Cross-posting snipped

Here we go again... what this has to do with rec.pets or alt.pets or really
even rec.food.cooking is beyond me. In fact, it has little to do with
anything other than fear-mongering. Gee, surprise, food might get
contaminated. Gee, surprise, sometimes things get infected. Ever get
sneezed on when you were a kid? Guess what? You were infected. And you
probably infected everyone else at school, too, even if you didn't show any
symptoms.

Granted it is not on the same level as e.Coli but hey, stuff happens. The
problem was reported by a medical outfit in Wisconsin, the source was found
and everything was cleaned up.

Why are you still blethering about it?

Jill

Brose McVey wrote:
> CDC Took Days To Warn Of E.Coli Outbreak
> http://www.wesh.com/news/10416448/detail.html
>
> ORLANDO, Fla. -- This summer's massive spinach recall was a
> health emergency that shook the nation. Bags of fresh spinach
> were pulled from stores' shelves after people got sick and
> some even died. Some of the youngest victims are just now
> coming home from the hospital, WESH 2 News reported.
>
> In September, a nationwide recall was ordered after
> E. coli-tainted spinach killed three people and sickened hundreds.
>
> Just after 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8, a Wisconsin microbiologist
> sent an urgent message to the Centers for Disease Control and
> Prevention via a national computer database known as PulseNet.
>
> The only problem was that everyone at the CDC had gone home for
> the weekend. Since it was after 5 p.m. in Atlanta, the urgent
> sat on their computer all weekend.
>
> The heightened response is due in large part to the anthrax scare.
> In fact, a dozen bacteria have been turned into weapons.
>
> The CDC has not made any changes and said PulseNet worked just fine.
>
> Scientists cross pigs with spinach (2002):
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1780541.stm
>
> Nat. Pork-Spinach Board says: Spinach incident raises nagging safety
> questions
>
>
>
>
>
http://www.courierpress.com/news/200...ety-questions/
> "On the whole, we believe the most powerful benefits for consumers
> and the public at-large come from commercial grade agriculture," said
> Grow America President Brose McVey.
>
> Spice coatings may make produce safer
>
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...611300373/1040
>
> Oregano-flavored tomatoes or cinnamon-flavored apples
> brightly wrapped in edible colored films could soon
> protect consumers from outbreaks of food-borne disease.
> Scientists have created an all-natural, microbe-killing
> coating for fruits and vegetables made out of apple
> puree and natural proteins mixed with oils of oregano,
> lemon grass or cinnamon.
>
> Commonly consumed as spices or in other foods, these
> "essential oils" are safe for people but readily kill microbes.
> Three minutes of exposure to a coating containing oregano oil
> killed half of the Escherichia coli bacteria in a sample of
> the microbes.
>
> In the wake of the recent outbreak of E. coli in spinach
> that sickened 200 people and left three dead, the coatings
> could offer consumers safer fresh produce.
>
> "These antimicrobial edible films and coatings offer an
> alternative way to further improve the safety of foods,"
> said food engineer Tara H. McHugh of the U.S. Department of
> Agriculture, the project's lead scientist.
>
> McHugh and her colleagues published their findings in this
> week's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
>
> The USDA researchers have collaborated with a company called
> Origami Foods to test vegetable films. The first commercial
> antimicrobial coatings could be available within the next year,
> McHugh said.