Las Multi-resistant bacteria can spread from animals to humans through the food chain but, due to trade sensitivities, data on levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria in food are not widely available.
To delve into them, a team led by Azucena Mora Gutiérrez and Vanesa García Menéndez, from the University of Santiago de Compostela, designed a series of experiments to assess multiresistance levels in meat for sale in Spanish supermarkets.
Total analyzed 100 meat products: chicken, turkey, beef and pork in an identical proportion. All samples were collected in supermarkets in Oviedo throughout 2020. The resultspresented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases held in Copenhagen, Denmark, show that almost 3 out of 4 meat products contained levels of E. coli They were within food safety limits.
Despite this, almost half (49%) contained multidrug-resistant E. coli and/or potentially pathogenic. also recovered 12 isolates of K. pneumoniae (bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections, pneumonia or sepsis among others). In total, 84% of the samples presented different risks, including resistance genes and virulence traits.
“The consumer plays a key role in food safety through a correct handling of food – explains Mora Gutiérrez –. The Cconsumer advice These include not breaking the cold chain from the supermarket to the home, cooking meat thoroughly, storing it properly in the refrigerator, and properly sanitize knives, cutting boards, and other kitchen utensils used to prepare raw meat to prevent cross-contamination. With these measures, eating meat becomes a pleasure and zero risk.”
Still, the most worrying conclusion was that it was found Multiresistant E. coli in 40% of samples. The percentage, by type of meat that most frequently carried this bacterium was turkey (68%), chicken (56%), beef (16%) and pork (12%). This increased presence of E. coli strains in poultry compared to other types of meat is probably due to differences in production and slaughter.
“Las farm-to-table interventions They must be a priority to protect the consumer – concludes Mora Gutiérrez -. For example, the implementation of surveillance laboratory methods to allow further study of high-risk bacteria, mainly in farm animals and meat, and their evolution due to the latest European Union restriction programs on the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine. But it would also be necessary to install strategies at the farm level, such as vaccines, to reduce the presence of specific multi-resistant and pathogenic bacteria in animals used for food productionwhich would reduce the transport of meat and the risk for the consumer”.
Although the authors do not clarify this point, it would be interesting to know if the figures found Did they have any link to the pandemic? (the samples were taken in 2020) and whether the fact of having analyzed only one city in a community with a long tradition of beef consumption (Asturias) could have influenced the results. Would they be different if they had been done in other communities?
2023-04-25 08:28:08
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