On Wednesday 7 September, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Taiwan reported that a random inspection of “instant” salads and cut fruit showed that 25 percent of products contained pathogenic bacteria exceeding allowable levels.
FDA Division of Research and Analysis official Lin Hsu-yang said the agency last year collected 100 samples of pre-prepared salads and cut fruit products to test for five types of pathogenic bacterium: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Enteropathogenic escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella.
Among the samples, 25 contained pathogenic bacterium — 23 had S. aureus, one had listeria and another had salmonella, he said.
“Staphylococcus aureus can often be found on the surface of human skin, so sometimes, if the people who handled the fruit and vegetables did not wash their hands properly or if they have bad personal hygiene, the food can be exposed to the bacteria,” Lin said.
He said eating food containing too much of the bacteria can cause symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea or abdominal pain, and it is one of the most common types of food poisoning.
He said people should cook sprouts and leafy vegetables, wash vegetables thoroughly for at least 10 to 15 minutes, and rinse pre-prepared salads with boiled water before eating to avoid possible infection.
