What’s so bad about E. coli 0157:H7? Unlike most strains of E. coli, which can be harmless or cause mild illness, this strain can cause extreme illness, including kidney failure, and death. Half the people who got sick in the spinach outbreak were hospitalized.

Where does it come from? Cattle manure is the primary source, and there is evidence that grain-fed cattle, rather than grass-fed cattle, are more likely to carry the pathogenic strain. From there, it can be spread to food in any number of ways: in irrigation or wash water, in manure or composted manure, on workers’ shoes, clothing or hands, by wild animals, on vehicles, tools, processing equipment, during postharvest handling or marketing.

What can farmers do? Growers should ensure that their water is clean and potable, that animals are fenced out of leafy greens fields, that workers wash their hands carefully after using the toilet, and that harvest and postharvest tools and containers are clean and disinfected. All growers, whether organic or not, should respect the organic standard that prohibits the use of manure on fields less than 120 days before harvest of crops that contact the soil.

What can consumers do? Washing doesn’t get rid of E. coli 0157:H7. Only cooking, at 160°F for 15 seconds, will kill the bacteria.

For more information: www.cfsan.fda.gov/