how can I ensure food is safe - just watched Food Inc. and I can't stop crying

[Anonymous]

Okay, first of all I know I am a huge loser and shouldn't let this affect me so. Food Inc. is an investigative report/documentary about how our food is made - really nothing that we don't all know. I'm a personal trainer, certified health educator, have an MPH with a focus on nutrition education, so I was not ignorant to these issues before; but seeing it all laid out like that, and especially watching the mom who lost a child to tainted beef lobby for food safety just pushed me over the edge.

I couldn't continue the movie but I will later in the week, I'm hoping it has some tips. In the meantime what can I do to protect my family and ensure we are eating the healthiest/safest foods?

My parents are retired and live on a farm about an hour outside of northern VA. They have a huge garden and they have chickens for eggs (only). We typically eat a ton of vegetables and eggs from their farm. We also visit the neighborhood farmer's market frequently, and buy a lot of organic vegetables and fruits and only organic milk and yogurt.

What else can we do? Only shop at Whole Foods? Is Whole Foods safe? Trader's Joe? Only buy organic? Only buy free range chicken? Only buy wild caught fish? We don't eat a lot of beef but now I don't want to eat any beef. We eat a mainly vegetarian diet with tons of vegetables and beans but I don't want to go totally vegetarian because and I think chicken, eggs, and fish can be a healthy part of a diet.

Tips would be appreciated. I also want to get involved in food safety - it really is a monopoly with only four companies controlling all of our chicken and beef. Sorry if I sound like a raving lunatic. I'm a bit emotional coming off the holidays.

[Anonymous]

I don't have any tips, just sympathy. I haven't seen that movie - and I won't - but I was really affected by the NYT article a few months ago about tainted beef. I can't bring myself to eat it anymore, and I really don't want to feed it to my daughter. And I spend a lot of time worrying about food safety. You're lucky to have your family farm. Most people are just at the mercy of the system, to some degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have any tips, just sympathy. I haven't seen that movie - and I won't - but I was really affected by the NYT article a few months ago about tainted beef. I can't bring myself to eat it anymore, and I really don't want to feed it to my daughter. And I spend a lot of time worrying about food safety. You're lucky to have your family farm. Most people are just at the mercy of the system, to some degree.

Yes, but what does it matter if are only eating 25% or so of our food from that - we still go to Giant once a week and Whole Foods every couple of weeks.

Don't see the movie. I think reading Michael Pollan's books is a good way to educate yourself and there are other ways without seeing that film - though I must say what I was interested in before is now something I am passionate about.

I don't think we HAVE to be at the mercy of the system. I think what is so cool about living in the metro DC area is that people are interested in this stuff and there tons of farmer's markets, even in downtown DC, and tons of places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. It probably does cost more, but I think it's worth it - and if enough people buy it the cost may come down? I don't know. It is just sickening though.

[Anonymous]

I think you have to put the risks in perspective. You drive a car, and every year 40,000 people die in car accidents. You are more likely to die in that car accident than from food poisoning, and you are unlikely to stop driving, right? Any aspect of life has its risks and its rewards. If we eliminate every risk, we aren't living anymore.

If you want to be safe, the most important things you can do are to eat pasteurized milk products and avoid unpasteurized products, fully cook your meats and fish, and practice good food safety in your home. If you need to go farther, buy local produce where possible to avoid e coli. But don't stop living. Just understand the risks and manage them.

[Anonymous]

The safest thing you can do is to continue buying food regulated by FDA safety protocols. There are much, much higher incidents of food contamination from food purchased outside the system. Sorry, but that's the truth -- as PP mentioned, put risk in perspective. Our food supply is incredibly safe, safer than it has ever been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to be safe, the most important things you can do are to eat pasteurized milk products and avoid unpasteurized products,

Totally disagree with this. Unpasteurized dairy products, if produced at a small clean local organic farm, are far healthier and safer than any commercially produced product.

My advice to OP was to seek out a local source for raw dairy and grass-fed organic meats and eggs. Join a CSA and use farmers markets (and of course your parents garden) for fresh local organic produce. Find a relatively local source for organically produced grains, and cook them whole or grind them yourself. Buy the cookbook "Nourishing Traditions" and start a revolution in your own home regarding how you eat. You can live almost 100% outside the commercial, mass-produced food system, even right here in Washington DC.

The safest thing you can do is to continue buying food regulated by FDA safety protocols. There are much, much higher incidents of food contamination from food purchased outside the system.

Riiiiiiiiiiight. Yeah, right. There are literally hundreds of thousands of incidences of food poisoning occurring in FDA-regulated food every year. Their answer is to just pasteurize everything. Great - heat everything until nothing healthy - no nutrients, minerals, enzymes, probiotics - exist in any of our food, and then it will be safe. At least the bad stuff is dead, too - we hope!

Remember that every every snickers bar, every twinkie, every potato chip, every pepsi, every burger and french fry that was ever sold at any fast food restaurant, etc. etc. etc., is FDA regulated. Personally, I am not convinced that the FDA or our government should be the sole voice on health and food safety.

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen the movie but have a little first hand experience with this issue since my son contracted E.coli at 13 months. I think several of the PPs have offered a lot of wisdom here - understand the risks in context and get very smart and very vigilant about food safety. The 'raw dairy' / off-the-grid stuff is fine for those who choose to live that way but don't mistake it for anything with a solid scientific basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to be safe, the most important things you can do are to eat pasteurized milk products and avoid unpasteurized products,

Totally disagree with this. Unpasteurized dairy products, if produced at a small clean local organic farm, are far healthier and safer than any commercially produced product.

My advice to OP was to seek out a local source for raw dairy and grass-fed organic meats and eggs. Join a CSA and use farmers markets (and of course your parents garden) for fresh local organic produce. Find a relatively local source for organically produced grains, and cook them whole or grind them yourself. Buy the cookbook "Nourishing Traditions" and start a revolution in your own home regarding how you eat. You can live almost 100% outside the commercial, mass-produced food system, even right here in Washington DC.

The safest thing you can do is to continue buying food regulated by FDA safety protocols. There are much, much higher incidents of food contamination from food purchased outside the system.

Riiiiiiiiiiight. Yeah, right. There are literally hundreds of thousands of incidences of food poisoning occurring in FDA-regulated food every year. Their answer is to just pasteurize everything. Great - heat everything until nothing healthy - no nutrients, minerals, enzymes, probiotics - exist in any of our food, and then it will be safe. At least the bad stuff is dead, too - we hope!

Remember that every every snickers bar, every twinkie, every potato chip, every pepsi, every burger and french fry that was ever sold at any fast food restaurant, etc. etc. etc., is FDA regulated. Personally, I am not convinced that the FDA or our government should be the sole voice on health and food safety.

This part about raw milk is absolutely untrue.

I looked up the disease outbreak statistics. Unpasteurized milk products are consumed by a small portion of our population, and yet they are the cause of as many food poisoning outbreaks as all the lunch meat consumed by the entire nation. If the entire nation consumed unpasteurized milk, it would be our #1 source of foodborne illness.

Don't be suckered by someone wants to sell you high priced milk with quaint stories about their organic, back to natural farm with pretty pictures that warm your heart. Raw milk is dangerous. Farms have bacteria, plain and simple, and it gets into the milk. Pasteurization kills it. Raw milk won't sicken you every time, but if enough people drink it, someone is going to be sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The safest thing you can do is to continue buying food regulated by FDA safety protocols. There are much, much higher incidents of food contamination from food purchased outside the system. Sorry, but that's the truth -- as PP mentioned, put risk in perspective. Our food supply is incredibly safe, safer than it has ever been.

Meat such as beef is regulated under the USDA regulations, not FDA.

Did you read this article? About how lax those regulations are? They stopped testing beef in hamburger patties by this one producer, because the company told them, they didn't need to! Meanwhile, school lunch officials didn't buy that assertion, and were testing it, but no one in the USDA particularly cared about their results.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html?_r=1

Officials at the United States Department of Agriculture endorsed the company’s ammonia treatment, and have said it destroys E. coli “to an undetectable level.” They decided it was so effective that in 2007, when the department began routine testing of meat used in hamburger sold to the general public, they exempted Beef Products.

Within the U.S.D.A., the treated beef has been a source of friction for years. The department accepted the company’s own study as evidence that the treatment was effective. School lunch officials, who had some doubts about its effectiveness, required that Beef Products meat be tested, as they do all beef used by the program. (snip) This was based on Mr. Roth’s initial prediction that his treated beef could kill E. coli in any meat it was mixed with. The company acknowledges that its subsequent study found no evidence to back that up, although it says it is now trying with an enhanced treatment.

[Anonymous]

I think the best bet, if you wish to continue eating meat, is to eat only meat from animals who have been fed foods that are biologically correct for those animals. (i.e. grass-fed beef) Such animals are least likely to have high amounts of pathogens like e coli to begin with. Therefore they don't need irradiation and ammonia to kill the pathogens found on them.

Someone is Europe once asked me why I wouldn't eat raw eggs, and I told him it was because raw eggs had salmonella and needed to be cooked before you ate them. He was amazed. He said, "Why would you keep buying eggs from someone if you know the eggs are diseased? Why don't you find someone who sells disease free eggs?" It was an eye opening question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The safest thing you can do is to continue buying food regulated by FDA safety protocols. There are much, much higher incidents of food contamination from food purchased outside the system. Sorry, but that's the truth -- as PP mentioned, put risk in perspective. Our food supply is incredibly safe, safer than it has ever been.

I really HATE to agree with this, but I must! My friend and her husband suffered through salmonella poisoining (thankfully they weren't hospitalized) after eating eggs from a local organic market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the best bet, if you wish to continue eating meat, is to eat only meat from animals who have been fed foods that are biologically correct for those animals. (i.e. grass-fed beef) Such animals are least likely to have high amounts of pathogens like e coli to begin with. Therefore they don't need irradiation and ammonia to kill the pathogens found on them.

Someone is Europe once asked me why I wouldn't eat raw eggs, and I told him it was because raw eggs had salmonella and needed to be cooked before you ate them. He was amazed. He said, "Why would you keep buying eggs from someone if you know the eggs are diseased? Why don't you find someone who sells disease free eggs?" It was an eye opening question.

I agree with this.

[Anonymous]

I read "Fast Food Nation" in college and found that to be extremely eye opening. Don't rely on the movie to give you an idea of what the book was about, as they are NOTHING alike. The book is informative and well researched. The movie was lame and for entertainment purposes only, not meant to inform. I agree with the PP who mentioned joining a CSA farm. I volunteered at one 3 summers ago and it was a lot of hard work but very interesting. There weren't any chemicals on the vegetables, no manures or anything that could cause e.coli. For fertilizer they used ground up chicken feathers and a potassium magnesium compound. Going local is great. Also if you are worried about eating meat because of bacteria, don't forget about spinach and tomato recalls over the last 2-3 years. Anything has the potential for contamination it seems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the best bet, if you wish to continue eating meat, is to eat only meat from animals who have been fed foods that are biologically correct for those animals. (i.e. grass-fed beef) Such animals are least likely to have high amounts of pathogens like e coli to begin with. Therefore they don't need irradiation and ammonia to kill the pathogens found on them.

Someone is Europe once asked me why I wouldn't eat raw eggs, and I told him it was because raw eggs had salmonella and needed to be cooked before you ate them. He was amazed. He said, "Why would you keep buying eggs from someone if you know the eggs are diseased? Why don't you find someone who sells disease free eggs?" It was an eye opening question.

I agree with this.

You can buy disease-free eggs. Look for pasteurized eggs in the market. That's the closest you can get. As for finding disease-free egg producers, well that's like looking for a disease-free preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You can buy disease-free eggs. Look for pasteurized eggs in the market. That's the closest you can get. As for finding disease-free egg producers, well that's like looking for a disease-free preschool.

No, I mean buy the eggs that didn't have the disease to begin with. So they don't need to be pasteurized.

Your analogy to disease free preschools isn't really a good one. If the attitude of the preschool teachers is, "Kids just get sick and there's nothing we can do about it anyhow" -- then you are likely to have a lot of illnesses spread throughout the school or daycare.

However, some daycares, esp those with infants, take great care to ensure that children are carefully monitored and not allowed to come into school if they are exhibiting any symptoms of illness. People remove shoes and wash hadnds when entering; kids have consistent caretakers and are cared for in small groups and so on. Children who enter the program all have their required vaccinations. Caretakers cannot monitor what foods the children eat ast home; however if they could, they could ensure tha the children eat the best foods to maintain a healthy immunse system.

These very hygenic practices will not ensure there is no disease; however they very likely reduce greatly the occurance and spread of illness in the children.

It's the same thing with our food supply. If animals are raised in hygenic condititions, are not overcrowded, are fed foods that are appropriate for them, are vaccinated for illnesses, and only disease free animals are added to the herd; then the indicence of illness or pathogens is likely to be much less.

However, if the people raising the anmals have the attitude that "pathogens just happen" then there's no way that the food you get will not have pathogens. Obviously in that case, you will need to have it pasteurized or heat it to a certain point to kill the disease organisms in the food!