Sludge Watch ==> two stories: Food can pass resistant bacteria to people; fish with E.coli

[Maureen Reilly]

EFSA: Food can pass resistant bacteria to people
06.may.08
European Public Health Alliance
http://www.epha.org/a/2997


The use of antibiotics and other anti-microbial agents throughout the food 
chain contributes to the growth of resistant bacteria which can be passed on 
to humans through food, EU’s food agency said on 17 April 2008.
The resistance of bacteria has become a growing concern as anti-microbials 
become less effective in fighting infections, the European Food Safety 
Authority (EFSA) said in a statement.
This has coincided with a rise in bacterial resistance to anti-microbial 
agents in animals, the EFSA said, citing a draft opinion paper by one of its 
expert panels which was looking into causes of the growing and diverse range 
of resistant bacteria and bacteria-borne resistant genes.
EFSA said hygiene controls should be tightened at every stage of the food 
chain, from veterinary medicine to food processing and preparation, to 
prevent the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
The main foods carrying antimicrobial resistant bacteria were poultry meat, 
eggs, pork or beef as well as fresh salads, which can be contaminated during 
preparation, handling and processing, it said.
The panel found bacteria could be passed directly to people from 
contaminated food of animal origin carrying resistant bacteria which could 
colonize or infect people after ingestion.
Bacteria could also be passed to humans by the consumption of fresh produce 
from land irrigated with water contaminated by slurry or sewage. Food of 
animal and non-animal origin could also be contaminated during handling and 
preparation.
Next step
EFSA has called for more scientific information on the link between the use 
of anti-microbial agents in the food chain and transmission of the resistant 
bacteria to humans and runs consultations on the draft opinion until May 27.
Comments
EPHA urges the Commission to take this EFSA statement into account when 
deciding on allowing or not the commercialisation of resistant bacteria 
food.
This will be particularly true at the beginning of 2009 when the Commission 
will have to decide on the commercialisation of the Amflora potato.
Evidence indeed shows that this genetically modified potato developed by a 
German biotech company to produce unusually large quantities of starch 
contains the controversial antibiotics resistant marker genes kanamycin and 
neomycin.
It is thus very surprising that this biotech company is now undertaking an 
intensive lobbying, especially by a campaign in the media, to allow the 
commercialisation.
Likewise, this statement is relevant in a time when there is an important 
debate on the us chicken and the antibiotic resistant salmonella in 
campylobacter.




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UMD researchers find first known E. coli in fish
06.may.08
Duluth News Tribune


http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=65896&freebie_check&CFID=32193764&CFTOKEN=15598856&jsessionid=8830ad9bdb2b661363aa

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth have found E. coli in 
bottom-feeding bullheads, the first known case of the organism surviving in 
fish.
In a soon-to-be-published scientific paper, researchers under Randall Hicks, 
head of the school’s biology department, found
E. coli survived in but probably wasn’t produced by the fish.
“We believe benthic fish are a pathway, but not a source of
E. coli,’’ Hicks said Monday. The fish probably were picking up
E. coli in the sediment of the Duluth harbor.
Until recently, scientists believed E. coli came only from mammals. But now 
that’s not as clear, and some E. coli can even reproduce on its own in sand 
and soil.