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Scientists Expose Myths that Organic Farming Produces
Dangerous E-Coli and Plant Diseases

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Three articles posted:

1. Debunking the Industrial Agriculture Myth that Organic Foods Are More
Likely to Be Carriers of Dangerous Bacteria such as e-Coli 0157:H7 or Plant
Fungus such as Fuminosin
2. Acid relief for O157:H7 Simple change in cattle diets could
cut E. coli infection
3. E. coli and Cattle Facts

Posted: 06/19/2000 By kandmhfarm@sprintmail.com

Debunking the Industrial Agriculture Myth that Organic Foods Are More
Likely to Be Carriers of Dangerous Bacteria such as e-Coli 0157:H7 or Plant
Fungus such as Fuminosin

Please read the following news report on research done in 1998 at Cornell
University which found that cattle fed a grain-based diet, typical of a
feed lot operation, harbored E. coli 0157:H7 while cattle fed a forage
based diet, typical of pastured organic cows, did not. This appears to
be correlated with the pH of the intestinal tract, which is highly acid
with a grain-based diet and favors this particular strain of bacteria
because of that. Perhaps this should still be called 'hamburger disease'
as it was before Dennis Avery tried to rename it, or more accurately 'feedlot
disease'. This should also be pertinent information in considering the
recent outbreak of E coli 0157:H7 in Ontario. Most E. coli strains are
harmless, simply finding E coli on organic lettuce does not necessarily
pose any threat to human health at all. It is this particularly virulant
strain that researchers should be investigating, looking upstream from
the immediate source of infection and trying to determine how it can be
eliminated from the food supply. Pasturing cattle seems to be a good
place to start.

Please also note that, contrary to Morton's/Avery's allegations about the
ubiquity of raw manure use on organic farms, this is simply untrue.
Certainly not all organic farmers do use manure, and certified organic
farmers must compost manure thoroughly before use. IFOAM also prohibits
the use of manure or compost from conventional factory animal farms,
probably the largest source of E coli 0157:H7. Sewage sludge, raw or
treated, is also prohibited from certified organic farms. People
unfamilar with actual practices on organic farms should educate
themselves before making sweeping assumptions about what "100%" of
organic farmers do.

Also, the allegations about fuminosin are poorly founded. The actual
article by Munkvold <www.scisoc.org> should be carefully
considered. The research did NOT compare Bt corn and organic corn at
all, it only compared Bt corn and heavily insect infected conventional
corn where corn borer was apparently not controlled with pesticides.
The authors did say that corn under stress from other factors (weather,
disease etc.) showed equal fuminosin levels, and that the fusarium in the
soil played a major role in mycotoxin level, it was not simply the result
of insect attack. It seems logical that the level of soil fusarium
certainly would be lower in well managed organic soils with a healthy
soil food web - both research by William Albrecht and Elaine Ingham
support that likelihood. It also is closely related to what Larry
Phelan is working at Ohio State, where corn borers show strong preference
for conventionally grown corn over organic corn, probably due to
differences in plant chemistry.

Also, research by Dr. Jim Rahe at Washington State (Can. J. Bot. 33
(1987): 354-360., Appl. Soil Ecol. 8 (1998): 25-33.) indicates that
Roundup applications actually can shift soil microbial populations to
favor plant pathogenic fungi, such as fusarium, rhizoctonia and pythium.
Could it be that increased Roundup use with Roundup Ready crop varieties
might increase fusarium in the soil and thereby increase risk of
fuminosin development? Dr. Rahe would like to continue this research,
but has been unable to find a source of funding. In any case,
monoculture and intensive farming methods will favor the development of
high populations of pathogenic soil fungi like fusarium, while well
designed crop rotations, typical of an organic farm, will break such
cycles and promote soil microbial diversity.

Mary-Howell Martens

Acid relief for O157:H7 Simple change in cattle diets could
cut E. coli infection

USDA and Cornell scientists report

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, SEPT. 10, 1998, 4 P.M. EDT

Contact: Roger Segelken
Office: (607) 255-9736
E-Mail: hrs2@cornell.edu

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A simple change in cattle diets in the days before
slaughter may reduce the risk of Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections in
humans, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Cornell University
microbiologists have discovered.

Research reported in the Sept. 11, 1998 issue of the journal Science
indicates that grain-based cattle diets promote the growth of E. coli
that can survive the acidity of the human stomach and cause intestinal
illness. E. coli contamination is responsible for more than 20,000
infections and 200 deaths each year in the United States.

Fortunately there is a workable solution to the food-safety problem, the
scientists say. By feeding hay to cattle for
about five days before slaughter, the number of acid-resistant E. coli
can be dramatically reduced.

"Most bacteria are killed by the acid of stomach juice, but E. coli from
grain-fed cattle are resistant to strong acids," explains James B.
Russell, a USDA microbiologist and faculty member of the Cornell Section
of Microbiology. "When people eat foods contaminated with acid-resistant
E. coli -- including pathogenic strains like O157:H7 -- the chance of
getting sick increases."

E. coli is a normal bacterium in the gastrointestinal tract of animals
and humans, and most types are not harmful (See "E. coli and
Cattle" fact sheet, attached). However, disease-causing strains such
as E. coli O157:H7 produce toxins that cause bloody diarrhea or
even kidney failure in humans. Mature cattle are unaffected by E. coli
O157:H7. Only a small number of cattle (estimated at 1 to 2 percent at
any one time) shed E. coli O157:H7 in their feces, a rate that is not fully
explained.

When beef carcasses are accidentally contaminated by feces at slaughter,
the pathogens can enter the human food supply. E. coli O157:H7 can be
killed by cooking or irradiation, but the bacterium continues to pose a food-safety
risk.

Cattle are fed starch-containing grains to increase growth rate and
produce tender meat. Because the bovine gastrointestinal tract digests
starch poorly, Russell explains, 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.

"Grain does not specifically promote the growth of E. coli O157:H7, but
it increases the chance that at least some E. coli could pass through the
gastric stomach of humans," Russell says. "The carbohydrates of hay are not so
easily fermented, and hay does not promote either the growth or acid
resistance of E. coli. When we switched cattle from grain-based diets
to hay for only five days, acid-resistant E. coli could no longer be detected."

In studies performed at Cornell, beef cattle fed grain-based rations
typical of commercial feedlots had 1 million acid-resistant E. coli, per
gram of feces, and dairy cattle fed only 60 percent grain also had high numbers of
acid-resistant bacteria. In each case, the high counts could be explained
by grain fermentation in the intestines.

By comparison, cattle fed hay or grass had only acid-sensitive E. coli,
and these bacteria were destroyed by an "acid shock" that mimicked
the human stomach, the microbiologists report in Science.

According to microbiologist Russell, acid-resistant strains of bacteria
have evolved to overcome the protective barrier of the gastric stomach.
The ongoing process of natural selection allows organisms with the appropriate
genes to survive and multiply where others cannot. Because cattle have
been fed high-grain, growth-promoting diets for more than 40 years,
he says, there has been ample opportunity to select acid-resistant forms.

Further research is needed to identify the acid-resistance genes of E.
coli, but Russell says that "common laboratory strains" of E. coli appear
to lack the necessary DNA to survive acidic gastrointestinal environments.

"In the meantime, now that we know where the acid-resistant E. coli are
coming from, we can control them with a relatively inexpensive change
in diet," Russell says. "This strategy has the potential to control the production of
other acid-resistant bacteria, including virulent strains of E. coli that
have not yet evolved."

A brief period of hay-feeding immediately before slaughter "should not
affect either carcass size or meat quality,"
and the diet change could be implemented with minimal expense and
inconvenience to feedlot operators, according
to Donald H. Beermann, Cornell professor of animal science.

USDA microbiologist Russell has been stationed in Ithaca for more than 17
years and is affiliated with the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in
Madison, Wisc. He holds the rank of adjunct professor of microbiology at
Cornell, and the other authors of the Science report were his students
when the feeding studies were conducted: Francisco Diez-Gonzalez,
currently a postdoctoral fellow, completed his Ph.D. in food science at
Cornell in 1996. Todd Callaway is a Ph.D. candidate in microbiology.
Menas Kizoulis, a Cornell senior in biological sciences, was recently awarded
a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Fellowship to continue research in
Russell's laboratory.

The studies were supported by the Agricultural Research Service of the
USDA.

E. coli and Cattle Facts

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition,

USDA Agricultural Research Service, Cornell University Section of
Microbiology

TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS: The gastrointestinal tract of animals and man is
an ideal habitat for the growth of bacteria, and cell densities can be
as high as a trillion cells per gram of digesta. Most gut bacteria are harmless
types, and they can even provide essential nutrients to the host. When
animals consume contaminated food, the native bacteria compete with
the invaders and provide at least some protection against food-borne illness.
Escherichia coli is a common bacterium in the GI tract, but it is usually
outnumbered by other types. E. coli is never a beneficial bacterium, but
under normal circumstances the animal and E. coli tolerate each other.
Some strains of E. coli, however, are not people-friendly, and these highly
virulent forms can cause acute illness or even death.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE ENTEROHEMORRHAGIC: E. coli is a normal
inhabitant of the human gastrointestinal tract, but strains identified as O157:H7 are
enterohemorrhagic and cause intestinal bleeding. Victims may experience
severe cramping and abdominal pain, watery or bloody diarrhea, vomiting
or low-grade fever for an average of eight days. E. coli O157:H7 also
produces "shiga-like" toxins that can cause kidney failure; once the
infection reaches the uremic phase, the death rate can be as high as 30
percent. As few as 10 viable E. coli O157:H7 can cause infection.

THE FECAL CONNECTION: Mature cattle are unaffected by E. coli O157:H7,
and a small percentage of the cattle in the United States are carriers. When
meat is contaminated with cattle feces at slaughter or fruit and vegetables
are fertilized with manure, E. coli O157:H7 can enter the human food supply.
In day-care facilities and nursing homes, fecal contamination is the vehicle for
person-to-person infection. Recent work indicates that swimming pools and water parks can
be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

RAW DANGER: Heat, in the pasteurization of milk and fruit juices or the
cooking of solid foods, will destroy E. coli bacteria. E. coli on the outer
surfaces of a steak or chop are easily destroyed by heat of cooking. But E. coli in
ground meat may be concealed deep within the hamburger. Hamburgers having
any "pink meat" can still have live E. coli O157:H7 cells.

GASTRIC BARRIER: Humans have a natural barrier that kills food-borne
bacteria -- the acidic, gastric juices of the stomach -- but E. coli bacteria
can withstand "acid shock" if they have grown in the presence of fermentation
acids. Fermentation acids increase when cattle are fed large amounts of
grain. Cattle fed grain have very large numbers of acid-resistant E. coli.
The E. coli of hay-fed cattle are acid-sensitive and are easily killed by gastric
juice.

ACID RELIEF: Research indicates that cattle fed hay have 1 million-fold
fewer acid-resistant E. coli than cattle fed grain. However it may be
possible to process grains to decrease acid production and acid resistance.
When grains are heat-treated or steam-flaked, less starch passes to the
colon, and fermentation acids decline.