What's up with ecoli these days?

Question

Back in early fall we had the ecoli and spinach scare. Now Taco Bell, a weekly if not daily stop in a day of my college life these days, has had an ecoli outbreak with green onions--another veggie I just love.

1. Should I not buy green onions at the grocery?
2. What's going on that we've had 2 ecoli scares this year? It seems a little worrisome. What's causing this apparent increase in the ecoli bacteria? (If it's really an increase.)
3. What can we do? I don't like knowing my favorite veggies are potentially deadly.

So what's the deal with ecoli?

Answer 1

They've answered your question well, I thought I'd just add this to put it in perspective:
You are a thousand times more likely to have an auto accident than you are to get sick from ecoli.
And even if you did get sick from it, the majority of people recover on their own without any real problems.

I would still wash my greens and my hands well, but other than that I wouldn't worry.

Answer 2

LOL good pun in your question.
1. No, you should not steer clear of any veggies, but you should wash what you buy well before using it.
1a. Some veggies this does not work on as they literally hold the contaminated water that may have been near them, like spinach, lettuce, strawberries etc but that does not mean they are not normally safe and should be avoided!!! providing contaminated water was the cause.
2. What is going on is people are not washing their field greens and produce properly and with space being such a premium people have done very stupid things like locate animal pens (they produce waste you know) on higer ground than a growing field. The run off contaminates the field.
3. Be aware of where your veggies come from, what the local area is like, IE, is there a sheep farm up the hill, and if possible, grow your veggies yourself for the most control of what goes into and onto them.

The deal with the E.Coli. is just plain old mistakes.

Answer 3

With the spinach e-coli they felt it was due to workers not washing their hands properly.

E. coli is found in the feces of humans and livestock. Most E. coli infections are associated with undercooked meat. The bacteria also can be found on sprouts or leafy vegetables such as spinach. The germs can be spread by people if they do not thoroughly wash their hands after using the bathroom.

The scallions aka green onions are not postitve for sure e-coli but Taco bell pulled them just to be safe as their labs tested positive for e-coli but now the federal government is doing it's own testing.

Answer 4

E-coli is found in the fecal material produced by humans and animals. E-coli can affect any foods if people that are handling the food do not properly wash there hands after using washroom. Other ways of contamination is ground water can be infected with e-coli and foods that retain this water can cause problems. This type of contamination comes from the fertilizer used for food.

Answer 5

I DUNNO..I RECKON SOMEONES GOING ROUND SPIKING THE FOOD..MAYBE TERRORIST..I DARENT EAT ANY GREENS...