... is also where pandemic flu (and the numerous other new bird flu strains that have plagued the US for 20 years) come from.
Read the book and persuse the sources for FREE at http://birdflubook.com
It is the BEST book ever written about H5N1, just came out in November. I have NO connection to the publisher or author, though I did run into Goju at one of Dr. Greger's appearances. Greger, incidentally, is donating all the proceeds to charity. I found the book compelling for many reasons.
Now for dinner:
Bacteria found in 83% of chickens
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Eighty-three percent of broiler chickens tested by a leading consumer magazine were infected with either or both campylobacter and salmonella, the leading bacterial causes of food-borne illnesses.
The 525 chickens tested by Consumer Reports for its January issue were purchased in the spring from supermarkets, bulk retailers, gourmet shops and natural food stores in 23 states. It is the highest rate of contamination the magazine has found in the nine years it has been doing such tests.
Eighty-one percent of the chickens tested were contaminated with campylobacter, 15% with salmonella and 13% with both. Both bacteria can cause diarrhea, cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting and life-threatening infections of the blood in the elderly, babies and people with impaired immune systems.
The number Consumer Reports tested was very small, said Richard Raymond of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "That's 500 samples out of 9 billion chickens slaughtered a year," he said. "With the small numbers they (tested), I don't know that one would want to change one's buying habits."
The USDA, which tests chickens extensively for salmonella, says the 2005 infection rate was 16.3% and is an average 11.4% in the first three quarters of this year, said Raymond, undersecretary for food safety.
The USDA does not test for campylobacter. But a study last year by agency scientists and the National Chicken Council found only 26% of 4,200 broiler carcasses tested at 13 plants were infected with the bacteria.
The discrepancy might be due to the number of bacteria cells considered an infection. Consumer Reports counted a carcass infected if it found more than 13 campylobacter cells in a cultured sample. TheUSDA study required 4,000.
"You could say that so few bacteria can't hurt you," said Jean Halloran of Consumer's Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, in an e-mail. "But we are dealing with living bacteria here ? And there are many chances that chicken might be left at temperatures that would allow the bacteria to multiply."
Rates of the campylobacteriosis infection are down. In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that rates have declined 30% since 1998, to 12.6 infections per 100,000 people.
The CDC estimates that campylobacter and salmonella from all sources sickens more than 3.4 million Americans each year and kills more than 700.
Read the book and persuse the sources for FREE at http://birdflubook.com
It is the BEST book ever written about H5N1, just came out in November. I have NO connection to the publisher or author, though I did run into Goju at one of Dr. Greger's appearances. Greger, incidentally, is donating all the proceeds to charity. I found the book compelling for many reasons.
Now for dinner:
Bacteria found in 83% of chickens
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Eighty-three percent of broiler chickens tested by a leading consumer magazine were infected with either or both campylobacter and salmonella, the leading bacterial causes of food-borne illnesses.
The 525 chickens tested by Consumer Reports for its January issue were purchased in the spring from supermarkets, bulk retailers, gourmet shops and natural food stores in 23 states. It is the highest rate of contamination the magazine has found in the nine years it has been doing such tests.
Eighty-one percent of the chickens tested were contaminated with campylobacter, 15% with salmonella and 13% with both. Both bacteria can cause diarrhea, cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting and life-threatening infections of the blood in the elderly, babies and people with impaired immune systems.
The number Consumer Reports tested was very small, said Richard Raymond of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "That's 500 samples out of 9 billion chickens slaughtered a year," he said. "With the small numbers they (tested), I don't know that one would want to change one's buying habits."
The USDA, which tests chickens extensively for salmonella, says the 2005 infection rate was 16.3% and is an average 11.4% in the first three quarters of this year, said Raymond, undersecretary for food safety.
The USDA does not test for campylobacter. But a study last year by agency scientists and the National Chicken Council found only 26% of 4,200 broiler carcasses tested at 13 plants were infected with the bacteria.
The discrepancy might be due to the number of bacteria cells considered an infection. Consumer Reports counted a carcass infected if it found more than 13 campylobacter cells in a cultured sample. TheUSDA study required 4,000.
"You could say that so few bacteria can't hurt you," said Jean Halloran of Consumer's Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, in an e-mail. "But we are dealing with living bacteria here ? And there are many chances that chicken might be left at temperatures that would allow the bacteria to multiply."
Rates of the campylobacteriosis infection are down. In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that rates have declined 30% since 1998, to 12.6 infections per 100,000 people.
The CDC estimates that campylobacter and salmonella from all sources sickens more than 3.4 million Americans each year and kills more than 700.