Steven Baxter asked 13 years ago
Am worried about potatoes that I have fertilized with aged horse manure for the first time. Are they safe to eat after the german scare? Also have looked up that if horse on antibiotics or dewormer its not good to put on your veg even if ecoli isn’t there?Should manure only be used on flowers?I have 5 year old and pregnant wife should they eat the potatoes?
Gerry Daly Staff answered 6 years ago
It is true that some horse wormers and medicines are persistent in the manure and may tend to slow down the breakdown of the manure, But if the manure was well decomposed, it is likely the wormer was by then ineffective.
E. coli is common in the environment where animals and humans exist and is present in the human intestine, and it is possibly present in soil. There are many strains of E. coli, of varied virulence and only a few are exceptionally dangerous.
The potatoes themselves do not contain E. coli or other bacteria, but the soil can and that is why potatoes and other root vegetables are washed, peeled and cooked. These processes render them safe to eat.
