Word: coli
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When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers on Thursday about E. coli contamination in bagged spinach, it didn't come as a surprise to Michael Doyle. So far, about 100 people have fallen ill and one death has been connected to the dangerous E. coli 0157:H7 bacterial infection, and the director of food safety at the University of Georgia says that outbreaks like this one will only continue if produce manufacturers don't change their practices...
...coli 0157 is a particularly nasty strain of the E. coli that lives and thrives in our digestive tract. Animals such as cows tolerate 0157 far better than people, and often shed the bacteria in their feces. The bacteria can then infect crops such as lettuce, spinach, onions, or even apples when contaminated manure is used as fertilizer, or when contaminated water is used to irrigate fields. Most recently, E. coli 0157 found in bagged salads packaged by Dole sickened over two dozen people...
...chlorinated water. The goal is to reduce costs, because you don't have to take the waste from the factory and bring it back to the field. The problem is, they are working out in the dirt. There are so many different ways that E. coli can get into the food this...
...Produce Marketing Association (PMA), which represents the fruit and vegetable growers industry, notes that processing for ready-to-eat products "is happening in a enclosed facility, not in the field. No one is putting produce in bags out there." Because produce can become a source of E. coli 0157 infection only by being contaminated from another source, PMA advocates good agricultural practices, which includes keeping tools and equipment used to cut produce clean and isolated from potential sources of E. coli, as well as regulating how far away portable toilets provided for workers need to be placed from growing produce...
...feeding steers grain and supplements can create safety issues--for cattle and humans. Biologically, cattle are ruminants, exquisitely evolved to graze grass, and researchers have found that a grain diet raises the acidity in steers' guts. This breeds an acid-resistant form of E. coli that can spread from feces-contaminated carcasses to meat. Although USDA inspections are supposed to detect E. coli, the system is not perfect. In 1993, 600 people in Seattle got sick and three children died after eating E. coli-- tainted hamburger. Since then, outbreaks have triggered more recalls and led to a federal recommendation that...