Spices, high-risk foods and public health: a salmonella outbreak on Sydney Harbour

Abstract

This article illustrates how a simple epidemiological investigation can determine the possible cause of an outbreak of foodborne illness in the absence of direct microbiological evidence of contamination. The identification, as the likely source of an outbreak, of a high-risk food that was flavoured by a spice after cooking and that had no subsequent heat treatment has implications for food handlers, food inspectors and the regulators of imported spices.