How are vegetables and fruits responsible for massive outbreaks of illnesses such as hepatitis, E. coli, and listeria?

Question

What’s happening to these produce items to make them so contaminated, and how is it prevented in most other crops?

In: 2

Answer 1

The biggest issue is that fruits and veggies are more likely to be eaten raw, and may or may not be adequately washed. Usually the contaminations you listed come from animal sources- so if manure in the field didn’t break down properly, or a bird or animal pooped in the field, or the water the produce was washed in wasn’t clean, those germs can get on our food and make us sick.