Food Safety Music Video: Don’t Get Sicky Wit It

 

Fear and Food Choice

Molly Morgan, RD, CDN in Healthy Life explains about taking the fear out of your food choices and learning more about organic and local foods.

It has been described that many consumers have expressed their concern about the potentially hazardous health effects from exposure to pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics in the food supply by putting their money where their mouths are.  Even during the hardships of our current state of the economy, consumers are willing to spend extra money on organic foods.

Are organic foods better for us?  Are they more nutritious? Are they safer to eat than conventional farming methods?  Do small local farms operate just like large conventional farms? All of these questions are making consumers more confused than ever.

For over 50 years, family-operated farms have been replaced by large-scale farming and livestock operations.  This increase in agricultural productivity has also coincided with the routine use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, and hormones.

Recent studies suggest that pesticides, particularly organophosphate insecticides and other pollutants are linked to ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and learning disorders.  More research is still being conducted in this area.

Eating organic foods is the best way to reduce exposure to toxins used in conventional agricultural practices.  Organic farmers do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge.  They don’t use any bioengineering methods or ionizing radiation.  Instead, organic farmers rely on beneficial insects, companion planting, and natural soil replenishment.

Many are familiar with the green and white organic seal.  This seal assures us that food items have met stringent USDA Standards and passed inspections.  Please note:  packages labeled with random terms such as free range, hormone free or natural, are not the same as certified organic.

Also, consumers should realize that even though a product bears the green and which organic seal, it does not mean that it is safe or healthy.  These products could still be loaded with organic sugar or organic fat or they could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria.

The organic seal reassures consumers that their food dollar is promoting sustainable farming methods, that the produce they purchase is likely to contain lower levels of pesticide residues; and that the organic meat and poultry that they consume will have been raised without hormones or antibiotics.

At this point in time, these foods are not guaranteed to be safer, healthier or even more nutritious than conventional foods.  While many people believe that organic produce is more flavorful and some will argue that it is more nutritious, that’s hard to find conclusive evidence.

Although, it is important to note that many organic farmers use older, more nutritious varieties of seeds, in this case it may not be the organic process, but the heirloom vegetable that makes the difference.

The take away is this:  Don’t let the fear of pesticides reduce your pleasurable consumption of health-promoting fruits and vegetables.  Minimize your families exposure and maximize your budget by purchasing your groceries from small local farmers, food co-ops, or by joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA.)

When our food is purchased locally, the food dollars stay within and strengthen the local economy.  Buying locally also reduces the resources used to transport, store, and package goods.  Local foods nourish us, the community and the planet.

Many small local farmers may practice organic, sustainable methods although they may not have the official certification, which is due to financial or time constraints.  View websites such as the following:  http://www.eatwellguide.com to find farmers, CSA’s, restaurants and other local sources of organic products.

Enjoy healthy and happy eating!

Food illnesses held steady

by Anthony J Sepe

http://fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com

 

Salmonella

The Associated Press reports that Americans didn’t  suffer more food poisoning last year despite high-profile  outbreaks involving peppers, peanut butter and other foods, according to a government report released Thursday.

Rates of food-borne illnesses have been holding steady for 5 years.  They had been declining from the mid-1990’s until the beginning of this decade, mainly because of improvements in the meat and poultry industry, some experts say.

But produce-associated food poisonings have been increasing, and the nation is no longer whittling down food-borne disease, government officials said.

“Progress has plateaued,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and prevention, a co-author of the report.

The report looks at the occurrence of about 10 leading food-borne illnesses in 10 states that participate in a federally funded food poisoning monitoring system.

The research appears in this week’s issue of the CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Salmonella remained the most common cause of food poisoning, triggering more than 7,400 lab-confirmed illnesses in those states.  That translates to a rate of about 16 cases for every 100,000 people.  There has been no significant change in the salmonella rate in recent years, CDC officials.

An estimated 87 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur in the US each year, including 371,000 deaths, according to an Associated Press calculation that used the CDC formula and current population estimates.

Nipped in the bud; possibly?

by Anthony J Sepe

http://fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com

 

Yesterday, we talked about the salmonella-tainted pistachios.  And, today, it appears from different news service reports that the reason it didn’t take dozens of illnesses for federal regulators to learn about salmonella-tainted pistachios has nothing to do with federal regulations.

Seemingly, routine, but unrequired testing by a manufacturer for Kraft Foods Inc. first detected the contamination almost 2-weeks ago, when workers at a plant in Illinois decided to check roasted nuts going into huge vats of trail mix.  Private auditors hired by Kraft later found problems they think caused the contamination at a supplier’s processing facility in central California.

Two weeks ago?  I guess it seems like a long time to me.  It appears that something’s still wrong with this picture to me.   

Again? First, peanut butter; now—pistachio nuts: Officials probe firm

by Anthony J Sepe

http://fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com

 

The associated press reports and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials are investigating a central California plant that processed pistachios tied to nationwide recalls of trail mix and bagged nuts because of possible salmonella contamination.  (Approximately six -hundred medical cases of documented illness and 9 deaths were linked to the previous salmonella contamination case, just recently.) 

The California Department of Public Health said Monday it was investigating Setton Farms in Tulare County.

Officials say Setton sent its pistachios to the Georgia Nut Co., which recalled its Kraft Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix on Wednesday.

Grocery operator Kroger Co. says the California firm also supplied the line of pistachios it recalled because of possible salmonella contamination.  Those nuts were sold in 31 states.  No illnesses have been reported, thus far.

Fix it—Then, Get the Bonus !!!

by Anthony J Sepe

http://fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com

  Well, we talked some about Organic food the other day, let’s   go  a little further.  It’s certainly not, AIG, but you are insured, and you can build trust because its with National Standards. That’s Organic Food.

So, what does it really mean for us?    The word “organic” varied from person to person and from state to state, but up until a few years ago, that’s really the way it was.  The USDA, then stepped in and said, basically, they get some uniform conformity here, as to standards.  They worked hard for close to a decade or more to develop national guidelines for earth-friendly foods.  There is now, a USDA Organics seal for the foods.  There are many categories such as, 100% organic, organic, made with organic ingredients and contains organic ingredients.

So you may ask:  What’s so different?

The growing process makes all the difference.  The organic farmers keep a delicate balance of nature, protect the supply of water, and improve the soil by eliminating most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, using birds and insects to control pests, and tiling weeds and rotating crops the “old-fashioned” way.  Labor-intensive organic agricultural practices, like hand weeding, are obviously more expensive, which contributes and explains why the expense of organic foods.  Therefore, let’s just say:  we really do get a bonus because organic foods are inherently better for you because of the lack of chemical involvement during the growing stage.  Step up and get your bonus, you really deserve this bonus—be good to yourself and your body.

Salmonella outbreak prompts fixes in food Safety

The Associated Press reports that fixing the nation’s food safety woes many not be possible this year, if President Barack Obama doesn’t makes it a top priority, a senior lawmaker warned after a hearing yesterday exposed loopholes in government oversight that contributed to the ongoing salmonella outbreak.  Lawmakers  reacted angrily when told that food companies and state safety inspectors don’t have to report to the FDA when test results find pathogens in a processing plant.  “I’d like to see some people go to jail,” Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said.  “A fine is a cost of doing business.  When somebody thinks they’re going to go to jail if they don’t report something and clean it up, that’s an entirely different matter.”