Viva la Salsa! The Power of Cilantro

It's long been known that people in Mexico don't get salmonella nearly as often as visitors do. More than just immunity is probably involved here. It turns out that a recent study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows that the cilantro in Mexican-style salsa has a chemical, dodecanal, that is more effective in killing salmonella bacteria than the antibiotics doctors prescribe to treat it.

Cilantro is used in a lot of Thai and Hmong cooking as well. I recommend making it a regular part of your diet, whether you like salsa or not.

July 10 update: See the simple chemical structure of dodecanal.

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