Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

Proper Baked Potato Handling Let’s say you have a little extra time to make some baked potatoes for dinner tonight.  You take the time to delicately wrap each one in foil, folding over the creases to make a perfect seal. You bake them, and then after dinner, place the extra, uneaten baked potatoes, still wrapped in foil, into the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch. STOP. You are improperly storing your leftovers. Storing wrapped baked potatoes can lead to the germination and growth of C. botulinum. These harmful bacteria produce an extremely toxic neurotoxin—even trace amounts can cause death. Ingesting toxins produced…

What is Commercial Sterilization For K-State’s spring break, my friends and I piled into a white Mystery Machine van to tour some national parks like Arches, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend. Doing what college kids do for meals, we ventured into a grocery store near Kayenta, AZ to find some cheap grub—because fast food is way out of our budget. Collectively agreeing upon cans of beef-and-bean chili for dinner, we bought them and continued our drive to the Grand Canyon. During our first long hike, a couple of our group members began fretting about the well-being of…

Infant botulism Botulism is a rare but serious condition caused ingesting harmful neurotoxins produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. Infants under the age of 12 months are at risk infant botulism; therefore, it is essential to know how infant botulism occurs. Babies get infant botulism after consuming spores of the bacteria. Infant intestinal tracks do not have a fully developed microbiome, so infants do not have enough beneficial bacteria in their intestinal tracks to outcompete harmful pathogens like C. botulinum. An infant’s gut is a perfect anaerobic environment for C. botulinum to germinate, colonize, and produce neurotoxins. To keep infants…

Salmonella in Flour The parent company of Pillsbury products, Hometown Food Company, made a voluntary recall roughly 12,245 cases of flour. The product lots affected by the recall at 5lb bags for Unbleached All-Purpose Flour with the UPC Item Code 051500-222416. The flour may have been contaminated with Salmonella. Check out the recall statement yourself here: http://www.hometownfoodcompany.com/img/Pillsbury-Flour-Recall.pdf There have yet to be reported illnesses associated with this recall, but Hometown Food Company is still expressing “an abundance of caution” (Hometown Recall). The company is advising consumers to continue practicing safe food handling practices. Do not treat flour like a ready-to-eat…

Aflatoxins are Toxic:  Fungal metabolites found in some fungis Aflatoxins are a toxic metabolite of certain fungi like Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasitosis. Different types of aflatoxin have varying degrees of harmfulness—ranging from being cariogenic to causing birth defects.  Profoundly impacting warm regions with higher humidity, these fungi contaminate agricultural crops like corn, figs, tree nuts, cocoa beans, and dates. You can become exposed to aflatoxin by eating foods contaminated with aflatoxin. Livestock is also susceptible to exposure if they eat contaminated feed. The FDA tests foods for aflatoxin, especially imports from warm and humid regions. The highest concern for…

Wasabi’s natural antimicrobial properties Control of pathogens is essential to food safety. In efforts to battle potential outbreaks of harmful bacteria in food, researchers are studying Wasabi’s natural antimicrobial properties and other natural antimicrobial compounds present in plants.  Wasabi’s natural antimicrobial properties are well known, but their full potential remains the subject of aggressive research. According to a research article by Lu et al. (2016) called Antibacterial Activities of Wasabi against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus, the study’s results reveal that “wasabi has strong antibacterial property and has high potential to effectively control E. coli O157:H7 and S. aureus in foods” (Lu 2016). Wasabi’s natural antimicrobial properties  could…

Norovirus: Most Common Cause of Food borne Illness It’s spring break season! If you are planning on taking cruise this spring, consider the risks before hopping aboard. One risk is a norovirus outbreak, a highly contagious virus commonly associated with cruises and number one cause of food borne illness in the US. Although 2019 just began, the CDC has already tracked four outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness. The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) tracks outbreaks on cruises by requiring cruise ships to log and report how many passengers and crew members are experiencing symptoms of gastrointestinal illness.  The CDC does not always…

Unsafe conditions, listeria discovered at Florida meat market Over 3,000 pounds of meat were ordered not to be sold and to be destroyed at two Penn Dutch Food Center locations in south Florida. Health inspectors from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food Safety, found unsafe conditions, including water dripping from the ceilings and from overhead fans into coolers that contained the meat products. The market in Margate, Florida, destroyed 1,491 pounds of meat, and the market in Hollywood, Florida, was ordered to not sell 1,928 pounds of meat. In addition, inspectors found possible listeria in…

Iron and Increased Potential for Salmonella Infection Obviously, eating raw cookie dough could make you ill. Consuming improperly cooked foods, puts you at risk of a Salmonella infection. But, did you know overconsuming oral iron supplements induces overgrowth of Salmonella in your intestines? Interestingly, excess iron in your intestines could select for pathogenic bacteria at the cost of beneficial bacteria in your gut microflora. This imbalance increases susceptibility for a Salmonella infection. In the research paper, “Iron Availability Increases the Pathogenic Potential of Salmonella Typhimurium and Other Enteric Pathogens at the Intestinal Epithelial Interface” by Kortman et al. (2012), the data from…

Reactive Arthritis from Food Poisoning What is it? An infection from in the Staphylococcus aureus can trigger an inflammatory response in the joints. This indirect inflammatory response after a bacterial infection is called reactive arthritis. In reactive arthritis, the joint itself is not inflected. Reactive arthritis most commonly targets your knees and the joints in your ankles and feet. Other affected areas of the body can include eyes, urethra, and skin  Bacterial Causes: Staphylococcus aureus is the most common bacteria causing reactive arthritis. Infections from Shigella, Yersinia, Chlamydia, Campylobacter, and Clostridium difficile can also cause reactive arthritis. Right now, your…