WASHINGTON, June 29, (Agencies): Clean. Cook. Chill. Separate.
That’s the message of a new US government campaign to raise awareness of safe food handling in the wake of a European E. coli outbreak that has killed almost 50 people.
The campaign, launched just before the barbeque-heavy Fourth of July holiday, hopes to remind busy home chefs to clean off surfaces and utensils, wash hands, separate raw meats from other foods, and cook meat to the right temperature, among other safety precautions.
The ad blitz – it will be seen on television, in print, and through social media – is spearheaded by the Ad Council, which is behind other famous government ad campaigns like “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk” and Smokey the Bear’s efforts to stamp out forest fires.
“This is just a good reminder to make sure that in the rush of trying to get the meal on the table you don’t forget one of these rules and put yourself at additional risk,” says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million people – or one in six Americans – are sickened every year by a foodborne illness. Of that, 180,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. The last several years have seen high-profile outbreaks in peanuts, eggs and produce.
Campaign
The USDA is launching the campaign this week to get the message out as people plan holiday cookouts. Elisabeth Hagen, head of food safety at USDA, says consumers too often ignore the temperature of meat. Ground beef, which is more prone to pathogens than other cuts of beef, should always be cooked through to 160 degrees Fahrenhei (71 degrees Celsius). Color is not always a reliable indicator.
“The most important thing you can do is buy yourself a meat thermometer and use it,” Hagen says.
Government officials hope that the ads will be as successful as previous federal advertising efforts, like those aimed at increasing seat belt use or curbing drunk driving. The ads attempt to use humor to get the message across, including one spot in which a mom orders a chicken to sit on the opposite side of the living room from a bunch of carrots, urging consumers to separate raw meats and other foods.
Meanwhile, An outbreak of salmonella poisoning in salad sprouts has sickened 21 people in the United States but is not connected to the German E. coli outbreak, health authorities said Tuesday.
The illnesses arose between April 12 and June 7 and so far have spanned five states. Three people have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
“A total of 21 persons with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from five states: Idaho (three), Montana (seven), North Dakota (one), New Jersey (one) and Washington (nine),” the CDC said.
In related story, Germany has reported one more death in Europe’s E. coli outbreak, taking the total to at least 48.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s disease control center, said Tuesday 47 deaths have now been reported in the country. One person has died in Sweden and officials say one death in the U.S. may be linked to the outbreak.
New infections have declined significantly over recent weeks but overall numbers are still rising due to delays in notification.
The disease control center says 3,901 people have been reported sick in Germany – including 838 suffering from a complication that can lead to kidney failure.
A further 119 cases have been reported in 15 other countries.
The source has been traced to a sprout farm in northern Germany. It’s unclear how the sprouts were contaminated.
Avoid
Dutch and British health officials advised people to avoid raw sprouts and seeds on Monday after scientists linked an outbreak of E. coli in France to a highly toxic one in Germany.
A British health safety expert said it was very unlikely to be pure coincidence that sprouted salad seeds have been fingered as the probable source of both outbreaks.
Seven people in Bordeaux remained hospitalised on Monday, French authorities said, with one still in intensive care, after being infected by the E.coli bacteria. Another patient had left intensive care and been moved to a department specialising in kidney disorders, while the condition of a 78-year-old woman had improved to stable from serious.
“The condition of the 78-year-old person has stabilised since yesterday,” regional health authorities said in a statement, which a medical source said was a sign that she was improving.
French authorities say at least two of those affected have been found to have the same rare strain of the infection that has infected thousands in Germany.
European Union food safety and disease prevention agencies on Wednesday recommended thorough cooking of fenugreek sprouts following outbreaks of E.coli linked to sprouts in France and Germany.
The two bodies conducted a study and said that they “strongly recommend to advise consumers not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly”.