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Pushing 65? Mind Your Menu
April 17, 2001
Washington Post
Page HE13
 
In a related story, Lindner says that as you enter your sixties, seventies and eighties and your immune system declines, it's wise to consider a little more carefully whether the food you're eating could put you at risk for an infection from food-borne bacteria.

The frail elderly in nursing homes or with vulnerable immune systems because of, say, chemotherapy, obviously have to be careful about what they eat.

But, says Lindner, elderly people in good health should make conscious, informed decisions about food safety, too. Taking a calculated risk -- or opting for zero risk, as the government advises -- is better than ignoring risk altogether. The following foods deserve some thoughtful consideration by those in their mid- to late sixties and older (and are best left uneaten by pregnant women, very young children and anyone of any age whose immune system is compromised due to illness).

Deli meats and other ready-to-eat meat and poultry products; smoked fish, such as smoked salmon; refrigerated pâtés and meat spreads; soft cheese such as feta, brie, Camembert, blue-veined and Mexican-style varieties.  All of these foods can contain a type of bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes.

Cooking kills the harmful microorganisms, but none of these foods is heated at home after possible contamination at the processing plant.

Caesar salad dressing, hollandaise sauce, eggnog, Key lime pie and any other dish made with unpasteurized raw eggs Raw unpasteurized eggs (as opposed to the eggs in bottled Caesar salad dressing, for example) may contain salmonella bacteria.

Raw mollusks, including oysters, clams and mussels These foods sometimes contain vibrio vulnificus or vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Alfalfa sprouts  These curly vegetable "threads" that often appear atop salads or tucked into sandwiches can contain the same bacteria that make undercooked burgers a risk for everyone: E. coli O157:H7. Harmful, sometimes fatal outbreaks of food-borne illness attributed to alfalfa sprouts have occurred not just in the United States but also in Japan, Finland, Norway, Australia and Canada.  Bean, radish and mung sprouts may pose a risk as well, according to the FDA.

The high level of moisture that sprouts need to grow provides the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive, and since the sprouts are typically eaten raw, pathogens that can cause kidney failure don't get killed. Washing, even thoroughly, doesn't rid them of all the bacteria, either.

Fresh, unpasteurized juice -- from a roadside stand or juice bar, for example. About 2 percent of the juice in this country is sold unpasteurized, meaning that it has not been treated to kill harmful bacteria, including E. coli. It causes an estimated 50,000 annual cases of food-borne illness, ranging from diarrhea and stomach cramps to much, much worse.