Did you know that 1 in 6 Americans gets sick every year from eating food contaminated with pathogens: Bacteria, viruses or parasites? It’s a serious health problem that sends tens of thousands of people to the hospital every year. So what’s the biggest culprit? Researchers at the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute have compiled a list of the top 10 combinations of food and disease that cause illness. Take a look…
1. Poultry contaminated with Campylobacter

According to the report, this dangerous combo of bacteria-laced meat sickens more than 600,000 Americans resulting in nearly 7,000 hospitalizations every year. The researchers said infections with these microorganisms “can cause acute illness such as vomiting, but also can lead to hospitalization or death.”

In the report, the researchers question “whether new safety standards announced by the USDA for young chickens and turkeys are sufficient, and recommend evaluating and tightening these standards over time.”

2. Toxoplasma in Pork

Pork contaminated with this parasite sickens more than 35,000 Americans and puts nearly 2,000 in the hospital each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Toxoplasmosis is considered to be a leading cause of death attributed to foodborne illness in the United States. More than 60 million men, women, and children in the U.S. carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness.”

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Penn State College of Medicine researchers have revealed that a topical compound called ISC-4 found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and brussels sprouts may increase sunscreens’ abilities to prevent melanoma lesion formation.

Despite the use of sunscreen and skin screenings, incidents of melanoma continue to increase.

“With more than $1 billion spent on sunscreen every year in the United States, the market for skin cancer prevention is enormous and continues to grow,” said Gavin Robertson director of Penn State Hershey Melanoma Center.
“Addition of agents such as ISC-4 to sunscreens, body lotions or creams could have a profound impact on this market for preventing melanoma,” he said.

Some bacteria go to sleep to hide from antibiotics

Some bacteria avoid antibiotic treatments by going off the grid and hiding until it is safe to come out again. The study, led by Thomas Wood, professor of chemical engineering at the Texas A and M University, details this surreptitious and elaborate survival mechanism of the bacteria.

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By-products from exotic fruit may represent a rich and untapped source of natural food ingredients, according to a new review.

From the lavish flowers and decorations to the hundreds of guests jumping on long-haul flights, the royal nuptials will be far from a low-carbon affair.  Experts from Landcare Research predict the occasion will generate more than 12 times as much greenhouse gases than Buckingham Palace in a whole year, totaling 6,765 tons of carbon dioxide.

Celebrations on the day could be responsible for an estimated 2,808 tons of CO2, while less than 13 tons is generated by guests accommodation and energy use as well as the landfill and catering for the lunch reception and dinner at Buckingham Palace. And that’s not even including the 400,000 spectators, who will produce an additional 3,957 tons of CO2 by traveling on the tube and a further 200,000 arriving by train to watch the event in London.

But Clarence House insists it is taking a series of measures to reduce the environmental impact of the service, lunchtime reception, and dinner at Buckingham Palace. With Prince Charles known for his green credentials, it comes as little surprise that what’s on the menu is sourced from sustainable and local organic food and ingredients. The royal couple have also chosen seasonal flowers and asked guests to plant trees or make a donation to Earthwatch, one of the 26 charities benefiting from the royal wedding gift fund, that focuses on environmental issues. And though guests received paper instead of virtual invitations, Clarence House ensured all documents from the event will be printed on recycled paper while Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood will be used in the building of the media stands.

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When a 34-year-old bicyclist was found collapsed on a roadside and rushed to the University of Rochester Medical Center emergency room on the verge of kidney failure and muscle breakdown, doctors were surprised to discover that a trendy tea derived from the kava plant was the cause of his ills.

The URMC team reported the case study, believed to be the first of its kind in the scientific literature, in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. They described it as a cautionary tale, emphasizing the importance of taking a thorough medical history, including the use of any and all herbal remedies and pharmaceuticals.

In this instance the patient recovered; and doctors noted that adverse effects are somewhat rare. However, across the country the number of kava bars is on the rise – a recent article noted at least three new businesses in Palm Beach, Fla., — despite several documented health problems due to kava ingestion.

“With the increased use of herbal remedies, we in the medical field have become accustomed to asking patients about their use,” said URMC Department of Emergency Medicine Chair Michael F. Kamali, M.D. “What concerns us is the lack of controls in producing and distributing these products as well as some lack of knowledge of the potential harm by those people using the product.”

Kava (Piper methysticum) is a plant in the pepper family that grows naturally throughout the western Pacific. Hawaiians have been using it for 3000 years for its sedating properties and as a celebratory drink. Regular drinkers of kava tea claim it eases anxiety, insomnia, and menopause symptoms. Some people drink it in place of alcohol.

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People, who gobble up mounds of cakes and chocolates without piling on the pounds, beware. You may be hastening your own death, compared to those who burn calories more slowly.
These findings, based on a study of more than 600 volunteers, suggest that an increased metabolic rate actually speeds up the ageing process.
Animal experiments have shown that specimens that burn up energy more quickly tend to have shorter lives than animals that do it slowly, theJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolismreports.
Now US researchers have compared the metabolic rate and lifespan of 652 healthy Pima Indians in Arizona over a 21-year period, according to the Daily Mail.

The scientists from the National Institutes of Health measured how quickly the Indians’ bodies converted food into energy over 24 hours.

They also measured their resting metabolic rate, which is how much energy a body uses simply to keep the lungs and heart working. The research team said, “Those Indians with a higher metabolic rate tended to die earlier.”

Researcher Reiner Jumpertz said, “We found that higher endogenous metabolic rate – which is how much energy the body uses for normal body functions – is a risk factor for earlier mortality. This increased metabolic rate may lead to earlier organ damage.”

But the findings do not apply to energy burnt up by exercise. “This activity clearly has beneficial effects on health,” Jumpertz said.

And people with a slow metabolism who become fat are also unlikely to benefit because their obesity puts them at greater risk of dying from heart disease, stroke and cancer.

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Forget streetside pani puri vendors, woman finds even multi-billion dollar multinational ‘health food’ chain cares two hoots for hygiene.

While pee in the pani puri became cause for major political drama, here’s one story that is probably even more shocking. This one comes, not from a cheap roadside stall, but from a $15-billion international franchise that prides itself on its fresh food and hygienic service. On Wednesday, around 7.45 pm, Harsha Punjabi (29), a Chembur resident was in Prabhadevi when she decided to grab a quick bite at Subway, the chain famous for its submarine sandwiches or subs. She went in, ordered a chicken tikka sub.

What’s that!
She took the top slice of bread off to peer inside and pick out the scrumptious chicken bits and relish them individually. Blame her fastidiousness, but no sooner did she open it than she spotted a worm jiggling underneath chunks of marinated chicken in her innocent-looking sub. Expectedly, fright, shock and retching followed. Indignant, she called upon the manager, who then, expectedly, profusely apologised and offered to replace her sub.

“The manager told me that they used a special powder imported from Spain to wash the vegetables,” said Punjabi. “He even showed me a packet,” she added. Unimpressed, Punjabi, a social worker attached with an advanced locality management or ALM, a residents’ forum, shot a video (CD available with MiD DAY) of the worm on her cell phone and called up the police help line, 100, and the BMC help line number 1916. Within 10 minutes, three policemen reached the food joint and took her to Dadar police station along with the chicken tikka subway.

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The latest civic data shows that on an average 30 Mumbaiites have been admitted to civic hospitals for gastroenteritis treatment every day this month alone. In March, this figure was 36; the daily average for jaundice was 12 hospital admissions. Both diseases are waterborne and the high rate of incidence underlines the problem of contaminated water supply faced across the city.

Last week, Hindustan Times reported how south Mumbai had the maximum number of contamination complaints in the last financial year — 3,373 of a total of 4,351. Last December, Hindustan Times collected samples from 10 housing societies across the city and got them tested at the civic laboratory. Six of the 10 samples were unfit for consumption.

The statistics don’t tell the whole story. A senior civic doctor said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media: “The civic data is only an indicator. Apart from those admitted to civic hospitals, hundreds preferred private sources of medical care.”

Civic executive health officer Dr Gourish Ambe said water contamination was not the only culprit. “Many people drink soft drinks sold by street vendors. The water used in them is suspect,” he said.

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Industries of all stripes typically look to technology to improve safety and cost efficiency. With both global food prices and concerns about food safety on the rise, technology is playing a more important role in the economics of the world’s food supply.

Agricultural biotechnology is gaining traction worldwide as a method for improving crop yields. And thanks to new federal regulations dealing with food safety, information technology is becoming an increasingly important part of the equation.

Traits for Sustainability

Amid a rising global population, increasing the availability and sustainability of crops is a challenge for the farming industry.

“In 1960, on average one farmer fed 26 people per year. Now, a farmer feeds about 155 people per year,” says Jack Boyne, a spokesman for Bayer’s CropScience unit. “The fact that the farming industry has risen to this challenge gives us room for optimism. But we know there will be 3 billion more people on this planet by 2050, and it’s no sure thing that that trend will continue.”

That’s why governments are embracing agricultural biotechnology, particularly insect-resistance traits and herbicide tolerance for crops, to help farmers improve their crop yields while keeping costs low.

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MIRZAPURAM (KRISHNA DISTRICT): Two children and a teenager died after consuming food at a shack in Mirzapuram in Nuzvid mandal, Krishna district on Tuesday morning. Eight others were hospitalised.

Vissanapalli Geetika (2), Songa Sravanti (6), Kasinikarla Varalakshmi (18) had had food at an eatery run by J Nagamani, wife of a lorry driver, in the Dalit locality of the village. Officials suspect that the puri and curry served at the shack were contaminated. Some 20, who consumed the food, including Nagamani’s son-in-law and his daughter Sravanti, began vomiting.

Sravanthi died while being rushed to a hospital while the two-year-old baby Geetika died at a private hospital in Eluru. Varalakshmi too was shifted to Eluru but died at the government hospital there. Among those hospitalised, the condition of one is said to be critical.

Nuzvid CI T Seetaramanjaneyulu said cases under Sections 260, 270,304A, 307, 337 of the IPC, Food Adulteration Act and Section 59 and 65 of the Food Safety and Standards Act have been booked against the owner of the shack. The food and materials used in their preparation have been sent to a forensic science laboratory in Hyderabad for tests. Owner of the shack Nagamani has been taken to the Nuzvid police station.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Mirzapuram as irate villagers blocked traffic on the Nuzvid-Hanuman Junction in protest against the District Collector’s failure to visit the dalitwada.

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A US scientist says he is in the final stages of creating the first ever multifunctional ice cream.

When Gary Beauchamp went to Erice, Italy in 1999 for the series of lectures that spawned what is now known molecular gastronomy, he attended an olive oil tasting. The symposium’s attendees smelled and sipped the viscous oil from clear glasses. “We were drinking it,” he said, “and, all of a sudden, my throat started to burn.”

The sensation reminded him of the burn that comes when you chew up ibuprofen. It tingles or itches. It makes you cough or, ahem, clear your throat. Sure enough, in 2005, Beauchamp, a biologist at Philadelphia’s Monell Chemical Senses Center, and other researchers showed that extra-virgin olive oil contains a cough-eliciting compound they called oleocanthal, a distinguishing chemical characteristic of fresh-pressed olive oil.

Generally, “extra-virgin” oil is pressed or centrifuged and meets certain requirements set forward by the International Olive Council. But since the United States Department of Agriculture, which enacted new rules for “extra-virgin” oils (PDF) last October, does not enforce the voluntary rules, “extra-virgin” labels in the U.S. are essentially a marketing term intended for unheated, unrefined oil with low acidity and superior taste.

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Most Americans believe drinking wine is good for your heart but are unaware of recommended alcohol limits, and most mistakenly believe sea salt is a low-sodium alternative to regular table salt, according to a new survey about these common products.

The American Heart Association surveyed 1,000 American adults to assess their awareness and beliefs about how wine and salt affect heart health. Many studies have reported the benefits of limited wine intake for heart health and the risks of too much salt.

Seventy-six percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that wine can be good for your heart. Drinking too much can be unhealthy, yet only 30 percent of those surveyed knew the American Heart Association’s recommended limits for daily wine consumption.

“This survey shows that we need to do a better job of educating people about the heart-health risks of overconsumption of wine, especially its possible role in increasing blood pressure,” said Gerald Fletcher, M.D., American Heart Association spokesperson and professor of medicine – cardiovascular diseases, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.

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A new fragrance confectionery that claims to leave the consumer smelling like roses is one of the most innovative products to hit the shelves recently, according to a Datamonitor analyst.

For many in the West, poverty is almost synonymous with hunger. Indeed, the announcement by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2009 that more than 1 billion people are suffering from hunger grabbed headlines in a way that any number of World Bank estimates of how many poor people live on less than a dollar a day never did.

But is it really true? Are there really more than a billion people going to bed hungry each night? Our research on this question has taken us to rural villages and teeming urban slums around the world, collecting data and speaking with poor people about what they eat and what else they buy, from Morocco to Kenya, Indonesia to India. We’ve also tapped into a wealth of insights from our academic colleagues. What we’ve found is that the story of hunger, and of poverty more broadly, is far more complex than any one statistic or grand theory; it is a world where those without enough to eat may save up to buy a TV instead, where more money doesn’t necessarily translate into more food, and where making rice cheaper can sometimes even lead people to buy less rice.

But unfortunately, this is not always the world as the experts view it. All too many of them still promote sweeping, ideological solutions to problems that defy one-size-fits-all answers, arguing over foreign aid, for example, while the facts on the ground bear little resemblance to the fierce policy battles they wage.

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