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Science Thursday, February 7th 2013 at 6:00 pm

Stop Eating Vegetables! CDC Says They’re the Biggest Cause of Food-Borne Illness

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Good news for anyone who hates vegetables, or just wants to shut up their smug vegan friends! A new study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that the majority of food-borne illnesses come from green vegetables, not meat or dairy products. Take that, vegetables!

The study found that 51% of the 9.6 million cases of food-borne illnesses were traced to contaminated plants, while all meat and poultry combined came in at a mere 22%. Leafy greens themselves cause 23% of the illnesses, which include the norovirus that causes the stomach flu.

You shouldn’t really stop eating vegetables. The untainted ones are good for you, and some are even not gross. It’s also worth noting that even though you’re more likely to get sick from a vegetable than any other food, the particularly nasty and deadly illnesses are still more commonly found in things like under-cooked chicken.

The bigger lesson here is that if you don’t want to get sick you should make sure you’re getting food from safe sources, and that you wash and cook everything thoroughly. If you do want to get to sick though, go eat a bunch of vegetables. I hear they’re terrible for you!

Enjoy your salad! I’m going to go get some chicken fingers. Anyone care to join me?

(via Popular Science, image via photofarmer)

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Eric-Huver/1517438769 Eric Huver

    Just cook or clean everything you eat. No one suggest licking freshly picked lettuce leaves and all their filthy grime flavored deliciousness.

  • Rose

    that’s what happens when monsanto takes over and sprays the living crap out of vegetables – this why you should eat organic. stupid article.

  • toomuchwaterisbadforyou

    Too much of anything into your body is bad for you.

  • ZPX

    Sure blame the veggies. The study is an obvious scare tactic to boost meat and dairy sales. All those contaminants in vegetables come from shitty runoff’s from animal farms. All those antibiotic pumped into farm animals promote the growth of super bacteria and viruses, which then contaminate vegetable farms through runoffs and irrigation canals. Plants don’t produce novovirus or ecoli. But people need to be carefull when consuming vegetables, because these money hungry pigs from the meat and dairy industry have a lot to gain if people get sick from vegetables.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bruce-E-Screws-Jr/5200506 Bruce E. Screws Jr.

    How do you think organic farms fertilize their crops? According to Wikipedia, “green manure” is commonly used.

    The irony is that crap is literally used in organic farming. Some studies suggest that organic food has a higher risk of fecal bacteria contamination, but others suggest the risk is comparable with other farming methods.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, but considering all the runoff from livestock farms contaminating the veg too, it’s hard to make the distinction. I mean, is crap from organic cows better/worse/same than crap from non organic cows? Also I suspect that it’s largely to do with simply what type of food you cook. People don’t usually eat meat without cooking it first, so blame the veggies! It’s just a dumb post.

    Plus, it’s Geekosystem. Why am I reading this HERE? How is this supposed to appeal to geeks and nerds?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bruce-E-Screws-Jr/5200506 Bruce E. Screws Jr.

    I think the point of the article was not to “blame veggies.” I think most people would assume that most food poisoning would come from meat. It emphasizes that the majority of food poisoning comes from vegetables. There is also a general assumption that children don’t like eating vegetables.

    Geekosystem normally has science-y sorts of articles. I think this fits within its normal perimeters.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1745027821 Jeremy Pennini

    *Newsflash* wash your vegetables!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Iamthewalter Walter Horvath

    Rinsing does next to nothing for vegetables that are to be eaten raw. Sure, it removes the dirt, but the pathogens are still there.