Fwd: Spinach, a Little Perspective

[Guest guest]

In what "appears" to be one of the biggest news stories of the year, bagged spinach has been withdrawn from supermarket shelves across America after an E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and caused illness in over 150 others. Most restaurants have pulled all spinach from their menus claiming their customers will no longer touch it. The spinach, grown and distributed by a California company, could have been contaminated in the field or during processing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some groups, such as the Hudson Institute, are using this incident as an opportunity to discredit organic farming. So is natural, raw, bagged spinach worth

all the fuss? Well certainly you want to pull contaminated food from the shelves, but really. Considering how much press the spinach incident has received, you might be surprised to learn that, according to the CDC, E. coli causes an estimated 73,000 cases of infection, including 61 deaths, each year in the United States. Isn't that fascinating? Considering how much uproar we're hearing over 150 infections and 1 death, why have we heard almost nothing about the other 73,000 infections and 61 deaths? Could it be because the primary source of infection, again according to the CDC, is "associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef?" And we all know what happens when you say anything negative about the beef industry! You think I'm being paranoid when I suggest that the health food industry gets singled out for unusual treatment as opposed to mainstream industries? Consider that as a result of just 10 people being infected with E. coli by contaminated Odwalla juice back in 1986, the sale of non-pasteurized juices was pretty much eliminated from the market…for all brands, for good. And yet, 60 some people die every year from eating contaminated meat and you hardly ever hear about it. Very interesting! So what can we expect? Look for another run at suggesting that all produce be irradiated to kill contaminating bacteria, and coincidentally, to prolong shelf life. Resist it. Life has risks, and your odds of dying from E. coli are far less than your chances of being hit by lightning. Your body thrives on raw fresh foods. It dies on a sustained diet of cooked and processed food. And as for irradiated food, you don't want to go there. Oh, and one other thing to consider. The vast majority of people who eat contaminated spinach show no symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms at most. Why is that? It would seem to be an important question -- possibly the most important question, yes?

Quite simply, those with healthy populations of beneficial bacteria in their intestinal tracts are virtually immune to E. coli problems. With beneficial bacteria lining every square inch of your intestinal tract, there is simply no room for ingested E. coli to take root, colonize, and multiply -- not to mention the fact that the beneficial bacteria gobble up any stray E. coli they encounter. In other words, the outbreak has less to do with contaminated food than it does with the epidemic of compromised immune systems and intestinal tracts. Rather than fret about the remote possibility of eating contaminated spinach, you'd be far better off simply supplementing with a good probiotic and a nice complement of natural immune boosters, and pathogen destroyers.._,_.___ "Get off your ass and take your government back." ~Rocky Ward

Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Small Business.

[Guest guest]

I usually keep acidophilus cultures in my fridge. I eat stuff. Sometimes I start to get a bout of intestinal "discomfort." I chalk that up to eating fresh out of my garden, on which twice a year I spread chicken manure and rabbit manure. I raise my own animals. So, when I start to feel sick, I generally attribute it to e-coli, or possibly one or another of the other bacteria. I will eat bunch of the acidophilus cultures at that point. The gas and the runs promptly go away. I credit the acidophilus for that.

The comparison you draw is valid. Everytime something related to alternative health is found to do something that causes some problem, it is highly publicized. One person in a million users uses something and dies and that will cause a billion dollar expenditure in "research" that will get published and talk about the dangers of the herb, or the way of doing things. While their way of doing things within the context of the big pharma just literally kills people and nothing ever gets said. Nothing. Or, hundreds have to get sick before something is re-analyzed and taken from the market. Research gets faked and published as if true, etc.etc. No questions ever asked, most of the time. So long as the shareholders got paid.

 

ed

 

-

Rocky Ward

rachelleward2

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 2:45 AM

Fwd: Spinach, a Little Perspective

 

 

 

 

 

In what "appears" to be one of the biggest news stories of the year, bagged spinach has been withdrawn from supermarket shelves across America after an E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and caused illness in over 150 others. Most restaurants have pulled all spinach from their menus claiming their customers will no longer touch it. The spinach, grown and distributed by a California company, could have been contaminated in the field or during processing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some groups, such as the Hudson Institute, are using this incident as an opportunity to discredit organic farming. So is natural, raw, bagged spinach worth all the fuss?

Well certainly you want to pull contaminated food from the shelves, but really. Considering how much press the spinach incident has received, you might be surprised to learn that, according to the CDC, E. coli causes an estimated 73,000 cases of infection, including 61 deaths, each year in the United States. Isn't that fascinating? Considering how much uproar we're hearing over 150 infections and 1 death, why have we heard almost nothing about the other 73,000 infections and 61 deaths? Could it be because the primary source of infection, again according to the CDC, is "associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef?" And we all know what happens when you say anything negative about the beef industry!

You think I'm being paranoid when I suggest that the health food industry gets singled out for unusual treatment as opposed to mainstream industries? Consider that as a result of just 10 people being infected with E. coli by contaminated Odwalla juice back in 1986, the sale of non-pasteurized juices was pretty much eliminated from the market…for all brands, for good. And yet, 60 some people die every year from eating contaminated meat and you hardly ever hear about it. Very interesting!

So what can we expect?

Look for another run at suggesting that all produce be irradiated to kill contaminating bacteria, and coincidentally, to prolong shelf life. Resist it. Life has risks, and your odds of dying from E. coli are far less than your chances of being hit by lightning. Your body thrives on raw fresh foods. It dies on a sustained diet of cooked and processed food. And as for irradiated food, you don't want to go there.

Oh, and one other thing to consider. The vast majority of people who eat contaminated spinach show no symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms at most. Why is that? It would seem to be an important question -- possibly the most important question, yes?

Quite simply, those with healthy populations of beneficial bacteria in their intestinal tracts are virtually immune to E. coli problems. With beneficial bacteria lining every square inch of your intestinal tract, there is simply no room for ingested E. coli to take root, colonize, and multiply -- not to mention the fact that the beneficial bacteria gobble up any stray E. coli they encounter. In other words, the outbreak has less to do with contaminated food than it does with the epidemic of compromised immune systems and intestinal tracts. Rather than fret about the remote possibility of eating contaminated spinach, you'd be far better off simply supplementing with a good probiotic and a nice complement of natural immune boosters, and pathogen destroyers.._,_.___

"Get off your ass and take your government back." ~Rocky Ward

 

 

Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Small Business.