safe eating

There is a lot of evidence about the dangerous health effects of pesticides, additives and other contaminant of our food. Also there is much evidence to support theory about potential harm of irradiated and genetically modified food. For a health promoting diet is important to reduce intake of these potentially harmful substances.

Foodborne Illnesses

Food contamination is making us ill. Many people don’t think about food safety until food related illness affect them. More then 250 organisms are capable of causing foodborne illness.
The most common causes are:
Campylobacter – can be found in raw poultry and meat, unpasteurised milk and untreated water. Causes fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
Salmonella - the second most common cause of food poisoning has been found in raw meat, poultry and eggs, raw unwashed vegetables, unpasteurised milk and dairy products. Causes fever, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. It can invade bloodstream system and cause life threatening infection in person with weakened immune system.
E coli O157 – can be found in raw and undercooked meats, unpasteurised milk and dairy products, raw vegetables and unpasteurised apple juice. Causes bloody diarrhea and painful abdominal cramps, without much fever. In some cases, infection can lead to kidney failure, and sometimes death.

There is much you can do to prevent foodborne illness.
- Eat all meats, and poultry thoroughly well cooked.
- Wash your hands often especially before eating.
- Wash all fruits and vegetables before eating them.

Food Irradiation

Food irradiation is a food processing technology that exposes food to a source of ionizing energy to purify it. Applying radiant energy waves to food is one way to increase the safety of the food we eat.
On the other side, irradiation produces altered food molecules, destroys most of the vitamins and alters the fatty acid structures in food. Bad thing about food irradiation is that it might be used to mask poor sanitary standards in food production.

Genetically Modified Food

The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content.
The argument for genetic engineering of food is that while the world population continues to expand, the area for land available for food production is finite. If the world’s population increases, food production must be increased. Proponents of GM foods argue that without GM foods will not be enough food for future generations. But, current techniques are not capable of expanding production that significantly. Reality is that primary reason for GM food is to generate profits for large corporations.
Most concerns about GM food:
- Little scientific data on the long term safety of GM food. It may turn out that GM food may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health.
- Genes from genetically modified plants have been shown to be capable of escaping into environment and contaminating natural crops.
- Manipulating genetic material changes the expression of protein and antigens in foods and could lead to allergic reactions.

Food Additives

Food additives are used to prevent foods spoiling or to enhance their flavor. They include substances as preservatives, artificial colors, artificial flavorings, acidifiers. Many compounds approved as additives are natural and health promoting, but not all additives used in food supply are safe. A great number of synthetics additives are in use with known cancer causing effects. Synthetics additives are being linked with depression, asthma or other allergies, hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children and migraine headaches.