MRSA infected foods safe to
eat, says EFSA
Source of
Article: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/MRSA-infected-foods-safe-to-eat-says-EFSA By Rory Harrington, 18-Jun-2009
The superbug meticillin resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is able to infect food but eating or handling
tainted produce does not present an increased health hazard to humans, a new
report has said.
However, the study, compiled jointly by European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA), the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and the
European Medicines Agency (EMEA), found that people who work closely with
MRSA-infected animals are at risk of catching the bacteria. Farmers,
veterinarians and their families face the greatest threat, they concluded. The research also highlighted the hazards from overuse of
antimicrobial medicines for animals and recommended exploring the development
of alternative treatments. Increasing concerns The research will confirm claims made by a number of bodies, including
the UK’s Soil Association, which previously claimed the bacteria was present
in animals and able to jump across species. The European health agencies
acknowledged that it carried out the research because of “increasing concern
about the public health impact of MRSA” from food producing and companion
animals. The report found that in food producing species a new MRSA
clone called CC398 had emerged – and is most often carried without symptoms
by pigs, veal calves and broiler chickens. This strain can in rare cases
trigger serious skin and soft tissue infections, pneumonia and blood
poisoning in humans. Food can be tainted by MRSA - including the CC398 strain. But while
the report found that “eating and handling contaminated food is a potential
vehicle for transmission” but that there is currently “no evidence for
increased risk of human colonization or infection” following contact with
MRSA-contaminated produce. An EFSA
statement concluded: "While food may be contaminated by MRSA there is
currently no evidence that eating or handling contaminated food can lead to
an increased health risk for humans." This finding has been welcomed by the Confederation of the Food and
Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA) as “reassuring for consumers”. But the body
said it was “important to continue to monitor this issue and carry out
further research”. The EFSA report concluded that the most effective control measures for
MRSA will be at farm level, since animal movement and contact between live
animals and humans are likely to be important factors in the transmission of
the bug. Antimicrobial alternatives needed
MRSA is known to be resistant to antimicrobial veterinary medicines
and the European health agencies cautioned that “prudent use of
antimicrobials in animals” should be key. “Any measures to be taken should
consider all antimicrobials with the aim to eliminate unnecessary use or
replace use with other strategies," they recommended. Intensive farming accused The UK’s Soil Association has also welcomed the study and said it
agreed with its overall conclusion. But the organization raised concerns over
the role of intensive farming practices of animals used in food production in
the emergence of MRSA. “It is because of the intensive conditions in which they are raised
that animals are so frequently sick and require frequent antibiotic treatment,”
said Soil Association policy advisor Richard Young. He added that in the UK,
the two most intensively reared species, pigs and poultry, account for 96% of
farm antibiotic consumption, with similar patterns occurring abroad. “It is no coincidence that MRSA emerged first in European pigs and is
now becoming established in European poultry. Any serious attempt to reduce
agricultural antibiotic consumption must therefore involve moving to less
intensive and more free-range rearing,” said Young. He also called on the UK Government to publish results of its own
research on incidents of MRSA in pigs, as other EU member states have. Young
also criticised UK authorities for “refusing to test British poultry, even
though studies in other European countries have already found that MRSA is
present in poultry”. |
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