Blog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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E. coli Contamination – 15 September 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

E. coli is in the news again. And judging from news reports, it appears to be E. coli 0157:H7. This time bagged spinach is blamed as the culprit.

I wonder how many people realize that any Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found on vegetables have come from feces – for example, from raw or liquid manure used as fertilizer, contaminated water from animal agriculture, feces-contaminated flesh, or from an infected person who did not wash their hands properly.

The gloved hands of food service people can still cross-contaminate; we’ve watched them touch raw meat, or equipment and utensils that were used with meat, and then touch vegetables without changing gloves. We’ve come to the conclusion that the only things the gloves of food service people protect are their own hands.

We’ve even been to church kitchens where they were defrosting frozen turkeys on vegetable cutting boards. It’s obvious what can happen when a kitchen worker cutting raw flesh uses the same unwashed knife to cut raw vegetables. Even vegans need to be very cautious because plant foods can become contaminated when exposed to infected animal foods and unsanitary conditions in supermarkets, restaurants, and even homes where animal food products are present.

If animal feces are used as a fertilizer, there is always the potential for E. coli 0157:H7 contamination of the fruits and vegetables that come in contact with the soil, even on organic farms. We believe the safest form of gardening is veganic (without animal fertilizer).

Any food that is contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 has also been contaminated with feces.

See also:
http://www.all-creatures.org/health/fh-ecoli-0157h7.html 

For other health articles, see:
http://www.all-creatures.org/health.html 

Go on to: Mark of the Beast – 16 September 2006
Return to: Contributing to Exploiters? – 14 September 2006
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