Salmonella and Sicilian cherry tomatoes, the Ministry of Health: how to protect yourself from the risk
Climate change and water scarcity have changed the scenario, and the microbiological risk for vegetable products consumed raw has become more urgent
"In times of climate change, water scarcity and the re-use for agricultural purposes of sewage water, the issue of microbiological risk for plant products consumed raw is emerging and needs to be addressed.
A parlare con il Sole 24 Ore e Ugo Della Marta, direttore generale per l’igiene e la sicurezza degli alimenti e la nutrizione del ministero della Salute. La circolare del 30 ottobre 2024 che - a seguito del report Ecdc-Efsa, secondo cui ci sarebbe un nesso tra centinaia di casi di salmonella in Europa e i pomodorini siciliani - invitava Asl, assessorati regionali, associazioni agricole e di consumatori a veicolari messaggi di “buone pratiche di manipolazione casalinga” (ovvero lavaggi accurati) per i prodotti consumati crudi, reca la sua firma. Nella stessa circolare si chiedeva alla grande distribuzione di separare in maniera molto netta sugli scaffali i prodotti prima gamma (confezionati tal quali, senza processi di trasformazione o lavaggio), da quelli quarta gamma (come le insalate in busta che vengono confezionate già lavate) e di sollecitarne anche in questo caso lavag
"After the first reports from the Ecdc, we convened a round table with the zooprophylactic institutes, the reference laboratories, and above all with the Ministry of Agriculture, precisely to focus on the management aspect of these first range products," he says. "But since we are talking about safety, then it is good to include the fourth range as well.
The facts speak for themselves: from the outbreak of infection by shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli that occurred in 2011 in some EU countries due to the consumption of contaminated sprout salad, to the case of frozen minestrone improperly consumed as such and which gave rise to numerous cases of listeriosis, to cases of salmonellosis from the consumption of first range salads (rocket and spinach leaves), and finally to the suspicions of Sicilian cherry tomatoes due to cases of Salmonella stratchona.
'While some ranges of vegetable products were once considered to have a low microbiological risk, these assessments need to be revised today,' Della Marta comments.
