It can lead to food poisoning.
The HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has advised the public to take extra care when handling and preparing food, following an increase in the number of VTEC infections in Ireland in recent weeks.
VTEC are a type of E. coli that can live inside healthy cattle and sheep.
It’s a common cause of food poisoning which can often lead to more serious complications.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre have stressed the importance of washing your hands before and after handling food, washing fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating them, and ensuring that minced meats are always cooked the whole way through.
Eating meat (especially minced beef) that has not been thoroughly cooked all the way through can lead to the survival of these bugs, thus leading to food poisoning.
Worryingly, the number of VTEC cases in Ireland in the past 10 days (96) is over three times as high as this time last year.
SafeFood have advised the public of four simple steps you can take to prevent food poisoning:
- Clean – always wash your hands before and after preparing, handling and eating food, after visiting the toilet or after playing with pets or animals.
- Cook – make sure that food is cooked all the way through in order to destroy any harmful bacteria that might be present.
- Chill – keep food cool in order to prevent bad bacteria from growing; make sure that your fridge is at the correct temperature to keep cold foods chilled – aim to keep your fridge at 5°C or below.
- Separate – to prevent cross-contamination – separate raw and cooked foods during storage and cooking and never let raw food, for example raw meat, come into contact with ready-to-eat foods such as salads.
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