Enjoying that Hot Dog?

The key phase in this article....

"Consumers won't be aware that meat and poultry products have been
treated with the spray, Zajac added"

Along with everything else you aren't aware of.

Think of all the marginal meat products that the processors won't have
to toss now....like tons of tainted hamburger.

And the greater profit for the processors...and larger campaign
contributions....now remind me again which political Party controls the
FDA currrently....

TMT


FDA approves viruses for treating food Sat Aug 19

A mix of bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on cold cuts,
hot dogs and sausages to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of
people a year, federal health officials said Friday in granting the
first-ever approval of viruses as a food additive.

The combination of six viruses is designed to be sprayed on
ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, including sliced ham and
turkey, said John Vazzana, president and chief executive officer of
manufacturer Intralytix Inc.

The special viruses called bacteriophages are meant to kill strains of
the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium, the Food and Drug Administration
said in declaring it safe to use on ready-to-eat meats prior to their
packaging.

The viruses are the first to win FDA approval for use as a food
additive, said Andrew Zajac, of the regulatory agency's office of food
additive safety.

The bacterium the viruses target can cause a serious infection called
listeriosis, primarily in pregnant women, newborns and adults with
weakened immune systems. In the United States, an estimated 2,500
people become seriously ill with listeriosis each year, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 500 die.

Luncheon meats are particularly vulnerable to Listeria since once
purchased, they typically aren't cooked or reheated, which can kill
harmful bacteria like Listeria, Zajac said.

The preparation of bacteriophages - the name is Greek for
"bacteria-eater" - attacks only strains of the Listeria bacterium and
not human or plant cells, the FDA said.

"As long as it used in accordance with the regulations, we have
concluded it's safe," Zajac said. People normally come into contact
with phages through food, water and the environment, and they are found
in our digestive tracts, the FDA said.

Consumers won't be aware that meat and poultry products have been
treated with the spray, Zajac added. The Department of Agriculture will
regulate the actual use of the product.

The viruses are grown in a preparation of the very bacteria they kill,
and then purified. The FDA had concerns that the virus preparation
potentially could contain toxic residues associated with the bacteria.
However, testing did not reveal the presence of such residues, which in
small quantities likely wouldn't cause health problems anyway, the FDA
said.

"The FDA is applying one of the toughest food-safety standards which
they have to find this is safe," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director
of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a
consumer advocacy group. "They couldn't approve this product if they
had questions about its safety."

Intralytix, based in Baltimore, first petitioned the FDA in 2002 to
allow the viruses to be used as a food additive. It has since licensed
the product to a multinational company, which intends to market it
worldwide, said Intralytix president Vazzana. He declined to name the
company but said he expected it to announce its plans within weeks or
months.

Intralytix also plans to seek FDA approval for another bacteriophage
product to kill E. coli bacteria on beef before it is ground, Vazzana
said.

Scientists have long studied bacteriophages as a bacteria-fighting
alternative to antibiotics.

___

On the Net:

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/

Intralytix Inc.: http://www.intralytix.com/

.

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