raw foods: What component of raw food kills bacteria?|||Enzymes. ( I'm referring to fruit and veggies.) They go after protein and bacteria are essentially protein. Unfortunately, enzymes seem to ignore mold. But that doesn't account for things like ground meat. Apparently no enzymes are present. Cooking breaks down the enzymes and bacteria. That's good for the time being, but the minute the food has been exposed to serving plates, forks, etc, more bacteria are introduced. Almost sounds like y' can't win! PS: (Colon cleansing is a gimmick.)|||Eating certain raw mushrooms will kill bacteria, but normally you don't want to kill bacteria. That's a concept introduced and repeated by mass media advertising. You need to consume and retain some healthy bacteria in your body to maintain your own health. You simply rise vegetables and fruits and sprouted beans and grains and eat the food whole. Humans ate that way for thousands of years without the need for an antibiotic spray or cooking everything. The anaerobic bacteria smells bad and you instinctively will avoid spoiled food.|||Not clear what you mean and am not a scientist. Raw foods cleanse the body of toxins and helps loosen all old buildup in the colon to prevent disease. Yogurt builds up the good bacteria in your stomach. Chili peppers work as antibiotics & various foods have properties to kill bacteria. The idea behind raw foods is to grow a strong immune system to fight off disease. Hope this helps somehow