USDA Orders Massive Beef Recall

USDA Orders 143 Million Pounds of Beef Recalled From Calif. Slaughterhouse Under Investigation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs.

Full report

E. coli O157:H7 Again? AGAIN?

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause both intestinal infections such as bloody diarrhea, and extra-intestinal infections such as urinary tract infections, meningitis, peritonitis, mastitis, septicemia and Gram-negative pneumonia. Children, elderly and people with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to E. coli.

“GREEN BAY, Wis. – A company voluntarily recalled nearly 96,000 pounds of ground beef products after two people were sickened, possibly by the E. coli bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Saturday.

“The beef products by American Foods Group include coarse and fine ground beef chuck, sirloin and chop beef. They were distributed to retailers and distributors in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Virginia.” Read more …

Previous entry: E. coli O157:H7, Again?

The Aquaculture Dilemma

UPDATE: Eat Fish! Don’t Eat Fish!

Here’s the aquaculture (fish farming) dilemma: Farmed fish are safe to eat; wild fish are NOT. To produce 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of farmed fishmeal, the fish are fed about 5 kg (11 lbs.) of smaller wild fish.

[Note: It takes about 20 kg of wild fish (also known as pelagic, open-ocean, or “trash” fish) including anchovies, mackerel and sardines to produce 1 kg of high protein ranched tuna.]

Aquaculture’s intense reliance on wild fish for feed poses significant ecological risks. Aquafarms pollute the environment with tons of fish feces, antibiotic-laden fish feed, and diseased fish carcasses.

There are other collateral problems created by industrial scale aquaculture: the destruction of coastal habitats through waste disposal, the introduction of diseases and the possible escape of exotic species that can threaten indigenous breeds.

Other Links:

Cat Suicide Dance
The Poisoning of Minamata
Minamata Disaster
1 in 6 American women have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood
Still Ill
Mercury Rising: The Poisoning of Grassy Narrows
Mercury Exposure
Mercury poisoning: 1 in 6 babies are at risk of developmental problems

Pregnant Women, Eat Fish! Don’t Eat Fish!

The Daily Green writes:

[quote]

Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers Should Eat Fish

Coalition Advice Counters FDA Concerns Over Mercury

Eating 12 ounces of fish per week does more to promote than inhibit healthy brain development, despite government warnings that pregnant women and nursing mothers should avoid fish because of mercury contamination.
[Read more…]

Mothers who are still concerned about mercury would be wise to choose fish carefully. Many species that are lower on the aquatic food chain contain no or very little mercury (or other contaminants, like PCBs) and yet still contain high levels of Omeg-3 fatty acids. Some of those fish, according to Oceans Alive, include:

• Abalone (U.S. farmed)
• Anchovies
• Arctic char (farmed)
• Catfish (U.S. farmed)
• Caviar (U.S. farmed)
• Clams (farmed)
• Crab – Dungeness, snow (Canada), stone
• Crawfish (U.S.)
• Halibut – Pacific (Alaska)
• Herring – Atlantic (U.S., Canada)
• Mackerel – Atlantic
• Mahimahi (U.S. Atlantic)
• Mussels (farmed)
• Oysters (farmed)
• Sablefish/black cod (Alaska)
• Salmon – wild (Alaska), canned pink/sockeye
• Sardines
• Scallops – bay (farmed)
• Shrimp – northern (Canada), Oregon pink, U.S. farmed
• Spot prawns
• Striped bass (farmed)
• Sturgeon (U.S. farmed)
• Tilapia (U.S.)

For more information on choosing the best fish to eat, visit this Oceans Alive Web site. For more information about the study, click here.” [Original Story…]
[end quote]

FEWW asks…

Assuming a few of the items on the Oceans Alive’s “safe fish list” are less deadly than the others, how would the average pregnant woman or nursing mother ensure the fish she eats is, say, the Atlantic mackerel (!) and not the king [mercury, PCB, dioxin] mackerel, or farmed striped bass, instead of the wild [PCB, mercury, dioxin] striped bass?

See also:
Sustainable Lifestyles & Healthy Food,
UPDATE & New Links
Fish Farming: The Hazards & Environmental Impacts
TITO: Toxin In, Toxin Out

Hermaphrodite Lamb Born With Seven Legs

New Zealand Special: Spiderlamb

A seven-legged lamb was born in New Zealand. Is there a link between the mutant lamb and hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic chemicals dumped in New Zealand? It’s high time for New Zealand government to tell the truth and reveal the exact locations of their chemical dumps, especially the areas where they have buried thousands of tons of “leftover” Agent Orange!

Agent Orange was manufactured in New Zealand from about 1962 until 1987. Dioxin has a 30-year envelop and its effects would continue to poison the people and environment until at least 2017.

A former top official for the manufacturers confirmed that the ‘leftover’ toxic chemicals were buried in secret toxic waste dumps around the country: “We bulldozed big pits and dumped thousands of tonnes of chemicals there.”

Must Read

Truth About ‘100% Pure New Zealand’

The Poisoning of New Zealand

Spiderlamb … this New Zealand six-day-old lamb has three extra limbs and uses five to walk on, it is also a hermaphrodite and has part of its bowel missing.

Other Links:

CANTERBURY, New Zealand, Aug. 2 (UPI) — A country known worldwide for its lamb exports, New Zealand has produced a lamb born with seven legs, among other problems.

A seven-legged lamb is pictured on its farm at Methven near Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand