Escherica Coli (E-Coli)

One of the most common causes of serious food borne illnesses is Escherichia coli, or E. coli. It is a common bacterium, with hundreds of subtypes and varieties, found widely in soil. Some E. coli varieties are found in human and animal intestinal tracts where they have adapted to play a helpful role in digestion. Most of the hundreds of different varieties of E. coli are harmless, but some varieties can cause serious illness. Certain strains of E. coli may cause severe diarrhea with bleeding and can infect the genital and urinary tracts.

A group of E.coli varieties produces a toxin called a Shiga toxin. These Shiga toxin producing E.coli, or STEC for short, are responsible for many serious food borne illnesses. When you read or hear about an E. coli outbreak in the news, it’s likely to be E.coli 0157.

A STEC infection gets it start when a person inadvertently swallows a tiny particle of human or animal feces that carries the STEC bacterium. These particles come into contact with food through failures in basic food safety and handling procedures. These failures in food safety can occur at farms, meat packing plants, food processing facilities, and restaurant and home kitchens. The most fundamental rule of food safety for homes and restaurant is that food handlers should always wash their hands before touching food. See Protect yourself from food borne illnesses for a list of safe practices and ways you can reduce the risk of food poisoning for yourself and your family

The widespread outbreak of E.coli infection from raw spinach in September 2006 was E.coli 0157. It led to over 205 confirmed illnesses and four deaths across the country. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers not to buy or eat raw spinach from any source. The final source of the bacterial contamination, whether in the fields where the spinach was grown, or during the washing and packaging process, has never been determined. California's Department of Health Services and the US FDA worked together in the investigation. In their joint final report they successfully identified the environmental risk factors and the areas that were most likely involved in the outbreak, but they were unable to definitively determine how the contamination started.

E.coli 0157:H7 was identified in 1982, when it was found to be the causal agent in an outbreak of diarrhea resulting from the eating of undercooked beef. E. coli 0157:H7 produces toxins that damage the lining of the intestines. The result is severe, bloody diarrhea. The victim may also suffer from vomiting, abdominal cramps, and fever. The US Centers for Disease Control estimates that each year in the US the 0157:H7 strain of E. coli is responsible for an average of 73,000 cases of infection and 61 deaths.

In 2007 several nationwide recalls were issued for ground beef products when the beef was found to be contaminated with E. coli. In September 2007, a restaurant in Effingham, Illinois was identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak that resulted in at least six confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 among customers. An outbreak also occurred among students at an Indiana elementary school.

Southern Californians remember the frightening emergence of E.coli cases in 1994 at the fast food chain Jack in the Box. Six people, including young children, died from E. coli 0157:H7 in hamburgers that had not been cooked at high enough temperatures to kill the organism. Foodmaker, Jack in the Box’s San Diego based parent company, had been warned both by their employees and by public health officials that they should be cooking their hamburger to 155 degrees. The company chose to ignore this advice, a decision that cost six people their lives.