A NORMALLY harmless bacterium, which can multiply in coleslaw even under refrigeration, can cause problems for pregnant women, a court has been told.
A leading microbiologist, Mr Ronald Russell, told the Circuit Civil Court that listeria, one of three types of bacteria which can grow in the freezer, was found in a great number of substances, including coleslaw and soft cheeses.
Dr Russell told the Circuit Court president, Mr Justice Frank Spain, the bacterium was harmless in people who were not pregnant. It caused problems in pregnancies by homing in on chemicals given off by the foetus.
Dr Russell, a senior lecturer in microbiology and an expert in preventive medicine, said pregnant women attending prenatal clinics were normally given a list of various items that should not be consumed, which included "coleslaw and soft cheeses.
He said the effects of listeria were flu like, sometimes accompanied by gastro enteritis and much more damaging to a foetus than food poisoning.
Dr Russell was giving evidence on behalf of Powers Supermarkets Ltd in a personal injuries claim by a pregnant woman who claimed to have contracted food "poisoning as a result of eating coleslaw she bought in Crazy Prices at the Omniplex centre in Santry, Dublin.
Ms Linda Kinsella, of Oak Park, Santry, Dublin, told her counsel, Mr Martin Giblin, she felt weak from vomiting and diarrhoea after eating the coleslaw in June 1993.
She was more than seven months pregnant at the time and although experts assured her a foetal scan was normal she worried about the health of her unborn baby after a nurse had explained that coleslaw could cause food poisoning in pregnant women.
Judge Spain awarded her £7,500 with £428 special damages and costs. He granted Mr Fergal Kavanagh, counsel for Power Supermarkets, a stay to facilitate an appeal to the High Court.