Actually, what it said was that the feces of cattle fed on grain
contained E. coli that was acid-resistant. The grain fermented in the
stomach, producing acid which either selected the acid resistant type or
at least turned on the genes for resistance to acid. These types were
able to survive in the human gastric system where ordinary E. coli would
be killed by stomach acid. When the cattle were fed on grass for as
little as 5 days, the acid-resistant types all disappeared from the
systems of the cattle. Thus, if catle were finished on grass instead of
grain, the E. coli problems could be essentially eliminated.
Betsy Levy wrote:
>
> FYI - I'm resending this because it may have been lost during the 4-day
> down time. I'm wondering if anyone else caught the NPR report last week on
> a study of e. coli (the kind that usually sickens humans when they eat
> contaminated meat). A study shows that grain-fed cattle had stomachs full
> of e. coli, whereas grass-fed had virtually none. Cattle finished in
> feedlots quickly acquired e. coli populations. Perhaps this is of interest
> to those of you raising range-fed beef. NPR sells transcripts. I think I
> heard it on Morning Edition.
>
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