Meat industry poses E. coli and swine flu hazards - 10 Oct 2009  
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In an article titled “E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection,” New York Times investigative reporter Michael Moss traced the path that the intestinal parasite E. coli took to turn 22-year-old Stephanie Smith’s life upside down. In 2007, she had eaten a cooked beef burger, but ended up in a nine-week induced coma from E. coli poisoning until her seizures stopped. When she woke up, she had kidney damage, brain damage, and was paralyzed below the waist.

The consumed hamburger included meat products from four facilities, including old dairy cows and bulls too old for feedlot fattening in Texas, trimmings from grass-fed cattle in Uruguay, the fatty edges from whole meat cuts in Nebraska, and ammonia-treated products from the Midwestern US.

Supreme Master Television discussed the case with Susan Levin, a Registered Dietitian and the Director of Nutrition Education at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in the US.

(Phone interview in English)

Susan Levin, R.D., M.S – Director of Nutrition Education, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (F): There are tens of thousands of people who are contaminated with E. coli every year. It’s like looking at a family tree and trying to go back up the branches, and seeing how far and wide these parts and pieces are spread, not only, literally around the globe but just in terms of parts of an animal that you’re eating and then getting it into, from a slaughterhouse to a grinding facilities, and then to your plate. And all the places and the times where you could possibly be at risk for consuming something like E. coli.

VOICE: Like E. coli, the swine flu virus also has its origins in the utterly filthy and beyond inhumane practices of modern animal farming, and continues to leave mourning families in its wake across the globe, including most recently in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Hungary. Germany reported her first swine flu fatality in a woman in her 30s. Global confirmed deaths stand at 4,579, while total cases are too many to count. As cases jumped to more than 9,700 in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) recently, Japan detected her eighth recorded case of a Tamiflu-resistant mutant strain of the swine flu virus.

We join in pained sorrow for those losing a loved one forever due to the pandemic. Our appreciation goes to Ms. Levin for her shared expertise on the serious E. coli issue, and to journalist Mr. Moss for raising awareness on this food-borne disease. May we all awaken to the urgent necessity to put down the meat and pick up the produce, ending this and future tragedies for the protection of lives.

Reference
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/health/08meat.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/08/content_12193584.htm http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/289257,third-death-from-swine-flu-in-hungary-as-vaccine-campaign-starts.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8296719.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8297561.stm http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8807151703 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/8294917.stm http://www.spa.gov.sa/English/details.php?id=706831 http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2030386&Language=en
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/8/worldupdates/2009-10-08T085353Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-429948-1&sec=Worldupdates