Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
“meat and
poultry carcasses
can become
contami-
nated during slaughter
by contact with small
amounts of intestinal
contents
”
“a
single
restaurant
omelet
may
contain eggs
from
hundreds
of chickens
”
a few
fyis from
the cdc
“a broiler
chicken carcass
can
be exposed to the
drippings and juices of
many thousands of
other birds
[who] went
through the same cold
water tank after
slaughter”
excerpted
from the u.s.
centers for disease
control and prevention's
“foodborne illness” >
“frequently asked
questions” online
resource
“a
glass
of raw milk
may contain
milk from
hundreds of
cows
”
“some types
of
salmonella
can
infect a hen's ovary,
so the internal contents
of
a normal looking
egg can be
contaminated . . . even
before the shell is
formed
”
“raw foods of
animal origin are
the
most likely to be
contaminated;
that is,
raw meat and poultry,
raw eggs, unpasteur-
ized milk, and raw
shellfish
”
“a
single
hamburger
may contain
meat from
hundreds
of animals
”
It's the dose that makes the poison, though. It may not matter if
there are a thousand different carcinogens in fast food as long as
the dose is so small that you'd have to eat a hundred Big Macs a day
to get any sort of toxic dose. So the exact levels in each item were
measured. According to the EPA, the maximum tolerable exposure
to dioxins for children is 120 femptograms a day—that's less than
one-trillionth of the weight of a paperclip. This makes dioxins one
of the most toxic substances known to humankind. So, less than
120 for the entire day is the safety window for our kids.
How much dioxin is there in a Big Mac? Maybe 50 femptograms,
