Cheese With Listeria Contamination

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William Neuman, How safe Is That Cheese?  Small creamery duels with FDA over food safety; A symbolic battle in the larger fight between regulators and producers. New York Times, Nov. 20, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/business/20artisan.html?ref=business

Quote:

"listeria is a sometimes deadly bacteria that is especially hazardous for the very young and the very old. Pregnant women who become infected can have miscarriages or stillbirths.

"Federal and state regulators, meanwhile, say they have very real concerns about the safety of cheese, especially softer varieties like brie and mozzarella that are more likely to harbor listeria.


My comment:
(a) The left column of the same web page directs readers to another report written by the same journalist: As Cheesemaking Blooms, So Can Listeria.

The latter does not show up in the print. But it is interesting to read the eight paragraphs about Mrs. McCool's operation, in a neigoboring town of Washington state.

The rest of this report is similar to content of the feature report.
(2) The pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, causes food-borne diseases--fatal in rodents and USUALLY mild in humans (except in the newborns, teh elderly and those whose immune system is compromised).

Listaeria infection. Mayo Clinic, undated.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/listeria-infection/DS00963

Click "Causes" in the left colum and you will learn that cheese is not the only source of infection.

(3) "Responsible for approximately 2,500 illnesses and 500 deaths in the United States (U.S.) annually,33,7 Listeriosis is the leading cause of death among foodborne bacterial pathogens with fatality rates exceeding even Salmonella and Clostridium botulinum."
Vaishali Dharmarha, A Focus on Listeria monocytogenes. National gricultural Library, USDA, Dec 2008.
http://fsrio.nal.usda.gov/nal_web/fsrio/fsheet.php?id=221

(a) For the authorship and date of creation, see the bottom of teh web page.
(b) Reference 2 of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listeria_monocytogenes
cites it but its link no longer functions.

(4) "Listeria monocytogenes can be cultured from approximately 5% of raw (unpasteurized) milk samples * * * After reviewing these studies, a World Health Organization Working Group on foodborne listeriosis recently concluded that 'pasteurization is a safe process which reduces the number of L. monocytogenes occurring in raw milk to levels that do not pose an appreciable risk to human health.'"
Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Update -- Listeriosis and Pasteurized Milk. MMWR, 37(49);764-766 (Dec. 16, 1988).

MMWR stands for Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is published by CDC.

(5) I am a biologist by training. I am a rebel, too. But oftentimes I am utterly stumped by people (Americans and Taiwanese) who are irrational and do not know what they are talking (in my view anyway).

Many an American insist in drinking unpasteurized milk.
(a) David E Gumpert, Got Raw Milk?   Boston Globe Magazine, Mar. 23, 2008.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/03/23/got_raw_milk/

My comment: Read the first two paragraphs.

(b) Darry Madden, More dairies go raw; Drinkers say unpasteurized milk contains good bacteria. Boston Globe, Feb. 23, 2008.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/02/23/more_dairies_go_raw/




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