Survey finds sick people often wrongly blame their last meal
An Australian survey has found that many people wrongly attribute food poisoning to the last thing they ate.
The Food Safety Information Council has released the results of a national study ahead of Australian Food Safety Week which runs from November 8-15. The survey conducted online in August included 1,221 people over the age of 18.
According to the survey, 66 percent of those surveyed recalled experiencing some form of food poisoning and 51 percent of them wrongly blamed it on the last thing they ate.
Lydia Buchtmann, CEO of the council, said the aim of this year’s Food Safety Week was to bust some of the myths around food poisoning or gastroenteritis.
“One of the most common myths is that it was the last thing you ate that gave you food poisoning, when in fact it could have been something you ate several days or even months ago,” she said.
“In the past, health authorities had to interview people to help them remember what they had eaten so they could identify what was making them sick. Fortunately, today we have new technologies that help us connect victims to foods. Social media posts also help quickly identify potential outbreaks.
“Whole genome sequencing can trace unique DNA patterns of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites that cause foodborne illness, which can then be compared between infected people and a suspected food source, if available. If the same DNA is found in the food and in people who have become ill, this suggests a common source of the problem that can then be eliminated, including removing the implicated food from retail sales.”
Smelling food and the 5 second rule
Other myths addressed include the belief that sanitizer is better than hand washing.. Hand sanitizer does not work on certain pathogens, including highly contagious viruses like Norovirus. The best option is to wash your hands with soap and running water, then dry them thoroughly with a clean towel.
The so-called 5-second rule is where food dropped on the floor is considered safe to eat if picked up within five seconds. Bacteria do not wait politely to contaminate food.
It is not possible to know whether food is contaminated by smell or taste. You can get food poisoning from foods that smell and taste good. Bacteria can grow quickly in foods that have been left in the temperature danger zone of 5 to 65 degrees C (41 to 149 degrees F) without a change in odor or appearance.
Confusion over shelf life is another problem. The expiration date is an indicator of quality and food is safe to eat after this date. However, you must consume the food before its use-by date..
Burgers should not be served rare. Ground (minced) meat products, such as burgers and sausages, should be cooked until they reach 75 degrees C (167 degrees F) internally, as bacteria on the exterior can be transferred throughout the meat when it is ground.
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