為什么潛伏在綠葉蔬菜中的東西會讓你生病

為什么潛伏在綠葉蔬菜中的東西會讓你生病

Why is lettuce so often the culprit in illness outbreaks linked to the bacteria E. coli?

為什么生菜總是大腸桿菌引發(fā)疾病的罪魁禍?zhǔn)?

A total of 121 people from 25 US states have become ill from E. coli contamination linked to romaine lettuce between March 13 and April 21, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday. There has been one death in California resulting from an E. coli infection.

美國疾病控制與預(yù)防中心于本周三發(fā)布報告稱，在3月13日至4月21日期間，美國25個州共有121人因（食用）生菜感染大腸桿菌而致病。加州有一人死于大腸桿菌感染。

E. coli can be found living in the intestines of both people and animals, as well as in food and in the environment. Almost all strains of E. coli are harmless, but some can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

大腸桿菌既存在于人和動物的腸道內(nèi)，也存在于食物和環(huán)境中。幾乎所有的大腸桿菌都是無害的，但有些會引起胃痙攣、腹瀉和嘔吐。

Healthy adults usually recover from an infection of E. coli within a week, but some strains can cause more severe illness, especially in young children and older adults, who are at greater risk of developing kidney failure.

健康的成年人因大腸桿菌感染通常會在一周內(nèi)恢復(fù)，但有些菌株會導(dǎo)致更嚴(yán)重的疾病，尤其是兒童和老年人，他們患腎衰竭的風(fēng)險更大。

"Leafy greens, such as lettuce, can become contaminated in the field by soil, contaminated water, animals or improperly composted manure," said Jeff Farber, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety and a professor at University of Guelph in Ontario. "Lettuce can also be contaminated by bacteria during and after harvest from handling, storing and transporting the produce."

加拿大食品安全研究所所長、安大略省圭爾夫大學(xué)教授杰夫·法伯說:“生菜等綠葉蔬菜在地里可能會受到土壤、受污染的水、動物或不當(dāng)堆肥的污染。”“生菜在處理、儲存和運(yùn)輸過程中也會受到細(xì)菌污染。”

Usually, people eat romaine lettuce without cooking it, which could kill the germs. "Other raw fruits and vegetables that have come into contact with feces from infected animals are another common source of infection," Farber said.

通常情況下，人們吃生菜時不把它煮熟，而煮熟會殺死細(xì)菌。法伯說:“其他生的水果和蔬菜接觸了受感染動物的糞便，這是另一個常見的感染源。”

Popularity also plays a role in why lettuce is a frequent bad actor: "Lettuce is also eaten the most out of all the produce items," he said.

受歡迎程度也影響了為什么生菜經(jīng)常是一個壞角色:“在所有的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品中，生菜也是吃得最多的，”他說。

From 2010 through the current outbreak, nine outbreaks have been caused by green lettuce or sprouts, compared with 12 from all other food groups, including meat, flour and prepared products, the CDC reports.

疾控中心的報告稱，從2010年到目前的疫情爆發(fā)期間，綠色生菜或芽菜引發(fā)了九起疫情，而其他所有食品類別(包括肉類、面粉和加工食品)只有12起。

Many modes of contamination

多種污染方式

In the current outbreak, 52 of the 102 patients who have been interviewed by public health officials have been hospitalized, including 14 who developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.

在目前的疫情中，公共衛(wèi)生官員采訪的102名患者中有52人住院，其中14人出現(xiàn)了一種被稱為溶血性尿毒癥綜合征的腎衰竭。

Between 1998 and 2016, there were 45 outbreaks associated with E. coli in leafy vegetables reported in the United States, CDC spokeswoman Brittany Behm said. The new one is the largest outbreak of its kind since a deadly E. coli outbreak in 2006.

美國疾病控制與預(yù)防中心發(fā)言人布列塔尼貝母表示，1998年至2016年間，美國有45起與綠葉蔬菜中的大腸桿菌有關(guān)的疫情報告。這次新的疫情是自2006年致命的大腸桿菌爆發(fā)以來最大的一次。

In the new outbreak, the investigation revealed that several people in an Alaska correctional facility who became sick had consumed romaine lettuce sourced from Harrison Farms of Yuma, Arizona. The agency has not determined where in the supply chain contamination occurred.

在這次新爆發(fā)的疫情中，調(diào)查顯示，在阿拉斯加的一所監(jiān)獄中，有幾名病人食用了亞利桑那州尤馬市哈里森農(nóng)場出產(chǎn)的生菜。該機(jī)構(gòu)還沒有確定在供應(yīng)鏈的何處發(fā)生了污染。

"Lettuce can be contaminated in many different ways from the farm through the distribution chain," Behm said. "It could be from manure in the fields to contaminated water to contamination within a processing facility."

貝姆說:“從農(nóng)場到配送環(huán)節(jié)，生菜可能受到很多不同方式的污染。“可能是田里的肥料，可能是被污染的水，也可能是加工設(shè)施里的污染物。”

She added that, although commercial producers do some testing for E. coli on wash water and irrigation water, not every single product that makes it into the hands of a customer is tested.

她補(bǔ)充說，盡管商業(yè)生產(chǎn)商在洗滌用水和灌溉用水上對大腸桿菌進(jìn)行了一些檢測，但并不是每一種進(jìn)入消費(fèi)者手中的產(chǎn)品都經(jīng)過了檢測。