Journal Club - Organic Vegetables are Contaminated with Microbes
People are consuming organic vegetables not only because organic production help reduce public health risks, but mounting evidence shows that food grown organically are rich in nutrients, such as Vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, with less exposure to nitrates and pesticide residues in organically grown fruits, vegetable.
HOWEVER New research presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Lisbon, Portugal suggests that disease-causing amoebas that live on 1,10 organic leafy vegetables can shelter human pathogens like Pseudomonas, Salmonella, and Helicobacter and are a potential risk to public health. The study is by Dr Yolanda Moreno FROM SPAIN.
There is a growing demand for organically grown fruit and vegetables as people strive to eat healthy diets and amid concerns over potential contamination from pesticides, chemical fertilisers and herbicides.
Foodborne illness from consuming contaminated fresh produce is common and can have serious effects on human health, especially when eaten raw. Vegetables can become contaminated with certain protozoa (single-celled organisms) such as free-living amoebae (FLA), that feed on bacteria and can act as hosts to pathogenic bacteria (the so-called "Trojan horses") which resist FLA digestion and could be a threat to public health.
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