'Ten Riskiest Foods' List Angers Industry

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The food industry is — understandably — pretty upset with the Center for Science in the Public Interest and its “10 riskiest foods” list. CSPI looked at FDA-regulated products (i.e. no meat, which is regulated by the USDA) and figured out that lettuce, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries were the products associated with the highest number of foodborne illnesses since 1990.

Naturally, the Produce Marketing Association, the American Blue Fin Tuna Association and the National Milk Producers Federation are outraged, along with other groups that market products on the top-10 list, which are now pushed into damage-control mode.

“Seafood is a safe and healthy product that is an essential part of the American diet,” the National Fisheries Institute said in a statement.

“Potatoes are inherently healthy and are not an inherently risky food and they should not be on this list at all,” said the U.S. Potato Board. “The issue is cross-contamination, not the potato itself.”

Here’s the thing: CSPI was not trying to tell consumers to avoid any of these ten products. The point of the study was to highlight the fact that even healthy foods can be dangerous, and to call for better regulation of these products.

“Consumers can’t and shouldn’t avoid these foods,” said CSPI staff attorney Sarah Klein. “That’s why we need the food industry and the FDA to make sure these products are arriving in our homes and our restaurants in a way that’s safe for consumers.”

The problem is that consumers often don’t read the fine print. If there’s word on the street that potatoes are dangerous, a lot of people will just avoid potatoes. Health scares don’t tend to be rational. Just look at the effect H1N1, aka “swine flu,” had on the pork industry.

So it’s understandable that food producers would resent their products appearing on a top-ten list of food villains, whatever the circumstances. The food industry actually wants better safety standards, especially for things like produce, and CSPI’s study could help that cause — but I can see why food producers are unhappy with the group’s approach.

Tags: Food, Industry, Potato, Food Industry, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, Katherine Glover

Katherine Glover is a Minneapolis-based print, radio and online journalist. She's written for Salon.com, Sierra Magazine and many others, and she does a weekly blog on immigration issues for MinnPost.

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hsr0601

10/07/09 | Report as spam

RE: 'Ten Riskiest Foods' List Angers Industry

I think the most dangerous food is meat as it destroys humanity and lead to wars and destroys all ultimately.

Obesity & Magic Pill :

I personally recognize that wheat is a far better diet than meat on the ground it normally exits body with ease and rapidity, and we are well aware that our heath depends upon smooth metabolism and blood stream associated with the immune system and how important our daily workout is, as well.

I still think the critical conditions mostly come from breach of our immune system, and the food that stays long in the body is more likely to become a source where germs, bacterias, viruses and the like multiply.
Sounds outlandish, but wheat might be a principal "clean and healthy" food that has led western society to the most decent culture of all.

Disadvantages of meat consumption :

1. The food that stays long in the body looks more likely to become a source where germs, bacterias and the like multiply, which even gives birth to critical conditions involving prostate cancer.

2. The consumption of meat proved lethal as earlier this year, the expansive, long-term release concluded about a third of more than 500,000 Americans aged 50-70 with this behavior tends to wind up with premature fatality caused by cancer, hypertension and more.

3. The in-take of pork raises risks of catching swine flue and its mutation, costing around the initially estimated $2trillion dollars word-wide and endangering recovery,

(( Genes included in the new swine flu have been circulating undetected in pigs for at least a decade, according to researchers who have sequenced the genomes of more than 50 samples of the virus. The findings suggest that in the future, pig populations will need to be monitored more closely for emerging influenza viruses, reported a team led by Rebecca Garten of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a report released by the journal Science.))

Still, media downplay this fact out of small thinking to protect meat industry.

4. All but media influenced by meat industry blame calorie for overweight or obesity rather than fat, I still think Fat equals Fat by definition and common sense.

5. Hot dogs are often associated with food-borne illness. Though other food items carry listeria , FDA (Food and Drug Administration) studies have shown a high level of the harmful bacteria on hot dogs, processed meat and ready-to-eat meat products. And consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer

The class-action consumer fraud lawsuit underway in New Jersey is based on a report from the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Its findings included this fact: Consuming one 50-gram serving of processed meat (about the amount in one hot dog) every day increases the risk of colorectal cancer, on average, by 21 percent.

Nitrites, used to keep hot dogs fresh, are the main culprit, according to the suit.

While nitrites are commonly found in many green vegetables, especially spinach, celery and green lettuce, the consumption of vegetables appears to be effective in reducing the risk of cancer. Because these vegetables also contain Vitamin C and D, which serve to inhibit the formation of carcinogenic compounds, they actually reduce your cancer risk.

6. Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, which branch into so many different kinds of diseases, excess body fat increases risk for numerous cancers, costing up to $147 billion a year.

7. America needs to put focus on a sustainable energy industry to become a lead exporter, in place of a fast food business where the overall loss outstrips gain more than known, from my stance.

Provided the average temperature is getting higher, accordingly all forms of germs, bacterias, viruses, and influenza etc are more likely to multiply.

Some skeptics say the warning against hazards of climate change is overstated, but judging from more frequent and widespread outbreaks of e. coli, salmonella, and bird, swine flu cases endangering human lives and economic recovery seriously, some prompt measures need to be taken, I guess.

Also, Breathing toxic chemicals in the outdoor air exposes all Americans to a lifetime cancer risk at least 10 times greater than the level considered acceptable under federal law, shows new data released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Thank You !