Antibiotics are necessary to treat Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) food poisoning.

This is false. Antibiotics can actually increase the risk of complications.

The large outbreak in Germany earlier in the summer of 2011 made this type of food poisoning part of everyone’s vocabulary. It’s not the most common form of food poisoning, but it can be one of the deadliest.

STEC are virulent strains of E. coli that live in the guts of cows and other animals. We can ingest them by eating contaminated foods, such as fresh produce or undercooked beef.

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