Cow bedding affects food safety

WOOSTER, Ohio – Whether dairy farmers choose sand or sawdust as bedding for their cows has never been considered a food-safety issue.
But the type of bedding where cows lay may ultimately impact the safety of your dinner plate.
The connection. Ohio State University veterinary researcher Jeff LeJeune has found a direct relationship between the bedding material used in dairy operations and the survival of potentially deadly Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the farm environment.
LeJeune, a scientist at the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC)
Wooster campus, tested cattle for E. coli O157:H7 during the summer and early fall of 2003 on farms that spread either sand or sawdust in stalls.
A total of 3,600 fecal samples from 20 northeast Ohio commercial farms