每日英語跟讀 Ep.880: Doctors: during pilgrimages in the heat, food poisoning more serious than pandemic 高溫溽暑遶境 醫︰防食物中毒比防疫更重要

Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung’s Dajia District began its days-long Matsu pilgrimage late on Thursday last week. Doctors are reminding the public that, with the recent hot weather coupled with the extended length of the event, it is important to be mindful of food and drink hygiene. For example, it is best not to leave cooked food for more than two hours before consuming it, to avoid the breeding of germs that could cause food poisoning.

台中市大甲鎮瀾宮上週四深夜起開始一連多日的媽祖遶境。醫師提醒，最近天氣變熱、加上遶境長時間活動，飲食要注意衛生，像是熟食若放著超過兩個小時就別吃了，以免滋生細菌導致食物中毒。

According to Yen Tzung-hai, director of the Department of Nephrology and Division of Clinical Toxicology, it is better to finish hot lunchboxes within two hours of them being cooked, because with the hot weather and high temperatures during the day the food can easily become contaminated by microorganisms, and there is a risk of this causing acute gastroenteritis and even persistent vomiting and diarrhea.

林口長庚醫院毒物科主任顏宗海說，以熟食便當為例，最好在煮好後兩個小時內就把它吃完，因為天熱氣溫高，很容易有微生物汙染，恐致急性腸胃炎，甚至上吐下瀉不停。

Yen says that clinical tests have shown that food poisoning is often caused by germs such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (E. coli); Salmonella poisoning is relatively rare, but can be extremely dangerous. Salmonella, which tends to appear on raw foods, is extremely toxic and can cause organ failure and kidney failure in the more serious cases.

顏宗海指出，臨床觀察，導致食物中毒的細菌像是金黃色葡萄球菌、大腸桿菌等，比較常見。而沙門氏菌中毒雖然較少見，但它很危險，容易出現在生食上，嚴重可能導致器官衰竭或腎衰竭，毒性頗強。

According to Yen, people joining the pilgrimage should take note of the hygiene of restaurants they stop to eat in, while the owners need to be careful to prepare raw and cooked foods separately, in order to avoid cross contamination. Also, microorganisms breed more quickly in hot weather, and he says, “during summer pay attention to food hygiene, which is more important than guarding against the pandemic.”

顏宗海提醒，參加遶境民眾到餐廳吃飯時，要觀察一下餐廳的衛生狀況，業者也要注意生食、熟食要分開處理，不然恐互相汙染，加上天氣熱微生物滋長更快，「夏天注意飲食衛生，恐怕比防疫更重要」。

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds that people love to eat ice products in the summer, but inspections carried out in the past have often found that ice products on the market fail to meet the standards, with Staphylococcus aureus being discovered in many cases, and E. coli and Bacillus cereusalso being found. According to the FDA, bacteria can be harmful to the human body, and can cause problems with the digestive system, diarrhea and stomachache in the less serious cases and possibly food poisoning in the more serious cases.

食藥署則提醒，夏天許多人愛吃冰，但往年對市售冰品做微生物檢驗稽查，常常發現不合格，金黃色葡萄菌檢驗出的比例最高，還包括病原性大腸桿菌、仙人掌桿菌等，也提醒生菌對人體造成的危害，症狀輕則腸胃不適、腹瀉、腹痛等症狀，重則有可能引起食物中毒。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/06/15/2003738212