Fearmongering, or true concern?
- Thread starter Murgen
- Start date
Gone are the days when the news was limited to the six-o'clock hour. Similar to The Weather Channel, news channels now run on a 24-hour news cycle, and we can tune in at any time. As a result, more news is reported more quickly—and continuously throughout the day—and the public is more aware. Informing the public through frequent reports of food safety outbreaks is a public service. However, because of the impact news can have on consumers' decisions, it is important to include context in the messages that reach the public
Food fears run amok
By: David Martosko
Newspaper: The Idaho Statesman
It's become fashionable for activist groups to demand that grocers provide ever-more information about the foods they sell. ("Group wants Albertsons' notice about danger of fish to be more prominent," June 21) But the recent campaign to force Albertsons to post mercury warnings in its stores is a case of food-fears run amok.
The vast majority of fish sold in America have mercury levels below the FDA's "Action Level" -- a mercury consumption guideline with a built-in 1,000 percent safety factor. For the few fish that exceed this FDA standard, consumers are still protected by a huge cushion. In 14 years of testing, the FDA has yet to find a single fish that would actually pose a health risk.
Men and women alike should be eating more fish, not less. It's a low-fat food rich in nutrients. Warning signs like the ones these activists want would scare people away from a health food, even though the threat posed by mercury in fish is virtually non-existent.
If you're going to worry about what you eat, there are bigger food-borne killers. For starters, listeriosis (from contaminated meats, dairy products, raw vegetables) and salmonella (from contaminated raw eggs) each cause 500 deaths a year in this country. E-coli, which is most associated with eating contaminated ground beef, kills 61 people a year.
Murgen said:Gone are the days when the news was limited to the six-o'clock hour. Similar to The Weather Channel, news channels now run on a 24-hour news cycle, and we can tune in at any time. As a result, more news is reported more quickly—and continuously throughout the day—and the public is more aware. Informing the public through frequent reports of food safety outbreaks is a public service. However, because of the impact news can have on consumers' decisions, it is important to include context in the messages that reach the public
Food fears run amok
By: David Martosko
Newspaper: The Idaho Statesman
It's become fashionable for activist groups to demand that grocers provide ever-more information about the foods they sell. ("Group wants Albertsons' notice about danger of fish to be more prominent," June 21) But the recent campaign to force Albertsons to post mercury warnings in its stores is a case of food-fears run amok.
The vast majority of fish sold in America have mercury levels below the FDA's "Action Level" -- a mercury consumption guideline with a built-in 1,000 percent safety factor. For the few fish that exceed this FDA standard, consumers are still protected by a huge cushion. In 14 years of testing, the FDA has yet to find a single fish that would actually pose a health risk.
Men and women alike should be eating more fish, not less. It's a low-fat food rich in nutrients. Warning signs like the ones these activists want would scare people away from a health food, even though the threat posed by mercury in fish is virtually non-existent.
If you're going to worry about what you eat, there are bigger food-borne killers. For starters, listeriosis (from contaminated meats, dairy products, raw vegetables) and salmonella (from contaminated raw eggs) each cause 500 deaths a year in this country. E-coli, which is most associated with eating contaminated ground beef, kills 61 people a year.
This indicates that there is a great deal of money at stake for these companies. But what they have overlooked is the overall effect of their sustained campaign of scare-mongering and its negative repercussions on the economic status of the farming community at large. The critical swathe of Media words against livestock farmers over recent years has been sufficient to impoverish our farmlands.
Murgen said:This indicates that there is a great deal of money at stake for these companies. But what they have overlooked is the overall effect of their sustained campaign of scare-mongering and its negative repercussions on the economic status of the farming community at large. The critical swathe of Media words against livestock farmers over recent years has been sufficient to impoverish our farmlands.
http://www.purdeyenvironment.com/Maple%20Grief%202%20.htm
I did the calculation, Murgen, you have a 1 in 4.149 billion chance in a food born illness with each meal assuming 288 million in the U.S., eating 365 days at 3 meals per day/ 76 million instances of food poisoning in the U.S. Does that mean we should ditch food safety?
