Tag Archives: Antibacterial

Are you okay to kiss?

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Amy and I (right, exactly as shown) cuddle and have PDAs (public displays of affection) all the time, even with baby Sorenne. But at bedtime, there’s a sleeping position rule: no up close face-to-face.

She says she doesn’t like to breathe used air.

Can’t fault her with that.

But maybe this will help.

Tel Aviv University researchers have come up a pocket-size breath test which lets you know if malodorous bacteria are brewing in your mouth. A blue result suggests you need a toothbrush. But if it’s clear, you’re "okay to kiss."

Until now, scientists believed that only one population of bacteria (the Gram-negative ones) break down the proteins in the mouth and produce foul odor. But Prof. Mel Rosenberg and Dr. Nir Sterer of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine recently discovered that the other population of bacteria (the Gram-positive ones) are bad breath’s bacterial partner. These bacteria appear to help the Gram-negative ones by producing enzymes that chop sugary bits off the proteins that make them more easily degraded. This enzymatic activity, present in saliva, serves as the basis for the new "OkayToKiss" test.

Prof. Rosenberg, international authority on the diagnosis and treatment of bad breath, who co-developed the kit with Dr. Sterer, published their findings this past March in the Journal of Breath Research.

It’s one of my favorite journals.
 

Scotland’s water coolers teeming with dangerous bacteria

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My friend Dave got into the bottled water biz in the 1980s in Hamilton, Ontario, providing those 5-gallon jugs for water dispensers at home and offices. I never was into that stuff, but the 5-gallon plastic carboys that people haul to the grocery store for a refill are excellent secondary fermentation vessels for home beer production.

But, for those who work in an office, the water cooler is, I’m told, the place for gossip, flirting and bacteria.

The Sunday Herald reports that tests for watchdog organization, Consumer Focus Scotland, found potentially dangerous bacteria in drinking water dispensers in workplaces, schools and care homes. The group says the dispensers need to be better cleaned and maintained, and that the Scottish government, along with the Food Standards Agency, should review existing legislation because it is difficult to enforce.

Environmental health officers found bacterial contamination in 23 out of 87 water dispensers sampled in Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders. They tested for five types of bacteria known to cause illness, particularly in people who are vulnerable due to frailty or ill-health.

Water from bottle-supplied coolers was the most contaminated, with 14 out of 35 samples containing bacteria. Eight samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria, usually associated with faeces, and three contained staphylococcus aureus, which can cause serious illnesses.

Nine of the 52 samples from plumbed-in coolers taking water from the mains were also found to be contaminated, sometimes by more than one type of bacteria.

The contamination is thought to be due to the poor hygiene habits of some drinkers. Unwashed hands, putting mouths to taps and refilling dirty bottles could all be to blame.

ROB MANCINI: Cutting boards: sanitary or not?

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In my kitchen, I prefer a solid, hardwood type of cutting board. This board would be used for preparation of meat or poultry while a separate cutting board — usually glass — would be used for cutting of veggies and fruit. The use of two cutting boards will significantly reduce the chances of cross contamination.

However, whenever I use a wooden or plastic cutting board, I pay close attention to the number of grooves I’ve placed in the board from years of chopping and cutting with my heavy hand. It is  difficult to effectively clean and  sanitize such a board and bacteria could be left behind that tend to hide in these cuts.

I analyzed a number of cutting boards (wooden and plastic) during the TV show, Kitchen Crimes, and often found high bacterial counts, including fecal coliform bacteria (1000cfu/gm). Once a board has a number of good slashes, maybe it is time to either refinish or replace the board to reduce microbial lingering and contamination. Always store wooden cutting boards in a dry location to avoid excessive moisture; bacteria like moisture.
 

ROB MANCINI: The nasty dishcloth

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I have inspected a number of households that use the same dishcloth over and over again without laundering.  I used to do the same until my wife insisted that we launder our cloth daily.  

The porous nature of dishcloths allow for the accumulation of small particles of food thereby providing a moist, wonderful environment for bacterial growth. Bacterial counts including mold and yeast recovered from such cloths have been amazing, not to mention the smell. 

During my bachelor days, food safety and sanitation in general was somewhat questionable.  The dishcloth, rather, dishrag, would be changed when the smell became unbearable, probably not the best thing to do, kinda like guessing whether poultry is cooked without using a thermometer. 

It is simple, one could launder the cloth or place the cloth in a container of water in the microwave for a minute or so, that should do it. 

Fecal coliform bacteria, including E.coli were recovered in such numbers during the production of the television series Kitchen Crimes that were horrific — and don’t get me started on the amount of yeast and mold. I’m frightened as is. 

Australian food has bacteria: don’t tell consumers ’till after Christmas

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Food Science Australia found in a survey of Australian food that E. coli was present in 69 per cent of poultry, 29.7 per cent of beef and 18.1 per cent of pork, but only 1 per cent of lettuce.

Poultry also tested positive for campylobacter (40 per cent) and salmonella (21.9 per cent).

The Australian reports the results were written into a report for the Department of Health and Ageing that was expected to have been released by the end of November.

But when The Australian requested and paid for a copy under Freedom of Information laws, the department advised that it would be delayed. The Food Regulation Standing Committee had agreed to a food industry request to hold off releasing the report until after the lucrative Christmas period.

In a laundry list of safe-food handling practices, the story says that authorities recommend consumers “cook chicken, minced or boned meats, hamburger, stuffed meats and sausages right through until juices are clear, and serve hot food steaming hot.”

Sigh.

Color is a lousy indicator. Use a digital tip-sensitive thermometer. It makes people better cooks.
 

Surfing, Spicoli and scissors

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I started my Xmas shopping this morning. I got Amy a can opener, a corkscrew and some scissors. She was with me at Target when I bought them.

Having a two-week-old puts a different spin on things. Our neighbors invited us for a Christmas eve get-together, but Sorenne is sleeping, and that’s a good gift.

Maybe next year we’ll be surfing during the summer in Australia or New Zealand at Christmas. And if so, we’ll try not to swallow too much water.

Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) and the Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality have found that surfers unintentionally ingest 10 times more water than swimmers or divers, putting them at higher risk of contracting gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses when surfing in contaminated waters.

The study also suggests that because the water quality at Oregon beaches is significantly better than more popular surfing destinations, such as California, Hawaii, or Florida, the risk of GI illness is lower for people surfing the frigid waters of the Oregon coast.

How did stoner Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High grow up to be Harvey Milk?

Clean the damn car once in a while and stop leaving food on the dashboard

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I drove a Nissan Quest for about 8 years. Put on a lot of miles driving to Florida, saw a lot of vomit with four kids.

So for 6 a.m. hockey practices – and I was often the coach so I and whatever lucky kid was on that specific team had to be there at 5:30 or something stupid – I would often microwave an egg or two, slap it between some bread and away we’d go. I even sometimes put it on the dashboard.

Apparently I wasn’t alone. A poll by insurance.co.uk of 1376 car owners found that British motorists spend more than three years of their lives behind the wheel and over a quarter eat en route every week.

The poll also (…) revealed some startling hygiene calamities some drivers have faced.

Some motorist admitted finding dead mice, dog poo, fishing maggots, a three-year-old sandwich, a joint of beef, a partner’s [or] ex’s knickers, a used condom, child’s vomit in a door pocket, and mushrooms growing in the floor.

My van wasn’t that bad.

Dave’s not here, man – but THC may fight bacteria

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Cheech and Chong are back on the road and researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.

The N.Y. Times reports,

“It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup.

“The current research … looked at the antibacterial activity of the five most common cannabinoids. All were found effective against several common multi-resistant bacterial strains, although, perhaps understandably, the researchers suggested that the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids might prove more promising for eventual use.”
 

Scooping Poop

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“Pick up your dogs’ droppings.”

I’ve seen the street signs for years, but I always thought it was the yuck factor.   As I’ve grown up and gone through high school biology, I’ve learned that it’s not just the yuck factor, it’s also the sick factor.  Dog waste on the sidewalk is a significant contributing factor to the spread many disease, bacteria and protozoa.  Some of the common pathogens are tapeworms, roundworms, cryptosporidium, salmonella, e.coli, parvovirus and many others.

One of the worst culprits is the tapeworm.  They are the single most common infection transmitted by discarded dog poop in United States.
Tapeworms are caused by the ingestion of flea larvae, but also can be caused if an owner tracks flea larvae-contaminated dog poo into the house and a pet is exposed.  In the veterinary clinic I work at during the summers, tapeworms are commonly referred to as rice worms.  They’re easily treated with flea preventative and tapeworm treatment, but even more easily prevented by properly disposing of animal poop.

Doggie doo is also an environmental pollutant.  If the waste is not picked up it will run into the sewers with the rain.  This leads to contaminated streams and seawater.

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Americans owned 68 million dogs in 2000, and 40% of these dogs were large dogs over 40 pounds.  This adds up to a large mess if owners don’t clean up after their pets.

Pet poop is a problem, but what’s the solution?  Many cities have laws concerning scooping poo.  Most states will issue a ticket ranging from $25 to $200 for leaving a dog’s business on the sidewalk.  Australia has even gone so far as to have their own plain clothes poop police approaching irresponsible owners to change their behavior.

How do we take care of it?  Common recommendations are to carry a “doggie doo-doo” sack along when taking a pet out for a walk.  Using flea preventative will help prevent a pet from developing tapeworms from ingesting any flea larvae on their own skin, but they are still susceptible to flea larvae in the environment.  Annual distemper/parovirus vaccinations from a licensed veterinarian will help protect dogs from parvovirus, which is spread through fecal material.

Most importantly, wash your hands after picking up animal waste.  Otherwise get ready for those tapeworms.

Restaurant money could make you sick

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Healthinspections.com is reporting that Swiss researchers have found that flu germs can live on paper money up to 17 days.

Past research at the University of Georgia discovered that dangerous E.coli bacteria can easily survive on the loose change in your pocket: anywhere from seven to eleven days on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

Chirag Bhatt, former director of health inspections for the city of Houston and current food safety director for Healthinspections.com, said,

"When a food worker touches money, then touches food, there is a clear danger of spreading germs. … For the average person, this is just another reminder of how important it is to wash our hands frequently to safeguard our health."