On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 247

animalby-products(feathers,viscera)asfeed
forthenextgenerationofanimals,and
crowdingtheanimalstogetherinveryclose
confinement,bothofwhichfavorthespread
ofthebacteria.Salmonellaoftenhaveno
obviouseffectontheanimalcarriers,butin
humanscancausediarrheaandchronic
infectioninotherpartsofthebody.
Escherichiacoliisthecollectivenamefor
manyrelatedstrainsofbacteriathatare
normalresidentsoftheintestinesofwarmbloodedanimals,includinghumans.But
severalstrainsarealiens,andifingestedwill
invadethecellsofthedigestivetractand
causeillness.ThemostnotoriousE.coli,and
themostdangerous,isaspecialstraincalled
O157:H7thatcausesbloodydiarrheaand
sometimeskidneyfailure,especiallyin
children.IntheUnitedStates,aboutathirdof
peoplediagnosedwithE.coliO157:H7need
tobehospitalized,andabout5%die.E.coli
O157:H7isharboredincattle,especially


calves,andotheranimals,buthaslittleifany
effectonthem.Groundbeefisbyfarthemost
commonsourceofE.coliO157:H7infection.
Grindingmixesandspreadswhatmaybeonly
asmallcontaminatedportionthroughoutthe
entiremassofmeat.
Prevention Prevention of bacterial infection
begins with the well warranted assumption

that all meat has been contaminated with at
least some disease bacteria. It requires
measurestoensurethatthosebacteriaarenot
spreadtootherfoods,andareeliminatedfrom
the meats during cooking. Hands, knives,
cutting boards, and countertops used to
prepare meats should be cleaned with hot
soapy water before being used to prepare
other foods.E. coli are killed at 155ºF/68ºC,
sogroundmeatsaresafestiftheircentergets
atleastthishot.Salmonellaandotherbacteria
can multiply at significant rates between 40
and140ºF/5–60ºC,someatsshouldnotbeleft