Food+Posioning

FOOD POISONING FACT SHEET Food poisoning occurs from not properly cleaning and handling food. -usually causes diarrhea, upset stomach, fever, nausea and vomiting, dehydration, abdominal cramps. Flu-like symptoms -24-81 million cases of food borne diarrhea cases each year in US; 325,000 hospitalized, 5,000 die food out. -can be prevented by (1) controlling the initial number of bacteria present, (2) preventing the small number from growing, (3) destroying the bacteria by proper cooking and (4) avoiding re-contamination -The temperature range in which most bacteria grow is between 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) and 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) Links: __http://agqie-horticultureltamu.edu/extension/poison.html____ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlinepius/foodcontaminationandpoisoninq.html __ Government Corruption -"For all its faults as the world's high-executioner state, China picked an equal-opportunity victim in Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration He took bribes to approve licenses for foods and drugs that killed consumers, including babies" -"While recent headlines about China spotlight deadly pet food, toxic toothpaste and contaminated fish, U.S. supermarkets feature domestic chicken teeming with salmonella, and poisonous spinach and peanut butter, along side foods rich in antibiotics, hormones and pesticides." -Colorado based UNISCOPE reported finding melamine plastic in the resin it uses to bond livestock feed and reported it. BUT "both the resin supplier, Ohio-based Tembec, and Uniscope were using urea formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen" -"Former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ann Veneman was once a director of the biotech company Calgene (eaten by Monsanto which was swallowed by Pharmacia). Her predecessor Dan Glickman's door swung the other way. After heading USDA, he took a lucrative job at a major D.C. lobbying and law firm that advises clients he previously regulated." -China has higher risks, "common" mass food poisoning production -"After Lester Crawford resigned as FDA head in 2005, he pleaded guilty to lying and conflict-of-interest charges over stock he and his wife owned in companies his FDA regulated." -both USDA and FDA underfunded and thus "are in thrall to industry interests" -USDA more funded: "Its legal mandate includes the often-clashing goals of promoting the meat industry and protecting the public...it lacks any authority to regulate the farms where meat and poultry hazards begin." -Vermont allows uninspected small locally farmed chicken to be served in resturants, people prefer it and feel it safer, trusting local small town farmers over USDA approved meat -"Domestic food and drug safety is supposed to be protected by 15 federal agencies, with the herniated FDA and the USDA doing the heavy lifting. The FDA oversees 80 percent of U.S. food; the USDA regulates meat and poultry." -"rather than being destroyed, some of the melamine-contaminated chow entered the human food chain — fed to dinner-table bound pigs, chickens and farmed fish." -"current or former members of congress who voted to export our jobs or to cut funding for the FDA and USDA." __ http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3239/food poisoning for thought/ __
 * -$5-$17 billion a year for medical care and lost productivity **** -90% cases caused by **// Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Glostridium perfringens, //// Campylobacter, Listeria momcytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Bacillus cereus //** -Bacteria, parasites, viruses -Raw meats mostly, fruits during growing or being processed, leaving **