Question: Hi, Regarding the latest Ecoli outbreak, how do viruses and bugs reach the food, and can it be stopped? Thank You Will

James Hargreaves answered on 15 Jun 2011:

Hey 08wjeffrey,

E-Coli and other bugs, which are known as bacteria are on most things we touch or eat. They are millions of them everywhere we look.
acteria is present in the air, on the surfaces around us and in the food we eat so there’s no real way of keeping it off food!! You can do your best to avoid cross contamination though by using a separate utensil and chopping block for each type of food, making sure the areas are cleaned with a decent antibacterial agent and use any cleaning agents in small areas so the germs are not spread around too much. You can also make sure your food is cleaned thoroughly before preparing it and throw away leftovers.
One cool tip is that generally bacteria cannot withstand 30 seconds in a microwave so if you want to be completely sure, nuke things after cleaning for 30 seconds (except metals, etc) to get the surface bacteria off. This will not kill bacteria inside something tho and will not prepare raw ingredients in any way- you still need to keep an eye on cross contamination for that.

E-coli lives naturally inside your body without making your poorly, but its when people dont wash hands after having a poo that can make things goo wrong.

We can never ever stop bugs being on food, so the best way is to make sure you wash your hands after touching your face, mouth, ears, after the loo… and making sure food is very hot when cooking it.

Does that help? – leave me a comment if you dont understand or want to ask anything else 🙂