January 23, 2017.
When eaten raw, beets could cause food poisoning. An unexplained medical consequence, which pushes the French health authorities to recommend to consume this vegetable only when it has been cooked before.
Beets can be eaten cold, if they have been cooked before
Numerous cases of collective food poisoning, which occurred in 2016 following the ingestion of raw beets in different French departments, have drawn the attention of health authorities who have just published a recommendation. urging consumers to avoid the consumption of these vegetables.
In a notice circulated on January 18, the General Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Control (CGCCRF) reminded consumers, as well as professionals and managers of collective catering establishments, “ that it is not recommended to consume raw beets “. ” So even if these products can be eaten cold, they must have been previously cooked “.
Raw beetroot poisoning: a medical mystery
To issue this advice, the DGCCRF relies on an opinion issued by the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) which, on the occasion of previous cases of associated poisoning to the consumption of raw beets, recalled that the vegetable beet has been a vegetable consumed cooked for generations.
In this notice, the organization also stated that “ despite a bibliography provided, no scientific explanation allows to know the cause of [ces intoxications] “. Consequently, additional research work has been commissioned, in order to answer this scientific question.
Sybille Latour
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