SKITTISH ABOUT IRRADIATED MEAT?

Then try virus-laced luncheon meats instead! This was a tip from the inimitable Joan Zacharias, and as she points out, it's not just that meat producers again want to further contaminate their useless product in order to fight the fecal contamination that is endemic to it, but that again, consumers will have no idea which hot dogs are or are not virus-free, as there will be zero requirement to label them as such.

Actually, Joan didn't mention the fecal contamination, but I had to get that in - it's my specialty around here.

STILL MORE SILENT RECALLS

Every once in a while I remember to check for meat recalls that have gotten no coverage. Often I find one or two that are limited to one region or are only a few hundred pounds, and I don't bother saying anything about them because it's not suprising I wouldn't have heard about them, and I have no evidence that the communities involved went uninformed. But just as often I find recalls that came and went involving thousands and thousands of pounds of meat, with the comensurate potential to incapacitate or kill hundreds to thousands of people.

Here are just a couple cases in point. Within a couple days, one company in Tennessee, Southeastern Meats, recalled more than four thousand pounds of beef and another company in Texas, Plains Meat Co, recalled more than 13,000 pounds of beef - yes, that's over six tons of beef - and in both cases, of course the culprit was our own war nemesis, E.Coli.

In a break with tradition, the more damning recall was announced by the USDA not on Friday, but on Saturday.

ANOTHER INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Props to E Magazine for that headline, which sprang to mind for me (and probably a lot of other people) when I heard the buzz about Al Gore's movie. The article Another Inconvenient Truth: Meat is a Global Warming Issue lays out the facts pretty nicely, including dragging in such inconvenient truths as "the human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future — deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities and the spread of disease."

Of course, what makes this truth all the more inconvenient for many is that there's something decisive we can do about it right now, today, which requires so little of us in comparison to the stakes involved that it's doubtless embarrassing to contemplate.

AND SO IT CONTINUES

An ocean away, a completely different issue, but similar implications: "Chicago diners have one final week to feast on foie gras before the city becomes the first in the nation to ban the delicacy" says ABC News. "In April members of the Chicago City Council sided with animal rights groups and enacted the ban, set to take effect on August 22. Production of foie gras is already banned in more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe. At least one famous Chicago chef has already instituted his own ban. Charlie Trotter took foie gras off the menu at his eponymous restaurant after seeing how the delicacy was produced. But many of Trotter's colleagues worry this new law is the first step on a slippery slope. 'The laundry list is now wide open," says [another restaurateur]. 'Lobster, veal, where does it end? Who draws the line in the sand and dictates what you can and can't eat?'" Hey, did someone say Slippery Slope?

AND SO IT BEGINS

"Britain's first foxhunter prosecuted under a hunting ban has been found guilty of animal crueltya judge in the county of Devon, England. Professional huntsman Tony Wright was fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $500 of the $134,000 in legal expenses the League Against Cruel Sports incurred, London's Telegraph reports."

It's a slippery slope - theory anyway - and one down which our culture truly needs to be slipping.

CHOOSE VEG

I was sent a link to this site, which I've just added to our sidebar. Choose Veg is a colorful, snazzy intro to vegetarianism for people coming at it anew. Tabs on going veg "For the Animals," "For our Earth," and "For Your Health" direct the reader to good info and resources. The overall concept isn't that new or remarkable, but it's well done and certainly worth checking out.

VEGAN DIET REVERSES DIABETES SYMPTOMS

"People who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet," reports Reuters via CNN. This is pretty big news considering that the American Diabetes Association has tailored their diet to the speficics of diabetes, while the low-fat vegan diet is the same one that, among other effects, reverses heart disease. Participants "lowered their cholesterol more and ended up with better kidney function, according to the report published in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association." Additionally, "participants said the vegan diet was easier to follow than most because they did not measure portions or count calories." OK... so how soon before this becomes the official American Diabetes Association diet? And... why not?

CSPI: GREEN = VEGAN

Here's an interesting development: The Center for Science in the Public Interest has put out a book and Web site, Six Arguments for a Greener Diet, and although I'm sure there are disclaimers and/or qualifications in the full book, the overall impression one gets from the site is that "Eating Green" is "Eating Vegan." The key arguments don't just target meat but dairy and eggs as well, and they don't meander into esoterica like the exploitation of banana pickers in other countries - what they do is absolutely slam animal products and prescribe plant-based alternatives.

Take a look at this "Eating Green Calculator," allowing you to calculate the impact of your diet. For vegans the answers to all the "how much" questions are "zero," because the bad foods are all animal products. Or this "Tour of the Food Supply" that provides a visual interface as well as damning factoids on how animal agriculture is related to illness and environmental degradation. Also, CSPI's definition of "green" factors in animal-welfare issues as a key element. And the project is putting out new data from their own calculations, such as "the saturated fat and cholesterol in animal products are responsible for about 65,000 fatal heart attacks every year." This is a big step forward for an organization that has leaned toward vegan solutions but always very loudly maintained a fig leaf of "low-fat dairy products" or "fish, a couple times a week" to show they weren't in league with us wild-eyed extremists. I'll have to see the book to find out if they go the next step of actually using the word "vegan."

RECALL OF RECALL?

Here's a head-scratcher that either shows how dim consumers are or how entrenched our meat-protecting agriculture agency is - or maybe both: The story is that at least 29 people have fallen ill "after eating frozen chicken entrees that weren't cooked long enough to kill salmonella bacteria." Minnesota officials are urging consumers not to just microwave the chicken products, as specified on their packaging, but to bake them in the oven until they're at least 165 degrees. Um, aren't these "convenience" foods? Anyway, the kicker is that these products have already been recalled - "The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a limited recall in March 2006 after the salmonella outbreak was identified. However, epidemiologists have found that new cases of illness continue to occur" - so consumers are being told, "don't eat that, throw it out. But if and when you disregard that and eat it, be sure to cook it in the oven." Meat-eaters are funny that way.

ANOTHER RECALL

Since I'm always alerting you to meat recalls you may not have heard about, in the interest of equal time it's worth noting that certain batches of "Vegan Parmesan Flavor Grated Soy Topping" are being recalled. So you see, it's not true that only animal products have this problem of inherent danger. Vegan products can too.

The Vegan Parmesan is being recalled "because the product may contain traces of undeclared milk ingredients."

NOT ANOTHER MAD COW

Please don't confuse this post with the one from a week ago. That was Mad Cow 6, this is Mad Cow 7. But again, we're talking about Canada, a country halfway around the world. Relax. And try not to think about the fact that this cow was born after the feed ban began to be "enforced" and that government officials promised more "cases will continue to be found."

"Sporadically," of course... you know, like these last two in the space of a week.

I'LL JUST SWITCH TO IMPORTED...

Whoops! Yet another indication that consumers should further limit their consumption of fish.

Defenders of Wildlife sponsored tests that found many imports of canned tuna have mercury levels higher than the federal limit. Also, their lab found higher levels of mercury even in light tuna, which the says is "low in mercury." The AP story notes that "The FDA says it's safe to eat two meals a week of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, such as canned light tuna, shrimp, salmon, pollock and catfish," but "Defenders of Wildlife said people should limit light tuna to one meal each week, instead of two, and avoid canned tuna that says it is imported on the label."

SUMMERFEST

I'll be in Johnstown through the weekend, so the intermittent level of posting will probably continue.

Hope you're there. Yes, you are, I'm looking at you right now.

NOT ANOTHER MAD COW

Yes, Another mad cow.






Psych! It's from Canada, a completely separate country that totally has no common beef industry with us!

A HUMAN ALWAYS FORGETS

Even if there were no ethical argument against it, humans keeping elephants in captivity is something that just. doesn't. work. We're not cut out to be elephant caretakers, obviously, so let's stop pretending... can't we?

"An investigation by the Los Angeles Zoo has found that the keepers of a 48-year-old Asian elephant that died last month did not begin emergency procedures for more than eight hours after the elephant was first observed sitting down... a general sign of distress for elephants."

Are the zookeepers at the LA zoo familiar with the general signs of distress of all the animals in their charge? Are they familiar with at least those of the elephants?

"A statement from the zoo released Friday said [Gita] had initially been observed sitting down at 8:45 p.m. on the evening of June 9, but did not say who observed her."

Was that person a qualified animal caretaker - or somebody's nephew? I don't mean to be snarky, but come on, folks, this is a pretty egregious error and we need a few answers - and I hope you're not saying this is the kind of animal care that happens all the time at yours and other zoos.

HEART ASSOCIATION: CUT ANIMAL PRODUCTS BY ONE THIRD

This is the clear message behind new guidelines issued by the American Heart Association, but you won't see that headline anywhere because the science is just too complex for most journalists to follow, and it's easier to grab onto the "cut trans fats" concept that's oh-so-trendy right now (we'll ignore, for now, the fact that trans fats occur in animal products as well as french fries).

It's pretty simple math, though: The new advisory "suggests that people derive no more than 7 percent of their total calories from saturated fat." OK, and... "The previous guidelines allowed saturated fat to make up 10 percent of one's daily calories" (though Americans generally eat 11 percent or more saturated fat). And where do we find saturated fats? Two places: Animal products; coconut and palm oil. That's it. Now, which of these two options do you suppose is negligible, compared with the other, in the average American's diet?

In some places, this is spelled out somewhat, in phrases such as "using soy protein in place of animal protein as a means of limiting saturated fats," but again most journalists fail to make it clear to readers that there's a simple, no-nonsense way to improve their health dramatically: Stop eating animals.

UPDATE 7/12: Sorry - as moonwatcher notes in comments, I overstated this when I said "that's it." Tropical oils are the only vegetable sources that are a significant source of saturated fat, and the other sources are low in their ratio of saturated to unsaturated fats, but not quite low enough to be called "negligible." Here's a handy graph of the saturated fat content of various food sources.

FEED RECALLED FOR MAD COW VIOLATION

" Livestock feed ingredients shipped to nine states may have been contaminated with cattle remains in violation of a 1997 ban to protect against mad cow disease, a manufacturer said Tuesday. H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc. said it was recalling three livestock feed ingredients, including two used to supplement feed given to dairy cows. A sample tested by the Food and Drug Administration was positive for cattle meat and bone meal, said Mark Hohnbaum, president of the Westport, Conn.-based company's feed products group. "This is very concerning to us. This isn't something that happens to us," Hohnbaum said.

What, having the feed randomly tested? Well, unfortunately, pal, this time it did happen. Lord knows, of course, how much is getting through that isn't tested.

VEGAN LABELING

I've just been noticing increased labeling on deli salad bar items at Whole Foods, namely, labels that say "VEGAN." I haven't tracked the quantity over time or anything so I don't know if they're actually making more vegan options available. But there does seem to be a sort of coming-out-of-the-closet push in effect. I'm wondering if we may be seeing some of the fruits of John Mackey's conversion to veganism a couple years back. While I haven't heard much news emanating out of his newly formed Animal Compassion Foundation, there was the item last week that Whole Foods is halting the sale of live lobsters out of concern for their humane treatment. Of course the instant comeback is that if they're concerned, they could halt the sale of dead lobsters too, but we may be seeing some of the "baby steps" toward the revolution Mackey implies he's getting underway. It will be interesting to keep watching on this, even as it's frustrating for those of us who want everything to change NOW.

KILL CATS OR PET CATS; DON'T KILL PET CATS

That's the double standard at work that according to this editorial from The Tennessean, may torpedo Frist's aspirations to run for president. "He fessed up in his 1989 book, 'Transplant,' to adopting cats from shelters when he was in medical school, treating them like pets for a while, and then using them [read: killing them] in his research experiments," the column says, going on to point up this exact ethical quagmire: "It's the part where he kept them as pets first that is bothersome," it says, then quoting him at length:

"Desperate, obsessed with my work, I visited the various animal shelters in the Boston suburbs, collecting cats, taking them home, treating them as pets for a few days, then carting them off to the lab to die in the interests of science. And medicine. And health care. And treatment of disease. And my project. It was, of course, a heinous and dishonest thing to do, and I was totally schizoid about the entire matter. By day, I was little Billy Frist, the boy who lived on Bowling Avenue in Nashville and had decided to become a doctor because of his gentle father and a dog named Scratchy. By night, I was Dr. William Harrison Frist, future cardiothoracic surgeon, who was not going to let a few sentiments about cute, furry little creatures stand in the way of his career. In short, I was going a little crazy."

Yep, you might call it a sort of moral schizophrenia, which Frist shared (and almost certainly still does) with the rest of mainstream America. The kicker is that most people are made queasy by this double-standard when they have to confront it, and you can bet a Frist presidential run will give them ample opportunity to do so.

UPDATE 6/19: A commenter at FireDogLake points out that "unless he violated the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs regs in place at the time and compounded his other felonies by procuring narcotics he would have been unlicensed to possess or use," Frist was killing these "pet" cats without anesthesia, making his skeevy, unsavory obsession even skeevier and unsavorier.

SAFE CONSUMPTION LEVEL FOR CANNED TUNA: NONE WHATSOEVER

...for pregnant women, at any rate, says Consumer Reports magazine, due to the excessive mercury levels documented by FDA testing. But it's a stretch, at the least, to think something so clearly dangerous to developing babies is hunky dory for children and adults. Might be nice if the FDA would get realistic with their own guidelines.