The FDA has approved a mix of six bacteria-killing viruses designed to be sprayed on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products. The viruses, called bacteriophages, kill the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium. This is the first-ever approval of viruses as a food additive.
Listeria monocytogenes can cause a serious infection called listeriosis. About 2,500 people in the United States become seriously ill with listeriosis each year, and 500 die.
Lunch meats are particularly vulnerable to Listeria because they are generally not cooked or reheated after purchase.
Consumers will not be informed as to whether their meat and poultry products have been treated with the spray. Intralytix, the company that produces the virus spray, also plans to seek FDA approval for another bacteriophage product, this one designed to kill E. coli bacteria.
Originally Posted On: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/09/07/fda-approves-a-spray-on-virus-to-keep-processed-meats-safe.aspx
I wonder if they eat the food and anything else they (FDA) approve?
ReplyDeletehahahahah yes we do :p
DeleteSo glad I am vegan, and eat only organic
ReplyDeletehey jessica i got an organ you can eat.
DeleteAh-ha, what you did there, I see it
DeleteMy fiancee and I are both vegetarian, and this justifies our decision even further. Who's to say that the bacteriophages will stop with the lysteria? We have beneficial bacteria in our gut that helps keep us healthy. If that virus doesn't just kill the lysteria, then I could see this being very detrimental to even healthy people.
ReplyDeleteI feel that your fears are a little unjustified and the result of not understanding how viruses work. To gain entry into cells, they use receptor proteins on the surface of them. Different types of cells have different receptor proteins on them, and, therefore, it is possible to target specific types of cells, for instance, Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, and only Listeria monocytogenes.
DeleteThere is a simple concept that we all have experienced that shows this property of viral infection-- when we get sick with something such as a cold, the symptoms are always the same. This is because rhinovirus, the cause of the common cold, uses receptors found only on the cells in the respiratory tract to gain entry; it can infect only those cells.
It's also the same reason that some diseases of animals are not transmittable to humans, and vice versa, and also why some people with a genetic mutation that alters the proteins expressed on CD4 white blood cells seem to be either immune or extremely resistant to infection with HIV.
All of that said, the vast majority of people who will be scared or opposed to this are doing so because they don't have a good working knowledge of molecular biology. Every day, we consume billions, if not trillions of viruses, in our food and drink, the air we breathe, and even through exposure to the atmosphere against our eyes. In fact, bacteriophages were used quite successfully in the Soviet Union to treat a variety of bacterial infections before the advent of modern antibiotics; the main reason for their decline was because of the much higher cost compared to antibiotics.
Thank you for this post. It was far more informative and compelling than the original article.
DeleteHave we forgotten that viruses tend to mutate, are we that foreign to the thought of evolution?
DeleteI love this conversation, it is such an important one to have. A virus is an incredibly complex thing. It would be naive to think that we truly understand how they operate. Currently, the scientific community cannot even agree on what a virus is, is it dead or alive?
DeleteAn intro microbiology class will give you exposure to all the information we have learned about viruses but only the best teachers will encourage you to question. Having fears and doubts about and within the scientific community is what will keep us honest and realistic In this modern world. But assuming we understand these complex little viruses will no doubt fail us in the long run. Remember when we thought that tonsils served no purpose?
As far as my food is concerned, the less interference the better. In the past 50 years our food has lost much of its nutritional value in part due to scientific advances. Pesticides have so babied our vegetables that we now have plants that do not need to take care of themselves and so have stopped producing protective vitamins and minerals that our bodies benefit from. Our vegetables today (even organic) are nutritiously hollow compared to the vegetables that our grandparents knew as children.
Industrialization brought us refined white flour which has been linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and tooth decay. Nutrition, being the youngest of all the sciences has much more to teach us. But history has already shown that when we meddle with our food sources then our health pays the price.
a human cell is absolutely nothing like a bacterial cell so yes we are "too foreign" and olivialou what your claiming is absolute rubbish your saying foods have less nutrients than they did before... what?? have you not heard of the green revolution? or anything to do with agriculture? vegetables and fruits today are rammed full of the good stuff and if your still so unhappy about the level of vitamins your getting why not take a vitamin pill? and no viruses are not incredibly complex things they are simply a protein coat housing DNA.
DeleteNature always finds a way once its been fucked with. The real question is what will happen when listeria monocytogenes mutate in response to the bacteriophage attack, because they will (it's called survival) that is what viruses do, they mutate to survive, when attacked. What happens when a more resistant listeria virus infects people, more will die, more will become sick.
DeleteLets not worry about the obvious, lets just spray the shit on our food and let future generations worry about it. All for 2,500 people and the 500 of which died from it.
Utter bull shit that is like .00000000000000000000000000000001 of the population most of which probably had something seriously wrong with their immune systems before being infected.
There is no reason to spray our food with this I could see if thousands or millions of people were getting sick and dying this would be logical. But it's simply not the case. It will ultimately lead to a more resistant strain of the Virus.
It is about money, listeria is not very profitable at this point because antibiotics treat 99.9% of the cases. Now if you use nature's simply way to survive, to induce a biological change in the virus (mutation) then it could make a lot of people sick and or die and become more profitable.
It basically starts and endless cycle of induced mutation for profit. They make a biological product that will eventually lead to a mutation in the virus (survival). So that future products they make can be made to combat it, all for profit.
News from 2006 are so EXCITING!
ReplyDeleteDid you know that these viruses are found in nature? Scientists don't create these bacteriophages; they exist naturally (e.g., in soil) and scientists discover them and are able to use them to do amazing things like this. A huge field of research right now is to use bacteriophages that ALREADY exist in nature to do things like treat antibiotic-resistant diseases- it's as "natural" as it gets folks.
ReplyDeleteSorry vegetarians, these same Listera bacteriophage are currently being used to treat produce as well. By the way, organic food treated with bacteriophage still qualifies as organic.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dongorongoro, your reply was great!
they will get you one way or another,what a crazy world. leave our food alone for gods sake,and the sake of humanity..........or a you one of the chosen few.
ReplyDelete"I ate his bacteria with a nice chianti."
ReplyDeleteBacteriophages offer a way to fight resistant bacteria, but their use still awaits approval in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteApril 1, 2013 12:11 am
An alternative treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections that are raising concern nationwide already exists. But there's a big problem. The treatment is not approved for use in the United States.
And it could be a decade or more for the treatment, long used in Russia, former Soviet nations, Eastern Europe and more recently in Asian nations, before it gets regulatory approval for safety and effectiveness.
As much as I appreciate information, please don't use scare tactics.
Here is the full article.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/health/bacteriophages-offer-a-way-to-fight-resistant-bacteria-but-their-use-still-awaits-approval-in-the-us-681658/
Bacteria has been around since the dawn of time! I am sorry that 500 people have died and 2,500 people were affected by the bacteria. Compared to the ratio of people in this country who have not gotten the virus, I do not believe it right to spray our food. Leave it alone! People are getting all to happy to jump on the "stop the bacteria" band wagon!
ReplyDelete