A Swedish food safety researcher has called for greater awareness of the risks associated with plant-based foods.
“There is a naive belief that plant-based foods are safer than animal-based foods. Plant-based foods are just as vulnerable to the same pathogens that we find in meat, fish, milk and eggs,” said Jenny Schelin, a food safety researcher at Lund University in Sweden.
Schelin said there is a need to increase knowledge and awareness of the risks associated with plant-based foods.
“We have to learn how to cook these new ingredients to avoid food poisoning, such as lectins in beans that haven't been cooked properly,” she said.
“We know a lot about animal products and are well aware of the risk of pathogens. This knowledge is less extensive when it comes to plant materials, production processes and ready-to-eat foods, which sometimes leads to underestimation of risks, including serious illness in humans.”
Hygienic design
Processed plant-based foods often require more production steps, which means there are several points where things can go wrong and contaminants can be introduced into them.
Residues from plant-based products can also be difficult to wash off after production is complete. Among other things, plants contain more fibers that can get stuck in production equipment, Schelin said.
“This can cause microbiological problems if residues left over from a previous production run contain bacterial spores that may end up in the product produced in the next production run. We need to think about the design of the equipment, and cleaning methods need to be adapted to the new raw materials that we are now starting to prepare.”
Schelin said food safety knowledge needs to be maintained, expanded and passed on to younger generations, especially as people start eating new foods.
“We live in an incredibly privileged environment where access to water, refrigeration, refrigeration, energy and safe ready-to-eat food is taken for granted. But it has also made us vulnerable and serves as a reminder that more knowledge, awareness and understanding is always needed,” she said.
Listeria and energy efficiency research
Meanwhile, scientists warn that even small deviations in the cold chain can make pre-cut fruit a health hazard.
A study by researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) found that energy-saving measures, such as increasing temperatures during distribution and in store refrigerators, could have serious consequences for food safety. They investigated how Listeria monocytogenes grows in freshly cut fruit salads (fruit smoothies) under different storage conditions. The results were published in the journal Food magazine.
Current guidelines state that smoothies should be stored at no more than 4 degrees Celsius and for up to four days in stores.
A fruit cocktail consisting of pineapples, apples, melon and red grapes was inoculated with a strain of Listeria and stored at 4 and 8 degrees Celsius (39.2 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit) or at a dynamic temperature of 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit for one day and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit for seven days.
At 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit, bacteria numbers increased more than tenfold compared to storage at 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit, which the researchers say is enough to pose a health risk to vulnerable groups.
“We are seeing a worrying trend where energy efficiency is leading to higher refrigeration temperatures or shorter refrigeration times. This could have serious consequences for products like smoothies that are not cooked,” said Beatrix Alsanius, an SLU professor and one of the researchers.
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