Warning: Health Hazards at the House of Worship

There is a recent news report of possible Hepatitis A exposure from a Christmas Day mass on Long Island. The shared communion wafers and wine may have been tainted with Hepatitis A and is being investigated by the Nassau County Health Department.  Hepatitis A is spread by the fecal-oral route, raising questions about how the wine and wafers were handled.

Foodborne illnesses at church picnics and family reunions are fortunately uncommon yet by no means unheard of. This is taken seriously. I found a website named churchsafety.com, with a link providing guidance for the safe preparation of church party foodstuffs.

Moving from the uncommon to the bizarre, I came across this MMWR report from 2009.  In Los Angeles, during a 2009 church fundraiser, individually wrapped brownies for resale (purchased initially from a sidewalk vendor) were tainted with marijuana. A group of preschool teachers and an adult family member purchased and consumed the brownies and suffered nausea, dizziness, headache, and numbness/tingling of the fingertips. The syndrome prompted an investigation for a foodborne pathogen. Cannabinoids were discovered in the serum and urine of the exposed and in the recovered brownies.

Don’t mix the space cake with the church bake sale!

Per the MMWR report, no charges were brought against the teacher who purchased the brownies. The sidewalk vendor, however, remains at large.