september news briefs
Publication Date:
September 13, 2006
The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it is safe to spray a mix of six viruses on deli meats like bologna, liverwurst and ham. These foods are generally not cooked after they are purchased, and so they are particularly vulnerable to listeria, bacteria that can cause listeriosis, especially dangerous for pregnant women, fetuses and newborns. For years the agency wanted manufacturers of such products to clean up their plants so that listeria could not survive. But it turned out to be easier to spray the mix of viruses, called bacteriophages, on the meat to kill the listeria, than to get the plants to clean up. (New York Times, September 13, 2006)
According to the Boston Globe, "One bug zapper will kill more than 10,000 flying insects in a summer, but body counts reveal that fewer than a couple dozen of these will be mosquitoes or other biting insects. Instead, harmless bugs of all kinds, including rare and endangered ones, are fried. Another 10 per cent of the fatalities are, ironically, mosquito predators.” (Globe & Mail, September 13, 2006)
