What’s happening to these produce items to make them so contaminated, and how is it prevented in most other crops?
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E. Coli is evvvvrrryyywhere. Every surface you see probably has some E. coli on it. There is only one strain of E. coli that is dangerous however it’s name is O157. So if some of that strain gets on something and you eat it you get sick. Most of the time E. coli is completely harmless though. We have lots of it in our digestive tract normally.
Hepatitis A is a tough little virus. It can stick on surfaces for months. We’ve mostly eliminated it in the rich parts of the world using a vaccine. It’s just a normal part of life in many poorer parts of the world however. Even Mexico, right on the US’ doorstep, still has the virus. Normally what happens is that some food is shipped in from a place where the virus is endemic and someone who didn’t get the vaccine or the vaccine didn’t work for catch it. Then they can spread it a little around them.
Listeria is another free living bacteria. It’s just kind of in the dirt. Sometimes the bacteria gets on a plant in the field. That gets taken to be processed somewhere. And the machinery that does the processing gets contaminated and the bacteria starts growing on it. Then the other plants the machinery processes is contaminated by the machinery. Manufacturers are suppose to have procedures to clean the parts of the machinery that are likely to support bacteria. But not everyone does it very well.
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