Understanding food safety does not just mean knowing what we should or should not eat. More importantly, we should understand the reasons why and learn more about food safety. Today, let’s learn something about the possible presence of salmonella in the foods we eat.

As poultry farming continues to expand in China, Chinese consumers are learning more about poultry and related products. Walmart’s “Poultry Excellence” project was developed in this environment based on collaboration with Chinese and overseas universities, major poultry producers in China and the government. This project aims to reduce salmonella contamination and a range of antibiotics residues in China’s poultry supply chain through a series of interventions and detections.

Recently, we held a dialogue with Professor Liao Ming, Vice President of South China Agricultural University, about how salmonella affects human health.

During this conversation, Professor Liao said that the main risks posed by salmonella are from medicine residues caused by unreasonable or incorrect use of antibacterials in the production process, as well as direct health hazards caused by certain serotypes of the bacteria, other infections caused by salmonella, and more. By understanding the hazards associated with salmonella, we can better understand risk control and its effects in the production process.

Liao Ming:
Liao Ming is the Vice President of South China Agricultural University, as well as a professor and doctoral supervisor. He joined SCAU’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997. His research and work mainly focuses on the area of poultry disease. Since working to combat SARS and avian flu in 2003, Professor Liao has twice won first prize from the National Science and Technology Progress Awards for his research on key technologies for the prevention and control of major animal epidemics.

Tips:
Salmonella is a bacteria of the Enterobacteriaceae family. It has strong survival abilities and thrives best at temperatures from 20 to 37 degrees Celsius. It can persist in animal feces for 1 to 2 months, survive the winter in soil and last for a long time in bacon, chickens and ducks. Salmonella in water can be eliminated through a five-minute oxidation treatment. Compared with other types of bacteria, salmonella is intolerant of heat and can be killed in 15 to 30 minutes at 55 to 60 degrees Celsius or in a few minutes at 100 degrees Celsius. Salmonella is commonly found in poultry, livestock and mice’s feces, and can easily contaminate foods. Also, salmonella is an indissoluble protein and does not produce indole. Salmonella contamination does not affect foods’ appearance, which makes it a common cause of food poisoning.

(Source: GMW.cn News Center – Xiamen Daily)