Mother Earth News and E. coli

[Just Curious]

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September 22, 2006
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E. coli Spinach Outbreak Caused by Cows?
by Stephanie Bloyd, Mother Earth News Assistant Editor



Groundwater contaminated by cattle and used to irrigate spinach crops in California is under suspicion in the investigation of the current E. coli outbreak that has infected more than 100 people, killing one. This particular strain of E. coli, O157:H7, is found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on a grain diet, according to a recent New York Times op-ed piece.

U.S. researchers have found that high-grain diets make E. coli more potent. When cattle are fattened on grain, their digestive tracts become unusually acidic and kill off most of the E. coli. But the bacteria that survive are those that have adapted themselves to an acidic environment. This is a major problem for human health because our first line of defense is the acidity of our own digestive juices. Acid-resistant feedlot bacteria can survive our gastric juices in sufficient number to make us ill.

By contrast, the E. coli from grass-fed cattle remains sensitive to acid and is quickly destroyed in our stomachs. "Switching cattle from grass to grain to speed their growth has created a lot of unforeseen problems," says Jo Robinson, grass-fed expert and author of the book Pasture Perfect.

For instance, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or more commonly, mad cow disease), has not been found in grass-fed animals. Mad cow is thought to be caused by feeding cattle pieces of brain and nerve tissue from other infected animals. (This practice was abolished in the United States in 1997.) When humans consume meat from animals with mad cow disease, they risk contracting its human form — Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Mad cow disease has not been found among grass-fed animals because they exclusively eat forage materials.

For more on grass-fed beef, see Better Beef in the October/November 2005 issue of Mother Earth News. And you can learn more about factory farming by watching The Meatrix, an award-winning online video.

 

[john250]

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September 22, 2006
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E. coli Spinach Outbreak Caused by Cows?
by Stephanie Bloyd, Mother Earth News Assistant Editor



Groundwater contaminated by cattle and used to irrigate spinach crops in California is under suspicion in the investigation of the current E. coli outbreak that has infected more than 100 people, killing one. This particular strain of E. coli, O157:H7, is found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on a grain diet, according to a recent New York Times op-ed piece.

U.S. researchers have found that high-grain diets make E. coli more potent. When cattle are fattened on grain, their digestive tracts become unusually acidic and kill off most of the E. coli. But the bacteria that survive are those that have adapted themselves to an acidic environment. This is a major problem for human health because our first line of defense is the acidity of our own digestive juices. Acid-resistant feedlot bacteria can survive our gastric juices in sufficient number to make us ill.

By contrast, the E. coli from grass-fed cattle remains sensitive to acid and is quickly destroyed in our stomachs. "Switching cattle from grass to grain to speed their growth has created a lot of unforeseen problems," says Jo Robinson, grass-fed expert and author of the book Pasture Perfect.

For instance, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or more commonly, mad cow disease), has not been found in grass-fed animals. Mad cow is thought to be caused by feeding cattle pieces of brain and nerve tissue from other infected animals. (This practice was abolished in the United States in 1997.) When humans consume meat from animals with mad cow disease, they risk contracting its human form — Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Mad cow disease has not been found among grass-fed animals because they exclusively eat forage materials.

For more on grass-fed beef, see Better Beef in the October/November 2005 issue of Mother Earth News. And you can learn more about factory farming by watching The Meatrix, an award-winning online video.

Yeah, I've seen the "Meatrix", It's not good enough to draw a comment.
People who don't thoroughly wash their produce are always at risk. If the restaurant doesn't wash the produce, you need to find a new hangout.

 

[MrGale]

don't be too sure that it is the cows....the migrant workers that pick that stuff work 14 hour days, and porta potties are at a premium....

 

[Frankie]

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September 22, 2006
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E. coli Spinach Outbreak Caused by Cows?
by Stephanie Bloyd, Mother Earth News Assistant Editor



Groundwater contaminated by cattle and used to irrigate spinach crops in California is under suspicion in the investigation of the current E. coli outbreak that has infected more than 100 people, killing one. This particular strain of E. coli, O157:H7, is found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on a grain diet, according to a recent New York Times op-ed piece.

Cattle are not RAISED on a grain diet, no matter what the New York Times says. E-coli is a natural organism; you have it your own body. And let's not forget the dangerous food here is spinach. There have been mutliple outbreaks of e-coli in fresh vegetables in the last few years. The USDA put pressure on the meat industry back in the mid-90's to improve their handling procedures and outbreaks of e-coli from meat have been way down since then. On the other hand the FDA has warned farmers to improve their handling procedures and they have been ignored. Maybe after this outbreak, there will be some improvements.

U.S. researchers have found that high-grain diets make E. coli more potent. When cattle are fattened on grain, their digestive tracts become unusually acidic and kill off most of the E. coli. But the bacteria that survive are those that have adapted themselves to an acidic environment. This is a major problem for human health because our first line of defense is the acidity of our own digestive juices. Acid-resistant feedlot bacteria can survive our gastric juices in sufficient number to make us ill.

Our first defense is to cook our meat properly. Too bad fresh fruits and veggies are so often consumed raw.

By contrast, the E. coli from grass-fed cattle remains sensitive to acid and is quickly destroyed in our stomachs. "Switching cattle from grass to grain to speed their growth has created a lot of unforeseen problems," says Jo Robinson, grass-fed expert and author of the book Pasture Perfect.

Jo Robinson is hardly an unbiased source. She's made a lot of money pushing grass fed beef. She may be an expert on grass fed beef, but I doubt the industry would recognize her as an expert on the beef business, in general.

For instance, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or more commonly, mad cow disease), has not been found in grass-fed animals. Mad cow is thought to be caused by feeding cattle pieces of brain and nerve tissue from other infected animals. (This practice was abolished in the United States in 1997.) When humans consume meat from animals with mad cow disease, they risk contracting its human form — Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Mad cow disease has not been found among grass-fed animals because they exclusively eat forage materials.

Grass fed animals are usually slaughtered in smaller facilites or at home; how many are tested for BSE? BSE is not in meat. As far as we know, it would be perfectly ok to eat the meat from a BSE infected cow, though the industry condemns it as a matter of course.

For more on grass-fed beef, see Better Beef in the October/November 2005 issue of Mother Earth News. And you can learn more about factory farming by watching The Meatrix, an award-winning online video.

:roll:

 

[Jogeephus]

Prairie Fairies and Tree Huggers! They just ____ me off!

 

[msscamp]

Prairie Fairies and Tree Huggers! They just ____ me off!

Prairie Fairies? That's a new one - would you mind clueing me in? Thanks!

 

[Roadapple]

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 22, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E. coli Spinach Outbreak Caused by Cows?
by Stephanie Bloyd, Mother Earth News Assistant Editor



Groundwater contaminated by cattle and used to irrigate spinach crops in California is under suspicion in the investigation of the current E. coli outbreak that has infected more than 100 people, killing one. This particular strain of E. coli, O157:H7, is found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on a grain diet, according to a recent New York Times op-ed piece.

U.S. researchers have found that high-grain diets make E. coli more potent. When cattle are fattened on grain, their digestive tracts become unusually acidic and kill off most of the E. coli. But the bacteria that survive are those that have adapted themselves to an acidic environment. This is a major problem for human health because our first line of defense is the acidity of our own digestive juices. Acid-resistant feedlot bacteria can survive our gastric juices in sufficient number to make us ill.

By contrast, the E. coli from grass-fed cattle remains sensitive to acid and is quickly destroyed in our stomachs. "Switching cattle from grass to grain to speed their growth has created a lot of unforeseen problems," says Jo Robinson, grass-fed expert and author of the book Pasture Perfect.

For instance, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or more commonly, mad cow disease), has not been found in grass-fed animals. Mad cow is thought to be caused by feeding cattle pieces of brain and nerve tissue from other infected animals. (This practice was abolished in the United States in 1997.) When humans consume meat from animals with mad cow disease, they risk contracting its human form — Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Mad cow disease has not been found among grass-fed animals because they exclusively eat forage materials.

For more on grass-fed beef, see Better Beef in the October/November 2005 issue of Mother Earth News. And you can learn more about factory farming by watching The Meatrix, an award-winning online video.

Yeah, I've seen the "Meatrix", It's not good enough to draw a comment.
People who don't thoroughly wash their produce are always at risk. If the restaurant doesn't wash the produce, you need to find a new hangout.

It's not on it, it's in the spinach. Dr. Manny on Fox News said cooking to 160 deg. kills it.

 

[Jogeephus]

Prairie Fairies and Tree Huggers! They just ____ me off!

Prairie Fairies? That's a new one - would you mind clueing me in? Thanks!

Prairie Fairies is a term we use for the environmentalists who want to keep the wildlife free from human interference. They don't want grazing on public lands or anything on public land for that matter. Grazing public lands does not concern me, but the few times I've been able to go out west - I liked seeing cows wandering around on the public lands. I think its our heritage and I would help fight to maintain any ranchers right or privilege to continue doing this.

I'm going to digress here but I have an example of something you might find interesting. You know the environmental group friends for animals or maybe it was the wildlife defense fund - their the ones with the baby seal on their brochures. Anyway, they hired a professor I know to study the effects the fur trade was having on the seal population. He found that the "clubbing of seals" was actually having a positive effect on the population since more food was being made available to more baby seals. When the Fishing Treaty with Japan ended in 1967(?), the harp seal population declined due to the overfishing of the cape lin - the primary food eaten by the baby seals. He suggested that the government renew the treaty. Well wouldn't you know, the fairies didn't like his results and sent some "fairies" out on the ice with clubs and filmed themselves bashing heads in intentionally making the process look gruesome for the cameras. Donations to the cause increased exponentially after the airing of this "scientific documentary" and they turned the professor's data upside down. He was miffed to say the least.

 

[Bluestem]

E.Coli,0157:H7 was first identified in 1982. It more than likely was making people sick long before that. E.Coli in nature is everywhere, in the soil, our digestive systems ect. This E.Coli is a poor competitor in nature and good microbes keep it in check. I feel E.Coli,0157:h7 is anything but natural. Its tough to kill and 160 degrees is not natural. You can not simply wash it off. And chlorine does not kill it. It survives very well in the digestive track of grain fed cattle due to the altered PH. And if this is not enough, I bet we will be hearing about more nasty microbes in the future. Microbes eat last. :lol:

 

[63DH8]

Years ago, Mother Earth News was a great reference for the small time farmer. They became more "PC" over the years. That caused me to cancel their subscription. Grass fed cattle seem to be the new consumer catch word like Black Angus is now on the supermarket shelf. (No offense meant to the Angus rancher). I got the impression that the Author is raising grass fed cattle and is hoping to cash in on the fact by saying grain fed cattle is the problem.

I've lived in third world countries where sanitation is rarely known. I was supposed to go to a dinner with everyone else I was with. Instead, I decided to go fishing. Everyone who attended the dinner got sick. Turned out, one of the cook assistants stirred the coolade with his left hand without first washing his hands. Guess what got everyone sick? That's right! e-coli! It's possible that the farm or packing company has a worker who isn't familiar with sanitation techniques.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Anyone wanting to know more about what could happen when 157 gets in a municipal water system could learn from a little event we had here 7 years ago - Walkerton Ontario.

7 dead - men, women , and children. Hundreds sick, some still sick.

The town had placed a municipal well at the base of a low lying pasture area. The town didn't notify any neighbours of the well. One of the neighbours was a beef farmer, 80 head.

The town happened to employ a drunk to run the treatment plant, and his brother was his supervisor. When people started to get sick they tried to cover their tracks. It didn't work, it was found the water wasn't being treated properly and the pasture well was identified as the source.

Thank goodness ( for the rest of the beef farmers ) that the farmer in this case was a respected and competent vet. When his herd was tested for 157, of course it was positive.

The farmer had detailed records of all manure spreading, fertilizing, - anything that could be done to influence the land and ground water, going back years. This guy was our salvation in my view. I'd love to shake his hand. Because guess what - the government tried to blame beef farming!! Surprise!

It resulted in a Premier of the Province having to resign, and the govt bringing in not one, but 2 restrictive pieces of legislation dealing with agriculture. The Nutrient Management Act, and the Clean Water Act.

Don't think it can happen to you?? Make sure your plant operators are sober!!

I find the science that indicates 157 can't live in certain acidity encouraging. Because if we could eliminate it in cattle that would be a huge monkey off of our backs.

What gets me is that some segments of our industry would put beef down in general in order to prop up their "natural" beef or "organic beef" or "grass fed beef". In a union they would be "scabs".

 

[Frankie]

What gets me is that some segments of our industry would put beef down in general in order to prop up their "natural" beef or "organic beef" or "grass fed beef". In a union they would be "scabs".

That's what irritates me, too. If they want to raise natural, grass fed, organic, go to it. But they will try to scare consumers with articles like the one that started this thread and, overall, hurt beef consumption for us all. They ignore the fact that everyone can't afford that more expensive beef and will turn to chicken or pork instead of beef if they scare them about e-coli. Or, worse yet, become vegetarians. ;-)

There was some research showing that if you fed cattle in the feedlot some hay the last two weeks before they'll killed, 157 is either killed or the amount is greatly reduced. I haven't seen anything about that research in a while; don't know if they started doing it as a routine or not. But e-coli incidents in meat have certainly been down the last several years.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Oops , heres a little blurb on 157, explains too why it is down somewhat.

I think what they are saying in a lot of contamination cases is that the water used to wash food is contaminated.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseasei ... coli_g.htm

 

[jillj]

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/prodltr2.html

if you look up Salinas on USDA you will find more