Fact Sheet on From Health Canada: Honey and Infant Botulism
What is infant botulism? Infant botulism is a neuroparalytic disease which affects otherwise healthy children less than one year old. It was first recognized in 1976. Early symptoms of infant botulism are constipation, generalized weakness and a weak cry. While most cases require hospitalization, fatal cases are rare. What causes the illness? Infant botulism is caused by the food poisoning bacterium Clostridium botulinum. This is the same bacterium that causes the food poisoning known as “botulism”. Spores of these bacteria are ingested by the infant, grow and produce a neurotoxin (i.e. poison) in the infant’s intestine. Spores of C. botulinum may be easily ingested as they are common in soil and dust. This may lead to botulism in children younger than one year. Many infants …
Continue Reading >Cooking Safely in the Microwave Oven
Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, but special care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat, poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are prepared safely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave “cold spots,” where harmful bacteria can survive. For this reason, it is important to use the following safe microwaving tips to prevent foodborne illness. Microwave Oven Cooking Arrange food items evenly in a covered dish and add some liquid if needed. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap; loosen or vent the lid or wrap to let steam escape. The moist heat that is created will help destroy harmful bacteria and ensure uniform cooking. Cooking bags also provide safe, even cooking. Do not cook large …
Continue Reading >NutriWatch Links
Our goal is to select links that provide accurate and practical information. The bracketed dates indicate the most recent time we checked each site. Please contact us if you would like to recommend additional sites or articles to which we should link. Web sites FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition [4/17/00] Institute of Food Technologists: Scientific status summaries and “Communicator Alerts” on many current issues [1/2/00] USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service [8/12/02] Articles Food Safety: A Worldwide Public Health Issue (1999): World Health Organization fact sheet [4/17/00] Food Safety: A Growing Global Health Problem (2000): JAMA editorial by U.S. Surgeon General [4/17/00 NutriWatch Home Page This article was revised on August 12, 2002.
Continue Reading >Genetically Modified Organisms
Since life began, genes have crossed the boundaries of related and unrelated species in nature. Biotechnology applications by humans date back to 1800 B.C., when people began using yeast to leaven bread and ferment wine. By the 1860s, people started breeding plants through deliberate cross-pollination. They moved and selected genes to enhance the beneficial qualities of plants through cross-breeding without knowing the traits for which the genes coded. Most foods, including rice, oats, potatoes, corn, wheat and tomatoes, are the products of traditional cross-breeding. This time-tested practice continues to produce crops with desirable traits. However, traditional cross-breeding has its limitations. It can only occur in the same or related plant species, so genetic resources available to any one plant are limited. Moreover, when plants are …
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