Martha Stewart contracted Salmonella over Thanksgiving from mishandling
food in the form of raw turkey. While we hate to see anyone become ill,
having a celebrity chef come down with Salmonella can have a positive
outcome. Too often we see these celebrity chefs demonstrating poor
practices, whether it is inadequate hand washing, cooking to the incorrect
temperatures, or canning foods using the oven technique. But my hope is
that Martha will use this experience as motivator to endorse good safety
practices.
Of course, in one of the news stories she has an idiot quote about a silver
lining… “I lost some weight,”. I can see it now, a bunch of kitchen
debutantes licking raw chicken as a way to lose weight. So much for my
wishful thinking.
Salmonella: Martha Stewart Sickened Last Month After
'Handling So Many Turkeys'
Posted: 12/06/2012 11:06 am EST
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/salmonella-martha-stewart-infection-salmonellosis-_n_2250353.html
Martha Stewart was confined to her bed for several days
last month because of salmonella infection, the New York Post's Page Six
reported.
“I never get sick, but I came down with salmonella. I think I caught it because I
was handling so many turkeys around Thanksgiving," Stewart told Page Six.
"I was on the 'Today' show, I did a number of other [Thanksgiving]
appearances. It really hit me hard and I was in bed for days. It was
terrible."
Salmonella is the most common source of food poisoning, and causes the infection
salmonellosis, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Salmonella is usually present in the guts of humans and animals, and can
therefore get in food -- commonly raw poultry or meat -- via animal feces. If
the food is not cooked to a hot enough temperature, the bacteria are not killed
off and a person can become sick from the bacteria.
Salmonella infection can lead to a host of nasty
symptoms, including diarrhea and vomiting, abdominal pain, blood in the
stool, fever, chills and muscle pains, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Complications -- such as dehydration, bacterial infection of the bloodstream
and reactive arthritis -- can also occur for people with weakened immune
systems, such as kids, older adults, pregnant women or organ transplant
recipients.
WebMD reported that there are about 40,000 reported cases of salmonellosis each year in the U.S.,
though not everyone who gets it reports it (so the number may be as much as 30
times higher).
Salmonella doesn't
usually need to be treated, as it goes away on its own after a few days,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, if a
person has been severely affected and is dehydrated because of the infection,
intravenous fluids may be necessary for rehydration. Antibiotics might also be
necessary if infection spreads elsewhere in the body.
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