Maybe I should skip that salad before the burger.

[Dirtyhairy]

Leafy greens -- including lettuce and spinach -- top the list of the 10 riskiest foods, according to a study from a nutrition advocacy group released Tuesday.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest listed the following foods, in descending order, as the most risky in terms of outbreaks: leafy greens, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries.

The scientists rated these foods, all of them regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, by the number of outbreaks associated with them since 1990, and also provided the number of recorded illnesses.

The severity of the illnesses ranged from minor stomach aches to death, the center said. With leafy greens such as lettuce, the top cause of illness were pathogens like E. coli, Norovirus and Salmonella in foods that were not properly washed.

Over the past 20 years, leafy greens caused 363 outbreaks, resulting in 13,568 reported illnesses, the center said. That's compared to berries, No. 10 on the list, which were associated with 25 outbreaks totaling 3,397 reported illnesses.

"Leafy greens are a healthy home run, but unfortunately they're associated with food-borne illness," said Sarah Klein, a staff lawyer with the center who helped prepared the study.

In all, the Top 10 resulted in more than 1,500 outbreaks, totaling nearly 50,000 reported illnesses, according to the center, which added that most food-related illnesses don't get treated or reported, so the real total is likely much larger.

"Millions of consumers are being made ill, hundreds of thousands hospitalized and thousands are dying each year from preventable foodborne illnesses," the study said. "Unfortunately, the FDA is saddled with outdated laws, and lacks the authority, tools and resources to fight unsafe food."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Dangerous-foods-list-includes-cnnm-1143667599.html?x=0

[tabatha]

1. grow your own

or have cooked broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc.

[Taverner]

5. Yes - because everyone in America has a back yard, right?

[tabatha]

18. You can grow them in a pot.

At home, you can use the Veggie wash from Trader Joes. It include GSE which kills a lot of stuff.

[Warpy]

2. If you like raw greens

invest in a salad spinner. You'll want to wash all the grit off them, anyway, right?

[Romulox]

17. A salad spinner won't do a thing to prevent e coli and similar...

:shrug:

[Warpy]

20. Washing the greens sure does.

The salad spinner is just to dry them off afterwards.

[Romulox]

21. Unfortunately, no...

Washing spinach won't help; health officials struggle to find source of E. coli

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-14-ecoli_x.htm

[Libertas1776]

3. Ice Cream?!!!

:wtf:

[Jennicut]

10. the article stated it was from undercooked eggs

Yuck.

[csziggy]

24. One of the worst was from poor handling of the eggs in the ice cream

Ice cream firm linked to salmonella outbreak
FDA Consumer, June, 1995 by John Henkel

In September and October 1994, Minnesota's health department logged a sharp rise in the state's Salmonella illness cases. A few weeks later, FDA and state officials determined that contaminated ice cream was the likely cause of a Salmonella outbreak that may have sickened more than 3,000 people in as many as 41 states.

Schwan's Sales Enterprises of Marshall, Minn., recalled ice cream made at its Marshall plant after learning last Oct. 7 that the products were linked to the illnesses. The recall involved dozens of frozen dairy products, including ice cream, yogurt, dietary desserts, sherbets, cones, and ice cream sandwiches.

Schwan's resumed making and distributing ice cream on Nov. 7, after follow-up tests by FDA and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) found no evidence of contamination in the company's plant.

Federal and state officials theorize that Salmonella contamination occurred when raw, unpasteurized eggs were hauled in one or more tanker trucks that later carried pasteurized ice cream premix to the Schwan's plant. Raw eggs are a well-known source of Salmonella contamination, and because the ice cream premix wasn't pasteurized again after delivery to the plant, the bacteria had a direct route into the final product.

More: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1370/is_n5_v29/ai_17067476/

Home made custard style ice cream can be a problem if the eggs in the custard are not cooked enough.

Tips for Homemade Ice Cream
N 3274 Revised June 2008

If your favorite ice cream recipes use uncooked eggs, it’s time replace or revise them. Those raw eggs may contain salmonella bacteria that can cause foodborne illness. Freezing doesn’t kill bacteria but cooking does.

<SNIP>

What’s the danger in ice cream?
Since thorough cooking is necessary to destroy the salmonella bacteria, foods that contain raw or lightly cooked eggs— such as ice cream, eggnog, undercooked scrambled or soft boiled eggs, and homemade mayonnaise—are risky and should be avoided. Although the risk of getting salmonellosis is relatively small, the infection can be life threatening for certain people, especially the very young, the elderly, pregnant women, and people weakened by illness.

Eggs are used in ice cream to add a rich flavor and color, inhibit ice crystallization, and also to help stabilize or emulsify the fat and liquid so the resulting product is smooth and creamy. Commercial manufacturers use pasteurized eggs, stabilizers, and other ingredients to produce a safe and acceptable product.

What recipes are safe to use?
Although salmonella bacteria will not grow below 40°F, freezing does not destroy those organisms already present in the raw egg. Only recipes that call for cooking the egg mixture are safe to use. These are sometimes referred to as cooked custard ice creams. Another option is to use pasteurized eggs in recipes that call for raw eggs. Commercial pasteurization destroys salmonella bacteria, but does not cook the eggs or affect their color, flavor, nutritional value, or functional properties.

Whole liquid pasteurized eggs are available at some supermarkets. They are packaged in containers that resemble a small milk carton and are in the refrigerator case. Use them just as you would fresh, whole eggs.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=11&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.extension.iastate.edu%2FPublications%2FN3274.pdf&ei=t8rLSorJDqKStgfH4IDgAQ&usg=AFQjCNFA1Q13CI93N3QhcMvFOttWEhROOA

[Ezlivin]

4. This country is marching steadily backward

Years ago I read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair and had my eyes opened to what an unregulated (or self-regulated) industry looks like. The book was successful and led to important changes in both the industry and how it was monitored.

The whole conservative/libertarian movement to reduce the size of the federal government has led to a concomitant reduction in our ability to inspect and protect.

I don't want to know how bad it has to get before changes are implemented: All I have to do is re-read "The Jungle."

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. I almost think "The Jungle" should be required reading for all Americans.

We truly are marching steadily backward.

[kimmerspixelated]

13. Great point.

Back in the 70's, it was req'd reading for HS. It had a huge impact on me, and I became a vegetarian, at least every chance I could get away with it. The slaughterhouse scenes made me want to puke.

[sui generis]

7. a wee bit o math

300,000,000 pop / (50,000 incidents:20 years) = a 1 in 120,000 chance per year that you might get struck with a food borne illness related to produce on any given day of the year if you ate lettuce every day of the year.

Well, it's simpleton math so not scientifically sound at all but consider that we have BETTER standards of produce care NOW than we ever have had in the past, and that we are getting VERY adept at identifying an "outbreak" and sourcing it.

It's not worth worrying about, at all, statistically speaking.

[Kali]

15. how dare you interfere with my fear!

danger! danger! danger!
be afraid!

[RagAss]

19. true...Who bets on a horse at 120,000 to 1 ? I'm guessing that horse would have 3 legs.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. You might want to skip the burger, too.

Ground Beef Can Be a Risky Mix, Records Show
http://www.newsobserver.com/home/story/125735.html

"The frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled "American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties." Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria."

Mmm, yummy.

[old mark]

9. Well, so much for my Romaine and tuna salads.....

Burgers are just as good, anyway, especially with a lot of salsa.

mark

[SoCalDem]

11. It's because we no longer know where our food came from

It arrives in our shopping basket, wrapped in plastic, after being doused with chemicals before, during and after being planted/grown/picked.

There are no more farmers "just outside town", who bring their produce in town for the local stores & eating establishments to buy from him.

We get produce grown & picked from fields that often have no bathroom facilities for the field-tenders/pickers, or from fields that are next to large concentrations of animal waste runoff.

The appearance of cleanliness is sometimes just that..the appearance.

[kimmerspixelated]

16. Also, there is a significant chance

that it has been freshened up with bleach type preservatives. That could make a person sick.

[cbdo2007]

12. You actually have much better odds of dying in a car wreck so maybe you should stop driving as well.

[Thickasabrick]

23. LOL....nt

[Mrs. Overall]

14. Their list is absolutely misleading--potatoes are listed because of the mayo in potato salad,

according to the article and canned tuna is listed because of mayo in tuna salad.

I think that's very misleading.

[XemaSab]

25. That is misleading

n/t

[cliffordu]

22. This is the reason I eat only canned cat food.

absolute garbage cooked under pressure to kill the nasties that might harm my kitties.

Pheobe, my Norwegian forest cat loves to lick my face afterword.

[Kali]

26. ...

:spray: :rofl:

:patriot:

[Javaman]

27. I bet your colon loves you.

:rofl: