Antibiotics in vegetables

(Fresh Plaza) It has been known for years that plants can contain antibiotics. But what's new is that more and more often, multiresistant germs are being found on vegetables. A disturbing fact to to go with this is that these germs can even start to grow within the vegetables.

Prof. Manfred Grote of the University of Paderborn has been doing research in this area for many years. "The germs can be absorbed by the plants. This was confirmed by Austrian plant physiologists, among others. Salmonella or E coli bacteria can be absorbed by the fine roots. This gets them into the plant, and they can then be transported within the plant", he says. The bacteria get onto the vegetables through mucky water from manure farms, which is used for fertilizing fields. "It's estimated that around 800 to 1,500 tonnes of antibiotics land on the fields per year, but they don't dissipate", according to prof. Manfred Grote.

The presence of the antibiotics is a big problem. The multiple year use of it in agriculture has left traces in the ground, according to experts. An especially critical point is that the non sick germs can also turn into multi-resistants too, under influence of leftover antibiotics.

Research into all of this is vital, because an infection of resistant germs could lead to death, Every year over one thousand people in Europe die due to the effect of multi-resistant germs, because antidotes don't work.