Showing posts with label food safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food safety. Show all posts

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Super Bugs in Your Food

Get your copy of our very popular Healthy Handout© on Food Safety and Cleansing.
FOOD SAFETY: CLEANSING OPTIONS” - The second and expanded edition of this Healthy Handout© is full of tried and true, helpful information based on our more than 50 years of “natural healing through natural health”. Order your copy today for just $3.95
FDA Report Indicate Superbugs in Food
A federal government report on antibiotic resistance reveals that superbugs in meat is a much more common and widespread problem than anyone would like to admit. New strains of hearty, antibiotic resistant salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter bacteria appear to be showing up in alarmingly high percentages of the chicken, turkey, pork and beef we buy at the supermarket.
These findings come from a little-noticed report the FDA releasedback in December. The report, which was dumped onto the FDA’s web site without so much as a mention or a press release, compiles data from 5,236 samples of chicken breasts, ground turkey, ground beef and pork chops that were taken in 2008. It’s unclear why the FDA either waited or took so long to release the info.
On her blog, Maryn McKenna, author of a book about antibiotic resistance called Superbug and the first person to write about the report, summarized some of the findings: In 2008, 45% of salmonella on chicken were resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline and 30% were immune to penicillins. Among enterococci bacteria on chicken, 65% were resistant to tetracycline and more than 90% to lincosamides, which include the everyday drug clindamycin.
Overall, salmonella, including resistant and non, was found in 12% of chicken and campylobacter in 49% of samples.
What this means for the millions of Americans who eat meat regularly is that our lunch not only has the ability to make us horribly sick, but that if we do become ill, the antibiotics that could be used to help us recover may not work.
It sounds quite scary — and it is — but the good news is that proper cooking kills most, if not all, of these dangerous bacteria. The danger comes when meat isn’t cooked thoroughly or handled properly — like if juice from raw meat comes into contact with other foods or hands that have touched uncooked meat are used to prepare other foods.
For meat industry groups, who are already feeling besieged by critics who charge that industrial livestock farming is inhumane and causes huge environmental messes, this is one more headache they don’t need. Meat producers use antibiotics on large factory farms, where thousands or tens of thousands of animals are confined in crowded quarters, to help prevent the spread of disease. They also use these drugs because, for reasons still unknown, they allow the animals to grow faster.
Such an overly judicious use of antibiotics has led to resistance because the relatively low doses administered to farm animals don’t kill all bacteria, allowing the heartiest ones to grow and mutate into superbugs. For the most part, Big Meat sees nothing wrong with its record of antibiotic use, and appears determined to defend it.
The question now is whether the FDA will do anything about the information in its report, which is based on the government’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). Last June, FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein took the bold, unprecedented step of saying the meat industry should stop using antibiotics on pigs, cattle and chicken simply for the purpose of making them grow faster. Then in December, much to the further chagrin of the meat industry, the agency released data on exactly how many antibiotics are used on farms — some 29 million pounds in 2009, or about 60% of all antibiotics in the U.S.
But less than a month later, Sharfstein, the FDA’s leader in this fight, resigned to become Maryland’s secretary of health and mental hygiene, casting doubt on whether the FDA will do anything to stop what is now clearly a runaway train.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

More on Food Safety and Food Issues

Senate Leaders Strike Deal on Food Safety: Commence Breath Holding

Leading Democrats and Republicans in the Senate came to an agreement today on pending food safety legislation, Congress Daily (subscription) reports. The compromise will be introduced on the floor as a manager's amendment to replace the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)which was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee in November 2009. The managers’ amendment has not yet been released, but presumably it largely resembles S 510.

One reader comments: This isn't a food safety bill...its a draconian control bill that will criminalize small farms and home gardens.  Complete article



Wednesday, April 28, 2010

EWG publishes new food list

Just out from the Environmental Working Group

"FOOD SAFETY: CLEANSING OPTIONS


CLEAN 15
Onions, Avocado, Sweet Corn, Pineapple, Mango, Sweet Peas, Asparagus, Kiwi, Cabbage, Eggplant, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Grapefruit, Sweet Potato, Honeydew Melon

DIRTY DOZEN (BUY ORGANIC)
Celery, Peaches, Strawberries, Apples, Blueberries, Nectarines, Bell Peppers, Spinach, Kale, Cherries, Potatoes, Grapes (Imported)

Why Should You Care About Pesticides?
The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood.
Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.

What’s the Difference?
EWG research has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2 pesticides daily. The Guide helps consumers make informed choices to lower their dietary pesticide load.

Will Washing and Peeling Help?
The data used to create these lists is based on produce tested as it is typically eaten (meaning washed, rinsed or peeled, depending on the type of produce). Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all produce and buy organic when possible.

How Was This Guide Developed?

EWG analysts have developed the Guide based on data from nearly 96,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2008 and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can find a detailed description of the criteria EWG used to develop these rankings and
the complete list of fruits and vegetables tested at our dedicated website.

THE POWER OF INFORMATION
Headquarters 1436 U St. N.W., Suite 100 Washington, DC 20009
(202) 667-6982
Learn More at FoodNews.org

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

India Says NO to GMO

UPDATE: 2/12/10 Monsanto 'faked' data for approvals claims its ex-chief
UPDATE: 2/10/10
Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use:The First Thirteen Years
Compared to pesticide use in the absence of GE crops, farmers applied 318 million more pounds of pesticides over the last 13 years as a result of planting GE seeds.
Monsanto's GMO perversion of food
In the 2010 growing season Monsanto plans to unleash its latest Frankenfood experiment on the American and Canadian public, a new version of genetically mutated corn with eight abnormal gene traits called Genuity SmartStax corn. It is the culmination of an astonishing scandal that has been steadily building over the past decade.
2/9/10 Many people do not like eggplant, however I am not one of them.  I am much more in support of doing away with all GMO crops because of the inherent danger they pose to health.

India has deferred the commercial cultivation of what would have been its first genetically modified (GM) vegetable crop due to safety concerns.  
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said more studies were needed to ensure genetically modified aubergines were safe for consumers and the environment.
The GM vegetable has undergone field trials since 2008 and received approval from government scientists in 2009.
But there has been a heated public row over the cultivation of the GM crop.
The BBC's Geeta Pandey, who was at the news conference in Delhi, says Mr Ramesh's decision has put any cultivation of GM vegetables in India on hold indefinitely.
'Difficult decision'
"Public sentiment is negative. It is my duty to adopt a cautious, precautionary, principle-based approach," Mr Ramesh said.
The decision is responsible to science and responsive to society
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh
He said the moratorium on growing BT brinjal - as the variety of aubergine is known in India - would remain in place until tests were carried out "to the satisfaction of both the public and professionals".
The minister said "independent scientific studies" were needed to establish "the safety of the product from the point of view of its long-term impact on human health and environment".
Mr Ramesh said it was "a difficult decision to make" since he had to "balance science and society".
"The decision is responsible to science and responsive to society," he said.
India is the largest producer of aubergines in the world and grows more than 4,000 varieties.
Indian seed company Mahyco - partner of US multinational corporation Monsanto - which has developed BT brinjal, says the GM vegetable is more resistant to natural pests.
But anti-GM groups say there are serious health concerns and they allege that consumption of GM crops can even cause cancer.
The government-controlled Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved BT brinjal for commercial cultivation in October 2009.
Following an uproar from farmers and anti-GM activists, the environment minister held a series of national consultation meetings across India.
Several of the aubergine-growing Indian states have already said they were opposed to BT brinjal.
India allowed the use of genetically modified seeds for cotton in 2002.


Friday, August 7, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FOOD SAFETY

JUST IN TIME: Today is 7 August, and yesterday the following was released -

Massive beef recall linked to antibiotic-resistant salmonella outbreak
By Rory Harrington, 06-Aug-2009

California firm Beef Packers Inc has recalled over 800,000 pounds of ground beef linked to an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella that has sickened people across nine states.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the alert yesterday for a range of the company’s ground beef products processed between June 5-23 that were sent to retail distribution centres in Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah. The 825,769 pounds (375,349 kg) of meat had been repackaged into consumer-size amounts and sold under different retail brand names. Consumers were warned to check with local retailer to find out if they were at risk.

Nine states hit

The US authorities said it had raised the alarm after being contacted by Colorado health officials about an ongoing investigation into an outbreak of Salmonella Newport.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced last week that it was involved in a nationwide investigation with the USDA and other state authorities to investigate cases of salmonella infections that were “resistant to several commonly used antibiotics”.

While reports of illnesses have come from nine states, the majority of those affected were in Colorado – with ground beef pin-pointed as the most likely cause for the 21 people sickened in the state, said the CDPHE.

Second outbreak in a month

The body said it was the second major salmonella outbreak in the state in a month and that both incidences had been linked to ground beef. It cautioned that because it takes up to two weeks for illnesses to be reported to the state health department, further tainted beef could still be on sale.

Last week’s suspicions that ground beef was at the centre of the contamination were confirmed yesterday following epidemiological and trace-back investigations conducted by Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and CDPHE.

USDA officials also confirmed that the illnesses had been linked through the epidemiological investigation by their uncommon pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern found in PulseNet, a national network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright - © 2000/2009 - Decision News Media SAS - All Rights Reserved

ORDER OUR NEWLY UPDATE AND EXPANDED FOOD CLEANING EBOOK TODAY
“FOOD SAFETY: CLEANSING OPTIONS”
The second and expanded edition of this Healthy Handout© is full of tried and true, helpful information based on our more than 50 years of “natural healing through natural health”.

Order your copy today for just $3.95

With all orders placed through 30 August, 2009
‘TOC’ will include a complimentary copy of the Healthy Food Guide.

Once payment is received you’ll receive your electronic copy by email.

© 2009 TOC. All Rights Reserved.

---------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 30 July, 2009

The Oake Centre for natural health education is pleased to announce its second and expanded edition of one of the most popular in their Healthy Handouts© series.

Focused on food safety, the food cleansing protocols include the Healthy Food Soak used by the leaflady and taught in her classes since 1991. The new, expanded second edition also includes additional methods to improve food quality, increase oxygenation & remove toxic residues, even reduce the impact of food irradiation.

The publication today of “FOOD SAFETY: CLEANSING OPTIONS” is timely in consideration of three recent news articles:
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2523458.0.0.php
Half of all the fruit & veg you buy is contaminated.

Strawberries help reduce cognitive decline
Strawberries protect the heart, reduce risks of cancer, act as an anti-inflammatory and may be good for the brain, too, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers from the Chicago Healthy Aging Project found that older adults who eat strawberries at least once a month have less cognitive decline.

More specifically, women who consumed more than one serving of strawberries per month had a 16.2 percent slower rate of cognitive decline versus those who consumed less. The findings were presented at the Berry Health Symposium in Monterey, Calif.

Researchers at the Berry Health Symposium described how berries may be contributing to the preservation of brain function.

Most disease processes in the body are believed to begin through inflammation and oxidation which damage cells. Healthy nerve cell membranes promote optimal communication within the brain and nervous system so preventing membrane damage from inflammation and oxidation is essential, the researchers said.
Published 30 July, © 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Organic food is no healthier, study finds
LONDON (Reuters) – Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published 29 July.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007. A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour, one of the report's authors." Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.

The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government's Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.

The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.

Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Simon Jessop. © 2009 Reuters. All Rights Reserved.

Our Comments:
While strawberries are known to be health promoting, including being great at cancer fighting along with other berries, they are one agricultural crop that receives extremely high applications of herbicides and pesticides in commercial production.

At the same time reporting against the benefits of organically grown food continues to aim at your acceptance of Big Ag methods of large scale factory farming resulting in low quality food with reduced nutrition, along with greater exposure to hormones, antibiotics, MSG, herbicides and pesticides, and even irradiation along with reduced food safety.

Our publication is an inexpensive way for you to be able to improve the health and nutrition of the food you purchase, and ultimately improve your own better health status.

From our original web site’s nutrition section posted in the 1990s – Read the complete article at leaflady.org.

SCIENTISTS PROVE SUPERIOR NUTRITIVE VALUE OF ORGANIC FOOD - Researchers at Rutgers University set-out to disprove the claim that 'Organic Is Better'. They purchased selections of produce at and health food stores and analyzed for mineral content. Organic foods were those grown without the use of chemical pesticides or artificial fertilizers. Non-organic foods, referred to here as 'commercial,' were grown with a variety of chemicals that enhance growth or destroy pests, many of which are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer-causing) and which cause greater erosion to the environment and wildlife. The idea that organic crops are nutritionally superior has been accepted largely on faith. There has been very little hard evidence to support this supposition. Rutgers researchers expected the organic produce to be maybe slightly higher in comparison, but the results were astounding! The amount of iron in the organic spinach was 97% more than the commercial spinach, and the manganese was 99% greater in the organic. Many essential trace elements were completely absent in the commercial produce whereas they were abundant, comparatively, in their organically grown counterparts.”

And perhaps it will be of interest to you to note that the White House garden seems to have become a failure because of toxins in the soil. Michelle Obama's toxic veggie nightmare: White House organic garden polluted with sludge.

Good soil preparation would have prevented this. You can learn more by purchasing your copy of another TOC publication, "My Happy Garden", for $7.95, which comes with "My Medicine Garden".
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

From NaturalHealthNews, April 2008: Don't laugh, Organic Really is Better
Studies Show Organic Plant-Based Foods More Nutritious

A new report published by The Organic Center, "New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods," is a comprehensive review of 97 published studies comparing the nutritional quality of organic and conventional foods. The report shows that organic plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) contain higher levels of eight of 11 nutrients studied, including significantly greater concentrations of health-promoting polyphenols and antioxidants.

In this first comprehensive review of the scientific literature comparing nutrient levels in organic and conventional food completed since 2003, a team of scientists concluded that organically grown plant-based foods are 25 percent more nutrient dense, on average, and deliver more essential nutrients per serving or calorie consumed. The full report and its executive summary are free at the Center's website, Organic-Center.org.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Food Safety: More Progress Needed

Here's another reason to consider vitamins: Vitamin C helps effectively treat food poisoning.

But at the front end we do need less factory farming with methods that promote herbicides, pesticides and higher health risks from salmonella and E.coli.

While we do need to buy local to reduce health risks in the food chain, we are at a time when the government - one that hasn't been able to get past pressure from Big Pharma and Big Ag - wants to interfere with home gardening. ( Just an observation but it did not seem to me to be gardening when Mrs. Obama planted potted herbs and vegetables at the White House. These plants had to come from a nursery or retail store and seems to be little more than a photo op. What happened to organic seeds, the real way to grow a garden?)

One thing you can do is think about how you clean the food you buy. This might make you want to get a copy of our food cleansing Healthy Handout, yours with a donation.
U.S. making little progress on food safety
By Julie Steenhuysen Thu Apr 9, 2009

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Efforts to improve food safety in the United States have "plateaued," exposing the need for an overhaul of the nation's food safety system, government health officials said on Thursday.

Despite work to improve food safety in recent years, the number of foodborne infections remained steady, with little change in the past few years, suggesting fundamental problems are not being solved.

"Progress has plateaued. This indicates to us that further measures are needed to prevent more foodborne illness," Dr. Robert Tauxe of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Overall, CDC identified 18,499 laboratory-confirmed cases of food poisoning in 2008 using FoodNet, a tracking system that looks at foodborne illness in 10 states, covering about 46 million people or 15 percent of the U.S. population.

"When we compared the year 2008 information with the three previous years -- 2005 to 2007 -- we see no significant change in the incidence of these infections," he said, noting that 2004 was the last year gains had been made at curbing infection rates.

Salmonella infections were the most commonly diagnosed and reported foodborne illnesses in 2008, and their numbers were essentially unchanged compared with data from 2005-2007.

The 2008 findings represent just a portion of the Salmonella Typhimurium infections caused by tainted peanuts and peanut products processed by the now bankrupt Peanut Corp of America, which has led to the biggest food recall in U.S. history.

The outbreak, which began in September, forced the recall of more than 3,200 products and sickened more than 680 people in 46 states, perhaps killing nine. A series of other incidents involving pistachios, lettuce, peppers and spinach have eroded public confidence in food safety and renewed calls for change.

NEW APPROACH

Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the report "underscores the need for a change in approach."

"This change needs to address the safety problems around foods and really focus on how to prevent these problems in the first place," Acheson told reporters on the call.

He said the FDA was embarking on "an aggressive and proactive approach" aimed at protecting and enforcing the safety of the food supply.

"Clearly we are working very closely with the new administration and Congress on addressing these issues."

Acheson said FDA has expanded its presence overseas and now has offices in China, Latin America, Europe and India, and plans to add more scientists, investigators and inspectors to help ensure food safety in the United States.

And he said FDA has set up rapid response teams in six states to help the agency react more quickly when and outbreak occurs, with plans to add more.

"I think it has become clear preventive controls are critical," he said.

The CDC estimates that each year 76 million Americans get food poisoning, more than 300,000 are sick enough to be hospitalized and 5,000 die.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Jackie Frank)Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.

 
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