Where does bacteria come from in rotten food?

1.25K views

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

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hey, non-biologist here with little knowledge about what you are asking.
I think it’s all a matter of the *amount* of a given bacteria you are eating. If you eat a slice of salami, you ARE eating bacteria…including some that could make you sick. But not much of it. If you let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 3 days, the amount of bacteria has had time to be greatly increased. Possibly to the point that your body can’t fight it off quickly and you get sick, die, etc…
No matter what, though, you are always consuming bacteria. We just try to keep it to levels our bodies can beat back.

You are viewing 1 out of 5 answers, click here to view all answers.