Pre-washed leafy-greens salads offered in
supermarkets may be laced with parasites, judging by the results of a survey
conducted by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency.
When they tested 544 samples of store-bought,
pre-washed salads, they found parasites in 10 per cent of them.
The parasites were cyclospora, cryptosporidium
and giardia which can all cause diarrhea and stomach upsets.
The research team called this “a relatively high
prevalence of all three parasites” and said “this, along with the fact that all
isolates tested represented species and genotypes commonly reported in humans,
suggests that there is a potential for transmission to consumers, particularly
since these leafy greens are typically consumed raw."
Their findings have been published recently in
the Journal of Food Protection.
They found no link between their test results and
reports of food-poisoning outbreaks.
However, another study by the Centres for Disease
Control in the United States found that 46 per cent of food poisonings arise
from produce.
Brent Dixon, a parasite scientist with Health
Canada and one of the report’s authors, said the study breaks new ground for
scientists studying the North American food supply chain -- and serves as a
wake-up call.
"The fact (the parasites) are there at all
is of some concern to us," he told CTV News. All of the packages said the
salads had been pre-washed, in some cases three times.
Dixon said consumers could do their own washing",
but that still would not remove all of the parasites.
On the other hand, Dixon said the benefits of
eating raw greens likely outweighs the risks.
People who have suffered food poisoning from these products might have a different opinion.
