Animal abuse, cow shit and deadly melons -and now lettuce

"And I also want to just say that these kinds of outbreaks are a powerful reminder that despite the fact that we have one of the safest food supplies in the world, it does remain vulnerable to contamination, and the American remain vulnerable to foodborne illness. That is why the congress passed the food safety modernization act which the president signed into law this year. And the FDA is very serious about implementing this important and historic law, but it is crucial that we have the resources to be able to fully implement this law that has as its goal the effort to put in place the kind of preventive controls so that these kinds of outbreaks will not occur in the future. I’ll turn it back to questions and answers."

At Food Politics here

Greenconsciousness writes:

More problems with fruit and vegetables because the meat and dairy industry is spreading cow manure, untreated cow manure, directly on fruits and vegetables. They have far too many cows for the size of their land to dispose of the waste. So these greedy and cruel exploiters sell it to be used untreated in great quantity on fruit and vegetable crops as fertilizer.  Pig farms probably do the same thing.

Or they spread it on their own land by use of rotator sprays.

And our lying government covers it up while people die.

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Marion@  Food Politics

Animals and people often excrete Listeria from their digestive tracts, even when they show no signs of illness. The bacteria get into food from infected animal waste and unwashed hands.

As a result, unpasteurized milk products and contaminated raw vegetables are frequent food sources. Other sources depend on yet another of Listeria’s nasty features – Listeria grows, reproduces and flourishes at refrigerator temperatures that stop other bacteria cold.

This explains why the CDC strongly advises pregnant women not to eat potentially undercooked foods stored in refrigerators: hot dogs, lunch meats, deli meats, patés, meat spreads and smoked seafood (salmon, trout, lox, jerky); soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, Camembert, those with blue veins, and especially Mexican “queso blanco fresco”; and raw milk or foods containing unpasteurized milk.

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Greenconsciousness

The manure does sit in the manure lagoons fermenting before it is used but it is a myth that this destroys the listeria bacteria. Refrigeration does not destroy it. The idea that good bacteria from manure that has been fermented kills listeria is just another one of those ideas that get us dead.

 

These are the facts from the CDC:
“Listeria monocytogenes is commonly found in soil and water. Animals can carry the bacterium without appearing ill and can contaminate foods of animal origin, such as meats and dairy products."

Greenconsciousness:

What is also is true is that by the time the CDC comes to the farm to get evidence the source point is fully degraded. This means investigation conclusions are on the level of speculation and cannot be trusted.

More and more citizens will die until consumers get serious and start demanding common sense and common decency in food production practices. This means first of all to end the cruel commodity treatment of animals. What goes around is coming around. Modern food producers are like the Pinto car company balancing their profit against our lives.

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-Michael Bulger reacting to another comment on Food Politics comments below as follows:

Previous Comment:“In fact, if one believes the use of animal byproducts is the most likely cause of pathogenicity, then it would follow that organic farming would be expected to be worse as manure is routinely used in organic farming as both compost and fertilizer.”

Raw manure use is routinely used in conventional farming as well.

In fact, manure use in certified organic farming falls under federal regulations that limit raw manure use to specific time periods months prior to harvesting crops.

Conventional farmers fall under no such regulation.

It is false to assume that certified organic food is safe from risk, but it is inappropriate to say that organic farmers carry an elevated risk due to differences in manure handling.
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Greenconsciousness

Sick animals, overcrowding, waste and water, disease and death --- what you do to the least among you will be done to you.  Enjoy your lettuce.