Did Our Refrigerators Evolve to Favour Bacteria?

I was at Providence, Rhode Island a month ago to attend the 101st annual meeting of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP).
This visit gave me an opportunity to spend a whole day at the Culinary Museum at the Johnson and Wales University in Providence. There were several old food equipment in the museum, most of them look so different from the ones that we see now. They have transformed into user friendly and energy saving versions and have become much more affordable. I found the interiors of the refrigerator particularly interesting.

We spend a lot of time educating public on how to segregate raw meat from ready to eat foods. Where did the covered meat trays and the labels go?
The stuffed up refrigerators used at home prevents air circulation and increases the probability of bacteria spreading from raw food to cooked food, right?

Barbecue Food Safety

Barbecue and Food Safety

When the temperatures drop in UAE, outings and barbecues grow in popularity. There's something appealing about cooking your meal out on the open coals, lapping up the sunshine and enjoying a social gathering with family or friends. Although barbecues are enjoyable, they do pose food safety risks.

Food Safety Issues

Don't forget that food safety issues are crucial when you're barbecuing. Raw meat and fish can contain food poisoning bugs and if raw meat is near to, or drips onto, cooked or ready to eat foods, the bugs can be transferred. Take care and use the following tips to ensure what you cook and eat will be fine for all the family.

• Always wash your hands after handing raw meat.
• Use separate utensils for cooked and raw meat.
• Don't put cooked food on a plate or surface that's been used for raw meat.
• Don't put raw meat next to cooked or partially cooked meat on the barbecue.
• Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat foods.
• If a marinade or sauce has been used with raw meat, don't then add it to cooked food.
• Ensure frozen food is thoroughly thawed before you cook it.
• Don't start cooking until the charcoal is red hot, with a grey powdery surface.
• Cook food evenly, by turning it regularly and moving it around on the barbecue.
• Make sure the centre of food is piping hot and cooked right through.
• Don't make the mistake of assuming food must be cooked right through if it's charred on the outside, as this isn't always the case.

How to MAKE news

Reporter: "I am writing an article about whether food products in Dubai have high estrogen content, potentially, in the long run causing damaging health effects. This article does not specifically have to focus on estrogen, however. If there are other hormones put into food here or, even, a particularly high amount of sugar these can have an impact on people’s health as well. It is a problem in most places and a few doctors have commented on it here, making it a point of interest. Here are a few questions on the subject.

Are food products in Dubai or, indeed, the UAE enhanced with extra hormones?"

Bobby:  "I am not sure about the source and origin of the information you have, but will try to answer you.

Estrogen is not added as a hormone in food because it does not have any properties that can enhance food quality. However, certain hormones are used while growing animals (not estrogen). Protein hormone rbGH is used to increase milk production in dairy cattle in some countries but this protein hormone is not used on beef cattle.

There are some chemicals that can mimic hormones ( some steroids), but they are not mixed with food intentionally. There have been a lot of discussions on the Estrogenic properties of BPA used in plastics. Several research works have been done in Europe and USA to assess the safety of BPA used in plastics that come in contact with the food, but no studies have been conclusive. "

Sugar, salt or any food for that matter can be injurious to health if not used properly.

Let us look at the principles of food safety:

Þ     Normal food eaten in abnormal quantities is unsafe for a normal person (eg. sugar, salt, water, rice…)

Þ     Abnormal food eaten in normal quantities is unsafe for a normal person (eg. Pesticides, phytotoxins etc)

Þ     Normal food eaten in normal quantities by an abnormal person is unsafe (eg : A diabetic eating sugar, peanut eaten by people allergic to it)

That should answer your question related to most foods. Sugar or any food with sugar must be eaten in limited quantities. It is the balance of diet that is more important. Sugar and salt are preservatives in some cases and in some they are added just for the taste. You do not want to consume large quantities of preserved food ( pickle is an example).

Reporter:Are food products in Dubai or, indeed, the UAE enhanced with extra hormones?

No one enhances a food product with hormones because there is no need for it. Hormones are chemical messengers that affect living organisms (plants, animals).

Reporter:Can the packaging used to package food products also have an impact on their hormone content, for example, it has been seen in chicken packaged in certain plastics?

Are you talking about chemicals that mimic hormones?

Reporter:Is there an especially high level of estrogen or sugar in local foods?

Sugar is added as per the preference of the people. I am not sure about the foods that you are talking about. But, a sugar candy has a lots of sugar and so do fruit drinks, chocolates, ice cream and cakes. They are not to be eaten in abnormal quantities.

Reporter:If so, why are these hormones/sugar being added to products?

I can understand the link between hormones and sugar. Why shouldn't sugar be added to any food?

Sugar gives a preferable taste and is one of the oldest forms of preservative.

Reporter:Is it expert opinion that that such extra hormones or sugar can have an impact on the health of consumers?

This goes back to the food safety principles.

It is hard to answer a question when it is not presented with evidence. We can assure you that we have a very good control on the safety of foods. We have specific standards for ingredients in each food and we test this to confirm that manufacturers do not exceed limits. However, we cannot control consumer habits and consumption patterns.

 And the report: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/health/hormone-filled-food-on-rise-1.693668

No definite link

It is necessary to point out that there is no evidence yet to prove that there is a definite link between the consumption of estrogenic compounds and estrogen dominance. This is a point Bobby Krishna Thulasi, a senior in the Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality, seems adamant to make.

"Several research works have been done in Europe and the US to assess the safety of BPA used in plastics that come in contact with the food, but no studies have been conclusive," Thulasi said.

Are you concerned about the harmful effects of mass-produced food items? What do you do to make sure the food you eat is completely healthy and safe?

Prevent Food Poisoning

Preventing food poisoning

Harmless Bacteria as a Natural Weapon Against Disease Causing Bacteria

Antibiotic and chemical resistance of certain bacteria are already debilitating and killing people, in ever-increasing numbers. What is the future of novel antimicrobial compounds? We have heard about the natural- born killers of bacteria…their phages. Now we have some bacteria that could be hired to do the same job!

Washington post reported an interesting story today on the use of natural weapons against disease causing bactereia. Eric Brown, a microbiologist at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and a team of FDA scientists trying to prevent salmonella contamination in tomatoes have stumbled upon what they believe are powerful, naturally occurring "good" bacteria that can slaughter the "bad" bacteria that have become a persistent problem in fresh fruits and vegetables because they harm humans. It's a variation on the "enemy of my enemy" philosophy, with scientists like Brown cultivating hostile relatives of harmful bacteria to perform a sort of microscopic fratricide before the bugs can harm humans.

It would be interesting to see how this works in the field.

Adulteration of Milk in India – What is the Government Doing About It?

In September 2008, several thousand babies in China became ill , having suffered acute kidney failure, with several fatalities, having been fed formula milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. Twenty-two brands of milk powder were quickly identified as containing melamine and were recalled from the market. Allegedly, someone in the supply chain, milk supplier or manufacturer, was adding melamine to the milk formula to artificially inflate the reading for protein levels. In January 2009, two men were given death penalty and another life time imprisonment for their involvement in China's contaminated milk scandal. Still, the public blamed the government for its slow reaction.

Let us now look at what is happening in India in the past few months.

1. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 9. The Centre of Indian Consumer Protection and Research (Coinpar), a consumer rights organisation in the city, which tested eight brands of milk available in the market and also milk sold by cycle vendors, has reported the presence of the chemical, formalin, in three samples.

2. KOCHI , Sept 1. Milk samples from three plants have been found to contain poisonous substances like formalin, sodium bi carbonate and sodium carbonate, leading to subsequent orders for their closure by the authorities.

3. PUNE, Sept 18. The Pune rural police busted a milk adulteration racket in Patas near Duand, about 50 km from the city, in the wee hours of Thursday by arresting a gang of six suspects. According to the police, the gang used to mix lactose powder and caustic soda in the milk to raise the degree and fat contents of the milk at a dairy named as L V Dairy. The police have also seized two tanker containing around 17,000 litre of milk, three gunny bags of lactose powder, five gunny bag containing caustic soda and five bags of the milk powder totalling to Rs 93.59 lakh.

4. LUCKNOW, Sept 26. Bulandshahar police on Friday evening arrested two persons after a total of 1,000 litres of adulterated milk was seized from them. Police also seized bulks of cheap quality glucose, pastel colours, dry milk powder, soya oil and a host of hi-tech machinery used for extracting fat from milk and packaging material.

The contamination of this sort is not just limited to milk, the chemicals reach all products that use this milk including yoghurt, sweets, cheese, ghee, butter and baby food. Regardless of crushing business pressure, there is no excuse for the adulteration of food in this way. Diluting a product with water, the old approach, is highly unethical and can lead to malnutrition, but addition of formalin can cause a number of detrimental effects .

There is no reason to imagine that we come to know about all cases of adulteration and to believe that people behind these cases are punished. Such issues seem to be of least concern to the Indian government that is struggling to sort out the food shortage issues.

Consumer Advisory : Buy milk from a trusted source. Even if you pay a little more, go for reputed brands. Your neighbour’s cow is always a better choice if you can keep an eye on what is happening after the milking process!