Eating red meat opens the door for a particularly nasty bacteria, according to a paper published in Nature.

Researchers found a toxin produced by some forms of E. Coli specifically targets cells with a sugar molecule called Neu5Gc stuck to them. Humans absorb this sugar from red meat.

“The toxin sticks to the sugar to get inside cells,” says study author Travis Beddoe from Monash University in Melbourne (ABC). “This uncovered the first example of bacterium causing disease in humans by targeting a molecule which is incorporated into our bodies through what we eat.”

It is something of a double whammy, explains study author Ajit Varki:

Ironically, humans may set themselves up for an increased risk of illness from this kind of E. coli bacteria present in contaminated red meat or dairy, because these very same products have high-levels of Neu5Gc. The Neu5Gc molecule is absorbed into the body, making it a target for the toxin produced by E. coli. (Press release.)

AFP notes that there are around 75,000 E. coli-related food poisonings in the US each year. On average 60 people die as a result.

Varki told the San Diego Union Tribune it is unknown how long the Neu5Gc sugar stays in the body after meat eating. “I would suspect months,” he says.

Image: Getty