5 Dumb Places to Buy Food

Whether it is a late night snack in a hotel room, a restaurant in a touristy town, or that place with the Groupon deal, there will always be some really dumb places to buy food.

Here are some places to avoid when you are food shopping. Not only are they bad for your wallet, they may be harmful for your health as well.

Read more on Yahoo Finance: First Person: Buying Food in All the Wrong Places



Photo courtesy: sxc.hu

USDA Should Clean American Beef Industry to Eradicate Mad Cow Disease

On April 24, USDA confirmed that a fourth case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, has been discovered. It is the first case of mad cow disease in the United States since 2006. BSE is a fatal brain wasting disease amongst cows that can be transmitted to humans who eat infected beef. The human version, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which has not been reported, is also fatal.

Photo courtesy: Marijnvb, sxc.hu

USDA stated that a single cow, already dead and waiting to be pulverized at a rendering plant in central California, had tested positive for a mutant strain of the brain wasting BSE. The mad cow was never meant to be eaten, USDA's press release seemed to reassure Americans, and the particular strain of BSE isn't linked to contaminated feed (some strains of mad cow can appear spontaneously in older cows instead of being transmitted). But the only convincing reassurance that I read "as the epidemiological investigation progresses," was that milk, even from BSE cows, is safe.

Read more HERE...


It really is time for USDA to clean up American beef. Take a tougher stance against bovine growth hormone. No pink slime, no non-vegetarian cows eating soybean meal laced with blood, chicken and pigs! The same applies to our nation's cannibal poultry and pork. While yesterday's mad cow may be the only one, it is time for USDA to make some dramatic changes to our meat industry.

Related news: USDA Confirms Single Mad Cow Disease Case in California

USDA Confirms Single Mad Cow Disease Case in California

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed on April 24 America's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow from central California. According to the USDA, the carcass of the animal is being held under state authority at a rendering facility in California and will be destroyed.

Rendering, which dates to the early Egyptians, is a polite term used to describe the business of disposing of dead animals. According to the National Renderers Association, more than 205 rendering facilities in the United States and Canada pick up 59 billion pounds of inedible animal by-products annually from slaughterhouses, restaurants, farms, even shelters, which are then steam cooked. Products from the resulting brew is used as lubricants, polish, wax, as well as lipstick, gel capsules, and soap. They are also used in livestock feed and animal food, possibly resulting in cannibalistic practices. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency details the rendering process in this document.

Courtesy: sxc.hu

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been linked to tainted livestock feed containing brain and spinal matter. Humans eating infected beef can develop vCJD (Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease), a fatal brain wasting disease with unusually long incubation periods measured in years. According to the CDC, the median age of age for vCJD patients was 28 years.

As of October 26, 2009, a regulation issued by FDA in April 2009 came into effect establishing an enhanced BSE-related feed ban in the United States. This enhanced ban will further harmonize BSE feed control measures in the U.S. with those in Canada (see below). In addition, FDA continues to enforce its important 1997 mammalian-to-ruminant feed ban through its BSE inspection and BSE feed testing programs.

FDA has published two rules to protect animals and consumers against BSE by prohibiting the use of most mammalian protein in the manufacture of animals feeds given to ruminant animals (no cannibalism) and by removing specified risk materials (SRM), primarily brain and spinal tissue of aged animals, from all animal feed. These rules were published in 1997 and 2008. Canada has similar rules for safeguarding against BSE.
The press release from USDA stated "The United States has had longstanding interlocking safeguards to protect human and animal health against BSE. For public health, these measures include the USDA ban on specified risk materials, or SRMs, from the food supply. SRMs are parts of the animal that are most likely to contain the BSE agent if it is present in an animal. USDA also bans all non-ambulatory (sometimes called "downer") cattle from entering the human food chain. For animal health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on ruminant material in cattle feed prevents the spread of the disease in the cattle herd."

Samples from diseased cow were tested at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Results confirmed the cow was positive for atypical BSE, a very rare form of the disease not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed and happens spontaneously. The laboratory results are being shared with international animal health reference laboratories in Canada and England, which will review our confirmation of this form of the disease. USDA will also be conducting a comprehensive epidemiological BSE investigation in conjunction with California animal and public health officials and the FDA.

Since vCJD is fatal in humans, cases of BSE often lead to panic among consumers and beef export bans. As a result, the USDA reiterated that the BSE infected animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption. Additionally, USDA reminded consumers that cow milk does not transmit BSE.

Related news: First Person: Managing the Risk and Cost of Food Borne Illnesses in a World of Food Recalls

Also published on Yahoo Voices. Author retains copyright.

Colbert Report: Starbucks Used Cochineal Bug Based Coloring

Here is Colbert's Tuesday, April 17, 2012 "Thought for Food" report, where he discusses Starbucks' pink frappucinos colored with cochineal, or crushed beetles. Video courtesy: Colbertnation.com 


           

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Thought for Food - Bug Food Coloring, Hot-Dog-Stuffed Crust & Drugged Poultry
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

       

Say No to Foods Laced with Cochineal, Carmine (Beetle Juice)!

Media frenzy has broken since Starbucks confirmed on March 26 what many suspected about its Strawberry Frappuccino. What makes this product, and hundreds of other common food items red, is beetle juice. Well, close enough. Natural red food coloring is most commonly derived from grinding and boiling up the exoskeleton of Cochineal beetles that are found mostly in Mexico and South America. In the food industry, cochineal coloring is referred to by more palatable names, mostly "carmine" and the euphemistic "crimson lake."


photo courtesy sxc.hu

Foods containing this natural food coloring cause an allergic reaction in some people. It is not suitable for vegetarians, vegans or Jews and Muslims who follow kosher or halal diets. Back in 1998, The Center for Science in Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, urged the United States Federal Food and Drug Administration to improve labeling of or ban cochineal food. After a decade, in January 2009, FDA passed a new regulation requiring carmine and cochineal to be listed by name on the label for all food and cosmetic products in the statement of ingredients.



Starbucks' bug-infused Strawberry Frappuccino should not come as a surprise. Most red or pink foods such as yogurts, fruit juices, smoothies, candy or cake contain carmine or cochineal, meaning bug scales.

My former career involved working closely with processed food companies, so I have been following this topic closely. In my experience, food manufacturers like General Mills and Kellogg are generally unapologetic about using carmine, since cochineal dye has been used as a coloring agent since the 15th century and considered safe. Since beetle juice is cheaper than substitutes such as beet juice, and considered better than artificial red dyes since it is "naturally" derived, food and cosmetic companies use it widely.

Shortly after the FDA ruling was passed, all food manufacturers started disclosing carmine or cochineal in their list of ingredients. Since then, carmine has been the subject of documentaries on Science and Discovery channels. However, it bugs me that consumers are surprised when they read about beetle extract in their food products, such as Starbucks' Strawberry Frappuccino, clearly unaware they have been feeding the same to their kids for years. Clearly carmine or cochineal does not scream "extract from insect scale," which would make any food unappetizing. However, I am thankful ABC News, CBS News and others are bringing this weird ingredient onto the consumer's radar.

Since I am not Andrew Zimmern or Bear Grylls, I refuse to consume or pay for foods laced with bug scales. I assume most people would refuse as well when they find out the truth behind natural red food coloring found in almost all red, pink or purple food products. I have seen carmine listed in Yoplait, Trix and Dannon Strawberry yogurts and smoothies, packaged red velvet cake, ice creams, Ocean Spray ruby red grapefruit juice, and several colorful kids cereals that claim they are naturally colored. Of course, there are several products where carmine or cochineal is not listed, such as those that are not packaged. For example, almost all red velvet cakes that are naturally colored contain bug extract.

My refusal stems from the risk of potential allergies, and also from an aversion to eating bugs. And I believe when I am buying a strawberry sorbet that is not marketed as bug sorbet, I am being duped. I could settle for something that is less pink, but will not eat beetles simply because it is better for corporate margins. There are alternatives. For example, Stonyfield's strawberry yogurt, which typically costs $1.89 for 4 oz. compared to $0.99 for Yoplait, is colored with beet juice. Sure, the color is not as vivid, and the price is a premium, but it is something I am willing to pay for to avoid eating insect extract.

Note: Also published on Yahoo News and Yahoo Voices. Author retains copyright.