When Good Foods Do Bad Things

Here’s a Top Ten list that’s not so funny.  It’s the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI) listing of the country’s riskiest foods based on how frequently food-borne illnesses and outbreaks have been linked to each since 1990.  The worst part?  Six out of the 10 “risky” foods are foods that guys like me tell you to eat lots of.

So, without further ado, I reluctantly present the “risky” list:

10.  Berries

This really hurts, as berries are loaded with fiber and antioxidants.  But according to CSPI’s data, loads of strawberries—2.6 millions pounds worth—have been contaminated with various forms of food-borne diseases since 1990.  There have been 25 outbreaks in the berry family, leading to 3,300+ reported illnesses.  Most of the diseases originated from farms in Central and South America.

9.  Sprouts

The ideal salad topper for high quality nutrition, sprouts are at high risk for food-borne diseases due to the warm, humid conditions they grow in (more heat=more bacteria).  Mishandling and improper packaging plays the biggest role, though.  Since 1990, there have been at least 31 outbreaks, most of them Salmonella and E.coli.  Just over 2,200 illnesses have been reported since 1990.

8.  Tomatoes

From sauces, to sandwiches, salads, to pizza, tomatoes are everywhere in the American diet, so it’s not a big surprise that they wound up on this list.  That doesn’t soften the blow, though, does it?  There have been 31 outbreaks from the vegetable (or is it a fruit?) linked to lycopene since 1990 and 3,292 reported illnesses.

7.  Ice Cream

Finally, a reason not to treat yourself.  In all seriousness, an occasional bowl of ice cream won’t hurt, but it hurt a lot of people in 1994.   That’s when one particularly foolish employee of a popular frozen ice cream chain delivered ice cream mix in the same truck that delivered salmonella-poisoned eggs.  His carelessness led to a mass overhaul of ice cream from grocers’ freezers, as there was at least one reported illness in 41 of the 50 states.  Since 1990, there have been 74 outbreaks and nearly 2,600 reported illnesses.

6.  Cheese

Cheese does contain loads of calcium (so does ice cream), but it’s high saturated fat and sodium content makes it a food to be eaten only occasionally, if at all.  For this reason, I’m not too concerned about cheese sitting at the six spot on the “risky” list; people should steer away more often than not.  Perhaps the 83 outbreaks and 2,761 diseases reportedly linked to cheese since 1990 will do just that.

5.  Potatoes

The potato is one of a handful of healthy comfort foods, but being the second riskiest vegetable to eat hardly provides comfort.  Perhaps this will, though: Past outbreaks and diseases involving potatoes have usually occurred when they’ve been mixed with other ingredients, like the ones in potato salad.  So even though potatoes are technically the second riskiest vegetable to eat (108 outbreaks and over 3,600 reported illnesses since 1990), labeling potatoes as “risky” is a bit misleading, because by themselves, they rarely carry food-borne diseases.

4.  Oysters

This one doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.  Oysters are typically eaten raw, so that alone increases the risk for acquiring a food-borne disease.  The other thing that makes this listing not too surprising is the fact that the waters from which oysters have been harvested have been contaminated with dangerous food-borne diseases like Notovirus and Vibrio.  Food-borne diseases usually attach due to cross-contamination and carelessness in the packaging process.  Oysters are high in nutrients and low in calories, so that makes it a pity that they’re this high on the risky list.  But because they’re among the leaders in mercury contamination, it’s best to eat these sparingly.

3.  Tuna

Speaking of foods that lead the way in mercury contamination, the tuna fish is at the forefront.  It’s not mercury poisoning that makes tuna so “risky” to eat, though.  It’s because of Scombroid.  Of the 268 outbreaks and 2,641 illnesses linked to tuna consumption since 1990, Scombroid infected at least 2,300 of them.  The worst part?  It can’t be washed off or cooked away, like other food-borne diseases can.  For these reasons, it’s best to keep tuna consumption infrequent as well.

2.  Eggs

Yet another dairy food on the “risky” list.  This one is similar to oysters, in that when eggs have been infected with a food-borne disease, it’s often come straight from the source—in the oyster’s case the waters, in the egg’s case the chicken.  When salmonella poisons eggs, it’s the chicken’s intestines or ovaries that are infected.  So the egg is already infected before it ever fully forms.  That alone makes eggs a hazard to eat, and helps explain why there’s been over 11,100 reported illnesses from eggs since 1990.

1.   Leafy Greens

Unfortunately, leafy greens—the very food that health officials advise you eat plenty of—tops the charts on the CSPI’s “risky” list.  Food-borne diseases in leafy greens are so commonplace, that approximately 30 percent of all food-borne disease illnesses have stemmed (pardon the pun) from leafy greens like spinach, kale, lettuce, and arugula.  Like the other healthy “risky” foods, contamination often resulted from improper handling or cross-contamination in the packaging process.  Over 13,500 sicknesses since 1990 are linked to leafy greens and 363 outbreaks.

So where does that leave us?  Should we worry over everything we eat?  Should this report scare us away from eating healthy?

Of course the answer is no.  It is, however, cause for concern and certainly demands action.  The U.S. Congress needs to put a fast track on the Food Safety Enhancement Act.  The CSPI recommends this and I do as well.  The bill passed the House of Representatives quickly, but for whatever reason, the senate’s version of the bill is stalled in committee.  The passing of this bill would put greater restrictions and regulations on food safety and distribution so that food-borne illnesses and diseases become less frequent.  Write your senator, and see to it that they sign the bill.

The other action you can take is to start buying from your local farmer’s market (if you haven’t already).  The overwhelming majority of food-borne diseases came as a result of carelessness and improper handling.  By buying local, you’re getting rid of the middleman, thus reducing the frequency with which the food is being handled.  Plus, local produce is better for you, as the nutrition of any fruit or vegetable starts declining the moment it’s picked from the vine, branch, or plant.

If you don’t have a farmer’s market near you, find out from your local grocer where their food ships from.  The closer it is to your home, the better.

Sources
cspinet.org
govtrack.us
cspinet.org