IE. coli 0157:H7

In 1998, Dennis Avery published an article in American Outlook called "The Hidden Dangers in Organic Food."[5] Avery's article began, "According to recent data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), people who eat organic and natural foods are eight times as likely as the rest of the population to be attacked by a deadly new strain of E. coli bacteria (0157:H7)." This article has been reproduced or quoted by news agencies around the world ever since. The Wall Street Journal included these sentences from the article: "Organic food is more dangerous than conventionally grown produce because organic farmers use manure as the major source of fertilizer for their food crops. Animal manure is the biggest reservoir of these nasty bacteria that are afflicting and killing so many people. Organic farmers compound the contamination problem through their reluctance to use antimicrobial preservatives, chemical washes, pasteurization, or even chlorinated water to rid their products of dangerous bacteria."

But the CDC denied conducting the study, and in 2002 reported that consumption of organic food could actually reduce the risk of E. coli O157:H7 infection.[6] In fact, Avery had deliberately distorted CDC data on E.coli contamination from 1996, when poisoning had been caused by non-organic apple juice and organic lettuces contaminated by run-off from a nearby pen of conventional cattle.[7]

In August 2000, John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC's "20/20," delivered a half-hearted apology for falsifying evidence in a report that claimed organic produce is potentially more dangerous than food raised using toxic agrochemicals, antibiotics, added hormones, genetically engineered seeds and massive animal-feeding factories.[8]

In his apology, Stossel admitted that some tests he relied on to support his conclusion had never been conducted. He shrugged that off as a minor oversight, maintaining that because organic farmers favor manure and other natural fertilizers over synthetic chemicals, organic produce carries a greater risk of E. coli infection and "could kill you."

A number of other sources have also tried, unsuccessfully, to link organic vegetables to deadly E. coli 0157:H7:[9]

     • In 2000, a British tabloid ran the front page story, "Organic food in E. coli safety alert." In fact, some organic mushrooms had been found to contain a harmless strain of E. coli, not the deadly E. coli 0157:H7.

     • The UK's outspoken critic of organic agriculture, Professor Trewavas, claimed that two cases of E. coli poisoning were from 'organic' produce. However, the produce in question had come from private gardens and was not certified as organic.

In 2001, a study carried out by the Public Health Laboratory Service and the Local Authorities Coordinated Body on Food and Trading Standards (LACOTS) UK showed that organic vegetables passed a test for dangerous bacteria with flying colors. A study of 3, 200 samples of carrots, lettuces and spring onions found no evidence of the four key bacteria which cause disease in humans - listeria, salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli O157.[10]

A UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report in 2000 concluded that organic farming may actually reduce food poisoning caused by E. coli 0157:H7 infection.[11]




The truth about E. coli and manure

E. coli O157:H7 has been detected in the feces of up to 15 percent of British cattle.[19] In 2002, US meatpackers recalled over 23 million pounds of ground beef because of E. coli contamination. E. coli generally enters the food chain at the packaging and handling stage, not the farm environment. 4 million tons of recycled sewage are spread on US fields each year, without adequate research to ensure consumers are safe from viruses, bacteria and toxins it may contain. Sludge cannot be used in organic agriculture.[20] Every day, 200,000 Americans are sickened by a foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized and [14] die.[13] Between 1993 and 2001, half a million Americans, most of them children, were been made ill by E. coli O157:H7.[13] Cases of E. coli infection were rare in 1940, before the birth of intensive agriculture. E. coli 0157:H7 was not discovered until 1982.

The attempted food scandals by Avery and Stossel played on the public's lack of awareness of microbiology and agricultural practices. E. coli is one of the commonest microbiological organisms on the planet. It is everywhere - on your hands, your face and in your digestive system. Most strains are not only harmless, but are essential for good health - they help us digest food, synthesize vitamins and crowd out dangerous bacteria. These harmless E. coli can be destroyed by acid in the human stomach.[12] However, one strain, known as E. coli O157:H7, cannot be destroyed by gastric acid. It is typically acquired through contaminated water or food, especially ground beef or hamburgers. E. coli O157:H7 releases a powerful toxin called 'Shiga toxin,' which attacks the wall of the intestine. It causes intestinal bleeding and bloody diarrhea, vomiting, severe abdominal cramps and fever. In some cases, usually involving the elderly or young children, Shiga toxin can enter the bloodstream and cause kidney failure, anemia, internal bleeding, destruction of vital organs, seizures, neurological damage, strokes, blindness, brain damage and death. There is also evidence that foodborne pathogens, in addition to causing food poisoning, can precipitate long-term ailments, such as heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, neurological problems, autoimmune disorders and kidney damage.[13] Antibiotics cannot be used against E. coli O157:H7, and doctors can do little to help people with life-threatening infections. When meat is contaminated with cattle feces at slaughter, or fruits and vegetables are fertilized with raw manure, E. coli O157:H7 can enter the human food supply. To be infected by most foodborne pathogens, such as Salmonella, you have to consume at least a million microbes. But E. coli O157:H7 is so potent that as few as 10 microbes can cause an infection.

However, research done in 1988 at Cornell University indicates that whether E.coli 0157:H7 is present in cow manure depends on the type of diet the cows are fed. Whereas pastured, organic cows feed mainly on herb- and clover-rich grass [14], many 'factory farm' cattle are fed starch-containing grains to increase their growth rate and produce tender meat. The Cornell Scientists found that beef cattle fed a grain-based diet have 1 million E. coli 0157:H7 per gram of feces, whereas cattle fed hay or grass did not have any E. coli 0157:H7. Dairy cattle fed only 60 percent grain also had high numbers of the acid-resistant bacteria.

The huge difference in the levels of E. coli 0157:H7 is the result of grain fermentation in the intestines.[15] Because the bovine gastrointestinal tract digests starch poorly, some undigested grain reaches the colon, where it is fermented. When the grain ferments - and acetic, propionic and butyric acids accumulate in the animal's colon - a large fraction of E. coli produced are the acid-resistant type. The carbohydrates of hay are not so easily fermented, and hay and grass do not promote either the growth or acid resistance of E. coli 0157:H7.




Organic manure

Animal manure has been used for thousands of years as an essential component to maintain the organic matter content, biological activity, fertility and structural stability of agricultural soils.

Whereas non-organic farming uses artificial, chemical fertilizers in addition to manure, the latter is universally used in organic farming. Thus, concerns over the safety of manure tend to focus disproportionately on organic agriculture.[16]

In the UK, which has the highest standards for organic agriculture in the world, the Manual of the United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS) Standards for Organic Food Production (1997) lays down standards for manure management, precautions against water contamination, record-keeping and a dual inspection system by certification bodies and UKROFS itself. The Soil Association Organic Standards (Section 3.607) requires that manure from non-organic sources be composted at a temperature of 60oC for at least three months to destroy pathogens such as E. coli 0157:H7. Sections 3.604 and 3.607 stipulate that for manure from organic sources, composting is not mandatory but recommended. Manure treatment, storage systems and applications are expected to conform to the Statutory Code of Good Practice for the Protection of Water under Section 116 of the Water Act 1989. It is mandatory for every producer licensed by the Soil Association to follow these standards.

Sewage sludge, raw or treated, is also prohibited from certified organic farms. There are no such controls on conventional farms, where raw manure, and even sewage, may be spread, even on fruit and vegetables days from being harvested.

It is the intensification of farming, the feeding of grain-based diets and the over-use of antibiotics that have caused the development of virulent bacteria such as E.coli 0157:H7. There is no evidence linking organically produced foods with an increased risk of food poisoning. Methods employed in organic farming such as grass or hay-based diets, lower stocking densities and careful composting of manure are designed to minimize pathogenic risks, and studies have confirmed that organic produce not only carries no greater risk of E. coli 0157:H7 contamination than non-organic produce, but may even reduce the risks.[17], [18]

References
[5]	Avery, D.T. (1998). The Hidden Dangers in Organic Food. American Outlook.
[6]	Kennedy, M. et al. (2002). Risk Factors for Sporadic Escherichia coli O157 Infections in the United States: a Case-Control Study in FoodNet Sites, 1999-2000. International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Atlanta, GA, March 2002.
[7]	GM FREE. Organics Under Fire.
[8]	Environmental Working Group. Stossel Under Fire.
[9]	The Soil Association (2000). E. coli and organic food.
[10]	Sagoo, S.K., Little, C.L. and Mitchell, R.T. (2001) The Microbiological Examination of Ready-to Eat Organic Vegetables from Retail Establishments. LACOTS/PHIS Coordinated Food Liaison Group Studies.
[11]	FAO (2000). Food Safety and Quality as affected by organic farming.
[12]	Organic Consumers Association. (2000). Scientists Expose Myths that Organic Farming Produces Dangerous E-Coli and Plant Diseases.
[13]	Schlosser, E. (2002). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. HarperCollins, US.
[14]	The Soil Association. Benefits of organic farming
[15]	Diez-Gonzalez, F. et al. (1998). Grain Feeding and the Dissemination of Acid-Resistant Escherichia coli from Cattle. Science. 281; 1666-1668. Russel, J.B., Diez-Gonzalez, F. and Jarvis, G.N. (2002). Potential effect of 5555Escherichia coli to humans. Microbes and Infection. 2 (1); 45-53.
[16]	Institute of Food Science and Technology, UK. (2001) Organic Food.
[17]	FSA (2000). Position paper: Food Standards Agency View on Organic Foods, UK.
[18]	Williams CM; Pennington TH; Bridges O; Bridges JW (2000). Food quality and health. Shades of Green, a Review of UK Farming Systems, Royal Agricultural Society of England, 73-90.
[19]	Sanders, T.A.B. (1999). Food production and food safety. British Medical Journal. 318; 1689-1693.
[20]	Organic Trade Association Newsletter, Issue 21, 2002.