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mscured From: rosepetals Thu, 15 Jul 2004 00:01:30 -0700 (PDT)Re: [mscured] dinner and dessertFeces, Vomit On Raw Meat A Growing RiskBy Julie Vorman9-7-00WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans face a growing risk of eating feces, vomit and metal shards in meat and poultry because the US Agriculture Department is allowing companies to perform more of their own food safety inspections, two consumer groups and a labor union said on Tuesday. Their survey of 451 federal inspectors showed many were concerned that too much contaminated meat and poultry was slipping through company production lines under the government's new food safety procedures. The 451 respondents represent about six percent of all federal meat inspectors.

Public Citizen, the Government Accountability Project and the American Federation of Government Employees said the USDA's decision to give plants more responsibility for safety will unravel public health gains made since author Upton Sinclair documented grisly slaughterhouse conditions in "The Jungle." The USDA contends that its data shows the new meat inspection procedures give consumers more protection against microscopic diseases such as E. coli 0157:H7 and salmonella. The activist groups disagree. "Our survey warns consumers that on a good day, their meat and poultry are inspected under an industry honor system," Felicia Nestor, food safety director for the Government Accountability Project, told reporters at a news conference. "Federal inspectors check paperwork, not food, and are prohibited from removing feces and other contaminants before products are stamped with the purple USDA seal of approval," she added. FREQUENT CONTAMINATION

SPOTTED Some 206 meat inspectors who responded to the survey said there were weekly or monthly instances when they did not take direct action against animal feces, vomit, metal shards or other contamination because of the new USDA rules. At issue is the USDA's broad policy shift in 1996 to require the owners of slaughter plants to adopt a series of food safety checkpoints and to perform scientific tests for microscopic bacteria to confirm that meat and poultry is safe. That approach has meant the redeployment of USDA inspectors in an experiment at some three dozen slaughter plants. Instead of physically examining carcasses on the production line - a technique known as "poke and sniff" -- they now scrutinize company paperwork and test results. "It sounds to us, as a union, like this is designed to eliminate inspection and they are reducing numbers gradually," said Arthur Hughes, president of the Northeast Council of Food Inspection Locals. The

government's pilot program was successfully challenged in court by the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents many of the 7,500 meat inspectors. A federal appeals court ruled in June that the nearly century-old law requires the physical inspection of cattle, pig, chicken and other meat carcasses by USDA employees. The court ruling came after the USDA's own office of inspector general, an independent investigative arm of the department, issued a 400-page report that urged tighter rules for all meat and poultry plants to protect consumers. Last week, the USDA offered to station an inspector on the production line at pilot plants specifically to watch for contamination problems. The inspectors union said that was not enough to fix the problems with safety procedures. USDA SAYS SURVEY NOT CREDIBLE USDA officials criticized the survey as flawed and reflecting the desire of a small number of inspectors to block more scientific food

safety techniques."Our meat and poultry products are safer than they have ever been," Tom Billy, administrator of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said in an interview. "If that (survey results) were true, why are companies challenging us in court on our salmonella performance standards," Billy added. He was referring to a bitter court battle between the USDA and Texas-based Supreme Beef Inc. over federal requirements that a beef processing plant meet salmonella test standards. Under the 1996 food safety changes, federal inspectors who spot contaminated meat or poultry cannot immediately pull the product but must follow it through to the end of the production line to see if plant safety checkpoints catch it. If the checkpoints do not halt the tainted product, USDA inspectors must step in and seize it, he said. In an instance like that, a plant would be written up for having inadequate safety procedures, Billy said. "An inspector who

allows any adulterated product to the leave the plant is failing to do his or her job," Billy said. Physical inspection of every carcass is difficult with production lines typically moving 85 to 140 birds per minute through a poultry plant. Meat and poultry companies insist it is in their own best interests to avoid food safety shortcuts. By some estimates, the 1993 outbreak of deadly E. coli 0157:H7 in hamburgers sold by a Jack in the Box restaurant cost the company close to $1 billion in lawsuits, hospital costs and lost sales. Dane Bernard, a vice president of the National Food Processors Association, said the new survey was based on a small sample of inspectors but that USDA should examine the results to identify possible ways of improving its policies. "We're in the early stages of building a new food safety inspection system," Bernard said. "We see the concern over union jobs being behind a lot of this battle." http://news.excite.com/news/r/000906/13/health-fecesBen And Jerry's Ice Cream Contains HIGH Dioxin Levels - Study8-17-00LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Ben and Jerry's gourmet ice cream has levels of dioxin 2,200 times higher than those authorised for waste water discharged into San Francisco Bay from a nearby refinery, according to a study released Thursday. The study, presented Thursday at a 'Dioxin 2000' conference in Monterey, California, estimated that the concentration of dioxin found in Ben and Jerry's could account for 200 "extra" cases of cancer among lifetime consumers of the ice cream. The study, completed by one former government scientist and confirmed by an independent laboratory, singled out the contradiction between the firm's promotional material for the ice cream, and the product's potentially harmful contents. Ben and Jerry's Homemade, the

company which makes the ice cream, has been well-known for its much-vaunted attitude of social responsibility -- reflecting the views of its original owners. In April, Dutch conglomerate Unilever acquired the company for 326 million dollars. The Ben and Jerry's website cites a Greenpeace warning on the dangers of dioxin in the atmosphere. The study said that a serving of Ben and Jerry's ice cream was found to contain 80 picograms of dioxin. "In contrast, the Tosco Refinery wastewater is permitted to contain 0.14 picograms of dioxin per liter," said Michael Gough, the leader author of the study. Gough is a former chair of a US Health and Human Services advisory panel which looked at the effects of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange on US Air Force personnel in Vietnam. He and co-author Steven Milloy of Junkscience.com said they believe existing scientific evidence does not credibly link low levels of dioxin exposure with human health effects. But

they criticised the company for a product which was in conflict with its own promotional literature. "Ben and Jerry's and Greenpeace ... have concluded that dioxin is not safe at any level. "If dioxin is so dangerous, perhaps Ben and Jerry's should removed its ice cream from the market until it is 'safe,' consistent with the company's promotional literature," Milloy suggested. Christine Heimert, a spokeswoman for Ben and Jerry's at its headquarters in South Burlington, Vermont, said: "This is not a food safety issue ... The fact is dioxins are global environmental pollutants. "They exist worldwide primarily as a result of certain industrial practices, and they do in fact make their way into the food chain ... especially (in) dairy products." Federal authorities have not laid down a limit for dioxin levels in food, she noted, adding that the only reason the study's authors "have singled us out (is) because we have taken a very public stance on

dioxin." The Ben and Jerry's website warns that "dioxin is known to cause cancer, genetic and reproductive defects, and learning disabilities ... The only safe level of dioxin exposure is no exposure at all." Caffeine Is Added To Soft Drinks To Addict The Consumer - New StudyMSNBC Staff And Wire Reportshttp://www.msnbc.com/news/446035.asp?bt=nm & btu=9-16-00In 1998, Americans guzzled 15 billion gallons of soda, an average of about 585 cans per person. Caffeine in sodas aims to addict, according to a new study. Researchers are now drawing a comparison to nicotine's use in cigarettes. Caffeine in soft drinks - which Americans drink more of than water - is added to addict consumers, not to enhance flavor as soft drink manufacturers claim, said researchers who compared caffeine's use in sodas to nicotine in cigarettes. "The marketing parallels

between nicotine and caffeine are pretty stunning," said psychopharmacologist Roland Griffiths, who directed the research. "Both are psychoactive drugs. Until recently, cigarette companies denied that nicotine is addicting and said it was added merely as a flavor enhancer for cigarettes. The same is being said for caffeine." Griffiths and other scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said most soda drinkers cannot taste the difference between caffeinated and non-caffeinated drinks. The study appeared in Archives of Family Medicine, which is published by the American Medical Association, and concluded that caffeine was instead added to soft drinks for its addictive nature to boost consumption. The Johns Hopkins study found that only 8 percent of a group of 25 adult consumers were able to detect the caffeine in sodas. The rest could not tell the difference between caffeinated and non-caffeinated drinks until caffeine levels were raised to

levels beyond those approved by the Food and Drug Administration. "This stands in sharp contrast to the claim some soft drink manufacturers make that they add caffeine purely for taste," Griffiths said. Soda makers responded to a 1981 FDA proposal that caffeine be eliminated from cola drinks by saying it enhanced flavor. Roughly 70 percent of soft drinks consumed in the United States contain caffeine, the study said. "I'd like to see the soft drink industry come out of denial about the role of caffeine in their products," Griffiths said. "They're adding a mildly addicting, mood-altering drug, one which surely accounts for the fact that people drink far more sodas with caffeine than without." A trade group representing the soft drink industry called the study's conclusions irresponsible and contended caffeine added to the beverages does enhance flavor. "It was a very poorly conducted and designed study. The conclusions are irresponsible

and they were not based on the science," said spokesman Jeff Nedelman of the National Soft Drink Association. He said several of the taste testers in the study were smokers, with depressed senses of taste, and that they sampled many warm sodas over a brief period. Soft drinks contain only a fraction of the caffeine present in coffee, Nedelman added. Griffiths noted that caffeine-free versions of Coca-Cola Classic and Pepsi, the two most popular soft drinks, made up only 5 percent of sales. Soft drinks represent the single largest source of added sugar in the U.S. diet, according to sources cited in the study. Soda drinking displaced consumption of more nutritional foods and could lead to more tooth decay, obesity and bone fractures, the report said. In 1998, Americans guzzled 15 billion gallons of soda, an average of about 585 cans per person. Consumption of soft drinks has more than doubled since 1975, and more soda is consumed than water.

"We know adults and children can become physiologically and psychologically dependent on caffeinated soft drinks, experiencing a withdrawal syndrome if they stop," Griffiths said in the study. "Most adults can become informed about, and cope with, withdrawal. ... But it is more problematic in children who are less well-informed and whose soft drink consumption may be sporadic," he said. Griffiths said manufacturers should explain their reasons for adding caffeine to drinks and spell out the amount of the additive used. Reuters contributed to this story.Milk And Dairy Products Suspected Of Causing Crohn's DiseaseLink4-27-00A check at a recent dinner party showed that no one knew anything about Crohn's Disease - an inflammatory disease of the guts which attacks any part of the digestive tract, from mouth to anus, but has a predilection for the large and small intestines. It causes

deeper ulceration than ulcerative colitis, attacking the structures in the sub-mucosal regions under the intestinal lining. Initially associated with diarrhoea and bleeding, it later causes obstruction, adhesions, fistulae vand abscesses. The gut may perforate. Crohn's was rarely reported before 1900 and was only described by Dr Burrill Crohn in detail in the 1930s. Since the 1950s its incidence has increased at least threefold, but Professor John Hermon-Taylor of St. George's Hospital in London suggests that it is still under-reported. It is probable that it affects at least 80,000 people in the United Kingdom. The professor has tried for years to explain the similarity between Crohn's in humans and Johne's Disease in cattle and other animals. Johne's results from infection with mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Professor Hermon-Taylor and others tried to prove that mycobacterium paratuberculosis is also responsible for Crohn's. Now DNA testing has shown the organism

is present in Crohn's sufferers. Worryingly the organism can be cultured in 3 per cent of standard milk bottle samples, and in a high percentage of dairy cows. A possible source of human infection is therefore milk. Epidemiological studies show a higher incidence of Crohn's in communities downwind of water flowing through grazed pastures. This suggests that the organism is whipped up from the water's surface, then inhaled by locals. Professor Hermon-Taylor suspects that the increase of Crohn's Disease is coincident with the increase in modern farming techniques. Not surprisingly there has been a reluctance to accept an association between Crohn's and Johne's Disease which would suggest a major public health problem. Opponents of the thesis question the lack of response of Crohn's Disease to anti-microbial therapy. However, a recent study at the South Cleveland Hospital has shown that when appropriate antibiotic therapy was given a good response was

obtained. Professor Hermon-Taylor has had similarly successful results. He found that 70 per cent went into remission after antibiotics and 50 per cent stayed in lasting remission. TB Bacteria Found In Pasteurized MilkBy Lois Rogers - Medical CorrespondentThe Sunday Timeshttp://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/00/02/20/stinwenws03034.html?9992-21-00Government scientists have produced evidence that a form of tuberculosis bacteria is present in Britain's pasteurised milk supply. Early results from a survey of 1,000 pasteurised milk samples, destined for supermarkets and doorstep delivery, showed that four out of 129 samples so far analysed were contaminated with the germ. Results from tests for nine other disease-causing bacteria have been withheld. The dairies that provided the milk, all mainstream commercial

suppliers, have been given anonymity. The discovery has led to renewed concern over pasteurisation and the possible dangers from milk. Latest figures from the Public Health Laboratory Service show that more than 420 people have developed food poisoning from pasteurised milk since 1992. Many of the victims have been children. One died and others received hospital treatment for kidney damage, which could mean they will need organ transplants. A spokeswoman for the service said the figure was probably a small fraction of the real number of victims because people were more likely to blame foods such as chicken or eggs for their condition. The bacterium so far identified in the study by the agriculture ministry is mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (Map), which is suspected of causing Britain's 80,000 cases of Crohn's disease, a disorder that involves chronic inflammation of the intestines. John Hermon-Taylor, of St George's medical school in

London, who likens the effect of Map to leprosy of the gut, said there was an urgent need for more research into the condition and stricter controls on pasteurisation. Standard pasteurisation until the 1960s involved heating milk to 63C and maintaining it at that temperature for 30 minutes. The method was superseded by a high-temperature short-time technique, where milk is heated to 72C for 15 seconds. Some of the big milk processors are said to have increased the time to 25 seconds because of the Map scare, but Hermon-Taylor believes this is not long enough. "Wild strains of Map are very resistant," he said. "Mass milk production has created the conditions that have favoured these bugs." The last serious outbreak of food poisoning involving pasteurised milk affected 111 people in Cockermouth, Cumbria, last year. A number of children had to be admitted to hospital, including 11-year-old Joseph Tiffin, who spent a week at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in

Newcastle. His father, Stuart, received confirmation from the hospital last week that his son's kidneys had not sustained permanent damage. "When it happened we thought we would lose Joseph," Tiffin said. "It has taken a year, but we are so relieved finally to get the all-clear." In one of the previous outbreaks, which affected 60 people in 1994, 18-month-old Claire Davison from Bathgate, West Lothian, died and Michael Reilly, aged three, needed a kidney transplant. Hugh Pennington, professor of microbiology at Aberdeen University, helped to advise on the source of the manure-related E-coli 0157 bacteria which had contaminated the milk in both outbreaks. "There have been enough problems with milk in recent years to show there is an issue here," he said. "Most of the time farmers will get away with dirty milk, but when things go wrong it can be disastrous." Fragmentation of the dairy industry - since privatisation in 1994 disbanded the Milk

Marketing Board - has meant that milk processors do not reveal details of problems. The Milk Development Council charges farmers 0.04p per litre to pay for its research on milk marketing, but it does not investigate safety or levels of diseases such as mastitis, which causes dead cells from pus residue to pass into milk. Farmers receive a bonus for producing cleaner milk and the National Dairy Council, which represents the processors, said most milk was well within European safety limits for total bacteria and dead cell counts. The survey is due to be completed by the end of this year. Up To HALF US Cattle Found To Have Deadly E. Coli BacteriaBy Philip Brasherlink3-1-00WASHINGTON (http://www.nandotimes.com) - The government could reduce the chance of deadly bacteria tainting ground beef by testing cattle hides and carcasses before the meat is processed, according to a

study released Tuesday. Testing for the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria now is done after the beef is ground. Research done at a dozen packing plants last fall found the bacteria on 3.56 percent of the hides that were sampled and 0.44 percent of the carcasses. All the bacteria on the sample carcasses were eventually removed through steam pasteurization, hot water or organic acid rinses, the treatments typically used in packing plants. "It is our hope that this data will encourage USDA to re-evaluate its ground-beef sampling program," said James H. Hodges, president of the American Meat Industry Foundation, which sponsored the research. "A carcass testing program for E. coli O157:H7 is more practicable and will help ensure that the safest and most wholesome product possible enters commerce." The industry research was presented Tuesday at a public meeting of the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The agency is considering tightening

its controls for E. coli as a result of new findings about its prevalence. Samples in the industry study were taken at a rate of 1 per 300 carcasses. E. coli O157 can cause serious illness and sometimes death, especially in children and the elderly. Symptoms include chills and bloody diarrhea. The bacteria are destroyed by adequately cooking the meat. The infection rate in beef being ground in packing plants is less than 0.05 percent. Consumer groups say that testing for E. coli is inadequate. The ground-beef testing program, which was started after tainted hamburger killed several children in Washington state in 1993, "is not systematic, and provides inadequate coverage," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Like throwing darts at a dart board, although the government hits the target occasionally, it is clearly missing a lot of the problem." The federal government recently approved the use of

irradiation to treat raw meat, but it is unclear yet whether consumers will react to that. Meanwhile, scientists are working on additional methods of treatment. One of those is an anti-microbial agent, known as lactoferrin, that is a naturally occurring protein in the milk of mammals. Laboratory research, which was being presented at Tuesday's USDA meeting, showed that lactoferrin was effective against more than 30 different kinds of harmful bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter. Lactoferrin does not change the taste, flavor, color or appearance of meat and isn't harmful to humans, the researchers aid. "We have borrowed a page from Mother Nature," said A.S. Naidu, a medical microbiologist at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, where the treatment was developed. "We have taken a natural compound with anti-microbial properties and discovered a way to make it work on meat surfaces to provide a protective barrier against harmful

bacteria." Industry officials say the treatment could be useful if it is shown to be effective in packing plants. _____ Up To Half US Cattle Have E. Coli http://www.canoe.ca/WorldTicker/CANOE-wire.US-Meat-Safety.html 3-1-00 WASHINGTON (AP) -- As many as half the cattle in the feedlots of the United States, far more than previously thought, are infected with deadly bacteria, the government said Tuesday. Researchers using new testing methods found E. coli O157:H7 present in rates varying from one per cent in the winter months to as much as 50 per cent in the summer. Previously, government scientists had thought the infection rate to be no more than about five per cent. Cattle are exposed to the bacteria from manure in feedlots. The new figures were developed by the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service and presented at a

public session sponsored by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The study concluded that chances of E. coli getting into ground beef could be reduced by testing cattle hides and carcasses before the meat is processed. Testing now is done after the beef is ground. Consumer groups agree that the government needs to require far more extensive testing of cattle and beef to prevent people from being exposed to the germs. "The prevalence figures are much higher than we ever heard before" said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Research done at a dozen packing plants last fall found the bacteria on 3.56 per cent of the hides that were sampled and 0.44 per cent of the carcasses. All the bacteria on the sample carcasses were eventually removed through steam pasteurization, hot water or organic acid rinses, the treatments typically used in packing plants. "It is our hope that this data will encourage USDA to re-evaluate its

ground-beef sampling program," said James Hodges, president of the American Meat Industry Foundation, which sponsored the research. "A carcass testing program for E. coli O157:H7 is more practicable and will help ensure that the safest and most wholesome product possible enters commerce." Samples in the industry study were taken at a rate of one per 300 carcasses. E. coli O157 can cause serious illness and sometimes death, especially in children and the elderly. Symptoms include chills and bloody diarrhea. The bacteria are destroyed by adequately cooking the meat. The infection rate in beef being ground in packing plants is less than 0.05 per cent. The ground-beef testing program, which was started after tainted hamburger killed several children in Washington state in 1993, "is not systematic, and provides inadequate coverage," DeWaal said. "Like throwing darts at a dart board, although the government hits the target occasionally, it is clearly missing a lot

of the problem," she said. The federal government recently approved the use of irradiation to treat raw meat, but it is unclear yet whether consumers will react to that. Meanwhile, scientists are working on additional methods of treatment. One of those is an anti-microbial agent, known as lactoferrin, that is a naturally occurring protein in the milk of mammals. Laboratory research showed that lactoferrin was effective against more than 30 different kinds of harmful bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter. Lactoferrin does not change the taste, flavour, colour or appearance of meat and isn't harmful to humans, the researchers aid. "We have borrowed a page from Mother Nature," said A.S. Naidu, a medical microbiologist at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, where the treatment was developed. "We have taken a natural compound with anti-microbial properties and discovered a way to make it work on meat surfaces to provide a protective

barrier against harmful bacteria." Industry officials say the treatment could be useful if it is shown to be effective in packing plants.