seeds, fruit, salads and meat and meat products - especially undercooked minced
meat patties/burgers.
Three ways to eliminate E. coli in your food
- Hand washing: Hands must be thoroughly
washed with soap and warm running water after going to the toilet, and before
and during preparing or serving food (refer to article on personal hygiene). Display the handwash sign and ensure you are using the hand wash sink for washing hands,
not the food preparation sink.
- Heat: E. coli is easily killed by heating, so cooking food properly is a basic method of control. Minced beef, in particular, must be fully cooked. Milk and dairy products must be pasteurised.
- Washing: : Ensure all fruit, salad and vegetables that are being left
raw are washed to remove any traces of E.Coli that might have been present
in the growing process, you don’t know what has been sprayed onto it, who
picked the product, or any animals that have run through the paddock
whilst it is growing.
It is strongly recommended that
prewashed/ready to eat salads/vegetables are washed again.
Note: If fruit has a skin that needs to
be cut to get the fruit (such as watermelon), wash the fruit first so E.coli is
not transferred into the flesh of the fruit by the knife.
There have been various outbreaks where E.coli has been
implicated both in Australia and overseas.
A wide variety of foods have been
implicated in these outbreaks, including unpasteurised apple and orange juices,
sprouted seeds, fruit, salads and meat and meat products, especially
undercooked minced meat patties in hamburgers.
Petting zoos can also be a
source of E.coli.