Recent Studies presented in the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, indicates that we humans may be eating food that is causing a rise in antibiotic resistant infections.
Dr. Hua Wang (Ohio State university) who presented the study said that the food we eat could be an important source of this antibiotic resistant evolution in microbes. Over the past few years, normal infection like malaria, flu and many more are becoming more and more dangerous as the microbes have been developing antibiotic resistance. This makes it harder to treat the patient as the regular antibiotics are to able to fight the disease causing microbes. Earlier on this rise in resistance was attributed to the fact that doctors and physicians were more easily prescribing powerful antibiotic to patients thus flooding the general population with these drugs. Thus it allowed the very few number of resistant varieties of microbes to grow in number and now cause the problem we face.
Studies now show that food intake may also be a key factor that has led to rise in these resistant varieties. The way microbes may gain antibiotic resistance is through a process called Horizontal Gene Transfer." this is a process by which bacteria in close proximity to each other can share genetic information thus making non resistant varieties, resistant. This problem is not being studied further in greater detail as it may present a huge problem for Modern Medicine.
Another scary fact is that is has also been shown that babies who have been feed only on breast milk also show the presence of these resistant varieties of microbes in their intestines. This, means that he source of these microbes can also be outside the food supply. Thus now environmental factors are also being studies as a vector form to transfer genetic information from resistant varieties to non-resistant varieties.
Dr. Hua is currently working on methods by which resistant genes can be minimized in our foods. So next time you buy something from the supermarket make sure you cook it nicely and you know exactly what is the source of your food products.
Showing posts with label food processing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food processing. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Processors called to arms in anti-biotic resistance battle
By Neil Merrett
5/25/2007- Food processing must play a role in preventing the evolutionary shifts that lead to bacterial antibiotic resistance, according to new research from the US.
Hua Wang, who is helping oversee the study at Ohio University, says that manufacturers within the food industry will have to face up to the growing dangers posed by the spread of bacterial resistance in the food chain.
"Data indicates that food could be an important avenue for antibiotic-resistant bacterial evolution and dissemination," she said, speaking at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in Toronto this week.
"The role of commensals [bacteria found normally in the gut], especially food-borne microbes, in transmitting resistance genes are becoming a concern to the scientific community," she added.
The growth in antibiotic resistance has been blamed on a process known as horizontal gene transfer, in which bacteria strains within close proximity can share genetic information, says the ASM. This shared material has been found to include coding for antibiotic resistance.
The ASM add that the process has already been identified with hospital environments, and is now being linked to food processing.
According to studies conducted last year by Hua and her colleagues, ready to eat food products carried bacteria with some form of antibiotic-resistance.
Though resistance was not linked to pathogens in processed cheese and yoghurt, it was found in a variety of products like seafood, meats, dairy and deli items.
However, the findings that horizontal gene transfer can also occur within both commensal and beneficial strains of bacteria are of particular concern for food processors and formulators.
While establishing that food processing may be aiding antibiotic resistance in bacteria, Hua suggests that it could be used to prevent further spreads.
By working with her colleagues, she hopes to establish conditions that can minimize horizontal gene transfer within the fermentation of products. It is hoped that the research could lead to breakthroughs in other types of food production.
"Given the proper investment of money, effort and time we can identify the steps that need to be taken at the processing level to minimize the emergence of antibiotic resistance genes in our food supply," says Hua.
5/25/2007- Food processing must play a role in preventing the evolutionary shifts that lead to bacterial antibiotic resistance, according to new research from the US.
Hua Wang, who is helping oversee the study at Ohio University, says that manufacturers within the food industry will have to face up to the growing dangers posed by the spread of bacterial resistance in the food chain.
"Data indicates that food could be an important avenue for antibiotic-resistant bacterial evolution and dissemination," she said, speaking at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in Toronto this week.
"The role of commensals [bacteria found normally in the gut], especially food-borne microbes, in transmitting resistance genes are becoming a concern to the scientific community," she added.
The growth in antibiotic resistance has been blamed on a process known as horizontal gene transfer, in which bacteria strains within close proximity can share genetic information, says the ASM. This shared material has been found to include coding for antibiotic resistance.
The ASM add that the process has already been identified with hospital environments, and is now being linked to food processing.
According to studies conducted last year by Hua and her colleagues, ready to eat food products carried bacteria with some form of antibiotic-resistance.
Though resistance was not linked to pathogens in processed cheese and yoghurt, it was found in a variety of products like seafood, meats, dairy and deli items.
However, the findings that horizontal gene transfer can also occur within both commensal and beneficial strains of bacteria are of particular concern for food processors and formulators.
While establishing that food processing may be aiding antibiotic resistance in bacteria, Hua suggests that it could be used to prevent further spreads.
By working with her colleagues, she hopes to establish conditions that can minimize horizontal gene transfer within the fermentation of products. It is hoped that the research could lead to breakthroughs in other types of food production.
"Given the proper investment of money, effort and time we can identify the steps that need to be taken at the processing level to minimize the emergence of antibiotic resistance genes in our food supply," says Hua.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
