Raw Food Risks and Hepatitis A

That’s good, say health experts. But if a recent wave of hepatitis A outbreaks has taught one lesson, it is that raw food, no matter how healthy, carries its share of risks. It is a lesson that applies as much to fresh fruits and vegetables as it does to raw oysters and sushi, said one expert.

Green onions are the suspected cause of hundreds of recent hepatitis A outbreaks in three states --- Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. More recently, a chain of Mexican restaurants removed green onions from its menus as a precautionary measure after a similar hepatitis outbreak occurred in one of its restaurants in western Pennsylvania.

At Auburn University, Dr. Jean Weese, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System food scientist and associate professor of food science, stressed that any raw food is susceptible to contamination at any number of points from the farm to the consumer’s plate.

One of the most common sources of contamination is on the farm.

“Green onions are a root vegetables after all, and if the ground in which they’re grown is contaminated with feces, whether from animals or humans, there’s a good chance pathogens will be transferred to the produce.”

Found in the stool, hepatitis A is usually transmitted through oral ingestion and commonly stems from poor sanitation or hygiene.

It’s not certain whether this outbreak was caused by animal or human contamination. A similar outbreak associated with strawberries several years ago was traced to a field where the culprit was humans. In this case, farm workers were relieving themselves in the same location where harvesting occurred.

“It’s a problem, a very serious problem,” Weese said, “but one that is not widely known about among the consumer public.

“Many consumers can’t understand why workers would relieve themselves in the very fields in which they harvest produce.”

The problem, Weese said, often stems from the way in which workers are paid. Because they are typically paid according the amount of produce they harvest rather than by the hour, there is very little incentive to stop long enough to walk the distance to a restroom, she said.

Other sources of fecal contamination include bird and animal droppings and irrigation water pumped out of contaminated streams or surface water.

Even if these problems were eliminated, there is still the potential for contamination further along the food chain, Weese said

“Granted, you do have more control during food processing because workers are paid by the hour and they are under stringent requirements to wash their hands after bathroom visits. But you still have people who don’t follow the rules, so there always are going to be risks,” she said.

Likewise, restaurants are subject to stringent rules, especially regarding the handling of raw foods, such as fresh produce. But they, too, are guilty of occasional lapses.

“Food workers are under strict guidelines, for example, to wash their hands after bathroom use and to wear gloves when handling uncooked food,” Weese said. “But you go almost anywhere, and you’re going to see some food preparers not wearing gloves.”

That, she said, is why consumers ultimately must take responsibility for their own safety.

The best defense against hepatitis and other food borne illnesses is washing, lots of washing, Weese said.

“Every time you wash produce, you’re removing potentially harmful pathogens,” she said. “You may not remove it entirely, but the more you remove, the fewer bacteria you ultimately ingest and, consequently, the less severe your illness will be.”

As an added precaution, Weese advises washing produce not once but twice --- “washing it, letting the water drain and washing it again.”

When dining out, she advises ordering salads and other raw produce items off the menu rather than visiting the salad bar. Many restaurants, in fact, have eliminated salad bars and now prepare their salads entirely with packaged items that have been thoroughly cleaned and sealed at processing plants.

“All the food handlers have to do is open these packages and let the contents fall into a bowl,” Weese said.

(Source: Dr. Jean Weese, Alabama Cooperative Extension System food scientist, 334-844-3269.)

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