How Might the Radioactive Decay of Isotopes Help Make Our Food Safer?
From time to time, all of us suffer from a bout of diarrhea and vomiting that we usually call “stomach flu.” In fact, such illnesses are very common: Each year about 50 million Americans will lose a day or two of their normal life activities and instead spend the time parked near their bathrooms until the symptoms pass, so to speak. Interestingly, these diarrhea cases are not caused by a viral infection, as “stomach flu” would imply, but instead result from consumption of contaminated food. Most commonly the organisms that cause the illness are bacteria, including Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. Sometimes, particularly in young children, the infection that follows consumption of a contaminated food causes serious symptoms that can leave the child with permanent organ damage or even lead to death. A relatively common source of foodborne illness is a strain of bacteria known as E. coli O157:H7. Our intestines as well as the intestines of many vertebrates, including cat
