No salmonella on basil from decent companies

Research from earlier this month from a bio-scientist from Gent University shows that certain intestinal bacteria, such as E-coli and salmonella, can survive at 22 degrees on basil leaves and therefore can cause health risks. According to John Van Laethem who is manager of Bell'aroma, a Belgian herb importer, this study is correct, but he quickly explains saying, "Consumers can rest easy because the lab conditions where this was tested were not using common practices."

No danger with decent companies
John explained some details from the research, "All the basil that was tested came from us. Many aspects were studied in relation to the survival of salmonella. After the plants were infected under lab conditions, tests were run using three different storing temperatures: 7°, 15° and 22°C. Only at 22°C did the salmonella survive. Salmonella was completely killed off when stored at 7° and 15°. So as you can see these are conditions that you do not normally encounter." The research was conducted in collaboration with Veg-i-trade. "In the area of public health these results are extremely satisfactory. To me this proves on thing: if you do everything correctly you will have no problem."

Small risk
John says that the risk of infection is extremely low, "Potential contamination by salmonella or E-coli is most common in outdoor cultivation and not in greenhouses. 95% of the basil that is grown for the fresh market comes from greenhouses. 90% of the basil that is grown outdoors is disinfected in order to neutralize microbial load. So here also the risk of contamination is quite small. Or as someone else put it last week: then every pesto eating Italian would be in the hospital for a while now" he said with a wink.

"For us the most important thing is that we deliver high quality products. During the entire production process food safety is our number one concern. Therefore we have extremely strict, legal criteria and we regularly work with UGent and others to carry out sample tests. Last year almost 190 tests were carried out to gain insight into this problem. The antibacterial activity of basil was retained as a result in the conclusion of this project (www.veg-i-trade.org)."

"Within all the areas where we work, salmonella contamination on basil has not been reported in the last eight years to the Rapid Alert System of the EU, despite increased monitoring," says John.

For more information:
John van Laethem
Van Laethem Bvba
pr@bellaroma.eu