Experts: Let Produce Dry Out to Avoid Bacteria

Experts: Let Produce Dry Out to Avoid Bacteria

American researchers say farmers should wait one day after a rain storm or watering their fields to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables. They say gathering¹ the crops at least 24 hours after rainfall increases food safety. They say it also may be enough to protect those eating from fresh produce from food borne illnesses.

Listeria is a food borne bacteria. It grows best in wet conditions. Poisoning with Listeria monocytogenes can cause muscle pain. The person can also feel sick to the stomach and even experience diarrhea – the uncontrolled expulsion of wastes from the body.

Listeria can be a serious health threat for pregnant women and older adults. It can also threaten people with weak immune systems, like those with HIV, the virus responsible for the disease AIDS.

The bacterium² is everywhere in the environment, but usually grows in water. So, crops that are harvested shortly after they have been watered are likely to contain unsafe levels of disease-causing Listeria.

Martin Wiedmann teaches food safety at Cornell University in New York State. He and other researchers are urging farmers to wait 24 hours after a rainfall or watering fields before they harvest crops. By waiting, he says, a field has enough time to dry out.

“You're more likely to find Listeria for a very short time. After one day, it drops back more or less to the baseline normal level that we find (in the environment). So, we found this effect in water, but it's very short-lived. Within a day, you are back to normal."

The findings were reported in the journal Applied³ and Environmental Microbiology.

In crops like spinach⁴, Listeria levels were 25 times greater when harvested immediately after the plants were watered.

Martin Wiedmann says the bacterium can also be found in sandwich meat, especially when the meat is not kept to minus-four or minus-five degrees Celsius⁵. He says there are a number of other settings where unsafe levels of Listeria can hide.

"And so it's important to have the tools in place to control this organism everywhere from primary production, to food processing plants to retail⁶, to helping⁷ consumers make smart decisions on what foods to eat and how to cook food."

Martin Wiedmann notes that Listeria poisoning is less common in developing countries. In such areas, he adds, foods generally are not left in iceboxes or refrigeration equipment, another source of bacterial⁸ overgrowth.

Words in This Story

irrigation – v. to supply with water by using man-made equipment, such as pipes or waterways

immune system – n. the body’s natural defenses against diseases and infections

bacterium - n. any one of a group of small living things that can cause disease

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。