Food Warnings: raw eggs, frozen spinach, veggie smoothies, soft cheese, powdered pure caffeine, and kombucha tea

As your Shelf Life Advice editor, I read a lot of online articles, newspaper and magazine food sections, and university newsletters about food safety. From all this reading, I learn a lot about what's NOT safe or beneficial to eat.  Here are some interesting, and, in some cases, life-saving, bits of advice that can keep you away from risky foods and too much food.

Raw eggs:

In recent years, Australia has been plagued by foodborne outbreaks traced to the consumption of raw eggs.  The most recent outbreak occurred early in late February at a principal's conference in Queensland.  Of some 1,400 attendees, at least 250 wound up with food poisoning (gastroenteritis) caused by salmonella in raw or undercooked eggs.  Another Australian outbreak occurred in January, caused by fried ice cream served at an Asian-style restaurant. 

This news story served as a reminder to us to review important tips about handling eggs:

Before purchasing eggs, open the carton and make sure none of the eggs are cracked or broken.  If any are damaged, select another carton. 

Don't think that by washing shelled eggs you can avoid the pathogens that cause foodborne illness. The pathogens may be inside the shell.  Also, says an article in The Australian, washing eggs at home is not recommended because that makes the shell more vulnerable to bacterial invasion. 

Do not consume raw eggs!  Be sure that the eggs you eat at home (if they're not pasteurized) are cooked until they are hot and not runny. 

Do not use raw or undercooked eggs in recipes if the food is not going to be cooked thoroughly. Some recipes that may call for raw eggs are mayonnaise, aioli (which is similar to mayonnaise but is spicier with more garlic), eggnog, and tiramisu.  Note: commercial mayonnaise manufacturers use pasteurized eggs.  You can use these also. The taste may be slightly different, but, for the sake of safety, you can get used to it.

The following article deals with an egg recall in the U.S. and offers advice on how to handle eggs properly and deal with recipes calling for raw eggs: "Eggs: Why the Recall; How to Handle Eggs Safely."

To read more about eggs, check out the Q/As in the product section of Shelf Life Advice.  To reach a chart on the shelf life of different types of eggs and links to the Q/As on eggs, click on "Eggs and Egg Whites."

Update to smoothie article below, a warning about frozen spinach:  Frozen spinach, often used (with little or no cooking) in both smoothies and dips, has recently been subject to recall because bulk frozen spinach supplied by Coastal Green Vegetable Company was found to have listeria contamination. There have now been nearly 30 products affected by this recall including Amy's Kitchen (which recalled 70,000 cases), Wegmans' Organic Just Picked Spinach, and Target's Simply Balanced Frozen Organic Chopped Spinach. 

According to PSU Food Safety News, "Spinach is blanched before freezing.  Blanching, if done correctly, would eliminate the Listeria.  The issue is with post-blanching contamination.  Listeria is a known environmental bacterial pathogen that can become established in processing facilities.  If not controlled, it can contaminate the spinach after blanching in the freezing and packing steps."

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Veggie smoothies and soft cheese:

The blog PSU Food Safety News (the product of Martin Bucknavage, Pennsylvania State University's Senior Food Safety Extension Associate) recently announced both a specific and a general warning about veggie smoothies.  The specific news: Listeria was found in the spinach and kale ingredients used to make a smoothie blend. The general warning is that listeria can contaminate vegetables such as kale or spinach either while they're in the field or in storage, the latter being more problematic since the storage areas are likely to be damp, which is conducive to the growth of listeria.  The veggies might be stored long enough to keep them from one season to the next so that they are available all year round, which creates greater opportunity for listeria to grow.

Sufficient cooking would kill the pathogens, but these (and other) veggies are often thrown into blenders raw. Frozen vegetables can also be a health risk. They are generally produced with the expectation that they will be cooked before they're consumed.  But the consumer making a veggie smoothie or a dip is likely to use them without cooking them first.   

Safety measures recommended by PSU Food Safety News are directed to companies that produce veggie smoothies commercially and to individual consumers who whip them up at home.  Here's the advice:

• ŸCompanies making veggie smoothies are urged to use a washing/sanitizing step before blending, and, after blending, to refrigerate promptly and give the products "a tight shelf life." 
• Consumers who make their own veggie smoothies should be sure to use produce that is in good condition, wash the produce well, and consume the drink immediately after blending.

Other pathogens in addition to listeria are associated with raw vegetables, but the risk is lower if farmers are following the proper procedures.

PSU Food Safety News also warns consumers about soft cheeses. A Washington state company recalled its soft cheese products after 3 cases of listeria (including 1 death) were linked to the firm.  To read more about the dangers of consuming unpasteurized soft cheese, go to "FAQs about Soft Cheeses--What's Safe, What Isn't."  To reach links to even more information on this topic, type "soft cheese" into the search box on the home page.

Powdered pure caffeine:

The University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter recently warned its readers about powdered pure caffeine, after the FDA issued its warning about this product, following the death of a teenager who consumed it. Commonly sold on the internet, powdered pure caffeine is dangerously powerful. According to the FDA, just one teaspoon has as much caffeine as about 25 cups of coffee (3,000 milligrams, when the recommended daily safe consumption of caffeine for healthy adults is about 500 milligrams).  The recommended dose of the pure powdered product is 1/16 to 1/64 teaspoon, but it's impossible to measure that with the utensils in most households.  Too much caffeine can cause unpleasant, even dangerous symptoms such as vomiting, disorientation, rapid heartbeat, and seizures. Everyone should avoid using powdered pure caffeine but especially children, teens, and pregnant women. 

To read more about how much caffeine (and coffee) is safe to drink, go to "Coffee, coffee everywhere--but how much can I drink?" on this site. 

Kombucha tea:

Kombucha tea, says Wikipedia, "is a lightly effervescent fermented drink of sweetened black and/or green tea that is used as a functional food. It is produced by fermenting the tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast."

You can buy kombucha tea in stores, but don't.  That's the advice from Consumer Reports on Health.  This product has been in the news because of claims that drinking it helps to prevent cancer and heart disease, improve liver function, and boost immunity.  If only all that were true.  However, says the newsletter, "there's no reliable research to back up any of those claims." Furthermore, "it's possible for the yeast and bacteria culture to become contaminated with illness-causing molds and fungi."  Considering all this, forget it.

The risks of dining from a buffet:

I know what you're thinking. You expect me to say that buffet food may have been sitting out at room temperature too long, so it's going to give you a foodborne illness. And that can happen. But that's not the latest news about serving yourself, most likely from a buffet. A review of studies published in the International Journal of Obesity and discussed in the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter analyzed the behavior of 1,200 diners from 8 countries, including the U.S.  The review found that 92% of the participants ate every bit of food they served themselves.  This was true regardless of nationality, gender, or setting (in a real-life situation or in a lab).  That sounds like a positive finding if you're biggest concern is cutting down on food waste. Then, the clean-plate diners are to be commended. But if you worry more about the obesity epidemic in the U.S. (and elsewhere), you'd like to see people help themselves to smaller portions.  Then, eating it all would be just fine. The Wellness Letter suggests that smaller plates and bowls would encourage diners to eat less.

Your editor's response:

• Yes, the small plate suggestion does work.  Therefore, if you're the host or hostess and want your guests to eat heartily, don't give them tiny plates.  Got overweight guests?  Serve an irresistible salad.
• If you invite an obese or dieting friend to eat out with you, don't take your guest to a buffet dinner.  He/she will probably overeat and then blame you doing so.

Source(s):

theaustralian.com "Egg warning over Vic salmonella outbreak"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/egg-warning-over-vic-salmonella-outbreak/story-fn3dxiwe-1226843708863

pennstatefoodsafety.blogspot.com "Vegetables Smoothie Blends and Listeria - Recall and Controlling Risk" and "Soft Cheese Recalled in WA After Being Linked to 3 Listeria Cases."

http://pennstatefoodsafety.blogspot.com/2015/01/vegatable-smoothie-blends-and-listeria.html

Consumer Reports on Health, Tip of the Month, "I keep seeing kombucha tea for sale at stores.  What is kombucha, and is it safe?" March 2015.

Wikipedia, "Kombucha."

University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, December 2014:

"Wellness Made Easy" paragraphs about powdered pure caffeine and serving yourself food.