Vegetables of Mass Destruction
 

Did you catch the news about the e coli in spinach?

And did you catch that the e coli was IN the spinach, not on the leaves?

That was a shocker to me...

Here's a link to the pbs thread that gave me the idea for the title of this thread:
http://discussions.pbs.org/viewtopic.pbs?p=446001

Just some information on E. coli. Escherichia Coli is a whole class of bacteria. Most are harmless; many live in the human gut causing no problems. One strain E. coli 0157:H7 is a major cause of foodborne illness. This strain is often found in the intestines of healthy cattle or in their manure. Many people get infected with E. coli after eating uncooked beef. And also from raw milk, unpasteurized fruit juices and produce. Humans can spread it thru the bacteria in their stools.

As far as E. coli IN the leaves, researchers are "examining" whether spinach and other vegetables can absorb E. coli and carry the bacteria within their leaves. Otherwise, it can be too tightly bound to the leaves to be able to wash it off.

Kitt

The news clip I saw last night on ... I forget which network, showed the e coli in the actual leave. In the leave. not on it. That is what startled me.

Now, maybe the picture was wrong, and the commentary was wrong, but they were saying that the e coli went up into the plant and then set up its life cycle inside the plant...

Are you talking about this stuff?

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/HEALTH/0...09.spinach.jpg

I hear it's to die for... :rolleyes:

(Popeye's Kryptonite... :eek: )


Much love and

Hi Ponyboy,
is that it?

I don't remember seeing an actual package on the news.

gosh, it looks so healthy. :eek:

I'm going to go see if I can find a link to the news clip I heard yesterday where they were saying it was INSIDE the plants....

I mean... then wouldn't it be possible with lettuce and other things we eat raw... or... did eat raw.

Well, I've found this video from NBC which says that even frozen spinach may contain the e coli and it may still be dangerous...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14841731/

but I cannot find a link to the graphics which showed the e coli in the cells of the leaves....

Here's a link that talks about the "uptake" of e coli into plants, but it seems to be saying the jury is still out...
http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/71/5/2221

Time, on line, says this,
http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...5476-2,00.html

Okay, I think this is it... the underlying source
 

This is just p*ssing me off...this is my favorite veggie...I eat tons of it and now they've found a way to ruin it!

To quote Charton Heston..."D*mn them all, d*mn them all to hell!!"

Jeez, this is the 21st century why aren't they using chemical fertilizer instead of cow poop?

First they say the meat's bad for ya, then their gas is poisoning the air and now their poop is poisoning our veggies....I think we ought to let the aliens have them. Beam them up, ET!

Hi trekker,

I LOVE someone with a plan!

But seriously, they've been fertilizing stuff with cow poop since time immemorial, so why is this happening now?