anti-bacteria spray on meats?

[clarke]

I saw that on msn.com the other day, and was wondering if anyone had anymore info on it or about it.

Hmmm, too bad it can't be used for other types of "meats" to get rid of bacteria 

[penguin]

didn't see article...but i know meat processing plants regularly use ascorbic acid in spray form?

hunters/shooters/fishers use citric acid/water solution on game for same reason..the acids inhibit bacterial growth.

why me, the vegetarian, is answering this, i don't know... 

kate

[clarke]

rofl Kate!  I knew ascorbic acid was used on some things, but this stuff is a bacteria that eats another type of bacteria.

Let me see if I can find and cut/paste the article.

The bacterium they target can cause a serious infection called listeriosis, primarily in pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. In the United States, an estimated 2,500 persons become seriously ill with listeriosis each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 500 die.

The preparation of bacteriophages — the name is Greek for “bacteria-eater” — infects only various strains of the Listeria bacterium and not human or plant cells, the FDA said.

People normally come into contact with phages through food, water and the environment, and they are found in our digestive tracts, the FDA said.

The viral preparation is made by Intralytix Inc. The Baltimore company first petitioned the FDA in 2002 to allow the viruses to be used as a food additive.

Messages left with the company and the FDA were not immediately returned Friday.

The viruses are grown in a preparation of the very bacteria they kill, and then purified. The FDA had concerns that the virus preparation potentially could contain toxic residues associated with the bacteria. However, testing did not reveal the presence of such residues, which likely wouldn’t cause health problems anyway, the FDA said.

Scientists have long studied bacteriophages as a bacteria-fighting alternative to antibiotics.

[J.R.E.]

Hello Clarke,


I just read the article today. Can be read here :

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/nation_world/story.asp?ID=145465




Ray

[Ann]

Sounds perfectly disgusting. The best way to avoid bacteria in meat is to not eat it.

Ann
(who is also vegetarian)

[lydgate]

Another vegetarian chiming in to say, yes, avoiding meat altogether seems healthier than spraying things on it. Not that my diet would be considered healthy by Alex (allopathicholistic), consisting as it does largely of junk and processed (vegetarian) food. 

Jay

[penguin]

phages, eh? thank you for posting that article.

wrong though, summat about this, just wrong. surely if they're practising good food hygiene/storage etc, they dont need to spray anything on it?

*shudder*


Kate

[Matty the Damned]

Bah!

Vegetarians don't love animals, they hate plants.

MtD
(Who is an obligate carnivore)

[HIVworker]

Its not a bacteria, it's a sort of bacterial virus. If memory serves correctly, they can look like moon-landing objects.

[HIVworker]

like this

[Ann]

Bah!

Vegetarians don't love animals, they hate plants.

MtD
(Who is an obligate carnivore)

Don't you mean an obdurate carnivore?

Ann
(who thinks the thingy posted by Rich is a high tech spider)

[Matty the Damned]

Don't you mean an obdurate carnivore?

Ann
(who thinks the thingy posted by Rich is a high tech spider)

Silence plant murderer!

Actually I'm not really an obligate or true carnivore. I do eat vegetables so I guess I'm an omnivore.

MtD
(Who has confusion issues)

[Ann]

mmmm, yep, I could murder some crispy fried tofu right about now, with a side of garlic green beans.

I was thinking you were probably more of an omnivore, but I didn't want to look like I was omniscient or anything... 

[clarke]

I seem to have missed where this also has to do with some veggies because of their potential to carry e-coli.