E. coli: What You Need to Know
E. coli – you hear about it in the news, usually in stories involving contamination of some type. It’s bad news and can make people sick. But what, exactly, is E. coli?
E. coli is a bacterium that lives in the intestines of humans and some other animals. The full name of the bacterium is Escherichia coli, and the average amount you excrete with feces every day ranges from 100 billion to 10 trillion. In the sewage treatment industry, the amount of E. coli in water serves as an indicator of how polluted the water is—it shows how much human feces is present. Simply put, where there’s E. coli, there’s poo.
E. coli is generally harmless to humans when it’s in the gut. In fact, it helps with digestion and provides us with much-needed vitamins, such as K and B-complex. A fetus is essentially sterile, but as soon as it’s born, it begins to acquire millions of types of bacteria that help it survive. These bacteria assist in digestion and other essential bodily functions. Without these bacteria, we wouldn’t survive for long.
However, these bacteria are only found in areas of the body that come into direct contact with the outside world—such as the mouth and intestinal tract. If E. coli gets into the wrong parts of the body, it can cause infections, including urinary tract infections, pneumonia, peritonitis, and septicemia. These diseases can usually be treated with antibiotics.
How E. coli Contaminates Our Food
As you move through the world, you are constantly at risk of ingesting E. coli from the intestines of other animals. E. coli is found wherever animals are present. Therefore, every time you eat, drink, or touch something that has been near animals, you run the risk of picking up E. coli. Fortunately, the typical strain of E. coli found in your gut isn’t harmful when ingested, as your stomach acids usually kill it before it can cause any harm.
However, there are more virulent strains of E. coli that can make you sick by producing toxic chemicals. These include the bacteria responsible for food poisoning. E. coli can be found in meat, plants, or even drinks. In Canada, for example, contaminated unpasteurized apple juice killed a sixteen-month-old. Toxic E. coli bacteria can be fatal to children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems, but for most people, the worst it causes is severe vomiting and diarrhea.
You may have also heard of E. coli during the 2006 outbreak linked to spinach crops. This strain was more virulent than others and caused bloody stools, severe vomiting, and other unpleasant reactions. The outbreak was traced to pre-washed spinach served at the Sequoias Portola Valley retirement home in California. It spread to 22 other states, sickening 146 people. One person died, and 76 others were hospitalized, many with kidney failure.
The cause of the contamination in the packaged spinach remains unclear. However, similar outbreaks in previous years have been linked to flooding. During flood seasons, sewage treatment plants often overflow, releasing thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into waterways. When floodwaters reach farms, they can contaminate crops. In this case, scientists believe the contamination could have been caused by grazing deer or fecal matter from nearby cattle in the water used for irrigation.
E. coli is also often found in meat. It typically enters meat during processing at the plant, often due to an animal’s colon being punctured during the slaughtering process. Generally, E. coli is found only on the surface of a cut of steak—the inside should be sterile. This changes if there is a cut in the meat. Ground beef is particularly risky for E. coli contamination, as the grinding process mixes the surface with the inside. Cooking meat thoroughly kills the bacteria, which is why you’re advised to cook your meat well-done to prevent food poisoning. It’s also safer to eat a rare steak than to eat a rare hamburger.
E. coli is found everywhere in our environment—and even inside our bodies. Most of the time, we live peacefully with this bacteria—we don’t even know it’s there. However, when E. coli goes bad, we certainly know it. In general, it’s important to wash your hands frequently, be cautious when handling meat that could be contaminated, and cook your food thoroughly. While this may not protect us from every bacterium, it’s a good start.
