According to the news of the Official Website of the United Nations on the 27th, recently, many countries in Europe and the United States broke out a salmonella epidemic related to chocolate products produced in Belgium, which have been sold to at least 113 countries and regions, including China. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that 11 major European countries have reported salmonella food poisoning linked to the best-selling Kinder chocolate products produced in Belgium. From Belgium to the United States, there are more than 150 suspected cases of Salmonella.
Salmonellosis is characterized by acute fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the WHO. Symptoms usually begin 6 to 72 hours after ingestion of food or water contaminated with Salmonella, and the disease can last for 2 to 7 days. Children under 10 years of age are the most affected, accounting for about 89% of cases, and available data indicate that 9 patients are hospitalized. There are currently no fatalities.
Why is chocolate contaminated with Salmonella?
Chocolate is made from the seeds of a tropical tree, the cacao tree. Cocoa beans themselves have a bitter taste, but milk powder and sugar can be added to the processed products of cocoa beans (cocoa powder and cocoa butter) to create a firm, smooth chocolate.
Chocolate is rich in sugar lipids and has a complicated production process, so there is a possibility of contamination by microorganisms, especially Salmonella.
As one of the most familiar foodborne pathogens, Salmonella is most common in meat, eggs and milk. The above chocolate is most likely due to the contamination of salmonella by the raw milk powder.
What's more frightening is that the oil contained in chocolate can protect Salmonella from stomach acid, and eating contaminated chocolate is more likely to cause food poisoning or more serious symptoms.
How to prevent it?
The reason why Salmonella can be widely present in the external environment is because it can multiply in large quantities in environments above 20 °C. But once the temperature reaches 60°C, Salmonella can be killed within 15 minutes.