Monthly Archives: July 2012

When one hears “E.coli,” in reference to food safety issues, the average consumer might think of outcomes like diarrhea or stomach cramps. It may be a surprise for many customers and food industry workers that E.coli can also mean urinary tract infections (UTIs).

This is indeed the case. E.coli is responsible for 80-85% of all urinary tract infections, generally (Nicolle 2). A cystitis (bladder infection) occurs when the lower urinary tract is affected. Keeping this in mind, a recent study in Clinical Microbiology and Infection brings some attention to “a multidrug-resistant clonal group” that “may be responsible for community epidemics” of UTIs in the public today (Skjot, et. al). Within the food industry and amidst consumers, links between UTIs and E.coli may become more of concern due to a report on ABC News pertaining to the rise of “superbugs” that are resistant to antibiotics, and that are “transmitted to humans in the form of E. coli” in chickens.

The report declared that “more than 8 million women are at risk” of developing “difficult-to-treat bladder infections” from E.coli in meat sources, especially chicken. Maryn McKenna, a reporter for the Food & Environment Network, thinks the research indicates that: “we may in fact know where it’s coming from. It may be coming from antibiotics used in agriculture”  Yet, not everyone agrees with this interpretation of the existing research.

The National Chicken Council reacted with a swift denouncement of the ABC report and the research utilized within the report.  In their statement, Randall Singer, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota declared:

“The studies in question make the assumption that humans carrying these E. coli acquired them from poultry. The strains did not originate in poultry and likely entered these farms from sources originating in human communities. Perhaps most importantly, the potential transmission of antibiotic resistant E. coli to humans says nothing about why these E. coli are antibiotic resistant in the first place. The resistances observed in these E. coli are common globally and are unlikely to be attributed to chickens given the few antibiotics available for use in poultry in the U.S.”

However this dialogue concludes, a new level of discussion has been reached in the debate concerning antibiotics in the meat industry. Nelson-Jameson offers antibiotic test screening kits that can assist your operation in determining the presence and concentration of antibiotics, a sure subject of discussion among consumers in the meantime. For more information on antibiotic test screening kits click here.

Recent CDC reports have shown a 23% general decrease in the number of incidences of food poisoning involving six main bacteria. Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O157, Yersinia and Vibrio collectively dropped when numbers from the late 90s were measured against numbers from 2010. Such a decrease in percentage is encouraging to some experts and critics, but the number, according to some other sources may not be as promising as it first appears. Why is this the case? Apparently, the quantitative measurement has quite a bit of qualitative data behind it that is driving the debate.

There are a few considerations that should be taken into account when looking at these numbers. Opposed to a knockout win for American food safety, Douglas Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University states that the numbers indicate some mixed results: “For every step forward, there’s a few steps back.” A report from FoodQuality.com discussed the fact that the data does reflect an overall drop, but it also leaves out some varieties of E.coli associated with foodborne illness, such as  norovirus, as it is not a bacteria. The numbers may look quite good compared to the information collected in the 1990s, but when compared to information from 2006, the numbers have stagnated, which “may indicate that progress in reducing foodborne illnesses — which are largely preventable through following proper food safety practices — has slowed in recent years.”

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