Satireday on Eco-Crap

Satireday on Eco-Crap

Monday Moaning

Remember the ‘horsemeat’ scandal/s?

It appears that that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Food manufacturers have been having a ball by pulling the wool over the unsuspecting eyes of the consumers.

While the following article pertains to the situation in Britain, I have no doubts that it applies to the rest of the world. These bastards are all tarred with the same brush; the figures must be similar, or worse in other countries.

Fake-food scandal revealed as tests show third of products mislabelled

Consumers are being sold drinks with banned flame-retardant additives, pork in beef, and fake cheese, laboratory tests show

Some ham tested contained ‘meat emulsion’ (meat ground with additives so fat can be put through it) or ‘meat slurry’ (removing scraps of meat from bones) What has been known as pink slime – My note. Photo: Alamy

Consumers are being sold food including mozzarella that is less than half real cheese, ham on pizzas that is either poultry or “meat emulsion”, and frozen prawns that are 50% water, according to tests by a public laboratory.

The checks on hundreds of food samples, which were taken in West Yorkshire, revealed that more than a third were not what they claimed to be, or were mislabelled in some way. Their results have been shared with the Guardian.

Testers also discovered beef mince adulterated with pork or poultry, and even a herbal slimming tea that was neither herb nor tea but glucose powder laced with a withdrawn prescription drug for obesity at 13 times the normal dose.

A third of fruit juices sampled were not what they claimed or had labelling errors. Two contained additives that are not permitted in the EU, including brominated vegetable oil, which is designed for use in flame retardants and linked to behavioural problems in rats at high doses.

Experts said they fear the alarming findings from 38% of 900 sample tests by West Yorkshire councils were representative of the picture nationally, with the public at increasing risk as budgets to detect fake or mislabelled foods plummet.

Counterfeit vodka sold by small shops remains a major problem, with several samples not meeting the percentage of alcohol laid down for the spirit. In one case, tests revealed that the “vodka” had been made not from alcohol derived from agricultural produce, as required, but from isopropanol, used in antifreeze and as an industrial solvent.

Samples were collected both as part of general surveillance of all foods and as part of a programme targeted at categories of foodstuffs where cutting corners is considered more likely.

West Yorkshire’s public analyst, Dr Duncan Campbell, said of the findings: “We are routinely finding problems with more than a third of samples, which is disturbing at a time when the budget for food standards inspection and analysis is being cut.”

He said he thought the problems uncovered in his area were representative of the picture in the country as a whole.

The scale of cheating and misrepresentation revealed by the tests was described by Maria Eagle, the shadow environment secretary, as unacceptable. “Consumers deserve to know what they are buying and eating and cracking down on the mislabelling of food must become a greater priority for the government,” she said.

A Defra spokesperson said: “There are already robust procedures in places to identify and prevent food fraud and the FSA has increased funding to support local authorities to carry out this work to £2m.

“We will continue to work closely with the food industry, enforcement agencies and across government to improve intelligence on food fraud and clamp down on deliberate attempts to deceive consumers.”

Testing food is the responsibility of local authorities and their trading standards departments, but as their budgets have been cut many councils have reduced checks or stopped collecting samples altogether.

The number of samples taken to test whether food being sold matched what was claimed fell nationally by nearly 7% between 2012 and 2013, and had fallen by over 18% in the year before that. About 10% of local authorities did no compositional sampling at all last year, according to the consumer watchdog Which?

West Yorkshire is unusual in retaining a leading public laboratory and maintaining its testing regime. Samples are anonymised for testing by public analysts to prevent bias, so we are unable to see who had made or sold individual products. Many of the samples were collected from fast-food restaurants, independent retailers and wholesalers; some were from larger stores and manufacturers.

Substitution of cheaper ingredients for expensive materials was a recurring problem with meat and dairy products – both sectors that have seen steep price rises on commodity markets. While West Yorkshire found no horsemeat in its tests after the scandal had broken, mince and diced meats regularly contained meat of the wrong species.

In some cases, this was likely to be the result of mincing machines in butcher’s shops not being properly cleaned between batches; in others there was clear substitution of cheaper species. Samples of beef contained pork or poultry, or both, and beef was being passed off as more expensive lamb, especially in takeaways, ready meals, and by wholesalers.

Ham, which should be made from the legs of pigs, was regularly made from poultry meat instead: the preservatives and brining process add a pink colour that makes it hard to detect except by laboratory analysis.

Meat emulsion – a mixture in which meat is finely ground along with additives so that fat can be dispersed through it – had also been used in some kinds of ham, as had mechanically separated meat, a slurry produced by removing scraps of meat from bones, which acts as a cheap filler although its use is not permitted in ham.

Levels of salt that breached target limits set by the Food Standards Agency were a recurring problem in sausages and some ethnic restaurant meals. The substitution of cheaper vegetable fat for the dairy fat with which cheese must legally be made was common. Samples of mozzarella turned out in one case to be only 40% dairy fat, and in another only 75%.

Several samples of cheese on pizzas were not in fact cheese as claimed but cheese analogue, made with vegetable oil and additives. It is not illegal to use cheese analogue but it should be properly identified as such.

Read more

Opinion:

More than a third of our food is adulterated crap!

The rampant falsification of foodstuffs is stretches the imagination. I always knew there was some tinkering, but this report lists wholesale fraud.

We are supposed to be protected from this bullshit by government departments in any country and this just points to the fact that we aren’t!

The failings are beyond belief, and the idea that, at least in Britain, that the government is actually cutting back on the funds for our protection is TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!

This is just another example showing that governments have lost the plot.

Monday Moaning

World’s first lab-grown burger is eaten in London

Prof Mark Post, of Maastricht University, explains how he and his colleagues made the world’s first lab-grown burger

 

The world’s first lab-grown burger was cooked and eaten at a news conference in London on Monday.

Scientists took cells from a cow and, at an institute in the Netherlands, turned them into strips of muscle that they combined to make a patty.

Researchers say the technology could be a sustainable way of meeting what they say is a growing demand for meat.

Critics say that eating less meat would be an easier way to tackle predicted food shortages.

The burger was cooked by chef Richard McGowan, from Cornwall, and tasted by critics Hanni Ruetzler and Josh Schonwald.

Upon tasting the burger, Austrian food researcher Ms Ruetzler said: “I was expecting the texture to be more soft… there is quite some intense taste, it’s close to meat, but it’s not that juicy. The consistency is perfect, but I miss salt and pepper.”

Read more

Opinion:

Yuck!

I don’t care what you or they say, there is no way in Hades that would go near my mouth.

It is just plain disgusting.

It reminds me of a sci-fi book I read many years ago (when reading was actually acceptable) where a race of mute humans were raised like cattle to feed the populace. Nauseating.

But what is more concern to me is nobody knows if this crap has any side effects on the body.

 

Make you Fink on Friday

Eating green may not be green

GOOD BUT GREEN? Scientists have long advised people to switch to a plant-based diet to benefit the environment but that may not be borne out by research.

A nutritious diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables might not be the greenest in its environmental impact, according to a new study.

After analysing the eating habits of about 2,000 French adults, and the greenhouse gas emissions generated by producing the plants, fish, meat, fowl and other ingredients, researchers concluded that widely embraced goals for the health of people and for the health of the planet are not necessarily perfectly compatible.

Growing fruit and vegetables doesn’t produce as much greenhouse gas as raising cattle or livestock, the study confirms, but people who eat a primarily plant-based diet make up for that by eating more of those foods.

“When you eat healthy, you have to eat a lot of food that has a low content of energy. You have to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables,” said Nicole Darmon, the study’s senior author from the National Research Institute of Agronomy in Marseille, France.

Greenhouse gases – which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – are produced by machines that burn fossil fuels. That gas is then released into the atmosphere, where it contributes to climate change.

Food production – including the use of farming equipment and transportation – is estimated to be responsible for 15 per cent to 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries, the authors write in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Scientists have long advised people to switch to a plant-based diet to benefit the environment and their own health.

To more closely examine that premise, Darmon and her colleagues used food diaries from 1,918 French adults to compare the nutritional quality of people’s real-world diets and how much greenhouse gas they produced.

Read more

Comment:

Which is roughly what I have suggested here in the past.

Make you Fink Good this Friday

If you buy your beef from big corporate supermarkets like Tesco, the chances are you helping to destroy the Amazon rainforest.

Tesco supplier accused of contributing to Amazon rainforest destruction

Greenpeace says meat products supplied by Brazilian firm JBS come from ranches in illegally deforested lands

Cattle at an illegal settlement in northern Brazil: such ranches are the leading source of rainforest destruction in the Amazon. Photograph: Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images

British consumers are unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the Amazon rainforest by buying meat products from Tesco, according to Greenpeace.

The environmental group says in a report that canned beef from the supermarket chain has been found to contain meat from ranches that have been carved out of the lands of indigenous peoples, and farms the Brazilian government believes have been sited in illegally deforested lands.

The allegations stem from an 18-month investigation carried out by Greenpeace into the practices of JBS, a big Brazilian supplier of meat and cattle byproducts. The campaigning group claims it unearthed evidence of serious violations of the company’s own ethical code, and those of companies it supplies, including Tesco.

Read more

This has been known since this June 2009 article:

Supermarket suppliers ‘helping destroy Amazon rainforest’

• Meat companies sued over Amazon deforestation
• Accused firms supplying Tesco, Asda and M&S

Brazilian authorities investigating illegal deforestation have accused the suppliers of several UK supermarkets of selling meat linked to massive destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian firms that supply Tesco, Asda and Marks & Spencer are among dozens of companies named by prosecutors, who are seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.

Read more

So it’s not new news.

This week in Brazil steps were taken by the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets to help rectify the domestic use of such meat…

Brazil supermarkets ‘to avoid Amazon meat’

Farmers use fire to clear land for cattle, destroying huge swathes of rainforest in the Amazon region.

The main group representing supermarkets in Brazil says it will no longer sell meat from cattle raised in the rainforest.

The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets, which has 2,800 members, hopes the deal will cut down on the illegal use of rainforest for pasture.

Deforestation in the Amazon has slowed over the past years but invasion of public land continues to be a problem.

Huge swathes have been turned into land for pasture and soy plantations.

The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras) signed the agreement with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s office in the capital, Brasilia.

‘More transparent’

Public Prosecutor Daniel Cesar Azeredo Avelino said consumers would benefit from the deal.

“The agreement foresees a series of specific actions to inform the consumer about the origin of the meat both through the internet and at the supermarkets,” he said.

Mr Avelino said a more transparent labelling system would also make it easier for consumers to avoid buying meat from the Amazon and make it harder for shops to sell items from producers who flouted the law.

He said he would now work towards reaching a similar deal with smaller shops.

Under the deal, supermarkets have promised to reject meat from areas of the Amazon where illegal activities take place, such as illegal logging and invasion of public land, Mr Avelino said.

There is currently no deadline for the implementation of the measures, but Mr Avelino said they would be adopted “soon”.

According to the pressure group Greenpeace, expansion of the cattle industry in the Amazon is the single biggest cause of deforestation in the region.

If Brazilians can take appropriate measures, the big corporate supermarkets across the globe can do the same.

And, you, the consumer, can also play your part and demand to know the origin of your beef.

Do this, and you will be doing your part.

 

 

Satireday on Eco-Crap

Monday Moaning

Supermarket meat crawling with bacteria

Overall, food poisoning sickens up to a quarter of all Americans every year

Sell a little healthy raw milk to a willing consumer, and you can expect cops to burst through the door with their guns drawn — but you can pass off tainted meat on unsuspecting customers all day long, and the feds won’t do a thing about it.

Case in point: The latest study in Clinical Infectious Diseases, which showed that up to HALF of all supermarket meat is contaminated with bacteria — and half of those are resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Researchers bought 136 packages of beef, chicken, pork, and turkey from 26 supermarkets in five cities — and what they found would even make someone with an iron stomach a bit queasy.

Tests revealed that 47 percent of the meat was contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. Nearly all of the samples were resistant to one antibiotic, and 52 percent were resistant to at least three different drugs.

And believe it or not, that’s not even the worst news — because S. aureus doesn’t even make the Top 10 list of the U.S.’s leading pathogens.

Americans are routinely infected by campylobacter from poultry, toxoplasma from pork, and E. coli from beef, just to name a few. All told, the top 14 pathogens are responsible for nearly 9 million illnesses a year, including 55,678 hospitalizations and 1,322 deaths.

But wait — because that’s STILL not the worst news.

Overall, food poisoning sickens up to a quarter of all Americans every year –- leading to some 325,000 hospitalizations and up to 5,000 deaths that we know of.

Who knows how big the real numbers are.

You may call it “contaminated meat,” but I call it “biological warfare.”

This is a bigger national crisis than airline safety, terrorism, or natural disasters — and the FDA and USDA won’t do a thing about it.

But you can.

Many of these diseases and infections begin at factory farms — festering stinkholes where animals live in filth, eat filth, and die in filth.

Along the way, they’re pumped so full of so many drugs that you get a dose with every bite.

If you can’t get your meats direct from a small farm, find a good butcher who does. Going organic is often a waste of money with many products — but in this case, it’s worth every last cent.

Source: The Douglas report

Is Supermarket Meat Safe to Eat?

Going grocery shopping today? You may want to think twice about buying meat or poultry.

A new study of 136 samples of beef, chicken, pork and turkey purchased from grocery stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, Flagstaff, Ariz., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., found more than half contained Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause food poisoning, The Associated Press reports. And half of the contaminated samples had a form of staph that’s resistant to at least three kinds of antibiotics.

“This study shows that much of our meat and poultry is contaminated with multidrug-resistant staph,” Paul Keim, one of the study’s authors at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona, said in a statement.

Among the types of drug-resistant germs the researchers found, one was methicillin-resistant staph, or MRSA, a superbug that can be fatal, according to the AP. They found MRSA in three of the 136 samples.

But don’t panic. Staph germs are commonly found on the skin and in the noses of up to 25 percent of healthy people. Hand-washing and proper cooking are the best ways to kill the bacteria, and federal health officials estimate staph accounts for less than 3 percent of foodborne illnesses.

“Despite the claims of this small study, consumers can feel confident that meat and poultry is safe,” James H. Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute, said in a statement on Friday.

Do you believe him?

Source: SodaHead

Opinion:

I don’t believe anything they say. They say want they want us to hear so they can continue making a profit.

The passing of the local butchers shop in favour of the supermarkets is a sad thing. Once we could believe in the safety of buying meat, today there is no knowing what goes on behind the swinging doors of the supermarket meat department.

I have bought ground beef from the supermarket and the next day it was unusable. When I buy from the butcher it is ground in front of me, I know that it’s freshly ground and hasn’t sat around all day sweating in a plastic wrap allowing the bacteria to multiply.

When you read reports like those above, then you see statements like this:

Supermarket meat CANNOT be considered safe for human consumption. According to a Government Accountability Project (GAP) White Paper dated November 1997, consumers today pay for USDA Approved fecal-soup and other filth, when they think they are buying meat stamped as wholesome. What’s worse…Consumers are being victimized by a new food chain, foisted upon them by an uncaring, greed motivated industry.

It’s enough to make your stomach turn.

The time has come when we must pressure politicians to allow farm meat production, return to the old ways.

Grass fed meat, milk and eggs need to be a right, not the whimsical choice of some politician who wants to get reelected.

The status quo is totally against the health of the nation and responsible for much of the government over spending on healthcare.

Get the corporations out of our kitchens because they are poisoning us in the grab for profits. The corporations don’t give a shit about your health or well-being, as long as their CEOs get their obscene paychecks and bonuses.