Can dairy products be contaminated with E. coli?

Question

On the news it said that some cows ate the tainted spinach and they already started recalling beef. Can milk and dairy products (like cheese and ice cream) be affected, too?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Greetings,

Beef products, especially undercooked hamburger, have traditionally been the most common source of infection with pathogenic strains of E. coli. However, this occurs because the beef is contaminated during processing, not because the cow was infected. E. coli is an intestinal organism that produces an intestinal toxin causing diarrhea. It does not invade or live in muscle tissue.

Therefore, what a cow eats is not relevant. Proper handling and processing of the beef is the relevant consideration.

E coli is killed by heating and the toxin is destroyed. Therefore pasturization of milk and thorough cooking of hamburger render the products safe. Problems arose with the spinach because it was eaten raw in salad.

Answer 3

It is quite possible the raw and even fresh diary products like milk, curd, butter may contain e.coli. Only Pasteurization can remove the bacteria from Dairy Products.

Read the excerpts from Wikipedia on this -

As Gram-negative organisms, coli are unable to sporulate. Thus, treatments which kill all active bacteria, such as Pasteurization or simply boiling, are effective for their eradication, without requiring the more rigorous sterilization which also deactivates spores.

Answer 4

It is very possible if the milk or milk product wasn't pasteurized.
As for the cow eating tainted spinach, no.