Friday, September 5

SALMONELLA BEHAVING CURIOUSLY

A bizarre salmonella outbreak at Olympic test events in Athens hit 62 members of German rowing team, while a rash of salmonella outbreaks have been reported across the UK. An expert says the source of these outbreaks is probably food-based. Well, yeah. "Salmonella is the second most common cause of food poisoning after campylobacter. It has been found in unpasteurised milk, eggs and raw egg products, meat and poultry. Although thorough cooking will kill the bacteria, cross-contamination of ready-to-eat foods can occur through contaminated utensils and hands." More news as it comes in.



Wednesday, September 3

YOU CAN'T FIGHT MEAT HALL

Well, that was a long weekend, assited by Blogger being unavailable for some reason last night. But here's something from last week that didn't get posted yet: Dangerous toxins, namely dioxin and agent orange, making their way into the food supply via meat. On the issue of pregnant women passing dioxin to their children, a spokesman agrees that dioxin is dangerous, but adds, "You can't outright ban the use of 11 billion pounds of fat in animal food a year because of practical realities of political pressure from the meat council. And "Agent Orange found in some Vietnamese food" says the headline, while the specifics are buried deep in the story. "The highest levels were found in ducks: up to 343 parts per trillion, compared with a usual level of less than 0.1 part per trillion. ... Even higher dioxin levels were found in animal fats, which are considered a delicacy in Vietnam."