Simple pick-me-up food such as cold stir-fries, potato salad and cold cuts are for many Swedes the perfect summer meal. Sadly, however, there are some risks with some of this summer’s favourites, as they are also loved by bacteria that quickly grow in food.
Now reveals Jonas Toljandermicrobiologist at the Swedish Food Agency, which are most affected by the bacteria and which foods should be avoided.
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“Vomiting an awful lot”
News24 have previously written about food that is not suitable for eating on a picnic, because the food can quickly become toxic out in the heat.
Marie-Louise Danielsson-Thamprofessor of food hygiene, then told us that it is best to take ready-packaged food with you, because the risk of bacteria is less there, compared to home-cooked food.
She gives the bacteria staphylococcus as an example.
– Staphylococcus, of course. Who only need three hours, around 20 to 25 degrees, when they get down to something they love. What do they love then? Well, it’s messes like this, it’s roast beef, and then you’ve handled it with your hands, she says in the program and continues:
– A food poisoning poison that makes you vomit an awful lot, usually already during the picnic.
Professor Marie-Louise Danielsson-Tham is a guest on Nyhetsmorgon. Photo: Screenshot/TV4
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While anyone can be unlucky enough to get food poisoning, there are also people who are hit even harder by the bacteria that thrive in the summer heat.
Elderly, pregnant and sick people have a weakened immune system, which can make it really dangerous to eat food that the bacteria have managed to attach to.
This is what Jonas Toljander, microbiologist at the Swedish Food Agency, tells us in an interview with TV4.
– But then there are serious bacteria, such as Listeria, which can appear on sliced meat toppings and smoked vacuum-packed salmon. If you are in risk groups, for example the elderly and sick, with a weakened immune system, or pregnant, then you should be careful. Then you should eat fresh food that is kept chilled, he says in the program.
But what actually happens if an elderly person ingests Listeria through a sliced meat spread or a vacuum-packed piece of salmon?
Well, according to Toljander, it can have serious consequences.
– It can cause very serious symptoms with blood poisoning and sometimes death. We had a Listeria outbreak last year where there were a number of deaths that were suspected to be related to salmon, he tells TV4.
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