Simple steps can help avoid food-borne illnesses

Not so long ago, tomatoes looked like red juicy baubles bursting with healthy vitamins.

Now they're one more reason to worry about the safety of what we eat, with at least 228 cases of salmonella illness in 23 states linked to tomatoes so far. Federal officials say the suspect tomatoes have probably sickened many more people, because food-borne illness is notoriously underreported.

Still, these types of widespread agricultural outbreaks "are more the exception, rather than the rule," said Roberta Hammond, food and waterborne illness coordinator for the Florida Department of Health.

State health officials spend more time investigating food-borne illness caused the old-fashioned way: from food contaminated by improper preparation.

"Hand washing is the single most effective measure of prevention there is," she said.

This is a topic I know a little too much about, because my own children had a recent nasty episode health officials looked into. My two daughters and two of their friends became sick after eating at a local restaurant.

The outbreaks state health investigators see are most often caused by one of three mistakes, Hammond said:

• Failure to wash hands and follow basic hygiene when preparing food.

• Cross-contaminating cooked or ready-to-serve food with germs from raw food.

• Storing food at the wrong temperature.

That's what probably made my children sick, said Doug King, the environmental specialist at Hillsborough County Health Department who investigated our case. He believes the chicken the children ate was cooked, then stored in a refrigerator that wasn't cold enough.

King classified their episode as a "suspected outbreak" because we didn't report the incident until several days had passed. (For that reason, we're not naming the restaurant.) As with many health investigations, King wasn't able to test the children or the restaurant's food for germs. But he saw the restaurant's food storage violations.

"Foods that are cooked ahead of time, cooled and reheated, the potential is greater there," King said. "You're going through the danger zone several times. That's when the toxins grow."

On a more global scale, scientists at the University of South Florida are doing research that may soon help safeguard the nation's food supply.

They're working on tests that would identify bacteria faster — in a few hours, rather than days as happens now, pointed out USF microbiologist Daniel Lim.

"By the time you identify bacteria in the food, the food is already in the hands of the consumer," Lim said. "The only thing you can do is have a massive recall of food or warn the public, like they're doing with tomatoes."

As the director of USF's Advanced Biosensors Lab, Lim is working with biosensors — living molecules, such as antibodies — that could identify germs quickly. Lim envisions using the tests on produce before it leaves the farm, so tainted food doesn't reach consumers.

Federal agencies are supporting the research, which also could help identify anthrax, smallpox and other agents that could be used in bioterrorism.

If that's not enough to make you queasy, Hammond sees one bright spot in the tomato outbreak.

"For such a negative situation, there's a positive outcome," she said. "It reminds people to take precautions."

Lisa Greene can be reached at greene@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3322.