MRSA in the foodchain?

[nickmo]

In the food news today...

'...In the Netherlands, the MRSA strain has been found in 20 per cent of pork, 21 per cent of chicken and 3 per cent of beef on sale to the public, the UK's Soil Association stated in the study.

'This new type of MRSA is spreading like wildfire across Europe, and we know it is transferring from farm animals to humans - with serious health impacts," said Richard Young, a policy adviser to the Soil Association.

The association warned that MRSA found in farm animals have already transferred to farmers, farm-workers and their families in the Netherlands, causing serious health impacts.

About 40 per cent of pigs and 50 per cent of pig farmers in the Netherlands have been found to carry farm-animal MRSA, the Soil Association stated....'

Not yet found in the UK livestock but probably only a matter of time. This development is due to the practice of industrial scale producers using indiscriminate anti-biotics that allow the bacteria to develop a resistance.

Any relevant comments?

Further info on the link here

[Kim A]

Nick, in the article I read today, the problem seemed to be with supermarket meat. I'm assuming this is because of the intensively-reared nature of what's commonly available in Sainsbury's and the like. At the moment, it doesn't bother me over-much as I only buy my meat from small, local producers, pretty much all of whom are practically on first name terms with their stock prior to slaughter, but I'd be worried if I were a 'blue stripe' ready meal kind of a girl.

[nickmo]

Hi K - I know that there has been more publicity than just in the food circles - farming news sites have picked up on the release as well as national papers. I think it is about time that consumers are given the facts about their food and the provenance.

Is this not one further instance of s/markets demands for cheap produce having a cause and effect on the health of people? The lower a s/market can sell goods for as loss leaders, the worse off the shopper will become..cheap meat = poor quality = poor nutrition, poor taste and low price for the producers = no incentive to improve other than quantity...

Further worrying info about this human carrying of the bug is '....Medical officials found that 50% of Dutch farmers were carriers of the strain, a prevalence 1,500 times higher than the rest of the population.....' - ok, so what happens if one of the infected carriers comes to the UK and sneezes??

Plus, animal by-products (non muscle meat, like the spleen, liver, etc) get into the pet food chain - and that can lead to crossover to the human population too, given the right circumstances...

I agree 100% - stay shopping at local outlets, challenge suppliers as to the source of food, go to the farmers' markets etc etc etc

[Kim A]

Supermarkets demand cheap produce because the market demands it - if people didn't expect their food to be cheap, none of this would happen. You only get what you pay for, after all and whilst the supermarkets can get away with screwing the farmers and the public, there will always be a question mark over the quality of what's on sale to the greater part of the population. As for the MRSA being passed on by sneezing Dutch farmers, they're probably more worried about the thought of one of us dirty Brits going over there and ending up in their hospitals, where they apparently screen all non-Dutch patients for MRSA before they even consent to treat them-if they find MRSA infection during the screening process, you get isolated immediately and barrier nursed until it's treated - it's the same in Belgium, as well. But, I digress, sorry!

The animal by-product cross-over is quite worrying - hadn't thought of that - probably neither had most people, but hey, if they're happy to eat cheap food and not too bothered about it's provenance, they're hardly likely to worry about Tiddles.....................

Nice to see you back, by the way - you seem to have been 'off-line' for quite a while - or was there just nothing on here worth commenting on?

[nickmo]

Hi K - nice to know someone is missing my rants......! My cats are getting stir crazy with hearing me muttering about one issue or another......but this issue really got the fingers twitching....

Been caught up with stacks of 'real'world' business too - trying to get another book together, sorting events for the summer - next special outing for The Crisp Hut is a Seafood Festival on Sat. 7th July at Tarbert Loch Fyne with Nick Nairn doing some demos and a nice wee farmers' market - plus The Macdonald Brothers appearing on the 8th.... all welcome and a good beer tent on site anyway on Sunday..

Plus I think some of the queries have been a bit 'samey' on here for a bit so concentrated on other (profitable?) stuff.

Re. the testing for MRSA in humans - I gather DEFRA have no plans to test Dutch (or any other nations it seems) farm workers when visiting the UK despite the facts of the infections recorded and the efforts by other more responsible countries to tackle this issue now rather than when it is too late.

I thought the point of the EC was uniformity?

Anyway, hope you're not too damp....

[Zeddy]

As nasty as MRSA may be, what levels of E. coli o157 can be found in raw beef?
Like all other food, handle properly, separate from cooked products and cook thoroughly.
It won't be the last mutated strain of bacteria to appear...