Bacteria, Fruit, and Pesticides

Did you know that pesticides can help bacteria grow on fruits and vegetables? Some scientists say that pesticides actually support the growth of life threatening bacteria on fruit and vegetable crops. While reading on of the journals from New Scientist Magazine, I found that because of this bugs like Salmonella, E. coli and Shigella could pose a threat to people eating raw fruit and vegetables. The problem starts not with the pesticides themselves, but the water used to mix them. There is an alarming rise in cases of food poisoning caused by fresh produce, so set out to determine if contaminated pesticide sprays were to blame. Pesticides are generally purchased in concentrated form and mixed with water. University of Manitoba researchers found that "In most cases the water that the farmers are going to use is whatever is available," "If you take a look at what happened with Ontario, with Walkerton, that water's not only used for drinking but it's also used for irrigation." Six people died after drinking E. coli contaminated water in the town in the year 2000. The researchers mixed a variety of common pesticides, herbicides and fungicides with water contaminated with pathogens like Salmonella or E. coli. Some killed the bugs quickly. But in about one-third of the pesticides, the bacteria actually flourished. "Numbers could increase 1,000-fold," Blank said. Salmonella, E. coli and Shigella grew best, particularly in the fungicide chlorothalonil. "If it's spread on a crop that's already standing, then you're contaminating the crop," he said, adding that "many of these fruits or vegetables ... are usually consumed raw or with minimal cooking." Watering fruit and vegetable crops with contaminated water also poses a threat. But the health risks are greater if that water is mixed with pesticides that foster bacteria growth. Please take heed and wash all your fruits and vegetables before consuming. Scientists in Manitoba used products such as petri dishes, microscopes, pipettors to perform their research and look at the data before publishing their findings in the New Scientist Magazine.