There are (and will be) some research articles on the _soil_ microbiological
differences between organically and conventionally grown produce. As far as I
know (although I've not researched the "above ground" literature too much)
little has been published about microbial differences between conventional and
organic produce.
Produce is not a sterile environment, and microbes can survive (and many can
thrive) on the surface of plants. Those that do survive (and thrive) are not
typically pathogenic to humans (in fact the "deadly" E. coli can barely survive
10 days in water, and 60 days in soil). The only type of bacteria that can
remain dangerous over a long period of time are those which can form endospores
(resistant structures). Bacillus cereus is one such organism, and is often
found in sprouts (but still only accounts for an estimated 27000 of the
estimated 76 million case of food related illnesses each year). By far, in the
united states, viral food related illness is most important, followed by
contaminated meats, with produce (organic or conventional) causing relatively
few illnesses each year.
Having said that. . . The claims to which you make reference are just that,
claims. No research has shown that organic produce is more likely to cause
illness than conventional produce. These claims are mainly attributed to
Dennis Avery, who twisted some information from Paul Mead (of the CDC).
I've looked at the research, and I think I know how Avery came to his
"conclusions" in such a round-about way (He is a helluva spin doctor). I think
I found that 92% of all food-related illness was caused by contaminated meats
and meat products (hot dogs, sausages, milk, eggs, etc.), while the remaining
eight percent was related to produce (both organic and conventional). However,
Eight times more conventional produce is sold than organic produce. So,
Logically (to Dennis Avery), organic produce is eight times more likely to
contain dangerous bacterial contamination than conventionally grown produce.
If you've made it this far, reading my diatribe on organic vs. conventional
produce and bacteria, then you'll likely be interested to know that I've got
several references on the subject of food-borne illnesses and differences in
soil microbial populations (including my PhD dissertation). If interested in a
rather exhaustive list of references, you could e-mail me. . .Russ
--------------
Russ Bulluck
Visiting Post-Doctoral Scholar
Department of Plant Pathology
1 Shields Ave
UC-Davis
Davis, CA 95616
lrbulluck@ucdavis.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------
The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot
be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person,
and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil
economy that it must be studied.
--Sir E. John Russell
The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923
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