Eating
Hamburger Safely: The
Escherichia coli O157:H7 Experience
By Teodorico R. Magda teodoricomagda@yahoo.com
A food borne, toxin-producing, lethal bacterium found in undercooked or contaminated ground beef,
unpasteurized milk, half-cooked
hamburger, leaf lettuce, unpasteurized apple juice, has become the subject of research investigation by food scientists. Though the bacterium lives in the intestines of healthy cattle, meat for consumption can be contaminated during slaughter, and by mixing the lethal organism in beef during grinding. For safety measure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture advises consumers to use a thermometer when cooking hamburger. Meanwhile, microbiologists have been working on an oral vaccine that would purge the lethal bacterium from cattle. The possibility of having an edible plant for livestock, which will carry the vaccine is planned to control the deadly bacterium before it is transmitted to humans.