Some eye-popping food-safety stats from the Economist:

1. There are 26,000 food poisoning cases per 100,000 Americans, every year!

2. Compare that to only 3,400 cases in the UK, and just 1,200 in France (about one tenth, and one twentieth, compared to the US).

3. Every year 76 million Americans become ill with food poisoning. That’s 25% chance each one of us will get sick this year.

4. Of those contracting some ailment, 325,000 end up in a hospital, while most others get over it in a day or 2.

5. However, five thousand Americans die every year from food poisoning.

6. Insufficient food safety is a $35 Billion drag on the US economy.

Why is the US a tenfold more dangerous place to eat than Europe?

Some of the reasons offered in the article are “less eating out, less prepared meals, and less hamburgers” in the UK, but the real reason may lie elsewhere.

This is because the top products involved in food poisoning are actually leafy greens and several other unprocessed foods consumed at home.

There is hope, both on the regulatory and the entrepreneurial fronts. The FDA may soon be empowered by Congress to perform more routine checkups on producers and packers. And companies like Yottamark and FoodLogiq are creating barcodes that enable consumers to trace the route of their spinach all the way back to the farm where it was originally grown.

What to do at the supermarket:

Always thoroughly wash your fruits and vegetables thoroughly before serving. If you prepare meats often, invest in a food thermometer to make sure your cut gets hot enough at the center before serving.

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1. Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs naturally in food such as spinach, asparagus, and lentils.

2. Folic acid (vitamin B9) is a synthetic form of folate. It is found in supplements and added to fortified foods such as breads and cereals.

3. Folic acid is also called folicin.

4. Folate helps produce and maintain new cells, therefore its importance during infancy and pregnancy.

5. Folic acid is is actually better absorbed by the body than natural folate, almost twice as efficiently.

6. The daily requirement for folate is 400 micrograms (mcg). Pregnant and lactating women – 600 mcg.

7. A safe upper limit to folate consumptions is 1000 mcg a day.

8. Folate deficient women who become pregnant are at greater risk of giving birth to low birth weight, premature, and/or infants with neural tube defects.

9. Beginning in 1998, the FDA has required the addition of folic acid to enriched breads, cereals, flours, corn meals, pastas, rice, and other grain products. The stated goal was reduction in rates of neural tube defects in newborns.

10. Despite the fortification, many women planning to become pregnant add a folic acid supplement to their daily routine.

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Still recovering from the most recent UK study showing that organic food is no more nutritious than conventional, we read in the Chicago Tribune that peaches contain excessive amounts of pesticides, some above government safe levels.

It seems that peaches’ delicate constitutions, fuzzy skins and susceptibility to mold and pests cause them to both need and retain pesticides at impressive rates.

So there you go. Even if organic isn’t more nutritious, it’s probably healthier with respect to poison residues your body wont’ get. That’s not to say you should switch to consuming organic food exclusively. Peaches are an extremely sensitive crop. Not all fruits and vegetables are such pushovers.

What to do at the supermarket:

Here’s a short list of the DIRTY DOZEN fruits and vegetables that you can start with.

Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Raspberries, Spinach, Strawberries

And for these items, don’t spend more for organic:

Asparagus, Avocado, Bananas, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Corn, Garlic, Kiwi, Mangoes, Onions, Peas, Pineapples.

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A survey conducted recently by IBM (yes, IBM) shows that less than 1 in 5 consumers trust food companies to provide them with safe food. 1000 people were surveyed. Additional stats:

60% of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase.

63% are knowledgeable about the content of the food they buy.

46% named peanut butter as a recalled product. 15% remembered spinach as a recalled product.

63%  purposefully changed their grocery shopping behavior in the past two years because they wanted better value for their money.

45% have changed shopping behavior to access fresher foods and better quality foods.

What you need to know:

If you’re wondering what IBM has to do with food, they’ve prepares an answer here:

With innovative digital technology and powerful solutions, IBM is making sure food is traced properly as it passes though an increasingly complex global supply chain. IBM is also making that food heartier through biological research.

Will the recent spate of recalls, along with the rising obesity epidemic, and a new administration bent on change have a substantial effect on improving America’s diet?

Advances in information technology are helping information become available cheaply and easily. Manufacturers know exactly where they source every single ingredient. They should pass the information on to consumers.

With a bit of effort, they can create databases accessible to consumers online. Each of the ingredients of a specific product from a specific batch would then be traceable to it farm / laboratory origins.

What to do at the supermarket:

There’s not much consumers can do right now except demand more information from their grocer and from their favorite brands. If enough consumers will demand transparency, the information will start to appear.

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Those giant shiny apples and tomatoes stacked neatly at the produce stand at the supermarket are a marvel of nature. With a lot of help from man. And man’s chemicals.

In order to keep pests from blemishing your fruits and vegetables, farmers spend a fare share of their time and budget on hundreds of chemical solutions. Here are some crazy facts from a group called Pesticide Action Network:

1. 888 million lbs of pesticide are applied each year in the US – about 3 lbs per person.

2. Atrazine, a pesticide that has been banned in Europe, is found in 71% of US drinking water. It’s a hormone disruptor.

3. An average Amercian child gets over 5 “servings” of pesticide residue in their food and water, daily

4. A single strawberry can contain 22 different pesticide residues.

What you need to know:

The problem with pesticides is that they are persistent, they stay in our food even after vigorous washing. Some accumulate in our bodies over years. Not to mention the environmental impact in the soil and water sources. Or the poor farm workers who get sick after handling these toxic chemicals on a daily basis.

The folks at Pesticide Action Network have put together a searchable database where you can see which chemicals are used on which products, and the effect on our bodies. Quite scary.

The effect these residues have on fetuses, infants, and young children is much greater than on adults, so parents should be especially wary.

But please, don’t let this be your excuse not to eat fruit and vegetables! When put into the right context, it is much riskier to your health not to get the nutrients from produce than to be exposed to the pesticide residue.

What to do at the supermarket:

So what’s a worried parent to do?

Switching to organic food seems like a great solution, only it’s out of reach for most people due to the very high price of most organic vegetables, and even higher prices for organic fruit.

An approach taken by many people is selective organic consumption, choosing to go organic for the most heavily chemically drenched products, while sticking to conventional for the rest.

Here are the “dirty dozen” which are simply put, pesticide coated produce. you should buy these organic:

Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Raspberries, Spinach, Strawberries

And for these items, don’t spend more for organic:

Asparagus, Avocado, Bananas, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Corn, Garlic, Kiwi, Mangoes, Onions, Peas, Pineapples

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1. Sodium Nitrite and its closely related Sodium Nitrate are food preservatives used primarily in prepared meat and fish such as ham, bacon, hot dogs, corned beef (spam), luncheon meats, and smoked fish.

2. Sodium Nitrite helps preserve the pink / red color of the meat which should have been grayish having been precooked. It also adds a characteristic flavor.

3. It also wards off against clostridium botulinum, the bacteria responsible for botulism, a dangerous disease causing respiratory and muscular paralysis.

4. Unfortunately, when cooked or broken down in the stomach, nitrites form nitrosamines (also called N-Nitroso Compund), which can cause cancer in young children and pregnant women.

5. Adding ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to the food product greatly reduces the formation of nitrosamines

6. USDA Meat Inspection Regulations have limited the use of nitrite to 200 ppm.

7. Spinach, beets, lettuce, celery, parsley, and cabbages are among vegetables with high concentrations of nitrates. The amount is determined by the plant’s genetics, age, and the amount of nitrate in the soile which have shot up because of increased use of nitrate fertilizers. But don’t stop eating these veggies, many of them also contain vitamin C, naturally limiting the formation of the toxic nitrosamines.

What you need to know:

While botulism is dangerous and nasty it is also very rare, therefore using botulism prevention as a reason to pump meats with nitrites is not acceptable. Proper refrigeration reduce the risk of clostridium botulinum bacteria as well. While the amount of nitrates has been reduced substantially over the years, why not get rid of them completely?

What to do at the supermarket:

Check the ingredient label next time you buy some deli style meats. If you want to avoid nitrates, your chances are higher with organic products.

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Radura Logo - Irradiated Product

There have been voices in the past week suggesting that extending the irradiation of foods beyond spinach and lettuce may have prevented the current peanut butter salmonella outbreak. The New York Times reports:

After spinach tainted with a strain of E. coli killed three people and sickened more than 200 others in 2006, the Food and Drug Administration gave permission for irradiation of spinach and iceberg lettuce. It has yet to begin. Meat irradiation is permitted but rarely used. Among common items on the grocery shelf, only spices and some imported products, like mangoes from India, are routinely treated with radiation.

Read Article…

What is irradition? Why is it good (or not)? below the fold… Read more…

The DivineCaroline site has a delicious list of cheap healthy foods, proving you don’t need to be rich to eat nutritiously.  From the divine:

Food prices are climbing, and some might be looking to fast foods and packaged foods for their cheap bites. But low cost doesn’t have to mean low quality. In fact, some of the most inexpensive things you can buy are the best things for you. At the grocery store, getting the most nutrition for the least amount of money means hanging out on the peripheries—near the fruits and veggies, the meat and dairy, and the bulk grains—while avoiding the expensive packaged interior. By doing so, not only will your kitchen be stocked with excellent foods, your wallet won’t be empty.

read it all…

The list includes nutritional benefits and links to easy recipes. Here is the quick rundown: oats, eggs, kale, potatoes, apples, nuts, bananas, garbanzo beans, broccoli, watermelon, wild rice, beets, butternut squash, whole grain pasta, sardines, spinach, tofu, lowfat milk, pumpkin seeds, and coffee(!).

What you need to know:

Unprocessed food is usually cheaper and healthier for you. But it does require time for meal preparation. Most people that start preparing food at home find the quick and easy recipes that work for them. Getting older children involved in preparation is a double reward.

What to do at the supermarket:

As the post suggests, sticking to the periphery of the supermarket will help you focus on the healthier, unprocessed foods.

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flickr photo: Lisa Brewster

Those who remember Popeye, one of the childhood heroes of the middle of the last century, must certainly remember his source of superpowers. Not a radioactive spider, nor birth on planet Krypton. Spinach leaves, the canned greens that the sailor chugged down in moments of distress, are the superfood that made Popeye super strong.

What you need to know:

Spinach is a nutrition empire in every leaf. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorous, zinc and vitamin E.

Although the iron and calcium in spinach are not fully absorbed in the body due to binding with oxalate that is also found in the elaves, all the other goodies should be enough to convince you to add it to your diet. Spinach is most nutritious when eaten raw, for instance in a salad. However, spinach will not lose too much of its nutrition in a brief dip in boiling water, or a short steam bath. Cooking spinach reduces the amount of oxalate and thus increase the availability of iron and calcium to the body. Spinach’s dark green leaves contain antioxidants that help ward off cancer.

What to do at the supermarket:

Most supermarkets carry fresh spinach year round, packed and pre-washed. Examine the leaves and make sure they are glossy green, and not limp.There should be no black  leaves in the bunch.

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According to the US Dietary Guidelines, we’re supposed to get 5 servings of vegetables a day, but most of us fall short. A new study presented this weekend at the annual ADA convention has found a solution. Drink your veggies:

University of California-Davis researchers say drinking vegetable juice is an effective way to help people increase their vegetable intake.

Study author Carl Keen says seven out of 10 adults fall short of the daily vegetable intake recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. The researchers studied whether drinking vegetable juice could be a simple behavior change to help boost the intake of vegetables to “strive for five,” or eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

Read more…

What you need to know:

There’s great variation in the nutritional content of vegetables. Most contain small amounts of fat and protein, and large amounts of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. The variation is important, as each color represents different nutrients found in the plant. Here’s a brief color code  breakdown:

Red – tomatoes (especially cooked) – lycopene. Protection from prostate cancer as well as heart and lung disease.

Purple – beets, eggplant, red cabbage, red peppers – anthocyanins – good for the heart.

Orange – carrots, winter squash and sweet potatoes – alpha carotene, beta carotene.

Yellow/green – spinach, collards, corn, green peas, avocado – lutein and zeaxanthin – good for the eyes.

Green – broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale and bok choy – sulforaphane, isocyanate – inhibit the action of carcinogens.

White/green – garlic, onions, leeks, celery, asparagus – allicin and other antioxidants – antitumor properties.

source: The Color Code book

What to do at the supermarket:

When buying vegetable juice, look at the label to see what you’re getting. An 8oz serving of V8 is loaded with salt (480mg / 20% of recommended daily intake). The low sodium version has less than a third of that amount.

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