THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 201, August 15, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LUCKY ACCIDENT SLASHES FOOD POISONINGS
By Dennis T. Avery
A NEW NATURAL, LIFE-SAVING FOOD ADDITIVE, DISCOVERED IN A LABORATORY ACCIDENT: A LANTIBIOTIC, OR
PEPTIDE, THAT KILLS GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA, INCLUDING THE MOST HARMFUL ONES -- NOW READY TO REDUCE BY
HALF THE NUMBER OF HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS FROM FOOD-BORNE BACTERIAL POISONING ACROSS THE WESTERN
WORLD
FULL STORY:
A new natural food additive, discovered in a laboratory accident, is now ready to slash by half the number of
hospitalizations and deaths from food-borne bacterial poisoning across the Western world.
In July, 2011, salmonella traced to ground turkey hospitalized 78 people in 26 states and was blamed for one death.
Nationwide, such deadly food-borne bacteria as E. coli O157:H7, salmonella, campylobacter, and listeria claim an
estimated 48 million victims per year, with 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. The bacteria attack even more
viciously in countries with cruder defenses.
Now, hundreds of thousands of anguished parents, relatives, and friends will not find themselves standing by hospital
beds because a victim innocently ate something that should have been safe — thanks to the new food additive.
That’s today’s good news. The bad news is that the other half of our food-borne bacteria victims are still at risk. We
still refuse to use safe, cheap “electronic pasteurizing” to kill the deadly bacteria on our fresh produce — such as the E.
coli-infested bean sprouts that recently sickened 3900 people and killed 39 in Europe.
Food Scientist Dr. Daniel J. O’Sullivan, Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, found
the new natural food additive because he was looking at food bacteria microscopically and knew what he had when he
found it. The new food additive is a “lantibiotic,” a peptide produced naturally. It kills gram-negative bacteria —
including most of the harmful ones.
The new lantibiotic can be added safely to hamburger and other ground meats, egg and dairy products, seafood, salad
dressing, canned foods, and many other products. It’s nontoxic, easy to digest and doesn’t induce allergies. It’s also
hard for bacteria to develop resistance to it. It has been patented by the University of Minnesota and will now be
licensed for industry-wide use. Watch for it.
This kind of food safety advance was supposed to come from the government’s new Food Safety Act, which is hiring lots
of new food inspectors to chase food-borne bacteria, after they’ve already sickened or killed their victims. That’s a fool’s
game, because the bacteria are so pervasive, and often appear only fleetingly in the food chain. The food inspectors will
spend millions of hours without preventing much danger. In 2006, contaminated California spinach killed 3 and
hospitalized 276. The source may have been found — weeks later — in a nearby cattle pasture, with a fence that had been
penetrated by feral hogs. But that doesn’t tell us how to prevent future E. coli O157 outbreaks since the E. coli O157 has
been found in every cattle herd ever tested for it.
Unfortunately, our “food scare industry” loves the new law, because, not being at all preventative, it leaves them free to
proclaim profitable “answers” such as organic food and “nature’s own” products that are not demonstrably safer.
Electronic pasteurization has been on the shelf for decades, safety-tested, approved by medical authorities worldwide and
cheap. It even makes the produce taste better and fresher because it kills the spoilage bacteria too. The world got
pasteurized milk because of a tuberculosis epidemic in the dairy cows, which were spreading it through their milk. What will
it take to reassure our consumers that technology is better than thousands of hospitalized children per year?
The best news for me, besides the thousands of people who don’t become ill, is that the food scare industry will now have
only half as many food-borne illnesses to crow about in the press. Unfortunately, you will still be playing a needless game
of Russian roulette with your family’s health when you buy fresh fruits and vegetables — even organic ones. Good luck.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Science, Ethics, & Human Health:
Human Health & Public Policy
Dennis T. Avery, a senior fellow for the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., is an environmental economist. He was
formerly a senior analyst for the U.S. Department of State. He is co-author, with S. Fred Singer of Unstoppable Global
Warming Every 1500 Years. Readers may write to him at P.O. Box 202 Churchville, Virginia, 2442; send him email at
cgfi@hughes.net; or visit us at www.cgfi.org
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity