Germany: Sprouts likely cause of E. coli outbreak

Yahoo/AP ^

[Katya]

I don’t think that german farmers are growing soybean or mung bean crops. Small growing operations would be importing the seeds and then sprouting them, unless they’re imported sprouts.

[Moltke]

They initially blamed the Spaniards, and screwed up that country’s ag exports, and now it turns out it was their own farmers.....

I'm sure the Spaniards will retaliate by banning German tourists from their country or by turning down billions of German bailout euros soon...;^)

Seriously though, what are the authorities going to do when tracking down the source? All they had to go on was what people were eating before coming down with the sickness. Produce from Spain was one *likely* source early on. Are they going sit on that information so as to not ruffle any feathers (and watch people getting infected) or put out a warning? Note also that this latest development is again not more than a *likely* source - perhaps more likely than Spain but not proven beyond any doubt yet. This case has not been solved with 100% certainty. Although I do hope that it ends there.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Eat natural foods, die of natural causes.

[Bigg Red]

;-)

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

The Germans definitely use human waste as fertilizer...

There is a difference between raw sewerage and sterilized activated sludge. Sludge is the end result of an aerobic bacterial digestion process which is subsequently dried by heating thereby sterilizing any remaining pathogens. It still smells like what it came from. The digestion process is widely used through the civilized world.

I would not crow too much about the German waste treatment shortcomings as it hasn't been all that long since Chicago and New York were flushing their crappers directly into the Chicago River and the Hudson respectively. The World Trade Center was not connected to a sanitary sewer, their outflow pipes went directly into the Hudson.

Chicago reversed the direction of flow of the Chicago river so that it flowed away from Lake Michigan as an open sewer. It wasn't until they built a "river walk" that they installed proper sewage treatment facilities with closed conduits.

Milwaukee has been selling "Milorganite" fertilizer for as far back as I can remember. It is activated sludge, screened to uniform pellet size and bagged. So Milwaukeeans pay sewer taxes to get rid of their sanitary waste and then go to a lawn and garden center and spend money to buy it back!

The bag does include a warning label stating that the product is not to be used on food crops, just in case the sterilizer is on the fritz.

Regards,
GtG

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

...they use it on crops in Mexico which are imported here...

I hate to be overly graphic but picture some of those "guest workers", each with his own roe to hoe, working down the middle of a 160 acre field of produce (in the US or Mexico). He has to answer "natures call" and he's a quarter mile away from the porta potty. Just where do you think he goes? What do you think he uses for TP? Where does he wash up before returning to work?

I really think we need to consider using gamma rays to sterilize food in this country. It does not change texture or taste. It does not make the food "radioactive". It's proven technology (used by the Military to extend shelf life). And it's effective against known pathogens. It's time to stop kidding around with public health.

Regards,
GtG

[aruanan]

It's proven technology (used by the Military to extend shelf life). And it's effective against known pathogens. It's time to stop kidding around with public health.

It's also used to sterilize medical equipment.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Re: Gamma Ray sterilization

You can vacuum pack meat in plastic bags and give it the "gamma" treatment. Meat thus processed does not need to be frozen nor refrigerated. You can toss a steak into a cupboard and it will last up to four years.

It saves fridg space for more beer!

Regards,
GtG

[bajabaja]

You aren’t supposed to freeze the beer. You are supposed to drink it.

[Revolting cat!]

Hippie food.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

You aren’t supposed to freeze the beer. You are supposed to drink it.

Frozen beer (adult slushy) is flat and about three times the alcohol content of the beer that it started from. Reminds me of the story that circulated around the Milwaukee breweries back in the sixties. It seems some marketing type figured out that you could make "beer syrup" a non carbonated concentrated form of beer that could be reconstituted using the same process that soda distributors use, adding the needed water and CO₂ at point of sale. The ATF people nixed the idea because the higher alcohol content meant the syrup was too strong to be sold as beer. They made quite a bit of the concentrate which the marketing people drank as an aperitif.

Regards,
GtG

PS If you check my original post you will note that I did specify a "fridge", not a freezer.

[bajabaja]

PS If you check my original post you will note that I did specify a "fridge", not a freezer.

I stand corrected, you did indeed post that. I am a member of PETB (People for the Ethical Treatment of Beer) and felt freezing them might harm them. So I posted. And your note about the concentrate that the ATF nixed has given a few ideas. Thanks.