Although the most serious causes of food poisoning like Salmonella come largely from animal products (for example, most foodborne-related deaths have been attributed to poultry), millions of Americans are sickened by produce every year, thanks to noroviruses. Noroviruses can spread person-to-person via the fecal-oral route or by the ingestion of aerosolized vomit, which together may explain most norovirus food outbreaks. But a substantial proportion remained unexplained. How else can fecal viruses get on our fruits and veggies?
The pesticide industry may be spraying them on (See Norovirus Food Poisoning from Pesticides).
The water that’s used to spray pesticides on crops may be dredged up from ponds contaminated with fecal pathogens. When you hear of people getting infected with a stomach bug like E. coli from something like spinach, it’s important to realize that the pathogen didn’t originate from the spinach. Intestinal bugs come from intestines. Greens don’t have guts; plants don’t poop.
“The application of pesticides may therefore not only be a chemical hazard, but also a microbiological hazard for public health.” What is the industry’s solution? To add more chemicals! “The inclusion of antiviral substances in reconstituted pesticides,” researchers assert, “may be appropriate to reduce the virological health risk posed by the application of pesticides.” Or we could just choose organic.
Likewise the Salmonella in alfalfa sprout seeds (See Don’t Eat Raw Alfalfa Sprouts) likely came from manure run-off or contaminated irrigation water. But this pesticide angle adds a whole new route for fecal pathogens to pollute produce. Broccoli Sprouts are safer, and organic sprouts may therefore be safer still (See Broccoli Sprouts).
Organic foods may also be healthier and don’t carry the potential chemical hazards associated with pesticides. See my videos:
- CDC Report on Environmental Chemical Exposure
- Preventing Parkinson’s Disease With Diet
- Can Pesticides Be Rinsed Off?
- Pesticides in Chinese Bamboo Shoots
- Plants vs. Pesticides
-Michael Greger, M.D.
PS: If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here and watch my full 2012 – 2015 presentations Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death, More than an Apple a Day, From Table to Able, and Food as Medicine.
