This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Last month, news media reported that people in the northeasternUnited States were getting sick from eating some processed meats.Health officials reported that a form of food poisoning calledlisteria was making people sick. They discovered that meatsprocessed at a factory in the state of Pennsylvania contained thatbacteria. At least forty cases of food poisoning have been reported.At least seven deaths have been blamed on listeria.
The meat-processing company ordered stores to remove more thantwelve-million kilograms of processed meats. The products werecooked chicken and turkey meats. It was the largest food recall inAmerican history.
The recall shows that people who prepare meats for sale must bevery careful. It does not matter if the meat is prepared in afactory or on a farm. People need to observe simple rules forpreparing meats.
In the case of the meat-processing company, listeria bacteriawere first found on equipment that moves products. Then the bacteriawere found in other parts of the factory.
The bacteria generally spread through the waste products ofanimals and from animal to animal. Often, animals used for meat areprocessed in conditions that permit listeria to infect them. Only afew infected animals are needed to spread listeria to processingequipment. Once dirty equipment carries the bacteria, it can spreadto meat products throughout a factory. That appears to be whathappened in Pennsylvania.
Listeria is most dangerous to pregnant women and their fetuses,children, and people who are already seriously sick. It can travelfrom the intestinal system to the blood and can infect the brain insome cases.
The United States Food and Drug administration and the Departmentof Agriculture have published studies on listeria. The reports saythat more than one-thousand-five hundred people are infected bylisteria every year in America. Studies say about four-hundredpeople die from it each year.
The best way to prevent listeria is to carefully clean equipmentand surfaces where meat, eggs and milk products are prepared. Peopleat risk should avoid uncooked meats or milk products that have notbeen heated to destroy bacteria. Cooking food completely destroyslisteria.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter.