On January 3rd a Probus member, Chris McDevitt, gave an excellent talk entitled ‘Food Poisoning – an Environmental View’.

Standing in at short notice for the scheduled speaker who was unable to be present, Chris, an agronomist, gave a comprehensive, fascinating and at times frightening account of food processing today, and the risks of bacterial infection.

Outlining the major bacteria involved – campylobacter, salmonella, e.coli and clostridium – Chris told us that we eat 1 Billion chickens p.a. in the UK, mostly intensively reared, and many develop antibacterial resistance. While salmonella is reducing in incidence with the increasing size of farms, campylobacter is increasing, with 75% of chickens contaminated. Heavy disinfection – using chlorinated water in the Americas – has reduced that risk, but this is banned in EU!

Some helpful tips were – to not wash chicken meat at home (you just spread any infection). Cook thoroughly, using good kitchen hygiene. Semi-cooked minced beef (e.g. BBQ’d) is really dangerous (it’s an e.coli ‘gravy’!). Poorly canned corned beef can cause botulism. Finally, look closely at the legs of chickens to assess their freshness! There were many questions from a well-informed and very interested audience.