Handwashing not optional: South Korea concerned over rise in food poisoning cases after pandemic period
According to the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), summertime is the season when the most food poisoning cases take place in the country, particularly in the month of September.
In its latest statement warning consumers of the upcoming high-risk term for food poisoning next month, the ministry highlighted concerns that various man-made factors have resulted in the number of cases going up since the peak COVID-19 pandemic period.
“The summer months of 2023 from July to September saw a rise in food poisoning cases in South Korea, with 8,789 people affected through 359 cases,” MFDS Minister Oh Yoo-kyung said via a formal statement.
“This is particularly concerning as this is significantly more than the cases seen in the previous year with 5,501 people/301 cases.
“Analysing the numbers from the COVID-19 pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 (2020: 2,534 people/164 cases; 2021: 5,160 people/245 cases), the average number of cases in this period were 4,398 people/240 cases – making the average number of food poisoning cases 1.5x higher and number of patients about 2x higher in 2023.”
Using these findings, the ministry drew a correlation between the consistent practice of hygienic practices such as handwashing and the lower occurrence of food poisoning, urging consumers to consider practising these more regularly to avoid issues.
“During the COVID pandemic, the thorough practice of personal hygiene management such as handwashing was thoroughly practiced and reduction of outdoor activities saw food poisoning cases drop to the lowest ever,” she added.
“But with social distancing eased after the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of food poisoning cases last year not only increased to the level before the pandemic, but also surpassed it.
“As such MFDS requests that all food poisoning prevention guidelines [and] personal hygiene practices be strictly followed [through the high-risk period] of September this year.”
Delving into MFDS’ data revealed that the average number of food poisoning occurrences from 2017 to 2019 before the pandemic was 7,076 people/328 cases, overall still lower than the 2023 numbers – but this included the abnormally high numbers of 2018 (11,504 people/363 cases) when there was a mass food poisoning outbreak at schools all over the country.
“We have also found that many of these food poisoning cases result from careless storage such as keeping food items at room temperature, and this happens often in September due to the somewhat cooler weather in mornings and evenings leading people to believe it is safe to do so,” the ministry added.
Pathogenic fears
Most cases of food poisoning in South Korea can be linked to three pathogens: Salmonella, pathogenic E.coli, and norovirus.
In 2023, Salmonella accounted for 48 cases and E.coli for 46 cases. The former generally comes into play when contaminated eggshells carry it to other foods and can usually be mitigated by proper handwashing after handling egg; whereas the latter is in raw vegetables and meat and can be mitigated with proper washing and cooking methods.
Norovirus accounted for 62 cases in 2023, and comes from contaminated raw oysters or groundwater.
“Salmonella and E.coli cases were most common in July to September, but norovirus cases were most common in January to March and December,” said MFDS.
“Norovirus can also be transmitted via physical contact with human waste or via contaminated hands – so again physical hygiene and handwashing need to come into play here for prevention.”
Guidelines included by MFDS in its warning were to: Wash hands for at least 30 seconds using soap; Cook meat and eggs at 75°C for over one minute; Boil any groundwater before consumption; Wash and disinfect all cooking ingredients and utensils; Do not mix knives and cutting boards; and Store refrigerated foods at maximum 5°C/frozen foods at maximum -18°C.
