[compost_tea] Re: press release
--- Take a look at the CFR for flour standards. ADM gets some leeway
on their finished product(flour). Dennis Kemnitz
In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Titel Ryzhomer" <thegoodjob@h...>
wrote:
> Scary...Oh the horror that there might be some germs in my food!
>
> --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Steve Bridges" <steve@t...>
> wrote:
> > If it's not bad enough that we are having to deal with little boy
> Bush as the President that couldn't, now we've also got a second
> round of the Avery family to contend with. Many of you are familiar
> with Dennis Avery, of the right-wing think tank Hudson Institute's
> Center for Global Food Issues. His son, Alex Avery, is part of CFGI
> and is quoted in the press release below. It's the last line of the
> article that kills me.
> >
> > **Dennis Avery wrote the book called Saving the World with
> Plastics and Pesticides, to give you some feel for this guy.
> > **The Hudson Institute is funded, in part, by Monsanto, Dow
> Chemical, Archers Daniel Midland, Ciba-Geigy,,,,,,basically all the
> big chemical companies.
> >
> > Just passing on the info on a study that we need to be aware
> of......
> > Steve Bridges
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
> -------------
> >
> >
> > Quote taken from a speech by Dennis Avery:
> (http://www.monsanto.co.uk/news/ukshowlib.phtml?uid=6814)
> > "Some tout organic farming as the answer, yet scientific data
show
> that if organic farming practices were employed on a global basis,
> the consequences would be an environmental catastrophe," claims
> Avery. "Additionally, organic practices even on a limited scale are
> challenged by groups like the Scottish Crop Research Institute as
> being ecologically unsound."
> >
> > Links to information about the Hudson Institute and CGFI:
> > http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Hudson_Institute -
> Info on the makeup of the Hudson Institute
> > http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?
> title=Center_for_Global_Food_Issues - CGFI, A project of the Hudson
> Institute
> > http://www.earthfarmfriendly.com/about.htm - A label that CGFI is
> trying to establish for conventional farmers called "Earth
Friendly,
> Farm Friendly" (gag!)
> > http://www.cgfi.org/ - Center for Global Food Issues main
website.
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
> -------------
> >
> > Organic Food Has 'Significantly Higher' Contamination, Study Finds
> > By Marc Morano
> > CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
> > June 14, 2004
> >
> > (CNSNews.com) - A new study on food safety reveals that organic
> produce may contain a significantly higher risk of fecal
> contamination than conventionally grown produce.
> >
> > A recent comparative analysis
>
<http://www.ingenta.com/isis/searching/ExpandTOC/ingenta;jsessionid=4
> k177waqmd6tg.circus?
> issue=pubinfobike://iafp/jfp/2004/00000067/00000005&index=6>
of
> organic produce versus conventional produce from the University of
> Minnesota shows that the organically grown produce had 9.7 percent
> positive samples for the presence of generic E. coli bacteria
versus
> only 1.6 percent for conventional produce on farms in Minnesota.
> >
> > The study, which was published in May in the Journal of Food
> Protection, concluded, "the observation that the prevalence of E.
> coli was significantly higher in organic produce supports the idea
> that organic produce is more susceptible to fecal contamination."
> >
> > In addition, the study found the food-borne disease pathogen
> salmonella only on the organic produce samples. There was no
> evidence found of the deadly strain of bacteria, E. coli O157:H7,
in
> either type of produce tested. The study looked at fruits and
> vegetables at the "preharvest" stage, not at the retail store level.
> >
> > The principle investigator of the University of Minnesota study,
> Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, told CNSNews.com that "organic agriculture
> was more susceptible to carry fecal indicators."
> >
> > "In many ways it is confirming what is believed, indeed, if you
> are using animal manure for fertilizer, the chances that you are
> going to get fecal bacteria on the product are greater," Diez-
> Gonzalez said.
> >
> > The higher incidences of fecal contamination in organic foods
were
> linked to heavy reliance on composted animal manure for fertilizer.
> While conventionally grown produce may use some manure, it chiefly
> relies on chemical fertilizers. Past research has shown that Animal
> manure is the principal source of pathogens such as salmonella,
> campylobacter, and E. coli 0157:H7
> >
> > But Diez-Gonzalez cautioned that his study does not show organic
> produce to be a higher risk food choice. "What the data is telling
> organic agriculture is there is some room for improvement," Diez-
> Gonzalez said.
> >
> > "I don't think we need to be more concerned about organic
> vegetables. Based on the epidemiological evidence, we can say that
> both organic and conventional vegetables would pose the same [food
> borne pathogen] risk for consumers," he added.
> >
> > But Diez-Gonzalez did acknowledge that a higher presence of
> generic E. coli could mean higher risk for deadly pathogens."We use
> E. coli as indicator that the potential could be there [for food
> borne pathogens]," Diez-Gonzalez explained.
> >
> > Asked about how consumers -- who buy organic food for health
> reasons -- will react to his study showing higher fecal
> contamination, Diez-Gonzalez responded, "The consumer perception
may
> not be very favorable and that is a potential consequence."
> >
> > 'Facade is crumbling'
> >
> > Alex Avery, director of research and education at the free-market
> Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues, says the latest
> scientific study confirms years of research that organic produce
may
> pose a higher risk for food-borne illness.
> >
> > "Organic food activists, which include many activist researchers
> entrenched in liberal university halls, have claimed organic food
> superiority for years in their efforts to mold society and scare
> consumers into buying their politically correct fare. Now their
> farcical facade is crumbling," Avery told CNSNews.com.
> >
> > Avery was particularly concerned about a possibly elevated risk
> for pathogens such as salmonella and the deadly E. coli O157:H7 in
> organic produce. E. coli O157:H7 can attack the kidneys and liver,
> causing severe internal damage and even death, especially among the
> elderly and young children.
> >
> > Avery called the risk of contracting salmonella from organic food
> a "crap shoot," with the pay off being "diarrhea, typhoid fever,
and
> Reiter's Syndrome that causes joint pain and painful urination that
> can last for years after the initial salmonella infection."
> >
> > The University of Minnesota study found salmonella in one sample
> of organic lettuce and one sample of organic green peppers. The
> researchers collected 476 Minnesota produce samples from 32 organic
> farms and 129 samples from eight conventional farms. The produce
> analyzed included unwashed tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers,
> cucumbers, broccoli, apples, and strawberries.
> >
> > The study reported that "an increasing number of gastrointestinal
> disease outbreaks have been linked to the consumption of fresh
> fruits and vegetables," accounting for a total of 148 outbreaks
> between 1990 and 2001.
> >
> > The study found organic lettuce had the highest rate of fecal
> contamination, with a rate of over 22 percent. And Avery says
> consumers can't assume they can simply "wash off" the fecal matter
> from the lettuce.
> >
> > "Past research shows that E. coli 0157 can enter into the lettuce
> through the roots and be inside the lettuce, meaning you can't wash
> it off," Avery said.
> >
> > Organic: 'Most especially at risk'
> >
> > The controversy over the safety of organic food began in 1997,
> when Robert Tauxe, chief of the food-borne illness division of the
> Centers for Disease Control, addressed pathogens that thrive in
> manure. Tauxe was quoted in the Journal of the American Medical
> Association as saying, "Organic means a food was grown in animal
> manure."
> >
> > The article in the 1997 Journal of the American Medical
> Association implicated "organically grown, unprocessed foods
> produced without... pesticides or preservatives" as an increasing
> source of food-borne illness.
> >
> > The nationally syndicated television news program American
> Investigator also quoted the Food and Drug Administration's Virlie
> Walker as warning Americans that, "Most especially at risk [for
food
> borne pathogens] are your organic products because they could be
> fertilized with manure."
> >
> > Walker, the spokesperson for the FDA's Denver district, told the
> news program <http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/?
> id=FDPOISON.USN> in June 1998, "We do encourage folks to pay
special
> attention to cleaning their organic products."
> >
> > In 2000, ABC's John Stossel, followed up with a similar
television
> report on 20/20 about the potential bacterial dangers of organic
> produce.
> >
> > Diez-Gonzalez believes his findings of increased fecal
> contamination in organic food will not surprise consumers "if they
> have been following the media [reports]."
> >
> > "Most likely, [our study] is going to serve to prove that some in
> media were right in terms of the E. coli, the fecal contamination,
> but not in terms of pathogens," Diez-Gonzalez said.
> >
> > 'Lightening rod for public officials'
> >
> > Avery sees the issue of organic food politics as being too hot to
> handle for most food regulators.
> >
> > "Organic food production has become a lightening rod for public
> officials. The CDC does not want to touch this with a ten foot
> pole," Avery said.
> >
> > Referring to the CDC's Tauxe -- and his comments about organic
> food in 1997 -- Avery said the organic lobby "went ballistic and
> inundated the CDC with phone calls."
> >
> > "This research continues to raise the red flags that have been
> raised in the past by credible food safety experts like Tauxe at
the
> CDC. How many red flags have to be raised in order to get stricter
> manure regulations?" Avery asked.
> >
> > Avery also believes that the driving force behind organic
produce,
> the fear of chemical pesticides, is completely unwarranted.
> >
> > "The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of
> Sciences, found in 1999 that the cancer risk from pesticide residue
> is theoretically lower than the risk from naturally occurring
> carcinogens. Both types are too low to be appreciable cancer
risks,"
> Avery explained.
> >
> > "We are still looking for the first cancer death victim from
> pesticide residues. But we have several examples of children killed
> by pathogenic bacteria on organic produce," he added.
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Received on Thu Jun 17 2004 - 21:47:01 EDT
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