Consumer Reports: How dangerous bacteria travel from farm to table

This easy to understand graphic appears in the January 2016 issue of Consumer Reports, a magazine that has taken the lead on trying "to stop the antibiotic overuse in meat and poultry production that gives rise to dangerous bacteria."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You could say the story of how dangerous bacteria gets from the factory farm to your table is full of shit -- or manure, if you prefer a more polite word.

The story begins on farms where healthy animals "are routinely given antibiotics in their food and/or water," and "bacteria that's present in the animals' intestine react with the antibiotics," Consumer Reports says.

"Some of the bacteria are killed, but a few survive. Those resistant bacteria flourish."

In the final part of a three-part series, the magazine traces bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics as animals excrete it in manure, and how the bacteria can be spread to the community.

Many carriers

In the January 2016 issue, the magazine's editors note resistant bacteria or superbugs spread:

"Via soil, when animal waste is used to fertilize crops; via water, when waste seeps into groundwater; and via air, when bacteria are carried by the wind."

Also, "via farmworkers, who pick up the bacteria on their skin and transfer it when they come into contact with other people; and via flies, which carry bacteria they have picked up on the farm."

During slaughter

Even scarier, "resistant bacteria can also contaminate raw meat during slaughter or processing" in a number of ways.

"Plant workers can pick up bacteria on their skin and transfer it to the meat or to other people," and "raw meat sold in supermarkets may contain bacteria that may infect people who handle or eat it."

The bottom line is that people become ill with antibiotic-resistant infections, and some die.

See: The Rise of Superbugs

Factory farms

Nowhere are antibiotics "more inappropriately employed than in the meat and poultry industries," according to Consumer Reports.

"Abut 80 percent  of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are give to animals raised for food -- including hogs, cattle, chickens and turkeys.

"The most recent data from the Food and Drug Administration show that more 32 million pounds of antibiotics were sold for use food animals in the U.S. in 2013 -- up 17 percent from just four years earlier."

About 20 percent of people sickened by an antibiotic-resistant bug don't pick it up in the hospital or from another person -- they get it from food."

Best practices

The article contains two lists showing which chain restaurants, and meat and poultry producers use human and animal antibiotics, and which don't.

I was surprised to learn that Coleman Natural and Niman Ranch, two brands known for organic or naturally raised meat and poultry, are owned by Perdue, which uses antibiotics widely.

The only chains that ban antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention, as well as other drugs, are Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread (beef, chicken, pork and roasted turkey).

What you can do

I've stopped eating meat and poultry altogether, but other family members look for organic or antibiotic-free beef, chicken and turkey.

When I buy seafood, I look for wild-caught fish and shrimp or farmed fillets that are raised without antibiotics. 

Monsanto and GMOs, Trader Joe's and antibiotics, food that can't hurt

At Trader Joe's in Paramus, store-brand cold cuts are displayed above those from Applegate Naturals. Both brands are uncured (free of nitrates or other preservatives), but only Applegate says its cold cuts come from animals that were raised on a vegetarian diet free of harmful antibiotics and animal byproducts.

Editor's note: This post has been revised to make excerpts from Food & Water Watch and Consumers Union more readable, and expanded to include links to other Web sites on GMOs.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

GMOs or genetically modified organisms are among the most confusing and controversial issues we encounter every time we shop for food.

The European Union requires producers to label food containing GMOs, but in the United States, big food companies have fought successfully against implementation of a similar law.

In the U.S., certified organic foods are free of GMOs, as are an increasing list of non-organic foods labeled by the Non-GMO Project.

Monsanto and Roundup

At the center of the debate is Roundup, a herbicide made by Monsanto that is a "probable human carcinogen," according to Food & Water Watch: 

"Roundup is an herbicide made by Monsanto, with the chemical name glyphosate. Hundreds of millions of pounds of Roundup are used on farmland across America every year, even though the World Health Organization's cancer agency found that it is a “probable human carcinogen."

"Glyphosate is turning up in rain, streams and air near agricultural areas, so we can't just avoid certain food or buy organic to avoid contact with Roundup. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting us from environmental risks like this. Tell the EPA to get rid of Roundup!

"Monsanto is a major player in the production of our food, and has made Roundup a necessity for big farms, packaging it alongside its genetically engineered (GMO) seeds.² Then, when farmers use Roundup, the weeds on their fields get used to this exposure, forcing farmers to use even more herbicides to kill these "superweeds."

"Instead of allowing the continued and expanded use of Roundup, we need the EPA to put an end to its use.

"The widespread use of a cancer-causing chemical is just one example of how our current food system is broken.

"Instead of making sustainable food, the system is set up to benefit big corporations that control it, not people. This didn’t happen by accident. Decades of bad food policy designed to benefit big agribusinesses and mega-farms, combined with unchecked corporate mergers, have wreaked havoc on family farmers, public health and rural communities. It's not just the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides — there are a plethora of long-term, systemic food safety problems that are just as serious:

·         Drugs and artificial growth hormones used in the production of our food;

·         The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria stemming from factory farms;

·         And questionable technologies, like GMOs and irradiation, that have not been studied for long-term health impacts.

"Massive corporations like Monsanto, Cargill, Tyson, Kraft and ConAgra benefit from the short cuts, the products and the practices that put our food and health at risk. And these corporations have strong political allies that have helped rig the system.

"Solving this crisis will require a complete structural shift — a change that is about policy, not just personal choice — and it won't be easy.

"But we have a strategy. It involves breaking the problem down into pieces — taking on issues like the use of Roundup to start, and building to bigger problems like the misuse of antibiotics on factory farms and labeling for GMO foods, and through this process cracking away at the power of the corporations that control the system itself.

"We know that this strategy works. It helped us pass bills to get the known carcinogen arsenic out of our chicken production, got Starbucks to stop using milk produced with artificial growth hormones and has kept GMO salmon off the market!³

"Through every action you take, we build people power and grow to make the big change that we need. Take action today to end the use of Roundup — help build the movement to make sure everyone has access to safe food by telling the EPA to stand up for our food and our health!

"While Monsanto and other big corporations hold a tremendous amount of power, and may be more powerful than any one of us, they'll never be more powerful than all of us together."

Click on these links for more information on GMOs:

Say No To GMOs!

Institute for Responsible Technology

Trader Joe's and antibiotics

Trader Joe's still hasn't heeded a call to stop selling meat and poultry raised on harmful antibiotics, as I saw on a visit to the Paramus store on Tuesday.

I bought uncured sliced turkey and ham from Applegate Naturals, which are from animals raised on a vegetarian diet, free of antibiotics and animal byproducts (bits of dead animals put into feed).

Seven-ounce packages were $4.49 each, a dollar more than 8-ounce packages of Trader Joe's uncured cold cuts, which come from animals raised on harmful antibiotics.

In 2012, Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports magazine, called on Trader Joe's to stop selling meat and poultry raised on antibiotics:

Antibiotic Use in Livestock Poses Public Health Risk

Some 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used not on humans but on livestock. These antibiotics are fed to healthy animals like cows, pigs, and chickens to make them grow faster and to prevent disease in often crowded and unsanitary conditions on today’s factory farms. While public health campaigns are helping to curb the overuse of antibiotics in humans, the livestock industry has steadily increased its use of antibiotics over the past decade.

When antibiotics are used on the farm, the bugs that are vulnerable to them tend to be killed off, leaving behind bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant bacteria can spread from the farm to our communities via meat and poultry, farmworkers, and through the air, soil, and water. As antibiotic resistance increases, the medications we all depend on become less effective.

Trader Joe’s Should Be A Leader

Over 500,000 consumers have signed petitions, postcards and flyers in support of Consumers Union’s campaign. However, Trader Joe’s has so far refused to change their practices or even meet with Consumers Union to discuss the issue. Trader Joe’s offers some chicken, turkey, and beef raised without antibiotics, but no pork. While this is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go far enough, according to Consumers Union.

“Continuing to sell meat from animals that are routinely fed antibiotics contributes to the development and spread of antibiotic resistance,” said Halloran. “Trader Joe’s has demonstrated its commitment to its customers’ health by saying no to GMOs, artificial colors, and trans fats. It should take the obvious next step and help move the livestock industry in the right direction towards healthy animals raised without drugs.”

At the height of wild salmon season, you won't find any fresh fish at Trader Joe's in Paramus. These frozen Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets are a pricey $11.99 a pound, compared to fresh sockeye for $8.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Hot dogs, franks, pasta

I also purchased two packages of Trader Joe's Uncured Beef Hot Dogs ($5.99 each), which are antibiotic free, but passed on the Jumbo Uncured Franks, which are from animals raised on antibiotics.

The hot dogs were a dollar more than they were in March.

Another price hike I noticed was for Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Pasta, now $1.49 a pound for a variety of shapes, matching what Whole Foods Market, also in Paramus, charges for its organic whole wheat pasta from Italy.

But the Luigi Vitelli-brand of organic whole wheat pasta from Italy is only $1.25 a pound at ShopRite supermarkets.

Other purchases at Trader Joe's included cans of 100% Arabica Dark Roast and Medium Roast Coffee Beans, which I ground to Turkish in the store ($4.99 each for 13 ounces or 14 ounces).

Also, half-gallon bottles of Low Calorie Lemonade ($2.69), and 100% juices called Garden Patch ($3.49) and Green Plant ($3.99).

HOMEMADE FOOD THAT CAN'T HURT YOU: Two cage-free organic eggs from Costco Wholesale with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Middle Eastern flavors, Aleppo pepper, za'atar thyme mixture and chopped fresh mint from our garden, served with skin-on sweet potatoes mashed with extra-virgin olive oil.

Late-summer tomatoes from our garden with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix (Costco Wholesale), dressed with organic Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Pan-fried whole red snapper with garlic, onion, carrot, and sweet and hot peppers, all doused with hot vinegar and pimiento. The whole wild-caught fish were $6.99 a pound at H Mart in Englewood.

Fresh wild sockeye salmon fillet with pesto and organic diced tomatoes, all from Costco Wholesale, served with whole-wheat pappardelle.

DINNER IS SERVED: Leftover wild salmon is delicious right out of the refrigerator over organic spring mix with garden tomato slices, dressed in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I grilled the salmon for 6 minutes on a preheated non-stick pan I sprayed with oil (medium high heat), starting them skin-side down, flipping them after 3 minutes and in the final minute, back onto the skin. Before I cook the fish, I add fresh lime juice and a little sea salt.

I cooked down a 15-ounce can of organic diced tomatoes with a half-cup of red wine, garlic powder, black pepper and other seasonings before I started to boil the pappardelle, which take about 11 minutes. When the timer hit 6 minutes, I put the fish on the preheated grill pan. The pesto requires no heating before you add it to the drained noodles.

More on industrial farms' use of antibiotics

Check out the following link to The Pew Charitable Trusts' Web site on the use of antibiotics in industrial farm animals:

http://www.saveantibiotics.org/

One point it makes is that "70 percent of U.S. antibiotics go to animals raised on industrial farms that aren't sick, to offset crowding and poor sanitation. This practice promotes the development of deadly strains of drug-resistant bacteria that can spread to humans."

Something to keep in mind the next time you are shopping for chicken, pork or any other meat in your favorite supermarket and are drawn by the low prices on products from Perdue and Tyson, and meat producers you can't identify because of a store-labeled package.