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Food
Food Safety and Poisoning
NEWS:
4 Steps To Reverse The Damage From A 'Super Size Me' Diet “Tetri is quick to emphasize that fast food per se doesn't causes liver damage. Rather, he says, the harm comes from eating too many calories and too much fat and sugar which happens with a steady diet of burgers, fries, sodas and most other items on the typical fast-food menu. "The big issue here is caloric content," says Tetri. "You can put away 2,000 calories in a single fast-food meal pretty easily. For most people, that's more calories than they need in an entire day." “
A Little Rosemary Can Go A Long Way In Reducing Acrylamide In Food “Several animal tests have shown acrylamide to be a carcinogen, and a recent study conducted by the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, has shown a positive association between acrylamide and breast cancer in humans. … Acrylamide is a chemical formed when frying, baking or grilling carbohydrate-rich foods at temperatures above 120°C. Acrylamide is thus found in a number of foods, such as bread, crisps, French fries and biscuits. In addition to the heating temperature, tests carried out during the project also show that factors such as time of processing, pH, water content, water activity and the content of the amino acid asparagine and sugar in the raw ingredients influence the formation of acrylamide. For example, the longer the cooking time and the lower the water content, the higher the acrylamide content in the heat-processed food. … The addition of rosemary to dough prior to baking a portion of wheat buns at 225°C reduced the acrylamide content by up to 60 per cent. Even rosemary in small quantities – in one per cent of the dough – was enough to reduce the acrylamide content significantly. Flavonoids are another type of antioxidant found, among other things, in vegetables, chocolate and tea. Tests also showed that the addition of the flavonoids epicatechin and epigallocatechin from green tea considerably reduced the acrylamide content.”
Acrylamide in Diet: Cancer Risk? - Study Shows Consumption of Chemical May Be Linked to Renal Cancer
Bottled juice recalled (Ireland)
Boston Bans Trans Fats “Trans fats are made when manufacturers hydrogenate vegetable oil to prolong the shelf life of foods like crackers and cakes, and to stabilize flavours in french fries and other fried foods. Studies have shown that like saturated fats, trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the so called "bad" cholesterol). However, unlike saturated fats some types of trans fats also reduce the level of HDL cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) thereby having a double impact on increasing the risk of coronary heart disease.”
Cadbury pulls melamine-laced chocolate from China “British candy maker Cadbury announced a recall Monday of chocolate made in its Beijing factory after it was found to contain melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened tens of thousands of Chinese children. The 11 recalled items were sold in parts of Asia and the Pacific, the company said in a statement. Cadbury's chocolates sold in the United States were not affected, said a spokesman for Hershey's, Cadbury's sole U.S. distributor. Meanwhile, Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies, and Mars, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers candy, questioned the findings of Indonesian tests that identified melamine in samples of their products made in China. Both Kraft Foods and Mars said they would comply with an Indonesian recall but planned to conduct their own tests and look into the possibility the tainted products were counterfeits.“
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES PROP 65 SUIT AGAINST WHOLE FOODS, AVALON & OTHERS
California Is First State to Ban Trans Fats “Trans fat has been found in scientific studies to increase bad cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease, contribute to other diseases, such as diabetes and coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is California’s leading cause of death. California, which supplies a great deal of the nation’s specialty crops and other goods, already has some of the toughest food restrictions in the nation, including a ban on junk food, and on trans-fats in school meals. A ban in the nation’s largest state is likely to push many national restaurant chains to alter their menus. Already, Wendy’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, the Cheesecake Factory and McDonalds have begun to move away from trans fats because of consumer concerns. “
Children With Healthier Diets Do Better In School, Study Suggests “"We demonstrated that above and beyond socioeconomic factors, diet quality is important to academic performance," the authors conclude. "These findings support the broader implementation and investment in effective school nutrition programs that have the potential to improve student's diet quality, academic performance, and, over the long term, their health." “
Cities Ranked by Dirty Restaurants
Cold Temperature Is Key To Quality Of Bagged Salads “The findings underscore a danger involved in inadvertently leaving fresh-cut produce at temperatures of 59 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, particularly when low oxygen levels are used to extend the shelf life of fresh bagged lettuce, according to Bhagwat. Consumers are advised to keep refrigerator temperatures at 40 degrees F or below, according to experts.”
EU Threatens Ban on Italian Mozzarella “The European Union ordered Italy on Thursday to take "urgent measures" to make sure mozzarella tainted with dioxin does not end up on store shelves, warning that otherwise it would impose an EU-wide ban on the popular cheese. The European Commission said Italian health officials had not taken sufficient steps to guard against health problems, such as recalling potentially tainted cheese or doing enough monitoring of affected farms in the Campania region. The scare involves only mozzarella from the Naples area, which is in a months-old crisis over garbage collection and disposal that has fueled fears of food contamination. But the EU's warning covers all of Campania, the southern farm region where the soft, milky cheese is made. “
Fast-Food Liver Damage Can Be Reversed, Experts Say “ “There’s strong evidence now that a fast-food type of diet – high in fat and sugar, the kind of diet many Americans subsist on – can cause significant damage to your liver and have extremely serious consequences for your health,” says Brent Tetri, M.D., professor of internal medicine at the Saint Louis University Liver Center and one of the country’s leading experts on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. “The good news is that most people can undo this damage if they change their diet and they keep physically active,” Tetri says. “If they don’t, however, they are asking for trouble.” Particularly alarming, says Tetri, is that physicians are starting to see children and teenagers with cirrhosis, a serious liver disease once seen mostly in adults with a history of alcohol abuse or hepatitis C. Tetri suspects this is because many kids today eat far too much fast food or junk food and get far too little exercise – the kind of behaviors that can lead to liver damage.”
FDA Advises Against Consumption of American Lobster (Maine Lobster) Tomalley
FDA - Agricola Zaragoza, Inc. Recalls Jalapeno Peppers Because of Possible Health Risk
FDA warns of instant coffee in U.S. from China “U.S. regulators warned the public on Friday not to consume seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products that were made in China because of concerns they may be contaminated with melamine. The Food and Drug Administration said the products were recalled by King Car Food Industrial Co Ltd "due to possible contamination with melamine." Infant formula tainted with the industrial chemical has resulted in hospitalization for thousands of Chinese babies with painful kidney stones. Four have died. Melamine, which can be used to cheat quality checks by mimicking food protein, also has been found in candy, buns and carton milk sold to other countries and regions, unleashing fear in markets already shaken by a string of "made-in-China" scandals last year.“
Fears on Animal Feed Widen Food Inquiry in China “Chinese regulators said Friday that they were widening their investigation into contaminated food amid growing signs that the toxic industrial chemical melamine has leached into the nation’s animal feed supplies, posing health risks to consumers throughout the world. The announcement came after food safety tests earlier this week found that eggs produced in three provinces in China were contaminated with melamine, which is blamed for causing kidney stones and renal failure in infants. The tests have led to recalls of eggs and to consumer warnings.”
Foodborne Outbreaks From Leafy Greens On Rise
‘Green’ Potato Health Risk Can Be Eliminated By Cutting Away Affected Area
Hazardous Levels Of Metal Ions Found In Many Commercial Table Wines, Study Suggests “Potentially hazardous levels of metal ions are present in many commercially available wines. An analysis of reported levels of metals in wines from sixteen different countries found that only those from Argentina, Brazil and Italy did not pose a potential health risk owing to metals.”
Investigation of Outbreak of Infections Caused by Salmonella Saintpaul “Since mid-April, 145 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 16 states: Arizona (12 persons), California (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (17), Indiana (1), Kansas (3), New Mexico (39), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (2), Texas (56 persons), Utah (1), Virginia (2), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3). These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. Among the 73 persons who have been interviewed, illnesses began between April 16 and May 27, 2008. Patients range in age from 1 to 82 years; 49% are female. At least 23 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Only 3 persons infected with this strain of Salmonella Saintpaul were identified in the country during the same period in 2007. The previous rarity of this strain and the distribution of illnesses in all U.S. regions suggest that the implicated tomatoes are distributed throughout much of the country. “
Melamine Scandal Continues to Expand “The latest products implicated in this scare are Blue Cat Flavor drinks sold in Asian markets in the United States and Oreo wafers, Snickers, and M&M's imported from China to Indonesia. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed it found melamine in Blue Cat Flavor Drinks. Based on those findings, the U.S. company that distributes the drinks has recalled all the 100 ml plastic bottles of the products. Tristar Food of New Jersey distributed the drink --which is also called Lanmao-- to Asian grocery stores nationwide. The bottles have a logo of a blue cat on the back and words "blue cat" written in Chinese in on the front. “
Melamine-Tainted Candy Found In CT “The Department of Consumer Protection warned consumers Wednesday not to eat "White Rabbit Creamy Candy," imported from China and distributed by Queensway Foods Company Inc. of Burlingame, Calif. The candy was found on several Connecticut store shelves the week of Sept. 29 by agency food safety inspectors and removed, agency Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said. Tests by the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station Laboratory have determined that the product contains melamine, he said. Melamine has been associated recently with contaminated infant formula and other milk protein-containing products in China, as well as a major pet food recall last year. The chemical is used in plastics manufacturing and as an adulterant in foods to simulate protein. Consumers who have White Rabbit candy should discard it immediately, Farrell said. Individuals who have already consumed the candy and have questions about its heath impact should consult their health-care providers, he said.”
RESULTS OF TESTING FOR 1,4-DIOXANE
Scratched Surfaces May Trap Bacteria During Food Processing “Abrasion, constant cleaning and impact damage can cause work surfaces to become scratched. "It is important that surfaces in a hygienic environment are kept clean. Scratches may entrap microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and protect them from being removing during cleaning," researcher Adele Packer said in a society meeting news release.”
Should We Fear Our Food? “Industrial farming techniques may make it easier to find out-of-season fruit, but what are we giving up in exchange? ... Take bagged salads. Fifteen years ago, they didn't exist. Today, thanks to new breathable wrapping, some 70 percent of head lettuce is bagged, and prepackaged greens are top-selling food items. Convenience is part of the appeal, plus pre-washed greens sound safer. Yet almost all U.S. lettuce comes from just a handful of large processors, which creates new problems if you have even a few contaminated heads. "Those heads are chopped up and distributed in many packages throughout the country within days," says Labuza. Which is how contaminated spinach from just one mega-producer in California sickened hundreds of people in 26 states last fall, causing nationwide panic and profoundly impacting the spinach industry.”
Tainted Cadbury chocolate found in Hong Kong “Hong Kong said Sunday it found two Cadbury chocolate products contained considerably more of the industrial chemical melamine than the city's legal limit in a growing scandal over tainted food made in China.”
US outbreak of salmonella spreads“More than 1,000 people in more than 40 US states are now confirmed to have become ill with salmonella since April, officials say. The US health authorities suspect the bacteria to be present in some raw tomatoes, chilli peppers and the coriander used in salsa. The outbreak is deemed to be the worst one of a food-borne illness in the US for more than a decade. Two people are said to have died, and 200 people have been taken to hospital. There have also been several cases in Canada.“
Water may be suspect in tainted tomatoes “Too big of a temperature difference can make a tomato literally suck water inside the fruit through the scar where its stem used to be. If salmonella happens to be lurking on the skin, that is one way it can penetrate and, if the tomato is not eaten right away, have time to multiply. That does not mean people should not wash their tomatoes — they should, just probably not in cold water.“
ARTICLES:
12 Foods Where Organic Makes Sense “ … going organic with these 12 fruits and veggies could cut your exposure to pesticides as much as 90 percent!”
Food Poisoning Can Be Long-Term Problem
General Food Safety Guidelines
How to Tell When Leftovers Go Bad “For leftover food to be safe, it must be kept in what Donnelly calls the rule of four: no more than four days at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or 4 degrees centigrade. (Freezing fresh food at zero degree Fahrenheit will keep it safe indefinitely.) "About 25 percent of the refrigerators in the country are operating at a temperature that can make food unsafe," says Donnelly, citing a study commissioned by the Federal Transit Administration. "Here we're using the refrigerator as a food safety device and most people have no clue, no idea what temperature it should be." “
Kernel of Truth About Butter Flavoring
Protect Yourself From Food-Borne Illness
Start at the Store: 7 Ways to Prevent Foodborne Illness
The Truth About 7 Common Food Additives
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Consumption of trans-Fatty Acid and Its Association with Colorectal Adenomas (American Journal of Epidemiology 2008) “These results suggest that consumption of high amounts of trans-fatty acid may increase the risk of colorectal neoplasia, and they provide additional support to recommendations to limit trans-fatty acid consumption.”
Monitoring of pesticide residues in vegetarian diet. (Environ Monit Assess. 2008)
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