Unlike raw meats and eggs, potatoes are not a frequent vector for salmonella bacteria to infect humans. However, preparing potatoes along with ingredients that carry salmonella can cause the potatoes to become contaminated. Cooking and handling potatoes correctly can help prevent the chances of food poisoning by this noxious bacterium. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tracks potatoes and other edibles for recalls of processed and unprocessed foods due to salmonella contamination.
History
In March 2010, McCain Foods USA recalled its All American Roaster frozen potato product due to a pepper ingredient that might have been contaminated with salmonella. That same month, a seasoning supplier of hydrolyzed vegetable protein reported potential salmonella contamination. The warning spurred a recall of products that used the seasoning, including Procter & Gamble’s Pringles Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger potato crisps and Pringles Family Faves Taco Night potato crisps, Herr’s cracked pepper and sea-salt flavored Kettle Style Potato Chips and Lance’s Tom’s Barbecue Potato Crisps. No illnesses were caused by consuming these products were reported.
Expert Insight
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologists published a report in 2004 that looked at salmonella infections in the United States from 1985 to 1999, after salmonella emerged as an important illness in the 1980s. They found that undercooked eggs were the major risk factor for the disease. Potatoes were implicated in only three salmonella outbreaks during this period, and cross-contamination with raw eggs was suspected.
Effects
Potatoes infected with salmonella can cause healthy persons to experience diarrhea, which may be bloody, as well as fever, nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting. Salmonella can enter the bloodstream and produce arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis, although this is rare.
Warning
To avoid salmonella poisoning in potatoes and other ingredients, wash your hands before and after handling food. Clean utensils, tables, counter tops and cutting boards with 1 tsp. of chlorine bleach added to 1 quart of water after preparing meat and poultry, suggests the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Avoid storing cooked potatoes in the “danger zone,” which involves temperatures ranging between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Considerations
Other vectors for contamination of potatoes with salmonella include washing them with water contaminated with salmonella or preparing them without washing your hands thoroughly after using the toilet or changing a diaper, notes MayoClinic.com. Also be careful of touching pets, especially birds and reptiles, prior to preparing potatoes.
References
- FDA.gov: McCain Foods USA Announces Voluntary Recall of Frozen Potato Product Containing Black Pepper That May Pose Health Risk
- FDA.gov: P&G Joins Industry Ingredient Recall by Voluntarily Recalling Two Flavors of Pringles
- CDC: Salmonella Enteritidis Infections, United States, 1985–1999
- FDA.gov: Herr Foods Inc. Recalls 'Cracked Pepper and Sea Salt Flavored' Kettle Style Potato Chips
- FDA.gov: Lance, Inc. Has Issued a Voluntary Recall of All Tom's Barbecue Potato Chips Because Of A Possible Health Risk
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