Nearly 1 in 5 Urinary Tract Infections Linked to Contaminated Meat, Study Finds

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