FDA, USDA, Contaminated Foods, and "Stomach Flu"

I subscribe to the FDA mailing list because I find it intriguing how many products are recalled every day. There's a sense of safety people feel by "knowing" there are only food recalls perhaps once a year, but that is far from the case.

Granted, understanding there are FDA people out there testing things randomly all the time is somewhat encouraging, but most recalls are voluntary and done by companies when something has gone wrong.

Thankfully, the most common type of recall is related to allergens being introduced to a product or not being included on the label, but there are recalls every week for bacteria, as well. Realize that most food poisoning occurs at home and that "stomach flu" is actually food poisoning.

http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/what-is-food-poisoning

I cannot eat spinach, especially raw spinach, without having an unpleasant hormone reaction due to it being of the Brassica/Cruciferous family and thus an iodine blocker.

Such vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower) have lots of anti-cancer properties, great antioxidants, and better vitamin/mineral profiles than many other veggies, but they also fill iodine receptors (as do chlorine and fluoride) which are crucial to thyroid health.

The average person can eat an average amount of these vegetables and be fine, but eating large portions of them and drinking tap water were two things which contributed to my health problems. Drinking spring water and avoiding those veggies has changed my life.

I am reminded of this if I give into a craving for them--with one exception. A small amount of them cooked (and I learned I loved baby Brussels by how sick they made me) helps counteract the increased thyroid hormone caused by eating soy products.

So, if I am very, very lucky, such things will perfectly counteract each other. For the record, my luck runs in other circles than food reactions.

However, knowing that baby spinach seems to be the most commonly recalled product, that it should be organic because it's on the Dirty Dozen list of most pesticide-ridden foods compiled by the FDA and USDA, and that arugula tastes 100 times better, well, cheers me up a bit.

One problem with the Dirty Dozen list is that it neglects to mention how celery (a food amazingly covered with more pesticides than is almost possible to fathom) naturally contains a cancer-causing enzyme to ward off pests. Organic celery has this is much, much higher quantities and thus seems to negate many of the benefits of avoiding all those chemicals.

For more info on the most contaminated foods and food safety at home:

http://yummyspoonfuls.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/the-dirty-dozen-fda-and-usda-list-of-the-most-highly-contaminated-foods/

http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/ewg-releases-the-2011-dirty-dozen-most-toxic-fruits-and-vegetables-list/

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

http://www.foodsafety.gov/