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Beware cafe and restaurant soft drinks

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Packed with vitamin C, fresh orange juice is widely regarded as a healthy drink to enjoy at breakfast or on a summer’s day.

But almost half the orange juice served in cafes and restaurants could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, scientists say.

The problem is down to dirty juicers and serving jugs, said researchers from the University of Valencia, who analysed 190 batches of juice from various cafes, restaurants and bars in Spain.

They called for caterers to ensure machines are thoroughly cleaned and to serve the drink immediately after squeezing.

Under EU food regulations, 43 per cent contained ‘unacceptable’ levels of enterobacteriaceae, the bacteria family which includes Salmonella and E.coli.

The scientists also found that one in ten samples contained unacceptable levels of mesophilic bacteria, which thrives at room temperature.

The problem is believed to be down to caterers squeezing a large amount of juice at one time and leaving it in stainless steel jugs where it heats up, allowing bacteria to thrive.

Salmonella

Salmonella

Salmonella was found in 0.5 per cent of the samples, and Staphylococcus aureus – which can cause unpleasant skin infections – was found in one per cent of them.

More than 80 per cent of juice kept in metal jugs contained unacceptable levels of enterobacteriaceae, compared to just a fifth of juice samples served in a glass.

Study author Isabel Sospedra, whose findings were published in journal Food Control, said: ‘Some orange juice is consumed immediately after squeezing but many cases it is kept unprotected in stainless steel jugs.


‘We found that some juices that were kept in metal jugs presented unacceptable levels of enterobacteriaceae in 81 per cent of cases and in 13 per cent of cases with regards to mesophilic aerobic bacteria.

‘However, when the freshly squeezed juice is served in a glass, these percentages fall to 22 per cent and two per cent respectively.’

She added: ‘Juicers and juicing machines have a large surface area and lots of holes and cavities. This promotes microbial contamination, which is picked up by the juice as it is being prepared.

‘To ensure consumer health, we recommend that juicers are cleaned and disinfected properly. The same goes for the jugs in which the juice is stored, although its consumption is better as and when it is squeezed.’

Wash your fruit and veg

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Dangerous bacteria may still lurk in unreachable parts of fruit and veg even after a thorough dousing.

Washing your fruit and vegetables before you eat them is recommended to remove potential pathogens such as E.coli and Salmonella, but new research indicates that this may not be enough as some bacteria can survive the water.

Researchers from Purdue University, US, looked at E.coli in mung bean sprouts and Salmonella in peanut seedlings after contaminating them before planting. What they found surprised them – the pathogens had worked their way into the tissues of the plants, even the tissue responsible for transporting nutrients.

Although researchers have tried to assess this possibility before, it has proven difficult as slicing open a plant could transfer pathogens from the outside to the inside making it impossible to say whether the bacteria were actually inside the plant. This new study worked around this problem by freezing the location of the bacteria within the plant tissues before cutting the samples.

Wash your fruit and veg

Wash your fruit and veg

So what can you do to prevent yourself coming into contact with these bacteria? Cook your fruit and veg. While the inner tissues may still contain the pathogens, boiling or steaming produce to 74 degrees Celsius (165 degrees F) will kill the bacteria making them safe to eat.


Eating fresh fruit, however, presents bigger problems as heating it to high temperatures will kill certain vitamins, such as C, for example.

So what should you do? “I’d recommend that people take sensible precautions and wash their fruit thoroughly, and then just enjoy them,” says registered nutritionist Dr Carina Norris. “Although there is a chance that you could be taking in germs, the likelihood of becoming ill is very small. I’d hate to see people avoiding fruit because they’re worried about illness – the good fruit can do for your health far outweighs any tiny potential danger.”