federal health officials are clueless - maybe it's not tomatoes after all

[spanone]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal health officials are checking into the possibility that an outbreak of salmonella-caused illness originally linked to tomatoes may instead be linked to something else, they said Friday.

"Produce investigations are very difficult, because a lot of times, vegetables are eaten all together," said Dr. Patricia Griffin, chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in

Atlanta, Georgia. That makes it hard to trace back any one item to a source of contamination, she added. "We continue to keep an open mind about the possible source of this outbreak, as does FDA."

Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration, agreed. "There is a strong epidemiological association with tomatoes," but the agency is also "looking into other ingredients," he said.

The scare has prompted grocery chains nationwide to pull tomatoes from their shelves and some restaurants to stop offering them as ingredients.

He said FDA officials and tomato growers were involved in "a two-way dialogue."

The CDC says the outbreak, which is linked to a rare form of bacteria called Salmonella Saintpaul, has spread to include 810 cases in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/27/salmonella.outbreak/index.html

[Karenina]

1. This is a Psy-Op SCAM.

:tinfoilhat:

[Warpy]

2. Fine with me, I've been eating them right along

Best things about summer in the high desert are tomatoes and fresh salsa.

I looked at the number of cases and decided panic wasn't indicated.

[spanone]

4. here in tennessee they never stopped selling them

[mike_c]

5. me too-- made into salsa fresca, chunked into salads...

...and sliced onto sourdough toast with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, chopped basil, and shaved parmigiana. When in doubt, wash your produce and rinse it well.

[leftchick]

8. yummy!

you made me salivate! :)


I use this on all of my veggies....

http://www.veggie-wash.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=VW




Are you still rinsing with water alone? Veggie Wash® safely and effectively removes wax, soil and agricultural chemicals found on standard and organic produce. It cuts through the wax and chemicals to leave fruits and vegetables truly, safely clean. Veggie Wash® is 100% natural, using ingredients from citrus, corn and coconut to remove harmful substances.

[ReadTomPaine]

3. "It's hard work"

Well then step aside and let someone better equipped to handle these details take over the job, Drs. Griffin & Acheson, before more people die.

[mike_c]

6. the CDC employs some of the best epidemiologists and public health...

...officers in the world, IMO. It really is hard.

[ReadTomPaine]

7. I used to feel the same way as yourself but it's become impossible to trust..

any agency that is a part of the federal government. It seems no one has been spared from the infection of corruption or at the very least, a muzzling regarding issues such as these.

I would love to believe that the CDC has been spared this.

[Mojorabbit]

9. They have lost a lot of their

best employees due to politics. Morale is horrible from what I am hearing.

[Karenina]

12. Mike! WOIK WIT ME HYEAH!!!

I CANNOT wrap my brain around this "problem." Washing and/or cooking remove the risk of salmonella, or so I was taught. WTF is going on here???

[mike_c]

14. yup, it's gotta be surface contamination...

...and washing your veggies in CLEAN water removes most harmful bacteria.

[Karenina]

17. And cooking removes the rest.

What is this shit about? Has some tomato baron pissed off TPTB??

[sam sarrha]

10. they dont even teach science at Regency where they all come from.. they are looking up the cause in

the bible.. searching thru "Revelation" again and again to find out what level of damnation it indicates we're in

[skooooo]

11. Is it safer to eat frozen vegetables?

Obviously, this won't help with people who want to eat tomatoes, but I'm wondering if freezing vegetables gets rid of the nasty microbes and diseases that might otherwise be an issue? Anyone know?

[uppityperson]

13. It depends if they were cooked at high enough temp long enough before freezing.

Vegetables need to be blanched before freezing to stop enzymes from continuing the aging process. It depends on the processing.

[zanne]

15. Bush has watered down the FDA so much...

I used to feel relatively certain the that food I ate was not tainted or spoiled because the FDA was on the job. Now I feel uncertain about all the food I eat except for what I grow myself. Just like the EPA and the FCC, the FDA has been watered down to meet the needs of large corporations.

[spanone]

16. he has gutted every watchdog agency this country has

[Disturbed]

18. $Millions lost because of the fools in the Busholini Regime.

Now some want McLame as Pres?

[SoCalDem]

19. It could be ANYTHING..from ANYWHERE

We eat everything with a leap of faith.. Whatever's
"in it" could make us sick in the here-and-now...or the "ingredients" of often-eaten things could be ticking away killing us by inches...over decades..

Something WILL kill us..in the end..so I guess most people just eat what they like, and hope for the best.. What choice do we really have??

Unless we are willing to work a lot harder for the food we eat..by growing it ourselves, or closely watching the people who do, we are pretty much stuck with the system we have..

Most of us cannot shop like many Europeans still do...daily and fresh only..

Most of us cannot cook from scratch (many are from families who never taught them as children)

Our food system has morphed into something quite "sketchy"..