An Outbreak of Salmonella Poona Infections: Think Twice Before Eating That Cucumber
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are investigating a very serious strain of salmonella called Salmonella Poona, which has affected 767 people as reported until October 14, 2015 by consuming contaminated cucumbers. Among 36 states, 205 cases reported from California, which has the highest number of infected people in this salmonella outbreak. Four deaths have been reported from California, Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma. More than 
half of the infected people are children younger than 18 years old. FDA investigations have identified that the contaminated cucumbers were imported from state of Baja California in Mexico and distributed by Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce. The company has issued a recall of all cucumbers sold under its Limited Edition label, which are those Slicer cucumbers imported from Mexico, during the period from August 1, 2015 to September 3, 2015. However, the shelf life of this type of cucumber is 14 days and some customers may store the cucumbers and do not notice the recall of these contaminated cucumbers. Moreover, it usually takes 2 to 4 weeks for the case actually reported as part of the outbreak since the person is exposed to salmonella, which means there will be more illnesses reported later on. 
Children, elderlies, and people with suppressed immune systems are more likely to get salmonella
infections and the infection can be fatal. Salmonellosis causes abdominal cramping, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. According to CDC, 8% of reported infections had long-term impact, such as chronic gastroenteritis, osteomyelitis, and septic arthritis.
People mostly hear about salmonella when it comes to poultry, egg and beef, not vegetables, but any type of food might be contaminated by salmonella bacteria. Research shows that 13% of the source attribution of salmonellosis is vine vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Cucumber, as a delicious and refreshing vegetable, is usually eaten raw, which increases the risk of getting infected by salmonella. Salmonella grows optimally at 37 °C and pH of 6.5 to 7.5. However, most salmonella serotypes can grow in the range of 7 to 48 °C and are able to survive under freezing for a relatively long period of time. They can also survive under very acidic and dry condition. An efficient way to eliminate salmonella in the food is heating to an internal temperature of 72 °C for at least ten minutes.
Nevertheless, going back to the salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers in US since September 2015, fresh cucumbers are usually not cooked before consumption, which means it would not go through the heating process, so it is very difficult to eliminate the pathogens during the preparation. The question is: how to safely prepare your produce? According to FDA, there are some precautions to take each time before eating the produce:
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Clean your hands by washing them for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after preparation.
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Wash your produce thoroughly under running water before eating, cutting or cooking — home-grown veggies included.
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Scrub firm produce like cucumbers with a clean produce brush.
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Dry produce with a clean towel to further reduce bacteria from spreading.
Furthermore, avoiding cross-contamination is also very critical. Raw meat, poultry, and produce need to be separated in the grocery shopping cart and the refrigerator. For the preparation, different cutting boards can be used for different types of food, especially for separating cooked and raw food.
Eating raw food always links to high risk of getting infected by the foodborne pathogens. Personally, I always eat cucumbers raw, since produce is not a very big concern for salmonella infection. As I heard this outbreak, I started to re-consider if I should cook them before eating. I feel like cooking is the safest way to prevent from getting infected.
Suggestions by FDA – “how to safely handle raw produce and fresh-squeezed fruit and vegetable juices”
What do you think? How would you prevent yourself from being harmed by eating raw produce?
teewong, 
CandiceZheng, 
cheryl lau, and 10 others are discussing. 
RainShen, 
Rain Shen, and 9 others are discussing. 
shinnie 2:11 am on October 20, 2015 Permalink |
Wow, similar to Karen’s research, it’s amazing to see how Salmonella can still survive on the surface of cucumbers which, I’m pretty sure has low water activity (on its surface) and acts as a barrier against pathogens. This blog post definitely highlights how important it is for consumers to adopt safe and proper cleaning procedures when working with raw fruits and vegetables. There are a few things to consider. If the cucumbers are not properly washed and finished all at once (i.e. leftovers and stored in the fridge), the few Salmonella bacteria on the surface will have access to the nutrients inside the cucumber and start growing, reaching the infectious dose. This is similar for bulk-making of squeezed vegetable juices, if not finished all at once. The FDA’s video provides some good advice, but cooking in my opinion (and yours too!) is by far the safest route in pathogen elimination; however, it is impossible to thermally process all foods we eat. I am not sure if this procedure is valid but I like to soak raw fruits and vegetables in soapy water before I eat or use them to make juices. I would always wash them very very thoroughly, every single crevice, no matter how lazy I am. I am honestly developing a fear of eating raw foods now.
ColleenChong 8:10 pm on October 21, 2015 Permalink |
Very interesting article Rain! I agree with Shinnie, this article is highlights Karen’s research on Salmonella’s ability being able to survive under low water activities conditions. As we have learned in Karen’s presentation that Salmonella is able to adapt in stress conditions; which results in cross-protection. This makes salmonella a major concern in the food industry, especially animal products and raw foods. The video that you have provides value information to public on cleaning their produce properly to reduce the risk of consuming salmonella contaminated foods. However, in my option young children, elderly and immuno-compromised individuals should avoid consuming raw foods; unless washed thoroughly with soap because they are susceptible to serious long term illness. As for myself I am accustomed in consuming raw foods and I have been exposed to them for a long period of time. Also my immune system is quite strong, so I am no too worried. But I am guilty of no washing my produce properly, I usually just give them a quick rinse. From this video I l learned to wash my produce properly and I will try to do so from now on.
catherine wong 10:07 pm on October 21, 2015 Permalink |
It is certainly unsettling to hear about these cases of Salmonella in produce that can be eaten uncooked. I also am in the same boat as everyone else so far that maybe eating products fully cooked is the way to go from now on. The 4 precaution steps before eating produce by the FDA is new to me, I never knew that using a clean produce brush to scrub firm produce is one of the ways to make sure the product is clean. Although with that then one has to always make sure that the brush is clean as well and that introduces another way for contamination if the brush is not clean enough. When consuming raw foods, it is hard to completely make sure that it would be safe for consumption as there is no kill step and that would always be one of the risks associated with eating raw foods. There are some foods that I love eating raw and I do not think that I could give it up even with knowing all the risks. It might decrease the amount of times I will be eating it but I would not be able to avoid it completely.
Jasmine Lee 11:46 pm on October 22, 2015 Permalink |
I love snacking on raw cucumbers and not having them in my sandwiches is unthinkable! Despite the Salmonella outbreak, I may consider reducing rather than avoiding the consumption of raw cucumbers. Like Rain mentioned, most of the patients were young children and immunocompromised individuals. As long as we maintain good health and microflora, the immune system should be able to remove the pathogen from the body. For precautionary purposes, I always wash my vegetables well under warm running water. I do not believe that soap will be more effective than water in terms of eliminating bacteria. Applying dish soap may in fact introduce more food hazards. The soap may be absorbed into the food and the residues will be consumed. I also avoid preparing salads in advance and leaving washed produce in the fridge overnight. The nutrients and enzymes from the diced vegetables may provide suitable conditions for growth of spoilage and pathogenic organisms, especially if the produce was not washed thoroughly.
elaine chan 12:12 am on October 26, 2015 Permalink |
It’s unfortunate to see how many individuals have fallen ill, and even 4 deaths, due to this Salmonella outbreak. I agree with Colleen’s point on how young children, elderly and immunocompromised individuals should refrain from consuming raw produce, for the safety of their health. With a product like cucumbers, that’s commonly consumed in its raw form, it’s difficult to manage and prevent the spread of the bacteria on the consumer level. Especially when the consumers rely and trust on the safety in consumption of the product from its distributors. I definitely think that precautions should be considered when handling raw produce at home, but I also feel that precautions should also be considered during the transportation and distribution process. This will help limit the chances of an outbreak like this from occurring, and ensure the safety of produce being sold at markets. Going through FDA’s recommended precautionary procedures, I wondered how practical it can be…Could the simple process of running cucumbers under water, or scrubbing with a brush, be sufficient to remove the Salmonella bacteria from the produce? And subsequently be safe to consume in its raw form? Even if these precautionary procedures are practiced at home, how do we ensure that these practices are also implemented in food preparation facilities for raw produce like cucumbers?
JorgeMadrigalPons 9:15 am on October 26, 2015 Permalink |
It catches my attention to know the recalled cucumbers were imported from Mexico, since I am an exchange student from there, and my studies are related to agri-food production. The passed summer, I did an internship as a quality control assistant in an asparagus production field in Guanajuato state. I noticed that during harvesting, there is very few food safety measures taken. This is a major area of opportunity for Mexican agronomists, since most of the production targets exportation to the US & Canada. Applying food safety measures at the very beginning of the food chain (field production) can greatly help reduce pathogen contamination, just like in this salmonella recall case of Mexican cucumber.
Michelle Ebtia 10:43 am on October 27, 2015 Permalink |
Considering the benefits of eating raw fruits and vegetables, and the fact that cooking or any type of thermal processing may reduce their nutrient content through leaching in the cooking medium (Leong and Oey. 2012) I would not cut back on consuming them, but prefer to adopt two strategies to minimize the associated risk: first, I can make sure I wash the produce thoroughly, and second, I would avoid consuming those that are considered very high risk in general (e.g. raw sprouts) or those that have been implicated in an ongoing or very recent outbreak!
Leong, S. Y., & Oey, I. (2012). Effects of processing on anthocyanins, carotenoids and vitamin C in summer fruits and vegetables. Food chemistry, 133(4), 1577-1587.
MarinaMoon 4:36 pm on October 31, 2015 Permalink |
It’s fascinating and scary at the same time that salmonella can withstand such various stresses. While I was reading through the article, I wanted to mention that there are ways Koreans eat cucumber by fermenting and pickling it in an acidic condition. However, as soon as it mentioned that it could even survive very low acidity I thought it would be impossible to safely consume cucumbers other than not consuming contaminated ones. I’m still curious what will happen to fermented vegetables in terms of pathogen survival. Overall, I would try to avoid those easily contaminanle fresh vegetables during the times that are easily contaminated, especially look out for outbreaks announced by CDC and FDA and other food safety agencies.
MichelleLui 2:50 pm on November 16, 2015 Permalink |
Very informative article. With the increase consumption of produce, the industry and government sectors must work together to ensure the food safety compliance of the growers and processors. Importers must source their produce from a GAP certified supplier. Random sampling for micro analysis should be carried out by both the importers and regulatory agency for verification purpose. It’s great you brought up the consumer food handling practices. As the trend of consuming raw food on the rise, consumers will also need to be aware of the food safety risk involved in the consumption of raw produce.
WinnieLiao 10:30 am on November 18, 2015 Permalink |
It’s interesting to know that cucumbers can also be contaminated with Salmonella on its surface. As a raw cucumber lover, this article definitely helps me to gain knowledge about handling cucumbers. These methods can also be applicable to other vegetables and produces as well. I usually wash my hands and the cucumber thoroughly with water, but never used a scrub for surface cleaning! This article also reminds me to clean and wash in small portions, firstly as to reduce the chance of contaminating other cucumbers, second as to reduce the possibility of bacterial growth if there happens to be any leftover portions!
cheryl lau 3:15 pm on December 4, 2015 Permalink |
This blog post was very informative. With the increased cases of contaminated produce, my household has also started follow the practices listed above. We separate our groceries depending on if the food will be consumed raw or if further preparations are necessary. We barely eat salads as well. However, when vegetables are heat treated, they typically lose a lot of nutrients. It has been a constant struggle between the convenience of eating a raw healthy snack and the ensuring the safety of the food being consumed. Lately, there has been more research on technological advances to address the problem of contaminate produce. One approach that I have come across utilizes bacteriophages in sanitizers that can be sprayed on and be fit for human consumption. Perhaps these approaches can be
Improved so that consumers can feel safe and not be as reluctant when eating salads.
CandiceZheng 3:17 pm on December 14, 2015 Permalink |
Thank you for your informative blog! Cucumbers, same as many other vegetables, have very short shelf life. As stated in the blog, only 14 days. However, with traditional microbial testing method, this is pretty much the time required to get a result. Also, as mentioned in the blog, some customers may store the cucumbers and do not notice the recall of these contaminated cucumbers. In this case the food safety is a huge concern, and it is essential to develop some rapid detection method to detect the pathogenic microorganisms in food matrix and report any hazard on time.
teewong 12:00 am on December 15, 2015 Permalink |
It fascinates me how salmonella can be found in cucumbers because i’ve only heard of it being present in eggs and poultry. What really shocks me is how vulnerable we are when it come to these types of vegetable because like you said we usually eat it raw, therefore, the likelihood of us killing the bacteria in high temperatures is really low unlike other vegetables we cook. On top of all that, it is very unfortunate that because it takes some time to find out where salmonella came from from the ill, the chances of the company recalling cucumbers back is slim to non as people would’ve already consumed it. Therefore, your statement that many more reports of ill people from salmonella are to come, it really disturbs me that those people are just waiting for the illness to take place. On the other hand, this information is very valuable to me as I will probably cook most of my food and vegetables from now on.