With the demand for mass production of food, there are often corners cut and risks taken with regards to preservation. Many preservatives used today are somewhat controversial, with many coming from synthetic development. While many people look to try and improve the safety of their food intake, reports from Vietnam might prove to be very encouraging indeed on this front.
Indeed, a traditional snack eaten during the day in Vietnam might hold the secret to solving this problem. Not only could this help to minimise wastage, but it could help to cut down on the prevalence of foodborne disease. The pork snack, known as Nem Chua, is a raw pork product eaten regularly by the Vietnamese. However, when prepared accordingly, you do not get food poisoning – yes, from eating raw pork!
How so? Because Nem Chua is home to some friendly bacteria that thrives within fermented meat. It actually kills off dangerous, potentially risky bacteria. Having been viewed as an anomaly for years, Australian scientists at the RMIT University of Melbourne have begun to deep dive into the research about the topic at hand.
The hope is that they can find out what makes this bacteria so strong, and how it can kill off dangerous bacteria. If they can harness this resource, it could be used to reduce food waste and to minimise the risk of food-delivered illness to many people across the world.
Various food-based diseases are not commonplace in the West, but conditions like Salmonella and Listeria are far more common in other parts of the world, impacting millions and even threatening the lives of many. Therefore, this research could be essential in helping to reduce the risk of such complications arising as the years go by.
The need for natural preservatives
Today, many of us are aware of just how synthetic the foods we eat are. Many contain manmade and artificial preservatives that can become problematic and cause serious issues in the years to come. By being able to utilise natural compounds that can kill off damaging bacteria, there could be a wholesale change on the way with regards to how we deal with and handle foods that come from such sources.
The Nem Chua compound is an entirely odorless and tasteless material, and it is extremely durable. This makes it great for the future potential for keeping food safe and free from potential and needless risk. As such, it is exciting to see what comes next from this research; might we find out even more regarding what we can do to boost preservation without putting anyone at needless risk?
These are the kind of important discussion which are going to become essential to keeping the world safer. As we look to ramp up the production of food, we have to become more aware of the potential risks of artificial preservation.
A simple meat product from Vietnam, then, could be the cure to a problem that can cost the food industry billions in wastage.