Re: Food poisoning

[carol marcus <csmarcus@ucla.edu>]

At 04:16 PM 9/20/99 -0500, you wrote:
>One of the classes I had to take for my degree was Environmental
>Eppidemiology. In this class we studied food born diseases. If I remember
>correctly, there are two types of "disease" you can get from food. One is
>eating the bacteria in which they infect you themselves. That being, did not
>cook the food. Examples would be Salmonella, E. Coli, ect. But the most
>about this stuff that bothered me was Cholstridium Botulitis. I am not sure
>if I am spelling this correctly, but I remember this being one of the worst
>types of "food poising". This is the one that lives in a low pH environment,
>usually associated with canning of vegetables. You cannot smell it, nor
>taste it. It will cause death by attacking your nervous system.  I remember
>reviewing a case of a young boy that ate some tomatoes his grandmother made
>from stuff she canned. He was dead at the end of the day.
>
>Just wondering if I am correct about this. I can see what you mean about
>irradiating would not help, because you cannot irradiate food yourself.
>Also, the toxins are released when the can is sealed up, and cooking the
>stuff as said earlier does not harm the toxins, but does kill the organism
>that makes it.
>
>Just my two cents worth.
>
>Nathan Pell
>Health Physicist,
>RSO, Inc.
>Laurel MD
>-----Original Message-----
>From: carol marcus <csmarcus@ucla.edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
>Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 4:11 PM
>Subject: Re: Food poisoning
>
>
>>At 12:39 PM 9/20/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>>The following are compelling statistics to support radiation processing
>>>of food, though it's not mentioned in the article:
>>>
>>>STUDY PUTS U.S. FOOD-POISONING TOLL AT 76 MILLION YEARLY
>>>from The New York Times
>>>
>>>WASHINGTON -- Although the United States has one of the
>>>safest food supplies in the world, about 76 million Americans
>>>suffer food poisoning each year and about 5,000 die from it, the Federal
>>>Government said on Thursday.
>>>
>>>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said the
>>>estimates
>>>in a study it released today were the most complete ever compiled on
>>>food-borne illnesses (the agency avoided the everyday term "food
>>>poisoning")
>>>and were based on many sources, including death certificates, hospital
>>>surveys and academic studies.
>>>
>>>"These new estimates provide a snapshot of the problem and do not
>>>measure
>>>trends and do not indicate that the problem is getting better or worse,"
>>>Dr.
>>>Jeffrey Koplan, the centers director, said in a statement.
>>><http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/091799hth-food.htm
>l>
>>>--
>>>In my personal opinion, SLG
>>>==================================================
>>>Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
>>>Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
>>>136 South Illinois Avenue, Suite 208
>>>Oak Ridge, Tennessee  37830
>>>Phone (423) 483-1333; Fax (423) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
>>>VISIT OUR UPDATED WEB SITE:  http://www.local-oversight.org
>>>==================================================
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>>
>>Dear Radsafers:
>>
>>I am, of course, in favor of food irradiation, but not all "food poisoning"
>>is caused by live bacteria.  Much of it, perhaps even most of it, is caused
>>by toxins produced by the bacteria before they were cooked to death.  The
>>toxins are not significantly changed by cooking, and would not be
>>radiosensitive, either.
>>
>>Just a clarification.
>>
>>Ciao, Carol
>>
>>Carol S. Marcus, Ph.D., M.D.
>><csmarcus@ucla.edu>
>>
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Dear Radsafers:

The neurotoxin of Clostridium botulinum is a (fortunately) unusual cause of
food poisoning, and it can be inactivated by heating at 100 degrees C. for
10 min.  Supportive ICU treatment has resulted in a fatality rate of about
7.5%.  In the USA, it is generally found in home canned foods.

Ciao, Carol

Carol S. Marcus, Ph.D., M.D.
<csmarcus@ucla.edu>

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