Steaming food - does it kill the bugs?

[suedonim]

A bizarre question here - does steaming food kill all the germs that might be present? Obviously steam sterilises baby's bottles etc but does the same apply to all food? I ask because I live abroad, where we're told to avoid raw foods/salads so I boil veggies. But I much prefer steamed veg and wonder if it's safe to do so when one's veg may have been fertilised with human manure. Is there a minimum time it should be steamed for?

it's to early for me...but isn't steam actually hotter then boiling water...therefore, it should kill germs etc...!
Mostly bumping it up for you...

I would've thought so too. After all, isn't that how formula bottles are sterilised?

Ooophs, sorry, just read that you'd thought of that

Couldn't find any info online about the food safety issue when steaming...but came across plenty of info about steaming being used as a method all over the world....not sure if that is anything to go by, of course...

It will kill all the germs if the food gets hot enough all the way through. I usually find that 8 minutes works for most things.

As long as the food gets hot enough all the way through, for things like meat, fish, chicken. For veg the bugs/germs would only be on the outside right? So a few minutes in the steamer would kill them all I think!

Thanks for bumping 3andnomore - I've been busy trying to get stuff ready for the shippers tomorrow. Also thanks for everyone's replies. I won't be steaming meat/fish, just veg and it seems that that will be ok. I just need to get a steamer to take, now.

Yeah, but are your fruit & veg grown in human sh*t and likely to give you typhoid, giardia and amoebic dystentry (I've had that twice and don't want it again!!), Kerry?