Niche plant-based foods are often touted for their health benefits—but what’s less obvious is that they help prevent the spread of fungus.
It was a little like that Salmonella The epidemic, which will last from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021, was described in Thursday A study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The outbreak involves an unusual plant-based food that carries unusual bacteria. And with just two cases, health officials could be encouraged to identify the source before launching standard outbreak measures — an outbreak that could have spread across the country.
The food at the center of the outbreak was cashew brai — a vegan brai option — and the first two cases were in Tennessee. The two men said they had eaten the same brand of cashew braai at a restaurant before becoming ill. And they found that clinical isolates have the same unusual serotype Salmonella–S. Duisburg health officials conducted a complete genome sequence of the destructive bacteria to A National Repository of Pathogens Collected for disease surveillance. There were three genetically related matches: two isolates from California and one from Florida.
Some preliminary investigations revealed that one of the California patients ate the same brand of cashew brie, while Florida health officials said their patient followed a vegan diet. It was enough to solidify the early hypothesis that vegan cheese was the culprit, and state and federal health officials began working to debunk it.
Dirty fruits
Disease investigators collected 36 samples linked to the suspected faux bree: 20 retail cheese samples and 16 environmental samples collected from places where vegan cheese is made. Out of 20 retail samples, 19 were found to be contaminated Salmonella (95 percent), were four (25 percent) of the 16 environmental samples submitted from the manufacturing facility. Faced with overwhelming evidence, the maker of cashew brie; Joule foods provided voluntary recall.
The Food and Drug Administration has worked with Joule to track how it works. Salmonella I sneaked in a soft cheese substitute. The final source turns out to be the product’s star ingredient: cashews. The raw materials used for cheese are not subjected to a “killing treatment” such as pasteurization or irradiation before processing. The FDA worked with the cashier to fix this.
Many fruits in the United States are sold as “raw”, often not completely raw. Instead, they pass through steam, smoke, or other methods to kill dangerous pathogens. This isn’t always the case, as seen with the cashew brie outbreak, but it often is. For example, in 2007 Salmonella The outbreak has been linked to almonds The US Department of Agriculture has implemented the law That California nut – which accounts for the entire supply of nuts in the US – must be treated to destroy it Salmonella.
Finally, from Salmonella A strain linked to cashew brie samples has been identified by state and federal health officials Only 20 cases in four states In the epidemic. Five people were treated in the hospital, but there were no deaths.
Health officials noted in the MMWR report that “rapid identification, testing, and product recalls have prevented additional illnesses.” Salmonella In 95 percent of the cash products collected at retail locations during this investigation.
If you happen to be learning about the existence of cashew cheese for the first time, you are behind the times. It’s been around for a while – enough, in fact, to prompt another bit. Salmonella In the year Outbreak in 2014 A different brand of cashew cheeseAnd it affected 17 people in three states.