Healthy can also be dangerous
Who hasn't already bought ready-cut salads or raw vegetables in the supermarket? Wrapped in foil, pre-washed and well mixed - at first glance very convenient. If the mixture still looks crisp and fresh, salads or raw food mixtures are among the popular foods that are healthy and enrich the usual food with vitamins, minerals and trace elements. The green or red lettuce leaves supply the organism with beta-carotene, vitamin B1, B2 and B6, as well as vitamin C. They also contain minerals such as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium as well as the "blood-forming" trace element iron.
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"So far, so good," says Prof. Gerd Glaeske, "if there were no current study results. These indicate that finished salad mixtures can be contaminated with germs. "And that can be problematic for the health , warns the director of the longer better live - Institut, a co-operation of University of Bremen and health insurance company BKK24, of possible consequences with view of the investigations of Kornelia Smalla. The professor from the Julius Kühn Institute in Braunschweig has discovered that salads can contain germs that are resistant to antibiotics and can therefore lead to infections that are difficult to treat. "Such germs are found, for example, in liquid manure, sewage sludge, soil and water. And if this liquid manure is then distributed on the fields with vegetable cultivation, salad plants can be the possible "source" of the resistant germs, according to Prof. Glaeske.
Initially, the scientists only paid attention to the mostly harmless intestinal bacteria of the Escherichia coli type in mixed salads, in rocket salads and in the spice plant coriander. "Among these bacteria, however, there are already those that have developed resistance to antibiotics of the tetracycline type that are used in many different infections," said Prof. Glaeske explaining the danger: "If, for example, certain infections caused by such bacteria occur in people with a weakened immune system after eating salads or vegetables, treatment with antibiotics of the tetracycline type could no longer have the expected and necessary effect.
But what is the recommendation based on the results? The most important thing is to wash leaf salads and fresh herbs thoroughly and thoroughly with drinking water before eating them in order to reduce the risk of germ absorption. However, you can only be sure if the raw food and herbs are heated to 70 degrees for at least two minutes. Pregnant women and people who have a weakened immune system due to certain illnesses or because of their old age and thus reduced defences should avoid ready-mixed foods completely if possible. To ensure that healthy people do not become a danger, Prof. Glaeske recommends buying fresh and loose salads and raw vegetables and preparing them yourself. In addition in the sense of the BKK24 health initiative ?longer better live? if possible five portions of fruit and vegetable daily to consume.
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