January 2004 Newsletter

FOOD FACTS FOR YOU!

Beginning the New Year Under a Cloud: BSE in the U.S.
Food Safety and Trade
Viral Hepatitis: An Alphabet Soup of Diseases
What’s On Your Mind? (new food preservation resources, toxicity of Teflon, turkey fryers, food storage dates, adapting conventional recipes for the microwave, pesticides from cotton in food)

 

Beginning the New Year Under a Cloud: BSE in the U.S.

Just when I thought the January, 2004 newsletter was written….along came the little issue of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or 'mad cow disease' in the United States. Dr. Dennis Buege (Extension Meat Scientist) and I are also working to update consumer fact sheets and other information and we will share that with you as soon as possible. For now, as UW-Extension works to respond to this issue at the state and local level, be sure to check out the Extension web site where much of the pertinent information is posted: www.uwex.edu/ces/ag/issues/bse And please feel free to call or email if you would like to discuss this issue. Some basic questions, and answers, about BSE, from the Center for Disease Control are highlighted below:
What is bovine spongiform encephalopathy? Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unconventional transmissible agent. Through the end of November 2003, more than 183,000 cases of BSE were confirmed in the United Kingdom alone in more than 35,000 herds. The BSE epidemic in the United Kingdom peaked in January 1993 at almost 1,000 new cases per week. The outbreak may have resulted from the feeding of scrapie-containing sheep meat-and-bone meal to cattle. There is strong evidence and general agreement that the outbreak was amplified by feeding rendered bovine meat-and-bone meal to young calves. The nature of the transmissible agent is unknown. Currently, the most accepted theory is that the agent is a modified form of a normal cell surface component known as prion protein. The pathogenic form of the protein is both less soluble and more resistant to enzyme degradation than the normal form.
Does BSE occur in the United States? On December 23, 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a presumptive diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow" disease) in an adult Holstein cow from Washington State. Those samples were confirmed positive for BSE by a laboratory in England. Trace-back based on an ear-tag identification number suggests that the BSE-infected cow was imported into the United States from Canada in August 2001.
Is BSE a foodborne hazard in the United States? Strong evidence indicates that BSE has been transmitted to humans primarily in the United Kingdom, causing a variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). In the United Kingdom, where over 1 million cattle may have been infected with BSE, a substantial species barrier appears to protect humans from widespread illness. As of December 1, 2003, a total of 153 vCJD cases had been reported worldwide; of these, 143 cases had occurred in the United Kingdom. The risk to human health from BSE in the United States is still considered extremely low.

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Food Safety and Trade

The November 2003 issue of Amber Waves included an article entitled Food Safety and Trade: Regulations, Risks and Reconciliation that is summarized here. Take a quick look around any grocery store in Wisconsin, and you’ll find lettuce and tomatoes in January, fresh strawberries in November, oranges each month of the year – all of these are just a few indications that our food supply is becoming more global. Global food trade is expanding, providing consumers with access to an ever wider year-round variety of foods at low prices. But this expanding trade has brought into sharp focus the divergent food safety regulations and standards among countries. For example, many European counties are willing to accept the risks of Listeria in cheese made from unpasteurized (raw) milk because consumers in these countries place a high priority on access to raw-milk cheese; the United States, on the other hand, has a zero tolerance for Listeria in any processed food product and restricts the sale of most raw-milk cheese products. And countries vary in their ability to support and enforce food safety regulations within their borders, often due to variable food production practices, variable reliance on technology (such as refrigeration or thermal processing), and varying cultural norms (such as varying standards for personal hygiene). Such differences in food safety regulations and standards among importing and exporting countries can cause friction and even disputes that impede international food trade, sometimes putting the consumer at risk. An outbreak of hepatitis A associated with raw green onions imported from Mexico is just one recent example (see following article). Countries are, however, tackling food safety and trade issues by learning from each others successes in managing food safety in order to narrow regulatory differences, collaborating to adopt common or international standards set by a third party, or reaching compromises on conflicting standards. Private food safety initiatives, such as voluntary quality assurance schemes, are also contributing to the resolution of differences across borders. More information on the implications of a global food supply, can be found in the article:
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/november03/Features/foodsafetyandtrade.htm
And for a review of some recent issues relating to food safety and imported food products, see below.

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Viral Hepatitis: An Alphabet Soup of Diseases

The Case of the Contaminated Scallions. The nation's largest outbreak of hepatitis A in the fall of 2003 -- which sickened 605 people and killed three, all of whom ate in a single Chi-Chi's restaurant in suburban Pittsburgh -- is focusing renewed attention on the safety of produce that increasingly is being imported into the United States from developing countries. Raw green onions (scallions) imported from Mexico are linked to the disease outbreak. Indications are that poor hygiene is the cause of the outbreak. Officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia indicate that the case is unusual because most outbreaks of hepatitis A are small and transmitted from person to person, often after a food preparer infected with the virus fails to wash his or her hands after using the bathroom. In this case, officials speculate that the onions may have been contaminated before they were shipped, by workers or their children who defecated in the fields near where the produce was being harvested. Another possibility is that water used to wash the produce was tainted by sewage.

Viral Hepatitis: A Through E and Beyond.

Hepatitis is a viral disease of the liver. Several different viruses cause viral hepatitis. They are named the hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E viruses. All of these viruses cause acute, or short-term, viral hepatitis. The hepatitis B, C, and D viruses can also cause chronic hepatitis, in which the infection is prolonged, sometimes lifelong.

Symptoms of Viral Hepatitis
Symptoms include:
*jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
*fatigue
*abdominal pain
*loss of appetite
*nausea
*vomiting
*diarrhea
*low grade fever
*head ache
However, some people do not have symptoms.

Hepatitis A
• Disease spread - primarily through food or water contaminated by feces from an infected person. Rarely, it spreads through contact with infected blood.
• People at risk - international travelers; people living in areas where hepatitis A outbreaks are common; people who live with or have sex with an infected person; and, during outbreaks, day care children and employees, men who have sex with men, and injection drug users.
• Prevention - hepatitis A vaccine; also, avoiding tap water when traveling internationally and practicing good hygiene and sanitation.
• Treatment - hepatitis A symptoms usually appear 4 to 6 weeks after infection, and usually resolve over several weeks. Bed rest may be prescribed.

Hepatitis B
• Disease spread - through contact with infected blood, through sex with an infected person, and from mother to child during childbirth.
• People at risk - People who have sex with an infected person, men who have sex with men, injection drug users, children of immigrants from disease-endemic areas, infants born to infected mothers, people who live with an infected person, health care workers, hemodialysis patients, people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before July 1992 or clotting factors made before 1987, and international travelers.
• Prevention - hepatitis B vaccine.
• Treatment – drug treatment for chronic hepatitis B.

Hepatitis C
• Disease spread - primarily through contact with infected blood; less commonly, through sexual contact and childbirth.
• People at risk - injection drug users, people who have sex with an infected person, people who have multiple sex partners, health care workers, infants born to infected women, hemodialysis patients, and people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before July 1992 or clotting factors made before 1987Prevention - Hepatitis B vaccine.
• Prevention - there is no vaccine for hepatitis C; the only way to prevent the disease is to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. This means avoiding behaviors like sharing drug needles or sharing personal items like toothbrushes, razors, and nail clippers with an infected person
• Treatment – drug treatment for chronic hepatitis C.

Hepatitis D
• Disease spread - through contact with infected blood. This disease occurs only in people who are already infected with hepatitis B.
• People at risk - anyone infected with hepatitis B: Injection drug users who have hepatitis B have the highest risk. People who have hepatitis B are also at risk if they have sex with a person infected with hepatitis D or if they live with an infected person. Also at risk are people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before July 1992 or clotting factors made before 1987.
• Prevention - immunization against hepatitis B for those not already infected; also, avoiding exposure to infected blood, contaminated needles, and an infected person's personal items (toothbrush, razor, nail clippers).
• Treatment – drug treatment for chronic hepatitis D.

Hepatitis E
• Disease spread - through food or water contaminated by feces from an infected person. This disease is uncommon in the United States.
• People at risk - international travelers; people living in areas where hepatitis E outbreaks are common; and people who live or have sex with an infected person.
• Prevention - there is no vaccine for hepatitis E; the only way to prevent the disease is to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. This means avoiding tap water when traveling internationally and practicing good hygiene and sanitation.
• Treatment – hepatitis E usually resolves on its own over several weeks to months.
For more information on hepatitis, visit these web sites:
MedLine Health Information: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hepatitis.html
Women’s Health Information: http://www.4women.gov/faq/easyread/hepatitis-etr.htm

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What's on Your Mind?

What’s new in food preservation? Plenty!!! The University of Georgia’s National Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.homefoodpreservation.com) continues to update resources, even during the winter.
• Tested recipes for 16 original products for home canning have been developed by the Center so far, including Sweet and Cantaloupe Pickles, both with Splenda instead of sugar, and two versions of pickled pepper rings, one specific to jalapenos. (see Publications / Fact Sheets)
• A new manual for fair judging has been developed: Judging Home Preserved Foods. This contains recommendations you might want to consider if you organize events and/or train judges. In addition, the appendices contain summary tables of recommended USDA home canning processes that you might find helpful, whether or not you use the rest of the manual. I reviewed this publication before printing, and I have also contacted Wayne Brabender about using this as a resource for training. (see Publications/ Technical Bulletins)
• A new section on Seasonal Tips. "Resources for Preserving...." factsheets that contain links to individual items on the website. For example, Resources for Preserving Apples, ....Pumpkins, and ...Venison are under Fall.
• There are also some neat graphics to enhance presentations. (see: Multimedia)

Toxicity of Teflon. You may have seen the e-mail message claiming that Teflon pans produce toxic fumes when heated, and should not be used. Wilma Johnson (Washburn County) brought this issue to my attention. The email that circulates argues that Teflon and other nonstick surfaces release toxic particles and gases on heating, causing the death of hundreds, perhaps thousands of pet birds and an ‘unknown number of human illnesses’ each year. The term given to the bird poisonings is ‘Teflon toxicosis.’ I had seen this email circulating, and thanks to Wilma’s question I was able to check into this issue. I contacted a local veterinarian and also did some web searching. A very informative article, in newsletter format that might be helpful to share, can be found here: http://www.nilesanimalhospital.com/CareInfo/Avian/TeflonToxicity.html.

In summary, over-heating of cookware coated with polytetrafluoroehtylene (PTFE), the substance that makes up most nonstick cookware surfaces such as Teflon and Silverstone, can lead to the production of fumes that may be toxic to birds. The respiratory tract of birds is uniquely sensitive to the products emitted by over-heating PTFE because of a bird’s unique respiratory system. Evolution has produced a system that is extremely efficient in exchanging gasses in order to provide very high levels of oxygen in a bird’s flight-muscles, even at altitude. This phenomenon, in combination with a bird’s small size, means that very small amounts of a variety of air borne toxins can have serious effects on a bird’s respiratory system. Examples of other potentially toxic substances to birds include: tobacco smoke, natural gas, ammonia, and burned foods or oils. Reports indicate that when a coated pan or surface reaches temperatures above 536°F, fumes can be released which may be toxic to birds. A temperature above 500°F is rarely, if ever, achieved during normal cooking. So, while normal cooking with PTFE-coated cookware is unlikely to be a problem, the following suggestions will keep you, and your pet bird, toxin free:
• Cook at low or medium heat when using PTFE coated pans.
• Don’t but butter or oil in a pan heated on ‘high’.
• Avoid using the ‘self clean’ feature on your oven.
• Place any bird cages well away from the kitchen, and in a well-ventilated space.
• Never use aerosol sprays in the same room, or in close proximity, to any pet bird.

The after-Christmas gift dilemma – turkey ‘fryers.’ Lucia Patritto (Iron County) writes: Hi Barb, Based on the queries I have been receiving, a lot of people here in the north country received deep fried turkey cookers for Christmas! Here are two excellent resources I found, if you think these would be useful to others. The one from Michigan State Extension is very clear and to the point. The one from Texas has some nice pictures. Both are pdf files. Thanks to Lucia for sharing these resources! I have added one of my own to the list. Happy cooking!
• Deep- Fried Turkey by Sarah G. Birkhold Assistant Professor and Extension Poultry Specialist, Texas A&M University. gallus.tamu.edu/Extension%20publications/l-5382.pdf
• Deep Fried Turkey Facts (Michigan State University)
www.msue.msu.edu/fnh/news/deepfriedturkey.pdf
• A Deep Fried Delicacy (National Turkey Federation)
http://www.eatturkey.com/consumer/cookinfo/fryturk.html

Food storage charts – what about condiments? Becky Gutzman (Columbia County) asked about the length of time that condiments such as ketchup and mustard can be stored, as she wanted to share this information in a newsletter article that she was writing. Condiments are generally high in acid, so storing them for extended periods of time is not a food safety issue, but a quality issue. Nevertheless, here are some storage guidelines that we came up with:

*These short but safe recommended storage times will help keep stored items from spoiling or becoming unsafe.

As always, urge consumers to follow the recommendations printed on the food label for length of storage time. Some web-based food storage charts can be found at these sites:
• Kansas State University’s Food Cupboard, Refrigerator and Storage Charts http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ext_f&n/hrap/storage/stochart.htm

Can conventional recipes be adapted for use in the microwave oven? Probably, with a little bit of work. Renee Vertin (Washington County) asked about this topic and I was able to find some information in the book Handbook of Food Preparation by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, 9th edition; 1993. Many of you many have copies of this resource in your offices. (see pages 23-25). If you would like a copy of this information for use in programming, let me know and I will fax you this information.

Pesticides from cotton in your food? The December 2003 issue of Environmental Nutrition contains an article The Darker Side of Cotton: Pesticide-Laden Cottonseed in Your Food? which is summarized here: We all wear cotton. But did you know you probably eat it too? Cottonseed oil - extracted from the same cotton plant grown for the fiber used in clothes – is prevalent in fried and processed foods such as chips, cookies and baked goods. But..cotton is one of the most intensively sprayed crops worldwide; by some figures of up 10% of all pesticide used in the U.S. is used on cotton. There is evidence that some of these pesticide residues remain on cottonseeds after harvest and may contaminate the oil used in many processed food products. Environmental Nutrition recommends that consumers follow these steps for a healthier body and a healthier environment:
• Read labels and choose processed foods without cottonseed oil.
• Choose foods made with organic cottonseed oil.
• Buy personal items, such as clothing, made from organic cotton to help protect the environment.


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