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  • From: Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] more E.coli
  • Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:26:42 -0600

At 10:56 AM 12/12/2007, Gordon wrote:

I, for one, fail to see how cows, turkeys, or even humans defecating in an orchard would damage the fruit unless the fruit was allowed to fall on the ground. Even then they could be sanatarily washed off so that no danger would exist.

That's the point - dropped apples. There have been several oubreaks of hemorrhagic enterocolitis and HUS due to E.coli O157/H7, traced back to unpasteurized apple cider made from or including dropped apples that were picked up and pressed without being washed/brushed to remove surface contaminants.
I was fairly certain that in at least one of those(I was thinking it was a CT outbreak, back in the early '90s), they isolated O157/H7 from some deer fecal pellets they collected in the orchard - but I can't find documentation in a quick Google search.
But, subsequent to those outbreaks, CDC has issued guidelines recommending that cider processors wash & brush dropped fruits, and some additional work has been done incorporating sodium benzoate into the wash/rinse water, as well.

Contaminated, damaged apples can support the growth of E.coli O157/H7, and fruit flies can carry it from contaminated wounds to uncontaminated wounds.
http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/65/1/1

Lucky





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