Great, just great. First peanut butter, now this?

[babylonsister]

That chicken dinner? It might make you sick
Pathogens and poison could be lurking in your favorite lean meat

By Tula Karras
updated 8:37 a.m. CT, Wed., Feb. 11, 2009


Jenelle Dorner, 32, of Bloomington, Indiana, doesn’t eat chicken. In fact, she hardly eats anything. “Each night while I sleep, I’m fed nutrients and fluids by IV,” says the married mother of one. Eight years ago, Dorner developed gastroparesis, a condition that delays or prevents food from reaching the intestines, where nutrients are absorbed. The possible cause? A hearty helping of bacteria-ridden chicken she ate at a restaurant 14 years ago.

Her story is an extreme one, but poultry can make you sick as easily today as it did to Dorner when she bit into her destructive dinner. In fact, there is a 50 percent chance that the bird you bring home from the grocery store will contain Campylobacter (known as campy for short), the bacteria that was lurking in Dorner’s undercooked entrée. The pathogen, found in a chicken’s intestinal tract, causes no harm to the animals, but it can make humans very ill, sometimes fatally, if high cooking temperatures don’t kill it. Seeing as how the average American puts away more than 42 pounds of poultry per year (equal to 222 chicken breasts), your chances of getting sick are considerable. An estimated 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur each year in the United States, and during the past decade, poultry has caused more cases than any other individual food group, including vegetables, fruit, seafood and beef, according to data from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a food and health watchdog group in Washington, D.C.

“Infections of campy are so common that many of us have probably already had it at least once,” says Robert Tauxe, M.D., deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases in Atlanta.

Dorner’s ordeal began in 1995, when she was a sophomore at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her father took her to a restaurant to celebrate her 19th birthday, and she ordered chicken. “I remember thinking it was slightly pink, but other than that, it seemed fine,” she says. Three days later, Dorner began vomiting and experiencing stomach pains and diarrhea. Doctors at the student health center suspected a virus and sent her home with instructions to stay hydrated. But her condition worsened. “I was running a fever, couldn’t keep anything down and had bloody diarrhea,” Dorner recalls. She returned to the health center, where they took a stool sample and admitted her to the hospital. Dorner’s lab work revealed that she had contracted campy. After taking the antibiotic Cipro, she felt better, but her digestive system was never the same. In 2001, Dorner began having severe abdominal pain and couldn’t eat a meal without vomiting, the first signs of her gastroparesis. During the next five years, her condition progressed to full-blown digestive failure. “My doctors won’t ever be certain, but they believe that my campylobacter infection 14 years ago could have weakened my digestive system and set the stage for the gastroparesis,” Dorner says. “I was completely healthy until I had that meal.”

more...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28677495/

[ogneopasno]

1. No way do I eat 222 chicken breasts a year. Nasty.

[sandnsea]

6. A boneless breast

doesn't equal the weight of a whole chicken. I have no idea why they made that comparison. 42 lbs of chicken is only 10 chickens, at most. If you ate chicken once a week, you'd probably hit that mark pretty easily.

[ogneopasno]

23. Well, we don't each chicken that often. Chicken is a little pricey. We're not vegetarians, but we

eat meat only two or three times a week at dinner.

[sandnsea]

28. I buy it on sale

and freeze it. If something isn't on sale, it isn't in my house, lol.

[ogneopasno]

30. I hear you! Cereal is the same way; I buy what's on sale.

[WinkyDink]

38. I bought thighs today at $.99/lb. How is that "pricey"?

[rurallib]

2. If you have ever seen videos of how chicken is raised

well, beef and pork for that matter also, it is of little surprise that our food is so tainted.

[babylonsister]

4. No, I've purposefully avoided them because I (used to) like

chicken too much, but I get your drift. Begs the question, what's not tainted?

[rurallib]

7. that is an interesting question - hopefully some of the organic is still good

Even organic veggies can't avoid contamination with Monsanto.

[Arkansas Granny]

11. I believe in this case the problem was that the food was undercooked, not because it was tainted.

Apparently the bacteria that caused her illness live in the digestive tracts of poultry and other animals (including humans) and are easily spread by close contact.

More info here: http://coproweb.free.fr/pagbac/campylo/campyinf.htm

[bunnies]

13. Exactly.

And that doesnt even get into what happens *after* its killed. :puke: I had a friend that worked in the meat dept. of a major grocery store. He told me the horror stories because I was already a vegetarian and no meat-eaters wanted to hear it. How can people be willfully ignorant when it comes to what they put in their bodies? :shrug:

Oh well... their choice. yummy.

[oldtime dfl_er]

3. I haven't eaten chicken in 30 years

it's just nasty.

[RebelOne]

29. I haven't eaten any meat in 10 years. It's just as nasty. n/t

[slackmaster]

5. If it had been beer instead of chicken, I would have gone home and cried

:argh:

[NeedleCast]

8. The possible cause?

That phrase kinda negates the validity of this article, doesnt it?

[babylonsister]

9. The article points out the docs won't ever really know

what caused her digestive system to fail. :shrug: Guess they're not all powerful.

[OhioChick]

10. Thanks for posting.

What is safe to eat, anymore?

[4 t 4]

14. Damn I just got back

from the store Guess what I bought ?

[OhioChick]

17. They had chicken breasts here...

Buy one get one free....so you know what's in my fridge, too. :(

[sharp_stick]

12. Chicken is notorious for Salmonella poisoning

always has been, along with most other poultry. Make sure you cook it well and keep the surfaces it's been on clean.

I love chicken, eat a pile of it, it's cheap, tasty and good for you. I happen to know how to cook though so I'm not likely to get Salmonella from it.

BTW if you ever want to have some fun.. do a swab test on a door handle or TV remote in a hotel or a water fountain, that'll turn your stomach. Never go to a hotel without my Clorox wipes.

[kenny blankenship]

15. There is an answer

genetically modified, irradiated superchicken

[babylonsister]

24. Ha! I'll have to get me one of them! nt

[verges]

40. Chicken Boo!!

[crispini]

16. Ugh!

Between this and the pig-brain story in the other thread, I'm really not feeling pro-meat at the moment.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

18. When it comes to chicken, I am pathological. I wash my hands every time I look at a piece

and cook it was well as I can. My meat thermometer is my friend.

[libnnc]

22. yep--I bleach everything after I cook chicken

not something to fuck around with

My late uncle worked his way through veterinary school as a chicken inspector.

Needless to say, he NEVER, NEVER ate poultry (unless it came from his own small farm).

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

36. Needless to say, I use clorox clean-up and hot water when cleaning up (and not even afterwards-

while the chicken is cooking). The plates and utensils then go for a good high temp dishwasher wash. I knew a young boy who came down with salmonella, and although his parents were both docs, he almost died and lost tons of weight.

[TwilightGardener]

19. I thought everyone knew about poultry carrying campylobacter and salmonella--

why does MSNBC consider this news, I wonder, when this has been known for years? That's why you're supposed to have designated cutting boards just for meat and poultry, you're supposed to wash your hands after handling chicken, etc.

[babylonsister]

21. I do all that, but this woman's travails kind of hit home to me

how serious this could be. I'm thinking I'll be cooking that chickie a lot longer now.

[OhioChick]

25. I have a better question...

Why has Salmonella suddenly over the past so many years become a major issue?
When I was a kid, we never even heard of Salmonella or people getting sick from eating foods that were contaminated with it. My Mother used to leave hard boiled eggs out on the counter all day long and they were never "bad", nor did we ever get sick from them.

[TwilightGardener]

27. Don't know--when I was a kid, you got salmonella from handling your

pet turtles or lizards, although it was already a well-known food-borne-illness pathogen. Maybe it spread from reptiles/amphibians to wild birds and then to chickens in the last couple decades? The chicken factory conditions don't help either.

[kestrel91316]

20. Campylobacter is nothing new in chicken. It and Salmonella are why

it's so important to use good hygiene in the kitchen, not cross-contaminate cooked foods with raw poultry, and cook your meats thoroughly.

What is news is that Bush essentially gutted the USDA inspection system and made sure it didn't interfere with corporate profits.

[Kalyke]

26. Anyone think the Food Network's constant showing of very rare meats

contributes to this?

When I was growing up, I was taught never to under cook any meat. You don't have to char it or anything, but no meat should be eaten rare. Now, the foodies about town think you're goushe if your meat doesn't "moo" or "oink" when you put your fork in it.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

35. Food Network is good about chicken and turkey, always warning of contamination. On the other hand

they offer raw egg recipes and only a few hosts will discuss the availability of pasteurized eggs.

They do love their steak and lamb practically raw........

[kentauros]

31. This story is a little old but the message is still pertinent.

The Shame of Meatpacking (The Nation August 29, 2002)

[HillbillyBob]

32. We moved to a place on some land to make andeco farm

for this and other reasons.
We get beef from a neighboring farmer who only feeds grass and hay, no chemicals, hormones or pesticides. He is not certified organic, but is as close to as you are going to get, and it is dispatched in a humane manner(well as such things go)
We get free range eggs from our next door neighbor..
We will be growing pomegranates, kiwi,blackberries, peaches, cherries, figs, olives(we hope they new starts survive, as well as the usual heirloom tomatoes, potatoes etc, flowers and herbs, both medical and cooking.
Since our soil is a big alkaline we use junkmail shredded as mulch, we use other organic too. Kitchen scraps become compost, wood ashes from the fire place and some chunks of charcoal.
WE know what is in our food, my allergies are better, whether thats the local honey or just that our food no longer has chemical pesticides or fertilizers. It saves $ too with heirlooms that require less to survive and thrive.

[babylonsister]

33. That sounds really great. You get to play in the dirt

all day, weather permitting. And to be able to harvest your own stuff sounds like such a luxury! It's got to be healthier! :thumbsup:

PS could you send me a fruit salad? Now I'm salivating!

[kentauros]

34. Sounds like you have a great plan for what to grow

:)

The pomegranates will be a good money-maker, too, since they are in great demand these days. I always liked them and was sad to see a google-maps image of the house we grew up in with that tree gone by the hands of the later owners. The fig tree was gone too, though I never was a fan of them.

If you want to try your hand at mushrooms, go to Fungi Perfecti for more info on their kits and books.

Also, if you're interested, here's a site that's a great resource for small farming, plus one about why "weeds" are a good thing to have :D

Controlling weeds and pests
Weeds - Guardians of the Soil

[HillbillyBob]

37. Thanks for the links. Yes we are interested in plants that 'get along'

For instance Sunflowers are good at the edge of the garden some insects do not like them and stay out of your garden, so are marigolds, also 4 oclocks attract japanese beetles to themselves and they eat a few bites and die. The beetles wiped out our blackberries and the leaves off of our peaches.
We don't expect any real fruit production till the trees are about 4 years.
For now they are all under 3 feet and some are still in pots in the greenhouse I have set up in the den waiting for last frost.
I had some links to a lot of information on plants that work together like beans squash and corn do for instance..but the puter phfut.

[eridani]

41. With your username, you sound like you might live not too far away--

--from Barbara Kingsolver. That's the Animal, Vegetable, Mineral writer.

[leftofthedial]

39. Chicken poppers anyone?

[mistertrickster]

42. Two words: cook it. nt