E. coli Prevalent in Organic Beef
By Kathy Will
A new study released this summer by researchers at Kansas State University found that organic and naturally raised beef cattle are just as prone to E. coli O157:H7 as conventially raised animals.
Writing in the August 2009 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the Kansas State scientists said they undertook the study because organic foods are increasingly in demand and foodborne illness outbreaks are a growing concern.
E. coli O157:H7 is the only pathogen defined by U.S. regulators as an illegal adulterant in ground beef. It grows in the digestive tracks of cattle and is expelled in their manure.
Healthy human adults can survive an infection of E. coli O157:H7, but it can cause serious complications and lead to severe illness and death in young children, the elderly and others who have weak immune systems. Children are especially susceptible to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection that attacks a person’s red blood cells and causes myriad damage to the body.
The study, as recapped in Science Digest, collected fecal samples from organically fed and naturally raised cattle. Results showed prevalence rates of 14.8 percent in organically raised cattle and 14.2 percent in naturally raised cattle.
The researchers said those prevalence rates of E. coli O157:H7 are similar to convetionally raised beef cattle. The study also found no major difference in antibiotic susceptibility patterns.
Tags: E. coli Outbreak
