It's not like listeria is a foreign bacteria. It's been here for a very long time. Eons. It's found in our water...our soil.

QUOTE: "Listeria is a PATHOGEN of *RUMINANTS, and can infect mice in the laboratory, ++although it is only rarely the cause of human disease++."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listeria

*RUMINANT
ru·mi·nant (rm-nnt)
n.
Any of various hoofed, even-toed, usually horned mammals of the suborder Ruminantia, such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and giraffes, characteristically having a stomach divided into four compartments and chewing a cud consisting of regurgitated, partially digested food.
adj.
1. Characterized by the chewing of cud.
2. Of or belonging to the Ruminantia.
3. Meditative; contemplative.

LISTERIA
What is listeriosis (Listeria infection)?

Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, is an important public health problem. The disease primarily affects pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. It can be avoided by following a few simple recommendations.

What are the symptoms of listeriosis?

A person with listeriosis (listeria infection) has fever, muscle aches, and sometimes gastrintestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhoea. If infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur.

Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness; however, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarraige or stillbirth, premature delivery, or infection of the newborn.

How great is the risk for listeriosis?

In the United States, an estimated 2,500 persons become seriously ill with listeriosis each year. Of these, 500 die. At increased risk are:

•Pregnant women - They are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis. About one-third of listeriosis cases happen during pregnancy.
•Newborns - Newborns rather than the pregnant women themselves suffer the serious effects of infection in pregnancy.
•Persons with weakened immune systems
•Persons with cancer, diabetes, or kidney disease
•Persons with AIDS - They are almost 300 times more likely to get listeriosis than people with normal immune systems.
•Persons who take glucocorticosteroid medications
•The elderly
Healthy adults and children occasionally get infected with Listeria, but they rarely become seriously ill.

How does Listeria get into food?

Listeria monocytogenes is found in soil and water. Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil or from manure used as fertilizer.
Animals can carry the bacterium without appearing ill and can contaminate foods of animal origin such as meats and dairy products. The bacterium has been found in a variety of raw foods, such as uncooked meats and vegetables, as well as in processed foods that become contaminated after processing, such as soft cheeses and cold cuts at the deli counter. Unpasteurized (raw) milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk may contain the bacterium.

Listeria is killed by pasteurization and cooking; however, in certain ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs and deli meats, contamination may occur after cooking but before packaging.

How do you get listeriosis?

You get listeriosis by eating food contaminated with Listeria. Babies can be born with listeriosis if their mothers eat contaminated food during pregnancy. Although healthy persons may consume contaminated foods without becoming ill, those at increased risk for infection can probably get listeriosis after eating food contaminated with even a few bacteria. Persons at risk can prevent Listeria infection by avoiding certain high-risk foods and by handling food properly.

Can listeriosis be prevented?

The general guidelines recommended for the prevention of listeriosis are similar to those used to help prevent other foodborne illnesses, such as salmonellosis.

http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/listeria.html

You'd be surprised what a "pot farm" can grow! I'm talking about growing veggies in pots...not the "other" thang! LOL

And our farmers market has just one more weekend to go since most don't have much to sell after the first of October.

But then we have the Pumpkin Festival coming up soon that's held every year in Circleville, Ohio!

Mm, mm, good! Everything you could ever use pumpkins to make is prepared and cooked and sold there! Pumpkin ice cream....but let's hope there's no "listeria condiment" sprinkle container there! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww!

I also buy my chickens and turkeys from the local "free-range" farm owned by an Amish family. People would NOT believe the taste difference! And the eggs! Ooh La La! The omelettes are fabulous!

}8^)

You know, I like your way of thunkin'! The more we can do for ourselves and not rely on some factory to do it for us, the better off we will be! I am blessed to have quite a few local Amish and Mennonite farmers close by that I use as my "grocery store" for all they grow, raise, make and process. Of course, if you can't trust them, who can you trust? Since I was raised on a farm and know the "ins and outs"..."dos and don'ts", AND as I do my "shopping", I am inspecting the whole, entire "operation", too!

"Trust but Verify", is my motto!

Hey...I'm a "newbie" here, but does anyone recall the Current program, "Kill it, Cook it, Eat it"? http://current.com/shows/kill-it-cook-it-eat-it/

I always seemed to lose my appetite after watching that.

I wonder why?

Yes, olblue...and a little parsley, rosemary and thyme to go along with that, right?

And DON'T HOLD THE ONION!

LMAO!

}8^D

I think it may be that there, "bottom line" tool....

+^d

}8^\

Hey!!!!!!!!!

Wood pulp is 100% FIBER!

And we DO need fiber in our diets! And what you don't eat, you can make pretty art objects with the remainder! Like the god Ganesh on a leaf!

LOL

+^d

}8^o

Don't forget shigella on parsely, too!

Mm, mm, good!

LOL

Hmmm...hunter gatherers didn't have any problems with eating a balanced diet.

I wonder if we were to follow their lead.....hey, it worked for them and it HAD to be sufficient.

WE'RE HERE!

LOL

}8^0

Funny...MY wife has been saying THAT about me for 38 years!

}8^o

"Actually, the vaccine for DUMB is the VOTE."

I concur.

As a matter of fact, the usage of such a tool can cure a HOST of miseries and ills!

Sickness, premature death, hunger, wars, homelessness, biogtry, racism, hate, fear, ignorance, greed, abuse of power.....but NOT stupidity. Stupidity is "bone-deep".

That's too much, even for the power of voting to overcome.

}8^)

The vinegar we can purchase off the store shelves can BARELY pickle pickles! So, I wouldn't rely on it to do much more than that.

A "proof" that vinegar is a disinfectant under certain conditions is the fact that it is used, along with salt [brine], to make and preserve pickles. In general the highest concentration possible would be most effective. In the U.S. 5% acetic acid constitutes vinegar and high concentrations are available only through chemical suppliers and not in the grocery store or pharmacy.

And from the "horse's mouth".....

"The effectiveness of various concentrations depends on the demands. Undiluted bleach can be used to desinfect used syringes (used by intravenous drug users) and can inavtivate HIV completely, however acetic acid does not inactivate HIV. Less dramatic, 2% is sufficient to disinfect nebulizers used by patients with cystic fibrosis at home (these people often suffer from pseudomonas infections). A solution of 1% acetic acid can be used to decontaminate the surface of freshly laid eggs (to remove Salmonella etc. from the surface).

For decontamination of fresh parsley (known to have caused Shigella outbreaks) a dip in vinegar containing 7.6% acetic acid is sufficient. On the other hand, an acid drip of beef meat in 2% acetic acid for decontamination is largely ineffetive against E. coli O:157:H7 (the 'hamburger bug') because this organism is acid-tolerant.

In another study the effectiveness of 2% acetic acid to kill Listeria monocytogenes attached to stainless steel was found to be low, but could be improved by the addition of monolaurin (for use on food-utensils, for example).

All of these studies were under standardized, experimental conditions and the data are available in public databases.

Truy Wassenaar,
Curator of the Virtual Museum of Bacteria
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Chlorine is VERY effective, but that's like swapping out arsenic with strychnine hoping one to be more effective than the other! And using "store-supplied" vinegar to reduce shigella on parsley is NOT effective as a percetage of 7.6% acetic acid is required to perform this task.

I use 35% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)...as I have stated in one of my first posts on this thread.

WARNING -- I WOULD NOT BUY IT IF I HAD KIDS OR STUPID PEOPLE IN THE HOME AS IT IS TASTELESS AND ODORLESS AND CANNOT BE DISTINGUISHED FROM PLAIN, ORDINARY TAP WATER!!!!

P.S. A 70% (or higher) solution of hydrogen peroxide is what drove the Space Shuttle into orbit! Liquid hydrogen delivers a specific impulse about 30%-40% higher than most other rocket fuels. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were used as the propellant in the high efficiency main engines of the Space Shuttle. LOX/LH2 also powered the upper stages of the Saturn V and Saturn 1B rockets, as well as the Centaur upper stage, the United States' first LOX/LH2 rocket (1962).

Even a 35% solution of H2O2 can be dangerous in the wrong hands. To themselves and others.

Watch me shoot monkeys out of my arse! OOK, OOK!

LOL

You do whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

If a mouse OR rat are carriers of listeria, they most likely would have picked it up from the very same source as we humans would. Cross-contamination could be blamed on those poor critters as much as you could blame it on another human touching food. My money would be on it being transferred from product to product by human contact faster than I would a rat. Meat processing plants that make those nasty hot dogs and bologna made from assholes and lips...anything they can toss into the vat to make those ungodly things are off-limits for me! Deli meat isn't a good thing for a lunch bucket, either! And if ground beef can't be used for anything because it's gone bad, guess what is the LAST thing they can AND will use it for? Chili! I would NEVER buy canned chili!

Not too long ago someone posted a story about how raw milk should be left alone by the government because there's people that LOVE it so much and they feel they're being persecuted by the FDA for purchasing it. Some people think it's not the government's business to stop the sale of raw milk products. Pregnant women should never eat ice cream, let aone an other dairy product that's not pasteurized! But if one of their family members were to get sick or die, well, they would squeal like a stuck pig demanding to know why Uncle Sam allowed them to buy it. You just can't please everybody, can you?
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"Listeria monocytogenes is commonly found in soil, stream water, sewage, plants, and food. Listeria are known to be responsible for listeriosis, a rare but potentially lethal food-borne infection. The case fatality rate for those with a severe form of infection may approach 25%. (Salmonella, in comparison, has a mortality rate estimated at less than 1%). Although Listeria has low infectivity, it is hardy and is able to grow in temperatures ranging from 4 °C (39.2 °F) (the temperature of a refrigerator), to 37 °C (98.6 °F), (the body's internal temperature). Listeriosis is a serious illness, and the disease may manifest as meningitis, or affect newborns due to its ability to penetrate the endothelial layer of the placenta. Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil, and animals can also be carriers. Listeria has been found in uncooked meats, uncooked vegetables, unpasteurized milk, foods made from unpasteurized milk, and processed foods. Pasteurization and sufficient cooking kill Listeria; however, contamination may occur after cooking and before packaging. For example, meat-processing plants producing ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs and deli meats, must follow extensive sanitation policies and procedures to prevent Listeria contamination. When Listeria bacteria gets into a food processing factory, they can live there for years, sometimes contaminating food products over and over again.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has published a list of foods that have sometimes caused outbreaks of Listeria: hot dogs, deli meats, raw milk, cheeses (particularly soft-ripened cheeses like feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, or Mexican-style “queso blanco”), raw and cooked poultry, raw meats, ice cream, raw vegetables, some fruit such as cantaloupe, and raw and smoked fish and the green lip mussel."
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Now, as far as cleaning off fruits and vegetables, alcohol can be used to wipe them down. But who wants to waste vodka? I'll tell you what I USE.

There is a thing called 35% hydrogen peroxide...FOOD GRADE....not that crapola you buy off the shelf at the store. The REAL DEAL stuff! I use it to wipe off my fruits and veggies! However, ONLY people of higher intelligence should purchase it, since a person of average intelligence COULD confuse it with water and if they were to drink it...they would harm themselves terribly or might even DIE! If I had ANY children in the home, I would stay away from it!

I have been using it for ten years...ever since listeria, e coli and salmonella began to be more prevalent in our food supply. As a matter of fact. it's far safer than chlorine! People in India use it for EVERYTHING. If you were to take a peek into their "medicine cabinet", about all you will find IS hydorgen peroxide! Many countries use it instead of chlorine to treat their drinking water!

Chlorine is dangerously toxic in MY book!