eNewsletter Signup

Receive the latest Food Safety and Industry insights, and get your FREE eBook "Food Safety in Australia".

Join & Download eBook

Product Highlight

Probe Thermometer
Probe Thermometer
$55.00

Salmonella from tainted pork?

A recent article in Applied and Environmental Microbiology indicates that people who eat tainted pork may contract  food poisoning from a type of Salmonella enterica originally found in pigs.

“The studies reported here support the observation that S. enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:– is an emerging hazard for humans and that hazard is directly linked to the consumption of contaminated pork,” writes Elizabeth Hauser, of the German National Reference Laboratory in Berlin, and colleagues in the article.
 
This type of Salmonella was originally seen in Spanish pigs during the 1990s and is increasing becoming linked to gastroenteritis worldwide. This has occurred to such a point that it is now considered one of the top 10 Salmonella strains in Europe and the US.
 
The study discussed in this article shows that there is a very close gentic relationship between the strain found in pigs and that in humans.
 
Therefore there is a likelihood that it can be transmitted to humans through tainted pork.
 
Good food safety techniques, particularly propoer cooking, will be essential to reduce this potential risk.
 
The article can be found at ;
 
Hauser E, Tietze E, Helmuth R, Junker E, Blank K, Prager R, et al. Pork contaminated with Salmonella enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:–, an emerging health risk for humans. Appl Environ Microbiol 2010, 76:4601–10. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02991-09