[Echo]

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.

More: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/18/edible.virus.ap/index.html

 

[Ciaran]

Yet another reason to not eat hot dogs and other pink meats.

 

[skatetokil]

but they are soo tasty.

 

[LordOpie]

a month after my knee surgery, I drank a glass of bacteria a day for a week to replenish the good bacteria in my stomach that was killed by the medicine my doctors gave me when they kindly gave me an infection.

not all viruses are bad.

 

[syadasti]

Its a good thing we eat meat cooked. Raw salads can be nasty too. Enjoy

Dr. Steve Swanson of the Centers for Disease Control says: "Next to ground beef, lettuce is the most commonly implicated food item for E. coli 0157 infections." Unlike most other E. coli-bearing foodstuffs, lettuce is rarely eaten cooked, a process that normally kills the microorganisms.

While most of its strains are harmless, one strain (O157:H7) produces a powerful toxin that results in severe illness in humans. E. coli gets into us through being swallowed; it rides in as part of a contaminated foodstuff, or through hand-to-mouth contact by people who have handled items laden with the bacteria, or through our swimming in water where the microbes are present. Such infections usually culminate in severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps, with the illness resolving in 5 to 10 days without treatment. However, in about 2% to 7% of infections (usually in children under 5 years of age and the elderly), the pathogen causes hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious and life-threatening condition in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys
fail.

Since 1995, 19 confirmed outbreaks have sickened 400 people nationwide and caused two deaths.

 

[syadasti]

Also as mentioned above by LO, probotics are good for you. I eat Stonyfield yogurt every morning

The Functions of Probiotics
Studies have shown that probiotic cultures benefit your health in several ways:

* Gastro Intestinal Health Support
Help Suppress pathogenic bacteria
Help control antibiotic-associated diarrhea
Help prevent traveler’s diarrhea
Improve the mucosal membrane integrity and reduce Leaky Gut Syndrome (a condition where the intestinal barrier is “leaky” allowing too much bacteria, allergens or other toxins into the bloodstream, potentially causing increased food and chemical sensitivities, digestive problems and other ailments.)

* Beneficial Metabolic Effects
Improve lactose tolerance
Produce some vitamins and enzymes
Decrease toxins and mutagenic reactions
Improve carbohydrate and protein usage

* Functional Immune Support
Help Strengthen innate immunity
Help Create a barrier effect in the intestinal tract
Shown to reduce infant food allergies and eczema

Probiotics protect us from pathogens such as Salmonella and others by preventing their attachment to the intestinal lining. They interfere by blanketing all available surfaces—thus limiting the growth of microscopic invaders like Guardia, Candida yeast, and bacteria such as E. coli.

 

[SkaredShtles]

a month after my knee surgery, I drank a glass of bacteria a day for a week to replenish the good bacteria in my stomach that was killed by the medicine my doctors gave me when they kindly gave me an infection.

not all viruses are bad.

Last time I looked a virus was different than a bacterium.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Mmmmm........... sausages.........

 

[Echo]

Its a good thing we eat meat cooked. Raw salads can be nasty too. Enjoy

Most of the salad and other veggies I eat come from my girlfriend's garden. No e-coli there.

Good luck with trusting the US government to decide what viruses are safe for you though. They do such a good job at not being paid off by pharmaceutical companies when deciding what drugs are safe after all

 

[Echo]

Did science just conveniently forget that one of the basic characteristics of a virus is that it mutates?

 

[laura]

Echo, surely you have been here too long to realize what an exercise in futility threads like this are.

 

[syadasti]

Most of the salad and other veggies I eat come from my girlfriend's garden. No e-coli there.

Most isn't good enough - just takes one time. E coli is found all over the place and most strains are harmless.

2 million years of evolution can't be wrong - humans are omnivores, end of story.

FDA is definately corrupt though...

 

[SkaredShtles]

Most of the salad and other veggies I eat come from my girlfriend's garden. No e-coli there.

That's fine and dandy, but what do you do the other 9 months of the year?

 

[syadasti]

That's fine and dandy, but what do you do the other 9 months of the year?

He hibernates with the bears

 

[BikeMike]

Did science just conveniently forget that one of the basic characteristics of a virus is that it mutates?

Ahem. How well do you remember your biology?

From your statement one could infer that you are arguing that the nature of the virus makes it inherently unsuitable to eat.

1. A virus doens't mutate just because. There has to be sufficient selective pressure for it to survive and multiply. Most mutations are deleterious.
2. Rates of mutation vary. Perhaps it is a virus with stable genetic code. I don't know, do you?
3. Perhaps the virus targets one of the many systems in prokaryotes that are not similar to those in eukaryotic cells, i.e. the cells that compose you and me. The probability of such a virus mutating into something that is going to be able to make you really sick is less than the probability of two meteorites striking your car tomorrow at noon.

I don't mean to be offensive. I just dislike gross psuedo-scientific generalizations.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>
I don't mean to be offensive. I just dislike gross psuedo-scientific generalizations.

Don't worry about him. He's just trying to belittle us dead flesh eaters.

 

[Echo]

That's fine and dandy, but what do you do the other 9 months of the year?

Well I don't wanna make any assumptions about where you live, but up here in the civilized part of the US we have these handy devices called "freezers" which can keep foods fresh for an impressive length of time.

 

[syadasti]

Well I don't wanna make any assumptions about where you live, but up here in the civilized part of the US we have these handy devices called "freezers" which can keep foods fresh for an impressive length of time.

So your GF is a farmer - thats a lot of veggies you need for the whole year? Man you must have some huge freezers too

 

[Echo]

Well she has 2 freezers at her house and I have 1 at mine. So far so good, we haven't starved yet.

 

[narlus]

last i checked, lettuce and other greens don't freeze too well.

i have no idea how clarence birdseye got his spinach to freeze.

 

[Westy]

last i checked, lettuce and other greens don't freeze too well.

i have no idea how clarence birdseye got his spinach to freeze.

Bacon grease, it makes everything better.

 

[LordOpie]

Bacon grease, it makes everything better.

If you're really hungry and in a hurry, just spread is on some toast.
Lucky poor kids.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Well I don't wanna make any assumptions about where you live, but up here in the civilized part of the US we have these handy devices called "freezers" which can keep foods fresh for an impressive length of time.

You use frozen veggies on your salads? That's weird.

 

[blue]

Wait, Echo's veg?

Sweet. I was vegan for six months...I should really try it again sometime, I liked it.

 

[TheMontashu]

Its a good thing we eat meat cooked. Raw salads can be nasty too. Enjoy

I got H.U.S. when i was 7, it ****ing blew donkey balls

 

[Changleen]

I eat a lot of fresh raw meat. Mostly fillet steak and salmon. It's all good if you don't buy it from some prick. Raw salmon is the sh1t.

Purposefully added viruses does sound a little shady eh? I figure those FDA guy's kids will be eating it too, though...

 

[I Are Baboon]

"The bacterium the viruses target can cause a serious infection called listeriosis, primarily in pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems."


Cool, I've got nothing to worry about. BRING ON THE MEAT!

 

[Westy]

If you're really hungry and in a hurry, just spread is on some toast.
Lucky poor kids.

Growing up we always had bacon for breakfast on Thanksgiving, so the bacon grease could be placed into the mashed 'taters.