快猫短视频

FOOD poisoning rockets in summer, but it鈥檚 not down to dodgy cooking on the
barbecue. Poor hygiene on farms and abattoirs is to blame for the rise in
illness, say British researchers.

People in England and Wales are up to five times as likely to get food
poisoning in summer. To pinpoint the cause, environmental risk analysts Ian
Langton and Graham Bentham from the University of East Anglia in Norwich tried
to correlate average temperatures with food poisoning cases each week. They
found the number of cases was linked to high temperature when the food was being
produced, two to five weeks before it was eaten. 鈥淭he consumer has always been
blamed, but it looks like a bigger problem is the food production process,鈥� says
Langton.

According to Langton, high temperatures stress intensively reared animals
even further, making them more susceptible to infection. Bacteria also grow
faster in warm weather, so any unhygienic practices on farms or abattoirs have
serious consequences. Another problem is the reduction in the number of
abattoirs. 鈥淭he animals are transported longer distances, and to put it bluntly,
they shit all over the lorry,鈥� says Langton. 鈥淚t is not a good environment.鈥�

This means that food we buy in summer is more likely to make us sick.
Bacteria in food grow rapidly at any opportunity鈥攊n the car on the way
home from the supermarket, for example. 鈥淓ven half an hour is enough time for
the outside of a chicken to heat up considerably,鈥� says Langton.

Almost 90,000 cases of food poisoning were reported in England and Wales in
1999. Because most cases go unreported, some experts believe the true number
could be 30 times as high. Lifestyle changes have undoubtedly contributed to the
rise in food poisoning over the past few decades: eating more white meat, which
can contain a range of pathogens, more convenience foods, and buying food from
out-of-town supermarkets rather than local shops.

But Langton says the food industry must adapt to these changes and take
responsibility for providing safer food. 鈥淭oo much of the food people buy has
the potential to be a risk. You can鈥檛 blame the consumer. If you buy food it
should be safe.鈥�