UK study finds Listeria poisoning more likely among pregnant women, poor neighborhoods

A new study from England shows pregnant women and people living in poorer neighborhoods are more likely to be contaminated with Listeria bacteria.

According to a study from England’s Health Protection Agency (HPA), 181 of 1,510 Listeria poisoning cases documented between 2001 and 2008 were among pregnant women there and in Wales. Forty percent of those women were an ethnic minority.

The study also examined Listeria cases from 2001 to 2007 from a socio-geographic perspective and found most cases had a source in a poorer neighborhood of the country. In England however, the reliance on small local shops for food supplies appears to be a likely culprit. The study said butchers, bakers, fishmongers and green-grocers were most likely the source of many of those contaminations.

In the U.S., the source of many food poisoning outbreak typically traces to a larger food processing company, affecting a larger portion of the food supply. We have however, reported on the risk associated with pre-cut and pre-packaged fresh foods – like fruits and vegetables. Often in America, this is the only fresh food available in poorer neighborhoods, where fast-food restaurants are more frequent.

In England, smaller food operations are blamed for not being up-to-date on the latest in safe food preparations, leading to more contaminations.