Fwd: AnimalRights.Net Newsletter: Week of January 14, 2002

[Guest guest]

Folks:

Item #1 and ensuing discussion should interest you.

SCB

>From: Carnell <brian@...>

>Reply-<ar-newsletter@...>

><ar-newsletter@...>

>Subject: AnimalRights.Net Newsletter: Week of January 14, 2002

>Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 20:38:04 -0500

>

>AnimalRights.Net Newsletter

>

>Week of January 14, 2002

>

>1. Dave , Burger Companies, and Foodborne Illnesses - Does eating

>meat cause an estimated 9,000 deaths from foodborne illnesses every year?

>In a word, no.

>

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>__________

>

>1. Dave , Burger Companies, and Foodborne Illnesses

>

>Somebody had to do it -- somebody had to use the death of 's founder

>Dave to make a crass point about the benefits of the vegan

>lifestyle. And the winner was Jackie Alan Giuliano. Giuliano's weekly

> " Healing Our World Commentary " about was headlined " Can I Supersize

>that Heart Attack For You? " (though, to be fair, I do not know if Giuliano

>wrote that headline or if the Environment News Service crafted that).

>

>Most of it was the standard whine against the fast food industry claiming

>that " fast food burger companies refuse to acknowledge the impact that

>their diet is having on children and adults around the world. Their diet is

>killing us. " Of course the reality is that to the extent that consumption

>of fast food contributes to heart disease and other ailments, it is our own

>food choices that are killing us. 's and other chains do not force

>people to eat high meat, high calorie diets, and in fact most such chains

>these days offer plenty of healthier fare due to increased competition and

>awareness about the impact of diet on general health.

>

>But lets focus on just one claim made in passing by Giuliano,

>

>*** QUOTE ***

>

>More and more, contaminated meat products are resulting in millions of

>illnesses each year and estimates are that 7,000 to 8,000 people in the

>U.S. alone die annually from eating contaminated meat.

>

>*** END OF QUOTE ***

>

>This is an outright lie.

>

>First, the estimates that there are upwards of 7,000 to 9,000 deaths from

>foodborne illness and as many as 70 to 90 million incidents of foodborne

>disease apply to all foods, not just meat. Take something such as

>salmonella. Animal rights activists warn consumers about the risk of

>contracting salmonella from chicken, but according to a CDC study of

>foodborne illnesses, " in 1999, several large salmonellosis outbreaks were

>traced to produce vehicles, including unpasteurized orange juice (S.

>Muenchen) (8), mangos (S. Newport), and raw sprouts (S. Mbandaka). "

>

>The idea that foodborne illness is the same thing as meat-related illnesses

>is a typical animal rights twisting of the facts.

>

>Second, though, these figures are largely complicated guesswork. These

>numbers are obtained by looking at reports of specific foodborne illnesses

>in a handful of U.S. cities. A 1998 report on food safety prepared by the

>National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine said of these

>estimates,

>

>The frequently cited annual estimate of foodborne disease (up to 81 million

>cases) and 9,000 associated deaths are based on assumptions that do not

>necessarily reflect the current national foodborne disease problem. Those

>estimates must be qualified for two reasons. First, no comprehensive

>population-based studies of gastrointestinal illness in the community have

>attempted to determine what proportion of these illnesses is due to

>consumption of contaminated food and what proportion is from other sources.

>Second, foodborne illness can cause clinical conditions not characterized

>by gastrointestinal symptoms, such as congenital toxoplasmosis, hemolytic

>uermic syndrome, salmonella-associated septicemia, and invasive Listeria

>infections ( and Potter, 1997).

>

>Foodborne illness may be far less serious or much more of a problem, but

>these estimates are little more than a national guess at the incidence of

>such illnesses.

>

>Sources:

>

>Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Foodborne Illnesses ---

>Selected Sites, United States, 1999. Centers for Disease Control, March 17,

>2000.

>

>Ensuring Safe Food: From Production to Consumption. Institute of Medicine

>and the National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1998, pp.55.

>

>Can I Supersize that Heart Attack for You? Jackie Alan Giuliano,

>Environment News Service, January 11, 2002.

>

>

>Permanent URL: http://www.animalrights.net/articles/2002/000017.html

All the best,

Byrnes, PhD, RNCP

http://www.PowerHealth.net

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