E. Coli: Not Just for Carnivores Anymore

When the topic of eating meat comes up, on occasion my vegan and vegetarian friends will recite a list of reasons they abstain from consuming the flesh of animals. (Not that they need to justify anything to me; I always assumed it was not because they love animals so much as they hate plants.)

I am an unapologetic omnivore, but I recognize that there are several reasonable arguments for the health benefits of not eating meat—quite aside from periodic stomach-churning undercover PETA video footage of food farm squalor.

I’d heard about meat consumption linked to artery-clogging cholesterol, the benefits of added vegetables and grains to diets, and all that. But there was another argument I kept hearing: that vegetables are an inherently safer food than meat because of the risk of food-borne pathogens.

I’d heard horror stories about nasty bacteria such as E. coli, which is often found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, and can cause potentially fatal diseases. The main source of E. coli in America is undercooked meat, especially ground beef. In 1993, the restaurant chain Jack in the Box served at least a thousand people undercooked hamburgers; four people died and at least 600 were sickened. As various nationally-publicized meat recalls have been announced over the years, articles and blogs on vegetarian topics would sometimes cheerfully mention that vegetarians didn’t need to worry about such problems. I’ve heard the same from vegan friends.

However, it’s not true. While undercooked ground beef, in general, contains more harmful bacteria than plants, those who eat fruits and vegetables are also at risk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in June and July 1997 60 people got food poisoning from eating alfalfa sprouts contaminated with E. coli, and there have been about a half-dozen outbreaks of salmonella infection caused by alfalfa sprouts since 1995. Unwashed, raw fruits and vegetables can be just as toxic as unprepared, uncooked meat.

Even ground, dried spices can contain deadly bacteria. Earlier this month, over a dozen spices sold at Whole Foods and under the brand name Frontier Natural Products Co-Op were recalled after salmonella was found in black pepper, causing about 250 people to become sick. There have been 16 recalls in the United States alone since 2001 involving bacteria-contaminated spices including cumin, oregano, paprika, sesame, parsley, and sage.

The world’s food supply is safer that it has ever been, but everyone—vegan and confirmed carnivore alike—needs to be careful about what we put in our mouths.