Organic foods are valued for their safety and health credentials as only natural manures are used in place of chemical fertilizers and no chemical pesticides are applied to the plants or the crops. This very aspect raises some doubts about their safety since the likely hood of pathogenic bacteria establishing its presence in such products is greater. Comprehensive studies have shown that composting is a scientifically sound process and the wide fluctuation of temperature during static stage and raking stage, reaching to a maximum of 60-65C, kills bacteria like harmful E.coli within 8 days. In order to predict the dynamics of bacterial growth in such compost preparations reliable assessment programs are necessary.
"The program, dubbed COLIWAVE, can predict the growth and death of pathogenic bacteria in substances like compost, soil and water. The program uses variables such as oxygen availability, temperature and substance characteristics to predict how much bacteria is present at different periods of time. As they describe in a paper in the online version of the journal Ecological Modelling, the researchers have already used the model to predict the growth of harmful E. coli in composted manure used as fertilizer on organic farms. Organic farming typically relies on compost or manure rather than chemical fertilizers".
Tools such as the above are equally applicable to other pathogens like Salmonella in water bodies and probably in food materials also. The ability to predict where contamination risks lie and what can be done to minimize these risks is a powerful weapon in the armory of food scientists in their fight against food poisoning and to reassure the consumers.
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