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Food

Food Safety and Poisoning

NEWS:

Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food “Days later, federal agents descended on Kraft’s offices near Chicago and confronted Mr. Watson. He admitted his role in a bribery scheme that has laid bare a startling vein of corruption in the food industry. And because the scheme also involved millions of pounds of tomato products with high levels of mold or other defects, the case has raised serious questions about how well food manufacturers safeguard the quality of their ingredients. Over the last 14 months, Mr. Watson and three other purchasing managers, at Frito-Lay, Safeway and B&G Foods, have pleaded guilty to taking bribes. Five people connected to one of the nation’s largest tomato processors, SK Foods, have also admitted taking part in the scheme. … In addition, prosecutors say that for years, SK Foods shipped its customers millions of pounds of bulk tomato paste and puree that fell short of basic quality standards — with falsified documentation to mask the problems. Often that meant mold counts so high the sale should have been prohibited under federal law; at other times it involved breaching specifications in the sales contracts, such as acidity levels or the age of the product. The scope of the tainted shipments was much broader than the bribery scheme, touching more than 55 companies. In some cases, companies detected problems and sent the products back — but in many cases, according to prosecutors, they did not, and the tainted ingredients wound up in food sold to consumers. “

Dangerous chemicals in food wrappers likely migrating to humans: U of T study “University of Toronto scientists have found that chemicals used to line junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood. Perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are the breakdown products of chemicals used to make non-stick and water- and stain-repellant products ranging from kitchen pans to clothing to food packaging. PFCAs, the best known of which is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are found in humans all around the world. "We suspected that a major source of human PFCA exposure may be the consumption and metabolism of polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters or PAPs," says Jessica D'eon, a graduate student in the University of Toronto's Department of Chemistry. "PAPs are applied as greaseproofing agents to paper food contact packaging such as fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags." “

Dietary Fats Seem to Affect Sperm Quality “Men who eat foods containing a lot of saturated fats -- think burgers and fries -- and monounsaturated fats may be harming their sperm, a new study by Harvard researchers suggests.”

Food Poisoning Costs U.S. $152 Billion a Year “Food poisoning costs the U.S. $152 billion, kills 5,000 people, and sends 325,000 to the hospital each year, new calculations suggest.”

Food Poisoning Hits 1 in 6 Americans Each Year: CDC “Each year in the United States some 48 million people, or one in every six Americans, are sickened by the food they eat, according to two federal health reports issued Wednesday.”

High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Liver Scarring “New research links consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, the extremely popular sweetener that shows up in food products from ketchup to jelly, to liver damage in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It's not clear if the sweetener directly causes liver scarring, also known as fibrosis, but those who consumed more of the sweetener appeared to have more liver scarring, according to the report released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Hepatology.”

Just a Little Bit of Sugar “Most women should consume no more than 25 grams (about 6 teaspoons) of added sugars a day, and most men, no more than 37.5 grams (about 9 teaspoons), according to the American Heart Association. With 4 calories per gram of sugar, that’s no more than 100 calories of added sugars for women, and no more than 150 for men. It’s easy to exceed these sugar limits—and most Americans do. A 16-ounce bottle of soda has about 44 grams (11 teaspoons) of added sugar, and many people drink a lot more than that. In fact, the average American consumes about 90 grams (22 teaspoons) of added sugars a day—355 calories’ worth—mostly from sodas, but also from other sweetened beverages (including fruit drinks), desserts, candy, and breakfast cereals. Many other foods, even ketchup, have sugar added to them as well.”

Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food --- 10 States, 2009

'Prewashed' Salads May Need Another Rinse ” In a new investigation from the Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports, high levels of bacteria commonly linked to poor sanitation and fecal contamination were found in many of the sampled packaged salads. The bacteria did not pose a health risk to the public, but their presence indicated a higher likelihood of contamination with rare but potentially deadly pathogens like E. coli and salmonella, Consumers Union senior scientist Michael Hansen, PhD, tells WebMD. An E. coli outbreak in the fall of 2006 traced to packaged fresh spinach killed three people and hospitalized more than 100. … Among the other findings: • Packaged produce tested at least six days from their use-by date tended to have lower levels of the bacteria than produce tested within five days of the use-by date. • Salad mixes that included spinach tended to have higher bacteria levels than those without spinach. • Contamination levels were similar whether the produce was packaged in a bag or clamshell container. And samples labeled "organic" were just as likely to have high levels of the bacteria as other samples. • Little difference was seen in bacteria levels between larger, nationally distributed brands and smaller, regional brands. All brands with more than four samples had at least one package with relatively high levels of total coliforms or enterococcus.”

Salmonella Outbreaks Spur Nationwide Egg Recall

The 12 Most Pesticide Polluted Fruit and Veggies

ARTICLES:

10 Foods Poisonous to Pets

CDC: Nearly 1,100 Foodborne Outbreaks Reported Nationally In 2007

CDC: Poultry No. 1 Culprit in Food Poisoning

Organic Foods Slideshow: To Buy or Not to Buy Organic

Produce Safety

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health (Int J Biol Sci 2009) “We present for the first time a comparative analysis of blood and organ system data from trials with rats fed three main commercialized genetically modified (GM) maize (NK 603, MON 810, MON 863), which are present in food and feed in the world. NK 603 has been modified to be tolerant to the broad spectrum herbicide Roundup and thus contains residues of this formulation. MON 810 and MON 863 are engineered to synthesize two different Bt toxins used as insecticides. … Our analysis clearly reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded. … These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown. … Our analysis highlights that the kidneys and liver as particularly important on which to focus such research as there was a clear negative impact on the function of these organs in rats consuming GM maize varieties for just 90 days.”

Sodium Intake Among Adults --- United States, 2005-2006 (MMWR 2010)

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