Urinary tract infections (UTIs) have long been associated with sexual activity and personal hygiene. However, a new study found that almost one in five UTI cases is caused by E. coli bacteria in contaminated meat.
The Link Between E. Coli and UTIs
Between 2017 and 2021, researchers collected thousands of E. coli samples from human urine and retail meat in Southern California. They compared the DNA from E. coli in the meat to that in the urine samples to identify which infections were linked to contaminated meat.
“There are special pieces of DNA that E. coli can pull into their cells that help them survive, or even thrive, inside a chicken gut, and different pieces of DNA to help them survive or thrive in a human gut,” said Lance B. Price, MS, PhD, senior author of the study and professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University.
The researchers found that 18% of UTIs in the study were tied to bacteria from meat rather than human-to-human transmission. People in low-income areas faced an even higher risk, with 21.5% of UTIs linked to food sources.
While the study focused on Southern California, the results are almost completely generalizable to the rest of the U.S., Price said.
"Animals are slaughtered, chopped up, and shipped across the United States. If you think about it that way, the meat that the people are exposed to in California is the same meat that people are exposed to across the country," he added.
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UTIs typically occur when E. coli from the gut enters the urinary tract through the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. To help prevent these infections, experts recommend urinating after sex, wiping front to back, and choosing showers over baths.
The new findings suggest that food safety habits may also play a role in preventing UTIs.
Avoiding cross-contamination in the kitchen is important. If you cut raw meat and salad greens on the same cutting board, you may swallow E. coli from the meat when you eat the raw salad. From there, the bacteria can easily travel to your gut and then on to the urinary tract, Price said.
"It's also possible that people are not getting their hands totally clean, and then when they're using the bathroom, they could introduce the bacteria directly into the urogenital tract," he added.
Higher UTI Rates in Low-Income Areas
Although the researchers did not investigate direct causes, multiple factors likely explain why people in low-income areas have a greater risk of foodborne-UTIs.
Unlike stores in high-income neighborhoods, stores in low-income areas don't always package meat well, which can contribute to cross-contamination with raw meat juice on other products in the cart or the bag, Price said.
Even if people avoid cross-contamination at the grocery store, they may get exposed to bacteria at home. A 2017 study of 100 homes in a low-income Pennsylvania neighborhood associated a lack of cleaning supplies with E. coli contamination.
“If you barely have enough to eat, you’re not spending your money on paper towels, cleaning supplies, or cutting boards,” Jennifer Quinlan, PhD, author of the 2017 study, professor and executive director of the Food Security Research Center at Prairie View A&M University, told Verywell.
How to Lower Your Risk of Foodborne UTIs
There are multiple ways to lower your risk of foodborne UTIs from contaminated meat: frequently wash your hands with soap and water, store meat at 40°F or below in the refrigerator, and cook raw meat straight from the packaging rather than rinsing it with water.
“Our research found a lot of pathogens on dish rags, sponges, or in the kitchen sink – that’s a very common area if you’re rinsing raw meat,” Quinlan said.
To kill the germs, clean sinks with a commercial sanitizing liquid or mixture of bleach and water, wash dish towels on high heat, and place wet kitchen sponges in the microwave for one to two minutes.
