Let’s talk about a recent study that’s got some interesting news about chocolate and Salmonella. You know, Salmonella is a type of germ that can make people sick, and it turns out, chocolate products sometimes can have it. So, let’s dive into what the researchers found.
A bunch of smart scientists checked out how many times people got sick from Salmonella in chocolate over the last few decades. They looked at lots of articles written between 1972 and 2022 and found information on twelve outbreaks.
Now, you might be wondering about the details. Well, in these twelve times when people got sick, over 3,000 people were affected. These events happened in different years and seasons, with most of them happening in the winter. Sometimes, it was just in one country, but other times more than one country had sick people. Even two whole continents were involved in three outbreaks!
Here’s a few examples to give you an idea of what happened:
- Once, in 2022, more than 450 people got sick in 16 countries from Salmonella found in chocolate from a Belgium factory.
- In Canada, between 2018 and 2019, 85 people got sick from eating chocolate pastries.
- In South Korea, in 2018, a whopping 1,111 people got sick from chocolate cake!
These outbreaks affected different numbers of people, but the most common age of those who got sick was between 3 and 15 years old. Some people had to go to the hospital, but thankfully, not too many.
Now, let’s chat about why chocolate? It turns out that chocolate is really good at hiding Salmonella because of its low water and high fat content. The germs can actually live in chocolate for a long time! Even when it gets hot during the chocolate-making process, the germs can sometimes survive without messing up the chocolate’s yummy taste.
It’s also interesting that these outbreaks often happened in cold seasons. Maybe it’s because we love eating special chocolate treats like Santa-shaped chocolates and Easter bunnies around those times. Kids seem to be the ones who get sick the most from these chocolate Salmonella outbreaks, probably because they love chocolate a lot, they’re more likely to get tummy infections, and they might pass germs around more easily.
One last thing: all these times when people got sick happened in wealthy countries. This might be because those places have more factory-made foods and better ways to figure out when an outbreak happens. But this doesn’t mean other countries are safe; it could be that they just didn’t report it.
So, chocolate buddies, it’s super important for countries everywhere – rich or not – to work together and report these outbreaks quickly. That way, we can stop them from spreading and enjoy our chocolate safely!
That’s it for now. And remember, wash your hands and stay safe, especially when enjoying your favorite chocolate snack!