When there are reports of contaminated food, why is it always with E. Coli? Why aren’t other organisms more common, and/or why is E.Coli so good at growing on our food?

Question

When there are reports of contaminated food, why is it always with E. Coli? Why aren’t other organisms more common, and/or why is E.Coli so good at growing on our food?

In: Biology

Answer 1

E. Coli is found in all cattle raised for food. Not all of them are toxic, but when you crowd a few thousand cattle together or run that many through a slaughterhouse you have a high probability of encountering the toxic version. Vegetable carried E.Coli breakouts are due to mismanagement of manure or manure tainted water, hamburger events are due to meat dropped into the manure swill on the floor of a slaughterhouse being thrown into giant grinders that quite effectively distribute the bacteria throughout thousands of pounds of product.