¿does steaming vegetables kill any bacteria including cysticercosis ?

Cysticercosis is an infection that creates cysts in different areas in the body. The infection is caused by a parasite called Taenia solium (the pork tapeworm).


Cysticercosis is caused by swallowing eggs from T. solium, which are found in contaminated food.


Risk factors include eating pork, fruits, and vegetables contaminated with T. solium as a result of unhealthy cooking preparation. The disease can also be spread by contact with infected people or fecal matter. The disease is rare in the US, but common in many developing countries.


Avoid unclean foods, avoid uncooked foods while traveling, and always wash fruits and vegetables well. And yes, steaming can kill bacteria...though haven't seen studies to show if the temperatures get high enough to kill cysticercosis on veggies. Only studies I've seen are about pork. Thorough washing to remove bacteria combined with high temperature cooking would be your best bets when in doubt.

¿does steaming vegetables kill any bacteria including cysticercosis ?
Here is what we recommend for travelling patients. Don't eat anything that isn't cooked or peeled. Only drink bottled drinks, brush your teeth with bottled water, and avoid ice. Lots of doctors will give you a just-in-case prescription for if you get watery traveller's diarrhea. Report It

Reply:I'm not sure.


Just use organic vegetables, and you'll have less to worry about. =)


Plus, they taste much yummier and fresher.
Reply:Cycsticercosis is a parasite, and people get it by ingesting the parasite's spores. This is usually a problem with eating meat in third-world countries. A lot of the cases I have seen have been in people who have immigrated from Mexico and Central America (Guate., Honduras, etc.).





With that said, steaming vegetables and thorough cooking of food is a pretty darn good way of preventing foodborne illnesses.