[tayndrewsmama]

HOLY MOTHER OF PETE!!!

:

FDA approves viruses as food additive

Quote:

Bacteriophages meant to kill harmful bacteria on lunch meats WASHINGTON (AP) -- A mix of bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of people a year, federal health officials said Friday in granting the first-ever approval of viruses as a food additive.

 

[RachelGS]

Oh.Hell.No.

 

[rabrog]

I was **just** coming to post this! I'm a brand new vegetarian! That's just gross. And you KNOW they haven't tested that stuff - God knows what will happen to people when they eat enough of it!

Jenn

 

[mimim]

Hmm, I don't know enough about it, but isn't this kind of along the lines of probiotics? I'm inclined to think that phages are much better than chemicals.

Whose got more links on this?

 

[tayndrewsmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimim Hmm, I don't know enough about it, but isn't this kind of along the lines of probiotics? I'm inclined to think that phages are much better than chemicals. Whose got more links on this?

I see waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much room for error in this.

 

[celestialdreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tayndrewsmama I see waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much room for error in this.

Umm YEAH. I am amazed at the pure stupidity of the FDA

:

 

[Danelle78]

uke

 

[mimim]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage
http://www.**********/health/phages.htm
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.10/phages.html

This is some of what I've learned:
Not a new concept. Has been used for decades in Europe. These bacteriaphages infect very specific types of bacteria and kill them, unlike antibiotics which kill a broad spectrum of benificial and pathenogenic bacteria.

So, IMO, preventative measures against infection are the ideal, but the use of phages is way better than antibiotics.

And seriously, how many people would be puking if I told them I fed my kids bacteria purposely everyday? If there are good bacteria why not good viruses?

 

[tiffany21074]

hmm, good point. why can't we just have clean food raised in clean conditions, so we don't need to spray anything??

 

[mzfern]

Holy

!!! So wrong on so many levels.

 

[mimim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiffany21074 hmm, good point. why can't we just have clean food raised in clean conditions, so we don't need to spray anything??

Absolutely we should! I disapprove of food additives in general, but I do see this as less of an evil than most of the other options.

 

[MillingNome]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (hee hee, I know that'll happen on CE!) but wouldn't the easy, and I do mean EASY, solution be just cook your meat to the required 160' temperature? That's gotta beat using these bacteria. If there is one thing you should know about germs in general it's that they are rather adept at outsmarting whatever we throw at them. Think about it this way- we reproduce every 20 years, give or take. Bacteria and viruses (once a virus finds a good host) reproduce in terms of minutes, hours, days. So how long do you think it will take for the listeria to evolve enough to find a way to co-exist with the bacteria? Whatever - anything to make a buck for big pharma

 

[homemademomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimim en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage http://www.**********/health/phages.htm http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.10/phages.html This is some of what I've learned: Not a new concept. Has been used for decades in Europe. These bacteriaphages infect very specific types of bacteria and kill them, unlike antibiotics which kill a broad spectrum of benificial and pathenogenic bacteria. So, IMO, preventative measures against infection are the ideal, but the use of phages is way better than antibiotics. And seriously, how many people would be puking if I told them I fed my kids bacteria purposely everyday? If there are good bacteria why not good viruses?

ita nak

 

[Jane]

Phages are not the same as the viruses that infect plants or animals. While I'm not sure that putting them on food is a big improvement, they have a huge potential medical use.

 

[Tata]

"Sometimes prophages may provide benefits to the host bacterium while they are dormant by adding new functions to the bacterial genome in a phenomenon called lysogenic conversion. A famous example is the conversion of a harmless strain of Vibrio cholerae by a phage into a highly virulent one, which causes cholera."

This is from the link posted earlier. This is the working link. The quote above shows why this is a VERY bad idea. In terms of replication, it is only a matter of time before something like this happens again. The Europeans may be messing with something that would make the Mad Cow issue look quite small.
Then again, so now are the Americans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage

 

[Tata]

"Lysogenic conversion is when a temperate phage induces a change in the phenotype of the bacteria infected that is not part of a usual phage cycle. Changes can often involve the external membrane of the cell by making it impervious to other phages or even by increasing the pathogenic capability of the bacteria for a host.
As an example, Corynebacterium diphtheriae produces the toxin of diphtheria only when it is infected by the phage ?. In this case, the gene that codes for the toxin is carried by the phage, not the bacteria."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysogenic_conversion

More to ponder about this cure for dirty conditions and a drive for profit by the meat industry. They tried to push irradiation and it proved too problematic. Now this.

 

[Skim]

Those links Tata provided are very interesting. Do check out the photos of the phages! Eerie.

There are too many combinations of nature to make this safe from a laboratory setting. What about viruses grown in plants for pharmaceuticals? Or produced in animal milk? What about those instances of cross-pollination and contamination with a food that is later used in conjunction with these bacteria-killing viruses? And why the heck is it important to introduce these bacteria-killers on a food that only threatens a small % of the population but we still can't seem to get anyone clean drinking water in places like parts of Iraq and Africa or the US? I mean, really, one giant company is going to make a ton of $$ on this bacteriaphage cocktail (6 viruses, no less), and a few paranoid doctors will tell their gullible pregnant patients they can eat lunch meat again.

It's too bad Europe is already doing this. Maybe it hasn't caused significant problems there because they don't have the GE crops everywhere like we do here in the US.

Another reason I'm glad my family and I are vegetarian.

 

[mamamelia]

 

[tayndrewsmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiffany21074 hmm, good point. why can't we just have clean food raised in clean conditions, so we don't need to spray anything??

: My mom said that too. Now this will just be a reason not be sanitary.

 

[Mama Dragon]

Why do people trust the FDA? Why, oh, Why. Sigh.