Posts Tagged ‘ Salmonella ’
What the heck is HVP? Demand better food labeling!
March 10th, 2010. By janem
Dollars to donuts, you’ve consumed Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) and didn’t even know it because nobody informed you–it isn’t required on food labels–which makes this latest enormous recall a call to action. As if we don’t have enough to worry about with foodborne illness in the news just about daily, in the past few weeks the FDA has recalled thousands of products containing HVP–from beef and bacon to chips and dip to veggie burgers (so much for thinking processed vegetarian food is healthy) –that may be contaminated with Salmonella.
HVP, also known as acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein, is a soy-based food “filler” used to make countless processed food products. It is used as a flavor-enhancer after the food has been processed, and after it has been safety-checked. You likely never see HVP added to the ingredients list on a food label because it is usually part of a flavor mix. HVP is added so that your food tastes better, which means you will buy it again and that translates to profits for food companies such as Nestle, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, McCormick and many other companies. It is a chemical that we can do without!
Here is a list of recalled products.
According to Wikipedia, acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein is produced by boiling cereals or legumes in hydrochloric acid and then neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide. Next time I bite into chips with dip, I’ll be wondering how much hydrochloric acid is in my body. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? There isn’t gonna be a next time, unless the FDA does something about it. And judging from their history regarding food additives (remember aspartame?) I’ll be spending more time cooking from scratch and will likely lose a few pounds due to avoiding convenience foods. Because the FDA freaks out about bacteria, not the chemicals that are dumped into processed foods.
All of us need to petition the FDA and demand that chemicals such as HVP (god only knows what nasty side effects it can cause) are clearly listed on all food labels.
Meanwhile, health officials advise that you cook/heat the heck out of any processed food to avoid any risks of Salmonella. And if you can’t cook it, throw it out. Even better, return it to the food manufacturers. I wonder if they eat HVP-laced products?
Contaminated Chicken – Not a Paltry Affair
December 7th, 2009. By LucyC
Here’s some rather unappetizing news—just in time for the holiday season. The results of a study that will be published in the upcoming edition of Consumer Reports, were being floated around the Internet last week, results which show that two thirds of store bought chickens are contaminated with pathogens that could make you very ill.
Apparently we should be grateful for this statistic, because it is markedly better than that of two years ago when eight out of 10 chickens were found to be contaminated with bacteria, including salmonella and campylobacter. (Even the names sound awful.)
As most of us are no doubt aware by now given the seemingly endless number of food recalls, salmonella, campylobacter, E. coli, and Listeria monocytogenes, to name the more common pathogens, can make us seriously ill. Food poisoning is the collective and rather vague term for the litany of physical ailments that includes vomiting, diarrhea, kidney failure, paralysis, seizures, hearing and visual impairment, and mental retardation. Worse, people have been known to die from food poisoning. Goodness knows it sure feels like death is imminent when have it.
Back to the study. The folks at ConsumerReports.org hired an independent lab to test 382 chickens that were purchased in the spring from over 100 supermarkets. Those stores included
Pet Turtles, Salmonella and the Ban No One Knows About
October 30th, 2009. By Hunter West
There’s a ban on small pet turtles?
Really?
Okay, so the ban is only on pet turtles less than four inches in diameter. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enacted the ban after reports surfaced that children were putting the cute little things in their mouths. However, it wasn’t a choking hazard that seemed to drive the ban.
No, it was the fact that children became sick after coming into contact with their pet turtle in such an intimate fashion.
Sick with salmonella from turtles.
Turtles carry salmonella, it seems—originating in their feces, according to a recent MSNBC report. So children, by placing the baby turtles in their mouths, were coming into direct contact with salmonella.
So they were banned 34 years ago.
Just the small ones, mind you. In 1975.
Oh, you didn’t know either? Join the club. Few consumers know about the ban—and fewer vendors appear to be enforcing the ban, or complying with it. According to MSNBC small turtles
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