Christmas cookies could carry salmonella: study
Posted Dec 28, 2015 7:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They’re a favourite treat during the holidays, but more than the calories could hurt you.
It may be hard to believe, but a new study out of the University of Georgia finds cookies and crackers with fillings can carry salmonella and other pathogens for as long as six months.
Researchers decided to look into the matter because of an increased number of outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S.
They injected salmonella bacteria into cookies with chocolate and vanilla fillings, and into crackers with cheese and peanut butter fillings, and then placed the food into a dry storage place for six months.
The bacteria survived longer in the cookies than in the crackers, but it was still a long enough time to raise concerns in both foods.
Salmonella poisoning can develop anywhere from a half a day to three days after eating infected foods, and causes diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and abdominal cramps.
It can be deadly in children, the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions.
