5 ms·
I wish I could buy salad uncontaminated by feces but I guess I'll take irradiated if feces salad is all we can get.
by dmm 8y ago
I wish I could buy salad uncontaminated by feces but I guess I'll take irradiated if feces salad is all we can get.
- bluGill 8y agoA co-worker (I work for John Deere) went to look at a lettuce farm during harvest. He had to wear gloves and a hair net. He looked up and there were birds flying overhead with not even a diaper! Moral of this story: all greens are contaminated with feces - wash your greens.
- novia 8y agoBirds typically poop as they take off to fly. Less weight to carry. E. coli outbreaks are typically caused by animal farm runoff, especially from hog or cattle farms.
- bluGill 8y agoBirds can poop in the air at anytime. Takeoff is the most common one of course - but that isn't even an out as the birds are feeding in that field and thus landing.
- novia 8y agoOh, I gotcha. I thought the birds were only flying above, not landing and eating. In that case, wouldn't the onus be on the harvester to not pick produce that has obvious bird poop on it?
- bluGill 8y agoyeah, but the rain last week washed the visible poop off - but there are invisible residues left. (others have pointed out you cannot wash e.coli off - I'm not qualified to evalueate that claim but if true washing isn't enough)
- coredog64 8y agoA biology major coworker explained that it’s even deeper than that. Most birds optimize for weight by not having muscles for controlling bowel movements. Rather they take advantage of inertia and let their initial dive provide the bulk of the energy for solid waste evacuation.
- dmm 8y ago> wash your greens. Washing greens will not remove E. coli contamination. > birds The contamination causing the current E. Coli outbreak was almost certainly caused by feces from an animal farm and has nothing to do with wild birds.