Do you know? campylobacter infection is 1 of the four leading causes of diarrhoea in the world.¹

Overview of campylobacter infection

Campylobacter infection is an infection caused by the bacteria called campylobacter. Campylobacter is commonly found in warm-blooded animals like pigs, goats, poultry, cattle, ostriches, sheep, pets like cats and dogs and some cold-blooded fish like shellfish.  

Campylobacter is transmitted from animals or animal products to humans. Campylobacter is composed of 17 species and six subspecies, with Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli being the most common among humans.

Campylobacter infections are usually mild but can be life-threatening for seniors, individuals with low immunity and children under the age of 5. Humans get infected by campylobacter by eating poorly cooked meat and meat products, raw or raw milk products, drinking or using untreated water and in some cases coming in contact with contaminated water during leisure activities. Of all this mentioned, the main cause of campylobacter infection is poorly cooked contaminated poultry food like chicken, turkey, duck and the like. Despite the socio-economic burden of this infection, it can be prevented by strictly maintaining good hygiene and safety practices.¹ This article will discuss food safety and hygiene tips necessary to prevent campylobacter infection.

Food safety and hygiene tips

Wash your hands with soap and water properly

It is important to take time to wash your hands, including your fingernails really well with soap and water because it prevents or controls the entry and spread of harmful organisms into the body that cause campylobacter infection.²

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), maintaining a clean hand is the simplest, least expensive and most effective way to reduce the transmission of infection.^3,4

What does hand washing involve? Hand washing involves washing all surfaces of the hands and fingers with plain soap or antiseptic soap either in its liquid or solid form, vigorously for at least 20 seconds.⁵

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that you wash your hands with soap and water when you see that your hands are noticeably messed up and use alcohol-based hand sanitisers when your hands are not noticeably messed up.^6,7,8 The reason is that hand sanitisers do not remove dirt. It is important to note that while using hand sanitisers can reduce the number of harmful bacteria on the hands, it does not replace or substitute the proper washing of hands with soap and water.⁹

How to wash your hands?

The World Health Organisation demonstrates how to wash hands properly with soap and water in the 1:26 seconds video. 

How to use alcohol-based sanitiser?

It is best to follow the manufacturer's guidelines on how to use their product. Basically, it involves the following

• Apply 3-5 mL of sanitiser on the palm.
• Rub all surfaces of both hands with vigour for at least 20 seconds ⁸ 

When should I wash my hands?  

• Before touching and eating any kind of food
• Before, during, and after preparing meals
• Before and after taking care of someone sick.
• Before and after performing first aid
• After using any facility to urinate and pass out faeces 
• After sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose
• After having physical contact with animals, including your pets or their food and faeces.
• After touching refuse or waste, or trash ¹
• After changing a baby's nappy or diapers or cleaning up a child after urinating or passing out faeces, regardless of using gloves. ⁹

Kitchen hygiene tips

Isolate raw meat/undercooked meat from other foods and kitchen utensils.¹⁰ This simply means that you should:

• Have more than one chopping board. Do not use the same chopping board for cutting raw meat of any kind (including seafood, poultry, and beef) for slicing fruits, vegetables or other kinds of food. Replace the damaged chopping board
• Avoid using the same plates and cooking utensils for raw meat and other foods, cooked meals, fruits, and vegetables. This rule also applies when grilling or barbecuing.
• Make sure that plates, cooking utensils, and chopping boards that come in contact with raw meats, including eggs and flour, are properly washed with hot water and a generous amount of soap
• Flat surfaces used for cooking (countertops) and chopping, including kitchen towels, should be washed with hot water and enough soap
• Remove jewellery before cooking or preparing food or meat because it can be contaminated with Campylobacter¹⁷ 
• Wear gloves properly. Safely dispose of used gloves and wash your hands thoroughly¹⁷

• Keep fingernails length to less than 0.5 cm long because they can harbour harmful disease-causing microorganisms. While these guidelines specifically apply to healthcare professionals in healthcare settings, the general public and food handlers can also benefit from these guidelines⁸
• Always eat hot food, i.e. at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or 60 degrees Celsius¹⁸

Note: If circumstances make it impossible to have separate chopping boards and cooking utensils, wash them with enough soap and hot water between and after usage. 

Food storage tips

• Ensure that raw meats of any sort are kept in properly sealed containers or leakproof plastic bags from other food items or cooked meals when at home, shopping or storing
• Store in the lower shelves of the freezer or fridge if you will not cook immediately
• Eggs should be placed in an egg box and stored in the lower shelf of the fridge
• Why? Placing eggs at the fridge door exposes the eggs to inconsistent temperatures¹⁰

Safe cooking tips

Ensure that raw meat, undercooked meat, and foods containing meat, such as sausages, are properly cooked at the right internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 degrees Celsius. Doing so kills the Campylobacter bacteria. To help you determine the exact temperature, use a food thermometer or a meat thermometer.^1,10

How to use a meat thermometer

Bring the cooked meat off the heat and dip the clean thermometer probe into the centre of the thickest portion of the meat or food. If the temperature reads 75 degrees Celsius, it is properly cooked and deemed safe for eating. Remember to wash the meat thermometer after use properly. After cooking, some meat requires rest time to enable the meat's deepest portion and sauce to be completely cooked and safe for eating.¹¹

The chart below shows the minimum internal temperature for cooking different kinds of meat and poultry products recommended by the United States government food safety.¹⁸

You may have read that noticing a change in the meat colour from red or pink to brown and having a clear juice means that the meat is properly cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature. This method is not reliable. It is best and safe to always use an accurate food thermometer or meat thermometer.¹²

Avoid drinking raw milk, also known as unpasteurised milk

Why are raw milk and raw milk products unsafe for consumption? It is unsafe because it contains harmful disease-causing microorganisms like Campylobacter, Salmonella, Escherichia coli and others known to be dangerous to the health of men, especially those with weak immunity, pregnant women, children and the elderly. To kill these microorganisms, raw milk and raw milk products need to be pasteurised.¹³

What is milk pasteurisation? A milk is said to be pasteurised when every particle of the milk or milk product has been heated to a safe internal temperature for a definite period of time and during the heating process, there is no contamination of the milk or milk product. ¹⁴ Pasteurisation is essential because the heating process kills harmful disease-causing microorganisms such as Campylobacter bacteria. Does pasteurisation reduce the nutritional content of milk? No. Pasteurised milk's nutritional content or value remains intact. Pasteurisation has significantly limited diseases caused by using raw milk or raw milk products since the 1990s.¹⁵

Tips on how to avoid consuming raw milk or unpasteurized milk

• Before purchasing milk or milk products, make sure the information on the package indicates that the milk used has been pasteurised. 
• Feel free to ask the grocery clerk/attendant if the milk or milk product has been pasteurised most especially the refrigerated milk or milk product.
• Avoid buying milk or its products along the road or at farmers' markets unless you can verify that it has been pasteurised.
• Avoid using raw eggs when making ice cream instead, use pasteurised shell eggs or egg products. You could also make ice cream without using eggs.¹³

Ensure that your source of water is safe and healthy

Untreated water contains harmful disease-causing microbes. Hence, it is important to treat water before drinking or using it for other purposes.¹

Hygiene tips for safe water

• Avoid drinking untreated water from rivers, ponds, lakes or streams
• Make sure that wells are far away from farm animals, manure, sewage disposal tank, and other sources of pollution or contamination
• Regularly check that sewage disposal tanks and wells are functioning properly¹
• Before buying bottled water, make sure it is safe to drink. Read the label to know the source of water and how it was treated¹⁶

Summary

Campylobacter infection is the leading cause of diarrhoea in the world. Animals are the main source of this infection, especially poultry. Some ways humans get infected occur when we eat food or food products of contaminated animals, drink or use untreated contaminated water, and practise poor hygiene. Campylobacter infection is usually mild and can affect anyone but can be life-threatening for certain persons like the aged one, children under the age of 5, persons with low immunity and pregnant women. One of many ways campylobacter infection can be prevented is by practising proper hygiene and safeguarding our food.