During the Chinese New Year, many families have the habit of storing meat, eggs, milk, vegetables and other foods. Leftovers are usually put in the refrigerator.
The refrigeration temperature of the home refrigerator is generally set at about 4 ° C. For many bacteria that can survive and multiply in low temperatures, this temperature is perfect. Although the freezer temperature of the refrigerator is below zero, it does not mean that there are no bacteria, and some bacteria are just dormant and may be resurrected once thawed.
The foodborne pathogenic microorganisms in the refrigerator are mainly "brought in" by food, etc., and the representative ones are Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Shigella and Yersinia. Today we will take the example of the "harmful bacteria" in the previous two refrigerators to teach you how to stay away from foodborne diseases.
Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes is known as Listeria monocytogenes, which is widely distributed in nature. Common contaminated foods are meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, aquatic products, etc. It can be transmitted through unclean food and is infected through the digestive tract.
Listeria monocytogenes usually causes intestinal infections, usually with an incubation period of 8 to 48 hours. Patients may experience symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, nausea, and vomiting, which can be cured in a few days. It can also invade the nervous system and circulatory system, lurking for up to 2 to 12 weeks, causing severe meningitis and sepsis, although the incidence is low, the case fatality rate is high.
Newborns, pregnant women, chronically ill patients, and the elderly whose immune systems are not fully developed are most likely to be knocked down by it. Among them, after a pregnant woman is infected with Listeria, she will only show mild cold symptoms, but it can cause serious consequences such as fetal infection and even miscarriage.
Warm tips: Listeria monocytogenes is very tenacious, can survive at 0 ° C ~ 45 ° C, especially in the refrigerator refrigeration temperature can still grow and reproduce. Therefore, the remaining meals in the refrigerator and cooked food should be thoroughly heated before being eaten again.
Listeria monocytogenes are generally not tolerant to high temperatures, the central temperature of food reaches more than 70 ° C, and can generally kill common foodborne pathogenic bacteria including Listeria monocytogenes for 5 minutes, and the general heat treatment cooking methods in the family can effectively kill the bacteria.
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salmonella
It is widely distributed in nature and often inhabits humans and animals, especially in the intestines of poultry, livestock and pets. The main contaminated foods are: meat and meat products, eggs and egg products, milk and dairy products, etc. Since Salmonella does not break down proteins, the surface of food does not seem to change after it is contaminated, so it should be thoroughly heated before eating foods such as meat, eggs and milk.
The most common symptoms of Salmonella infection are gastroenteritis, such as vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, the common incubation period is 12 to 36 hours, the course of the disease is generally 2 to 3 days, severe cases can cause dehydration, shock, some patients can develop sepsis, most common in children and people with weakened immunity.
Tips: Salmonella is not tolerant to high temperatures, the central temperature of food reaches more than 70 ° C, and it can generally kill common foodborne pathogens including Salmonella for 5 minutes. The general heat treatment cooking method in the home can effectively kill the bacteria.
(Source: Healthy China)