ET CETERA.Mad banana disease banana disease see back muscle necrosis. * In Commonweal's editorial, "Taxing Rhetoric" (February 9), we suggested that the new Bush administration think twice before drastically cutting taxes. Apparently they are not listening to our ideas about what needs doing by the government. Maintaining "a secure food supply," we suggested, was one area in need of more money. What we had in mind was preventing "mad cow" disease in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. (the American Cattlemen's Association agrees with us) and monitoring genetically altered plants as they enter the nation's food supply. But as far as food dangers go, those turn out to be high-end, hypothetical problems. At the low end, things are real and far worse than even we imagined. Jane Brody, the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times's health writer, set us straight with a series of articles on the danger that globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation , food variety, and increased fruit and vegetable consumption are bringing to our digestive systems (January 30 and February 6). Chicken, lettuce, bananas--you name it--can be dangerous to your health. Salmonella, once a major cause of food poisoning food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illnesses as "ptomaine poisoning," but it was later discovered that , is now a minor culprit compared with a dozen newly identified pathogens, some of them fatal to infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. Over the past decade, the Food and Drug Administration has warned that systems to ensure the safety of imported foods are inadequate to the volume, and that domestic food products aren't always properly inspected. In light of this onslaught, Brody (lovingly referred to as Calamity Jane Calamity Jane (kəlăm`ĭtē jān`), c.1852–1903, American frontier character, b. Princeton, Mo. Her real name was Martha Jane Canary, and the origin of her nickname is obscure. by her faithful readers) goes into great detail about precautions needed in the kitchen, including washing your hands at least as often as Lady Macbeth; segregating meat, raw and cooked, with Jim Crow stringency; and washing, washing, washing--even items already "triple washed," by the producer. Brody even advises washing bananas: "The skin could be contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. and when the fruit is cut, food-poisoning organisms could spread to the flesh"--even if we peel instead of cut them. So Mr. Bush, more banana inspectors, please. |
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