One of the most malevolent members of the Masters of Grime is currently far exceeding his contamination comrades (Les Teria and Eric Coli) with his own sickly schemes that are proving disastrous to the health of many people, businesses, industries and even national economies!
Sal Monella has been contaminating food around the world at an alarming pace! The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates that 142,000 illnesses are caused by consuming Salmonella contaminated eggs alone, whilst in Australia the rate of Salmonellosis infections has jumped up by nearly 80% over the past 20 years!
A Family Affliction
Sal Monella is a member of the same Enterobacteriacea family as Eric Coli, but he occupies his own particularly odious branch of the family tree that specialises in undercooked foods, cross contamination and infecting food, especially in areas of poor hygiene with polluted surface water and standing water.
His family likeness is a fleeting one as Sal is a master at manipulating his appearance – not only does he sport a fetching black mask but he can affect a wide variety of different guises. In essence he appears as either Salmonella enterica or Salmonella bongori, but the number of sub-types of these persona are innumerable, with over 2,500 known enterica aliases alone.
His Salmonella enterica identity is particularly dangerous and leads to the most cases of Salmonellosis. Once this bacterial blight has found its way to the intestine it enters the epithelial cells and causes membrane ruffling that damages the cell surface, flooding the area with white blood cells and upsetting the intestines absorption ratio. This can lead to a long list of symptoms that can include fever, headaches, abdominal pain as well as one of the leading signs that Sal has been active – a significantly restricted radius of movement from a lavatory facility.
The Grime of the Century
Sal’s rap sheet is extensive and includes some truly horrific chapters in the food and beverage industry’s history.
In one outbreak in the US, in 2008, over 700 people were affected across 46 states due to contaminated peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The knock on effect of this incident was not only that the PCA went out of business, but many consumers also avoided peanut products altogether, dropping sales of this produce by 25% and costing the US peanut industry approximately $1 billion.
Win the Germ War with the right Floor
Mr Monella is not without his weaknesses. The main methods to stop the maniacal microbe are to keep foods at the right temperature (colder than 5°C or hotter than 60°C) and to ensure the environment is clean and hygienic.
Food and beverage producers can call on Hygiene Boy to help them keep Sal at bay with his shield that harnesses the power of Polygiene®. This super power can stop bacteria in their tracks and works alongside a facility’s cleaning regime to protect their produce.
Anyone going to foodpro 2014 will be able to find out more about Hygiene Boy and his ability to fight the Masters of Grime at Flowcrete Australia’s stand (F14).
