if it‘s a known fact that copper fights e-coli, wouldn‘t it make more sense for factories installing copper pipes, instead of a lot of bad news and law suits? also, wouldn‘t it better protect the consumers? it seems that this outbreak is caused from neclect, shouldn‘t it be nipped at the bud (where it starts at)?
Excellent question. To answer How many companies have an endless cash supply, copper is very very expensive and unless they could guarantee e-coli free foods (which is impossible, as it has many sources), it would not be a worthwhile investment.
Although copper is one of the minerals required in human nutrition, it can be toxic in excess. The copper tends to leach into the water, along with the welding metals which may contain lead. This can be alleviated by running the water for several seconds, but this is wasteful. I think plastic pipes are a better choice, and are more economical to install.
Well that would help kill E Coli in the water supply, but thats not usually where outbreaks come from. There are harmless levels of E Coli in almost everything, but it becomes harmful when the level gets to high. This can happen when meat is left unrefrigerated for too long, for example. Copper pipes arent going to do anything for this, since meat doesnt come out of the faucet.
