Stomach bugs
Question: I once read that a famous microbiologist, perhaps Louis Pasteur
himself, demonstrated that bacteria cannot survive under strong acidic
conditions, such as in the stomach. He swallowed a culture of a nasty bug and
survived. If this works all the time, why is food poisoning so common? Are the
microbes which cause it acid resistant or does infection take place before they
reach the stomach?
Answer: Food poisoning does not take place in the mouth. The bugs or their
toxins have to get through the stomach. In the case of toxins, it is enough that
the bug…
