COULD RAW FOOD KILL? Today’s current trend of raw, unpasteurised and unprocessed food as close to nature as possible could well see the resurgence of deadly foodborne illnesses that could kill, an American food security expert is warning. Professor of food microbiology and head of the Texas A&M University Gary Acuff says keeping ahead of food pathogens has been a difficult task for experts over the centuries, but new ways of eating today with minimal processing and innovative packaging could well see the return of large scale food poisoning around the world. Foods perceived to be safe, including that which is local, organic, raw, unpasteurised or minimally processed, could host the return of deadly bacteria that have been “kept at bay” for the past several decades, he told the New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology conference in Rotorua recently. And Acuff is worried that the survival rates of some bacteria in low moisture food – as long as nine months in extreme cases – means the bugs, which can be heat resistant, are capable of surviving for long periods of time and pose significant risk in very low infective doses. “Salmonella continues to surprise and we will never be able to say we’ve defeated it, but norovirus is very scary and Camplobacter is starting to worry us as well,” Acuff says. “Emerging risks are real, but the real risk here is complacency. “What I am trying to encourage academics to do is not just publish papers on this problem and then drop the subject. We need to make sure that consumers read our research results, we need to talk to the media, and we need to keep talking until people listen and do something.” Cooking via microwave and the consumption 14 JULY 2016 of some raw food is generally safe, he says, but some practices are not. Those who drink milk straight from the cow or eat raw meat are risking their health, and could join dozens of Americans killed by food poisoning over the past couple of decades. “It’s not emerging pathogens or even new processes that are killing people,” Acuff says, “but not paying enough attention. Sometimes you have to ‘be’ the bacteria in order to understand it, because they are a little crazy.” Acuff’s research focuses on improving the microbiological quality and safety of red meat in all areas of production and utilisation. He is a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology and the International Association for Food Protection. C O N F E R E N C E 2 0 1 6 N Z I F S T S P E C I A L Gary Acuff
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