Dec 31, 2025
- Nearly 1 in 5 urinary tract infections (UTIs) are caused by E. coli strains that originated in contaminated meat, confirming what earlier research has shown
- Poultry is the main source of these dangerous bacteria, with chicken and turkey accounting for more than 74% of meat-linked UTI cases, while all retail meats showed high contamination levels
- These bacteria, known as extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC), survive processing and cooking to enter your body, where they colonize your urinary tract and can spread to your bloodstream
- Overuse of antibiotics in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) fuels the growth of drug-resistant E. coli, creating infections that are harder to treat and more likely to require hospitalization
- You can protect yourself by avoiding CAFO meats, choosing grass fed and regeneratively raised options, improving food and personal hygiene, and supporting urinary health with methylene blue, cranberries, and D-mannose