I understand that bacteria makes the food rotten (side note is this in all cases?) but how does the bacteria get there in the first place? It cant just show up in rotten food. Is it a part of the plant/animal it came from or is it a result of food processing? If it comes from plants/animals then does the bacteria harm the plant/animal it originally came from when it was alive? Is it produced by the original animal/plant or is it something the animal picks up in the environment?
In: Biology
It’s always there, waiting, watching, adapting. Bacteria play the long game. Everything dies in the end, and they’ll make damn certain that when it does their distant descendants will be ready to consume it.
Animals and plants contain bacteria, but these are kept in check by a variety of barriers like impenetrable walls and vigilant immune systems. After death, these processes start to break down, and the bacteria are given access to the lovely digestible parts of the body.
Bacteria also come from the environment. They’re everywhere, including in the air, so sterilising the food and then leaving it out will still cause decay eventually.
Also for the record a lot of the mould you see on rotten food is fungus, not bacteria.
Latest Answers