A highly contagious bug which causes sickness and diarrhoea has been found in almost a fifth of supermarket pre-washed vegetables. Scientists looked at samples from a number of supermarkets across Kent and discovered almost one in five - 17% - were contaminated with cryptosporidium. This is the same parasite which was behind an outbreak in Devon in May which affected more than 100 people.
That outbreak, in the Brixham area, was believed to be as a result of a broken air valve leading to tap water being contaminated. Now the research, carried out by the University of Kent School of Biosciences, has found a number of packs of ready-to-eat vegetables contained the parasite. And it has sparked a warning over how such produce should be handled by customers prior to eating it.
The team declined to say which supermarkets the affected produce came from. However they did say the figures were likely to be similar across all the sector and that pre-washed or ready-to-eat vegetables should be handed with care. Experts from the university examined a total of 36 packs of pre-washed vegetables bought from four supermarkets in Canterbury, Kent between May and July 2023.
Samples were chosen at random and duplicates of each variety were tested. The results showed 12 of the samples did not meet the standards to be included. However, of the remaining 24, 58% tested positive for cryptosporidium, and 17% (four) produced similarities to cryptosporidium parvum - the leading cause of human cryptospor.
