[RD (OP)]

Human sewage used for cereals
by ANTHONY PHILLIPS - Sunday, July 27, 2008
Supermarket shoppers are unwittingly eating cereal products grown in Britain using human sewage.

Sainsbury's admitted last night that some of its crops use the fertiliser,
which is cheaper than the animal-based variety.

I prefer to use milk on my cereal.  

[Make it Lady]

That is very odd, I always understood that human manure was not very good at fertilising plants. What is the problem anyway poop is poop. I know some animals like cats can have nasty diseases in their poos but human poo is usually OK.

[that mad man]

Unfortunatley this is just another of those media stories made to scare people and sell newspapers as it can make a very good fertiliser as its fairy rich in nitrogen and has a high mineral content.

It is usually heated first in large closed containers which then naturally bio-degrades the solids and makes them safe from any nasty diseases etc. IIRC they also use a catalyst to speed up the process.

It also has the added benefit of producing plenty of methane, more than is used to heat it in the first place. That can then be taped off, bottled and sold as fuel.

It was fairly common at one time but its now easier to treat it and flush the waste into the sea so we swim in it instead!

Some places have been using it for decades and no ill effect have been found. To be honest I think it should be used more.

[JimBob]

This is a common practice. Effluent - treated effluent - is recycled for crop use. It is a very sensible practice. And unlike raw sewage in China, liver flukes are not found in this "brown" water.

[RD (OP)]

What is the problem anyway poop is poop.

Unlike farm manure, human waste in sewage is mixed with industrial effluent.

Human excrement is more likely to contain organisms which are pathogenic to humans than animal excrement.

(Sorry to pooh-pooh your post [] )

[JimBob]

I am speaking of the treated effluent that has been treated to the point that any detrimental elements in the effluent are neutralized.

[Make it Lady]

POOP POOP said Thomas the tank!!!

[rosalind dna]

It is mmore ecological than using the artificial fertilisers also what creates the human sewage but food that might be crops etc.

[Make it Lady]

I can hear Elton John singing the circle of life to a little poop.

[Bored chemist]

"I can hear Elton John singing the circle of life to a little poop."
You should cut back on the drugs.
Anyway I understand that they used to extract vitamin B12 from this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milorganite
and I guess they may well have added it to breakfast cereals.
Ugh!

[JimBob]

Has anyone seen "Soylent Green" lately?