This article comes from today’s New York Times. I am reprinting it here because the public is simply not aware enough of how our beef industry is endangering our children. As a reminder, the ONLY way E. coli starts is from the intestines of animals. From there, it goes on to vegetables, into water and other ways that even the most diligent vegan can contract it. Below is a brief blurb from Wikipedia:
Transmission of pathogenic E. coli often occurs via fecal-oral transmission.[17][27][28] Common routes of transmission include: unhygienic food preparation,[27] farm contamination due to manure fertilization,[29] irrigation of crops with contaminated greywater or raw sewage,[30] feral pigs on cropland,[31] or direct consumption of sewage-contaminated water.[32] Dairy and beef cattle are primary reservoirs of E. coli O157:H7,[33] and they can carry it asymptomatically and shed it in their feces.[33] Food products associated with E. coli outbreaks include raw ground beef,[34] raw seed sprouts or spinach,[29] raw milk, unpasteurized juice, and foods contaminated by infected food workers via fecal-oral route.[27]
Last year, despite being a vegetarian, I got Salmonella SaintPaul. It was painful, I thought I was literally going to die. I recovered but it took several weeks to do so and I am a strong adult. Only imagine what it can do to kids.
THIS IS THE SECOND TIME A NESTLE PLANT HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN FOR HAVING E. Coli IN THE DOUGH! (see this June 2009 USA Today article &
Nestle Shuts Va. Factory After Finding E. Coli in Dough (via New York Times)
Nestlé USA said Wednesday that two samples of its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough made at a Virginia factory tested posi- tive for E. coli bacteria this month despite rigorous safety measures put in place after a recall of the product last summer.
The company said the tainted dough had not left the factory and no recall was necessary.
The company said on Wednes- day that it would shut the Dan- ville, Va., plant for nearly two weeks while it changes its recipe and production processes. When it reopens, the company will begin using flour that has been heated to kill dangerous bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella and listeria.
Nestlé said that all cookie
dough currently in stores is safe and that it was not recalling any of the product.
It said that after last summer’s recall, it began testing samples of every batch of dough before shipping it out and that until now it had no positive tests for E. coli O157:H7, the toxic strain behind last year’s outbreak.
WILLIAM NEUMAN
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