The Billings Gazette reported today that Montana senator Jon Tester plans to introduce a bill in Congress to Modify the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Interestingly, Senator Tester is not new to the beef slaughtering business. He operated a small-scale slaughtering establishment on his family farm–he took over his father’s business–until he began his first senate
How do you teach your friends about food safety?
This Saturday, I met three friends for lunch. As the conversation got underway, one of them asked me how working at Marler Clark had changed my eating habits. It’s a question I hear all the time, and one I have a ready answer for.
- I don’t eat sprouts. I love a lot of food items
Food Myths
A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune highlighted common myths about food safety, including myths about irradiation and E. coli:
Myth: It’s unsafe to eat meat or other foods that have been irradiated.
Reality: Federal health officials say irradiation kills E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter and other organisms that make consumers sick without posing health
Irradiation Could Reduce Food-Borne Illness
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, which was written by Dr. Dennis Maki, underscores the importance of the use of irradiation technology as a measure to improve food safety. Consumeraffairs.com posted about Dr. Maki’s article today, and highlighted arguments made by Dr. Maki, who pointed out some important issues surrounding foodborne illness
E-beam eliminates E. coli in ground beef, researchers say
Food Production Daily reports that low levels of irradiation can reduce pathogen levels, including the potentially deadly E. coli, in carcasses used for ground beef, claim researchers.
A low dose, low penetration electron beam (E-beam) irradiation penetrating 15 millimetres below the surface of a carcass can effectively reduce pathogens, found Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Group’s opposition to food irradiation is a threat to life
The Examiner reports that authorities have traced the contaminated spinach that has killed as many as three people and sickened at least 173 to a few counties in California’s Salinas Valley, but let’s not stop the investigative work too soon.
There’s a lesson to be learned here, an important one about the dangers of superstitious, leftist twaddle and the threat it poses to human life.
So let’s zero in on the anti-corporate, conspiracy-minded, Nader-formed group, Public Citizen, which never quits yelping about the public good while simultaneously betraying it, and let’s focus on its opposition to irradiation, which is an extraordinary means of saving literally tens of thousands of lives lost to food-borne illness over the years.Continue Reading Group’s opposition to food irradiation is a threat to life
The growing problem of food poisoning: Is irradiation the answer?
In December 1997, FDA approved the use of irradiation for the decontamination of red meat. This approval came only four months after 25 million pounds of Hudson Foods hamburger was recalled due to contamination by potentially deadly bacteria. Despite the fears raised by anti-irradiation activists, scientists and the FDA assure the public that this process neither makes food radioactive nor toxic.
It is estimated that there are between 6.5 and 81 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States every year, causing approximately 9000 deaths. Scientists believe this number is grossly underestimated, because foodborne illnesses often go undiagnosed. Millions of cases are never reported because many people assume they have a “24-hour bug”. But, in some cases, symptoms are much more serious and can spawn dreadful consequences. Recent examples of the dangers of foodborne illnesses include:
Undercooked hamburgers from the fast food restaurant chain Jack-in-the-Box contaminated with E-coli O157:H7 left four children dead.
Guatemalan raspberries carried the parasite cyclospora to 1,500 people; 22 required hospitalization.
Hepatitis A-tainted Mexican strawberries that found their way into the school lunch program.
In recent years, scientists have traced nearly 80% of all E-coli bacterial contamination in the US to hamburger alone.Continue Reading The growing problem of food poisoning: Is irradiation the answer?