Dangers in Food
Bird Flu, Mad Cow Disease, Radiation,
Lead Poisoning, Artificial Food, Others
Dr Abe V Rotor
1. Bird flu, or avian influenza
The recent outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the U.S. and the potential for it to mutate has raised concerns among the scientific community that it could result in human-to-human transmission and a new pandemic. Farmers are also concerned about the potential impacts on their livelihood. Voice of America VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. PHOTO
The US Department of Agriculture warns of catching the bird flu virus not only from infected fowls and eggs, but from fresh or raw (unpasteurized) cow's milk. That is why raw milk is dangerous. Nearly 1,000 dairy cattle in 16 states have tested positive for bird flu since March 2024.
Last January 2025, a person in Louisiana died from H5N1 bird flu, the first death from this virus in the United States. The patient had a backyard flock of chickens that were exposed to wild birds. In 2023, a 59-year-old man in Mexico died from H5N2 bird flu, the first confirmed human case of this strain globally. As with the case in Louisiana, most H5 bird flu infections are related to animal-to-human exposures. Outside the United States, more than 950 cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization; about half of those have resulted in death.
Repercussions are building up from the current rise of H5N1 human mortality rate, such as drastic decline in egg production and consumers' demand. Importation of chicken and products, so with birds and other fowls, is now being strictly prohibited in many countries. The Philippines for one is banning such importation from the US where about 23 million birds have been affected in 124 flocks. 38% of all affected birds were in Ohio flocks, followed by Missouri at 19%, North Carolina at 15% and Indiana at 13%. The flu has been detected in flocks located in 31 states. where 23 million birds are affected in 124 flocks, as of Feb. 3, 2025.
People also may become infected through exposure to infected animals. This is uncommon but does happen, typically involving close or prolonged exposure to infected poultry or dairy cows. At least one case of human H5N1 infection has been linked to exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks. People with a weak or compromised immune system are more at risk of severe disease. The risk of people catching HPAI viruses from infected cats or dogs is considered extremely low. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Internet
2. The Mad Cow Disease or Bovine Spongiosform Encephalopathy (BSE)
BSE as early as in 1998 has stirred serious worldwide attention as to the transmissibility of the disease to humans. The cause is a rare infective particle, prion, a kind of protein heretofore unknown to affect humans. Its diagnosis shows similarity with the Cruetzgen-Jakobs Disease (CJD), a wasting disease of the central nervous system very much like Alzheimer’s disease. The new disease strikes both young and old, while the latter strikes only old people. The gestation of BSE-CJD is 10 to 30 years. Scientists believe that the fifty victims in England, the country where the new disease originated, must have contacted the disease through eating BSE-infected beef way back in the 1980s.Now this is the paradox. In early 2001, a shipment of some 15 container-vans of beef from Ireland arrived in the Philippines through the country’s biggest meat processors. The Department of Agriculture ordered the immediate “re-exportation” of the whole shipment. The sale of beef, including local beef, declined drastically. The mad cow scare quickly spread worldwide as many countries began to impose strict quarantine requirements. Ironically, a simultaneous outbreak of foot-and-mouth epidemic swept across Europe, again originating in Britain and reaching France, Germany and the Netherlands within a short time.
The channels of the diseases are two folds. First is through the infected beef, and second, through animal feeds formulated from recycled carcass and parts of the animal, a common practice abroad. We import both products, so that the transmission of the mad cow disease to the consumer can be direct through the first channel, while the imported feeds may trigger infection of our local stocks. In short, we may be introducing the mad cow disease into our own cattle through infected imported feeds.
Bird flu, or avian influenza, can spread to humans through direct contact with infected birds or contaminated environments. It's rare for bird flu to spread from person to person, but it's possible for the virus to mutate and become more contagious.
3. Radiation is an invisible risk.
We do not know when, where, and what level we are getting - and when it becomes harmful to the body. In the early 1980s, the Chernobyl nuclear plant incident in Russia, (PHOTO) located not far from Western Europe, caused worldwide concern. After the meltdown incident, a milk brand from Holland tainted with the fallout found its way to the Philippines. The government, upon finding its level of radiation to be higher than the limit set by DOH, issued a ban against its use, especially for children. But where did the whole shipment go? Pulvoron, anyone?
Food irradiation is the treatment of food with a type of radiation energy known as ionizing radiation. Three different types of ionizing radiation can be used on foods sold in Canada; gamma rays, electron beam and x-rays. Ionizing radiation at the levels used for food irradiation contains enough energy to kill bacteria, molds, parasites and insects by damaging their DNA, both directly and by breaking water molecules into short-lived fragments that react with their DNA; but not high enough to negatively affect the nutritional quality of the food.
Irradiation is used in food processing for several reasons:
1. To prevent food poisoning: by reducing the level of harmful microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and parasites which can cause foodborne diseases.
2. To prevent spoilage: by reducing the microbial load on foods, meaning it destroys bacteria, molds and yeast which cause food to spoil, and controls insect and parasite infestation.
3. To increase shelf life: by slowing the ripening or sprouting in fresh fruits and vegetables, thereby allowing for longer shelf life.
Irradiation is used in food processing for several reasons:
1. To prevent food poisoning: by reducing the level of harmful microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and parasites which can cause foodborne diseases.
2. To prevent spoilage: by reducing the microbial load on foods, meaning it destroys bacteria, molds and yeast which cause food to spoil, and controls insect and parasite infestation.
3. To increase shelf life: by slowing the ripening or sprouting in fresh fruits and vegetables, thereby allowing for longer shelf life.
Irradiated potato and onion have extended shelf life compared.
But is it safe to eat irradiated foodstuff? Internet
Irradiation causes minimal changes to the chemical composition of the food, however, it can alter the nutrient content of some foods because it reduces the level of some of the B-group vitamins.
4. Lead Poisoning
Cumulative poisoning affects the brain, the nervous system, the blood, and the abdominal system characterized by severe stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, weakness and confusion combined with decreased alertness.
Be sure toys are Lead-free.
1. Slow lead (Pb) poisoning, the case of the sickly little boy.
Here is a case of slow lead poisoning. There was this sickly boy of five, and the kindly old family doctor was puzzled of his condition. One fine Sunday morning the doctor happened to drop at the boy’s residence. While having coffee with the family the doctor exclaimed, “Ah, now I know why my young patient is sickly!” It was like Archimedes who got out of the bathtub shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” (I found it, I found it) He pointed at the gold lining on the rim of his coffee cup which has faded. It means that the user has been slowly taking in the poisonous lead in the gold paint! On inspecting the other china the doctor found the same revealing condition.
Lead is generally used to fix many kinds of paints. For years lead is mixed with gasoline to improve combustion and reduce engine knock. Today the use of lead is strictly regulated all over the world. When buying paints for school use or as house paint, be sure to get one with a lead-free label. Use only unleaded gasoline. And fix that crumbling wall.
2. Mass lead poisoning stakes the cities.
Lead in china wares and glazed items
As people move from the countryside to live in cities, among the risks they encounter is lead poisoning. Our old folks seldom suffered from this malady because they were living in a more pristine environment, and technology then was not as developed as it is today.The first case of mass lead poisoning occurred among the Romans when they changed their cups and vessels from bronze to lead. Today it is estimated that over 400,000 children in the US have an excess of lead in their systems. This cumulative poisoning affects the brain, the nervous system, the blood, and the abdominal system characterized by severe stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, weakness and confusion combined with decreased alertness. Lead in the bone marrow interferes with the formation of red blood cells as well as damaging existing ones leading to anemia, pallor and weakness, and to a severe extent, delirium, coma and even death.
Apparently lead is associated with the Good Life. Avoid the following to get rid or at least minimize intake of lead.
• Automobile exhaust fumes
• Industrial wastes and air pollutants
• Paint of toys, walls, and windowsill
• Eating food or liquor prepared in lead containers
• Prolonged job contact with lead paints, batteries, solder.
• Eating food tainted with lead passed on through the food chain. Kangkong (Ipomea aquatica) has high lead residue. Fish liver contains lead more than any part of its body. ~
---------------------------------Lead Poisoning Symptoms and causes
(Acknowledgement) By Mayo Clinic Staff Initially, lead poisoning can be hard to detect — even people who seem healthy can have high blood levels of lead. Signs and symptoms usually don't appear until dangerous amounts have accumulated.
Signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in children include:
· Developmental delay
· Learning difficulties
· Irritability
· Loss of appetite
· Weight loss
· Sluggishness and fatigue
· Abdominal pain
· Vomiting
· Constipation
· Hearing loss
· Seizures
· Eating things, such as paint chips, that aren't food (pica)
Lead poisoning symptoms in newborns
Babies exposed to lead before birth might:
· Be born prematurely
· Have lower birth weight
· Have slowed growth
Lead poisoning symptoms in adults
Although children are primarily at risk, lead poisoning is also dangerous for adults. Signs and symptoms in adults might include:
· High blood pressure
· Joint and muscle pain
· Difficulties with memory or concentration
· Headache
· Abdominal pain
· Mood disorders
· Reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm
· Miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth in pregnant women
Causes
Lead is a metal that occurs naturally in the earth's crust, but human activity — mining, burning fossil fuels and manufacturing — has caused it to become more widespread. Lead was also once used in paint and gasoline and is still used in batteries, solder, pipes, pottery, roofing materials and some cosmetics.
Lead-based paints for homes, children's toys and household furniture have been banned in the United States since 1978. But lead-based paint is still on walls and woodwork in many older homes and apartments. Most lead poisoning in children results from eating chips of deteriorating lead-based paint.
Water pipes and imported canned goods
Lead pipes, brass plumbing fixtures and copper pipes soldered with lead can release lead particles into tap water. Lead solder in food cans, banned in the United States, is still used in some countries.
Other sources of lead exposure
Lead sometimes can also be found in:
· Soil. Lead particles from leaded gasoline or paint settle on soil and can last years. Lead-contaminated soil is still a major problem around highways and in some urban settings. Some soil close to walls of older houses contains lead.
· Household dust. Household dust can contain lead from lead paint chips or from contaminated soil brought in from outside.
· Pottery. Glazes found on some ceramics, china and porcelain can contain lead that can leach into food served or stored in the pottery.
· Toys. Lead is sometimes found in toys and other products produced abroad.
· Cosmetics. Tiro, an eye cosmetic from Nigeria, has been linked to lead poisoning.
· Herbal or folk remedies. Lead poisoning has been linked to greta and azarcon, traditional Hispanic medicines, as well as some from India, China and other countries.
· Mexican candy. Tamarind, an ingredient used in some candies made in Mexico, might contain lead.
· Lead bullets. Time spent at firing ranges can lead to exposure.
· Occupations. People are exposed to lead and can bring it home on their clothes when they work in auto repair, mining, pipe fitting, battery manufacturing, painting, construction and certain other fields.
Risk factors
Factors that may increase your risk of lead poisoning include:
· Age. Infants and young children are more likely to be exposed to lead than are older children. They might chew paint that flakes off walls and woodwork, and their hands can be contaminated with lead dust. Young children also absorb lead more easily, and it's more harmful for them than it is for adults and older children.
Excavated lead pipe, suspected to be the cause of lead poisoning, unknown to the Romans as the cause of a "mysterious" disease.
· Living in an older home. Although the use of lead-based paints has been banned since the 1970s, older homes and buildings often retain remnants of this paint. People renovating an older home are at even higher risk.
· Certain hobbies. Making stained glass and some jewelry requires the use of lead solder.
. Refinishing old furniture might put you in contact with layers of lead paint.
Lead is a metal that occurs naturally in the earth's crust, but human activity — mining, burning fossil fuels and manufacturing — has caused it to become more widespread. Lead was also once used in paint and gasoline and is still used in batteries, solder, pipes, pottery, roofing materials and some cosmetics.
Lead in batteries
Lead in paintLead-based paints for homes, children's toys and household furniture have been banned in the United States since 1978. But lead-based paint is still on walls and woodwork in many older homes and apartments. Most lead poisoning in children results from eating chips of deteriorating lead-based paint.
Water pipes and imported canned goods
Lead pipes, brass plumbing fixtures and copper pipes soldered with lead can release lead particles into tap water. Lead solder in food cans, banned in the United States, is still used in some countries.
Other sources of lead exposure
Lead sometimes can also be found in:
· Soil. Lead particles from leaded gasoline or paint settle on soil and can last years. Lead-contaminated soil is still a major problem around highways and in some urban settings. Some soil close to walls of older houses contains lead.
· Household dust. Household dust can contain lead from lead paint chips or from contaminated soil brought in from outside.
· Pottery. Glazes found on some ceramics, china and porcelain can contain lead that can leach into food served or stored in the pottery.
· Toys. Lead is sometimes found in toys and other products produced abroad.
· Cosmetics. Tiro, an eye cosmetic from Nigeria, has been linked to lead poisoning.
· Herbal or folk remedies. Lead poisoning has been linked to greta and azarcon, traditional Hispanic medicines, as well as some from India, China and other countries.
· Mexican candy. Tamarind, an ingredient used in some candies made in Mexico, might contain lead.
· Lead bullets. Time spent at firing ranges can lead to exposure.
· Occupations. People are exposed to lead and can bring it home on their clothes when they work in auto repair, mining, pipe fitting, battery manufacturing, painting, construction and certain other fields.
Risk factors
· Age. Infants and young children are more likely to be exposed to lead than are older children. They might chew paint that flakes off walls and woodwork, and their hands can be contaminated with lead dust. Young children also absorb lead more easily, and it's more harmful for them than it is for adults and older children.
Excavated lead pipe, suspected to be the cause of lead poisoning, unknown to the Romans as the cause of a "mysterious" disease.
· Living in an older home. Although the use of lead-based paints has been banned since the 1970s, older homes and buildings often retain remnants of this paint. People renovating an older home are at even higher risk.
· Certain hobbies. Making stained glass and some jewelry requires the use of lead solder.
. Refinishing old furniture might put you in contact with layers of lead paint.
· Living in developing countries. Developing countries often have less strict rules regarding exposure to lead than do developed countries. American families who adopt a child from another country might want to have the child's blood tested for lead poisoning. Immigrant and refugee children also should be tested. Lead poisoning blood cells
Lead can harm an unborn child, so pregnant women or women likely to become pregnant should be especially careful to avoid exposure to lead.
Complications Exposure to even low levels of lead can cause damage over time, especially in children. The greatest risk is to brain development, where irreversible damage can occur. Higher levels can damage the kidneys and nervous system in both children and adults. Very high lead levels may cause seizures, unconsciousness and death. ~
Lead can harm an unborn child, so pregnant women or women likely to become pregnant should be especially careful to avoid exposure to lead.
Complications Exposure to even low levels of lead can cause damage over time, especially in children. The greatest risk is to brain development, where irreversible damage can occur. Higher levels can damage the kidneys and nervous system in both children and adults. Very high lead levels may cause seizures, unconsciousness and death. ~
5. Artificial food, additives and preservatives
Food additives and preservatives can have harmful effects on your health, including allergies, digestive issues, and nervous disorders. They can also contribute to the development of more serious conditions like cancer and heart disease.
Modern living indeed has many drawbacks. Artificial food, additives and preservatives are common in the food content we take everyday. Those tempting preparations may be dyed. The cheap kind of vinegar may be diluted glacial acetic acid, the same kind of acid used in photography and other industrial processing. Cancer-causing aflatoxin is found in peanut butter. The common practice, and it is just being practical, is that the good nut is sold as whole peanut (seed), while those of inferior grade are ground into butter. And why is the incidence cirrhosis of the liver higher in the south than in the rice-eating regions? It is because corn, which is the southern staple, is more predisposed to the aflatoxin fungus than rice is.
References: The Living with Nature Handbook AVR, UST; Google, Internet
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ANNEX 1 - Overeating and Malnutrition
“There are as many people dying of overeating as those who die because of lack of food."
"Vege-cue" does away with high cholesterol and fatty grilled food.
There are two other aspects which are also raised in this paper. Someone who studied the eating habits of man said, “There are as many people dying of overeating as those who die because of lack of food." It is not only because of the direct causes of food in our body, it is also because of the fact that overweight condition increases death risk.
Here are some facts: If you are overweight by 10 percent (based principally on age and height) your life span is reduced by 10 to 15 percent. If you are 30 percent overweight, you have a lifetime reduced to one-half. And people, who are over-weight by 40 percent and above, are virtually walking towards their grave.
On the other hand, not having sufficient food leads to malnutrition, which in turn leads to poor health. Among children malnutrition hinders growth of both body and mind, and many effects are irreversible.~
ANNEX 2 - 10 Healthy Food Rules
Be healthy and happy with the food you eat
There is no substitute to freshness. The less processed your food is, the better. Don't overeat, and eat the right food with the proper nutritional value.
Ukoy na kalabasa, with egg and small shrimp.
It is served in patties, or rolled like lumpia
Bulanglang or diningding: young pod of batao, malungay pod, soup
thickened with kamote or sweet potato, topped with sea weed (Gracillaria).
Fresh seaweeds as salad: Gracillaria and Codium (pokpoklo)
Sweet potato paste (suman)
Tamales, fish with onion, tomato black pepper, salt and ginger,
wrapped with banana leaves - steamed.
Sinkamas or yam with natural vinegar and salt.
Breast feeding and early weaning make a healthy child.
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Buko - direct from the young coconut - complete food and drink.
Health Food Rules
Rule 1 - There is no substitute to freshness. Perishable food must be prepared and served without delay: newly caught fish (better if alive), animals and fowls direct from the slaughter house (better if butchered or dressed at home), newly picked fruits and vegetables (fully mature when harvested).
Rule 2 - The less processed your food is, the better. Reduce if not avoid eating processed food (canned, preserves, dairy, etc), heavily spiced, overcooked, over decorated, culinary loaded - they are unhealthy, They burden body physiology from digestion to circulation to excretion. Besides they are very expensive and unfriendly to the environment.
Rule 3 - Food residues are harmful, if not poisonous. Antibiotics residues in meat and poultry, eggs and dairy; sodium in salted products, instant noodles, sauce; chemical residues in fruits and vegetables from insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, nematocide; and hydrocarbon from fossil fuel and smoke emissions. The miracle insecticide against malaria mosquito - DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-tetrachloro-ethane) remains banned because it is not degraded even as it passes from one organism to another in the food chain. Thus it accumulates in predators - among them humans. DDT poisoning builds even after years from ingestion.
Rule 4 - Metal poisoning causes permanent impairment, or results to death. Lead is the most common toxic metal around from, china wares to car batteries. It damages the central nervous system and internal organs. Mercury poisoning is more severe. Cadmium is a recent introduction with cell phones and other electronic devices. Other than direct contamination, these metals are absorbed by plants and animals and find their way on the dining table. Kitchen wares made of aluminum, tin, nickel, antimony are being phased out.
Rule 5 - Avoid particulates in food, water and air. Car and factory emissions scatter particulates in the environment which we can only observe in the form of smog, sediments and dusts. Tar from cigarette and asphalt, asbestos from car brakes, unburnt carbon from tires, and old and faulty engines, metal particles in factories, silica from cereal mills. The worst particulate today in alarming global scale is microplastic. Plastic does not decompose, unlike natural substances that return into elements ready for the next cycle to form new life or stored for future use by living things. Microplastic is non biodegradable, and therefore remains foreign to nature.
Rule 6 - Avoid synthetic food and additives, they are harmful, and affect mainly the nervous system and senses. The Number One food additive to avoid is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) or Vetsin. It is the cause of Chinese Food Syndrome. A friend of mine died of vetsin overdose. It is also used in dognapping by simply throwing a piece of bread saturated with vetsin. Avoid sweeteners - NutraSweet, saccharin, aspartame and other concealed brand names. Another is Olestra - fatless fat. The fat molecules are so large the villi cannot absorb them. So the unbroken fat simply leaks and causes discomfort - and quite often, embarrassment. Go natural, like brewed rather that decaffeinated coffee.
Rule 7 - Beware of the invisible poison: radiation. The worst kind of radiation is from fallout following a nuclear explosion (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945), and nuclear plant meltdown (Three-Mile Island in the US, Chernobyl in Russia in the seventies, and Fukoshima Japan following a massive tsunami in 2011). Radioactive decay slowly takes hundreds of years, thus it can cause harm to the members of the food chain. (grass to cow to milk to baby, back to the same or similar cycle). Radiation from high voltage lines, transmission towers, electronic gadgets may get into the food we eat. So with hospital waste containing radioisotopes. The innocent looking microwave oven is now being phased out in many countries.
Rule 8 - Beware of Frankenfood from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Frankenfood is named after the creator of the monster in Mary Shelley's novel – Frankenstein. Examples are Bacillus thuringiensis Corn (Bt Corn), Bt Eggplant (Bt Talong), GM potato, GM soybean, SavrFlavr tomato, and golden rice which contains the yellow pigment gene of daffodil. Pharmed food has built-in medicine or drug. An increasing number of food grown in the laboratory includes in vitro stem cell burger which is dubbed lab meat.
(In what is regarded as a historic move, the Supreme Court of the Philippines in December 2015 ordered a permanent ban on the field testing of GM (genetically modified) eggplant and a temporary halt to all applications for contain use, import, propagation and commercialization of GM crops and products. However, there was a twist in 2022. Corn, Golden Rice, and Bt Eggplant are GE crops were allowed for commercial propagation. The biosafety permit for commercial propagation of Bt Eggplant was signed on October 18, 2022.)
Rule 9 - Drink natural instead of distilled water. Manufacturers call bottled water as mineral water because the process did not take away the naturally occurring minerals which are removed through distillation. But why buy mineral water when you can make your own at home with seeds of malunggay (Moringa oleifera), and through simple water treatment?
Rule 10 - Don't overeat. Eat the right food with the proper nutritional value. Eat more fruits and vegetables and less of meat and meat products. It is best to grow or procure your food, cook at home and serve it yourself to your family. The family that eats together stays together happy and healthy. Food indeed is santa gracia. ~
