Use Reusable Shopping Bags But Sanitize Weekly

Go green and use reusable shopping bags but sanitize weekly. That’s the advice given by authors of a new study which suggests the coliform bacteria (including E. coli) found in reusable grocery bags could be a serious threat to the public health.

97% of  the people interviewed for the study never washed or bleached their reusable bags according to Charles Gerba, a co-author.

The findings from the study, conducted by environmental-health professors at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University in California, showed more than half of 84 bags studied harbored coliform and heterotrophic bacteria. E. coli was found in 12 per cent of them.

The final report recommends consumers should be careful to separate raw foods from other food products and should not use reusable bags for purposes other than grocery shopping. Also, consumers should not store meat or produce in their car trunks because the high temperatures promote bacteria growth, which can contaminate reusable bags.

Gerber notes the bacteria levels found in reusable bags were significant enough to cause a wide range of serious health problems.

It’s important and responsible to go green. Use reusable shopping bags but sanitize weekly!

Spaghetti-o’s Recall for Under-Processing Affects 3 Varieties

According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service  the new spaghetti-o’s recall for possible under-processing affects three varieties.

Campbell Soup Company of Paris, Texas is voluntarily recalling  more than 15,000,000 pounds of spaghetti-o’s with meatballs.

The three varieties are Spaghetti-o’s A to Z with meatballs, Spaghetti-o’s fun shapes with meatballs (cars) and Spaghetti-o’s with meatballs.

The products have a “use by ” date between June 20-10 and December 20-11 and were distributed nationwide.

For questions regarding the recall, call Campbell’s Hotline at 866 495 3774.

The Campbell’s spaghetti-o’s recall for under-processing  affects 3 varieties and was discovered during a routine warehouse inspection.

Smoking Ban Benefits Children By Reducing Secondhand Smoke Exposure

A new study shows the increasingly popular smoking ban benefits children by reducing secondhand smoke exposure.

The Harvard School of Public Health researchers have found that children living in non smoking homes in counties with laws promoting smoke free public places have significantly lower levels of secondhand smoke exposure than those living in counties with no smoke free laws.

The prevalence of cotinine in the blood, an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure, was 39% lower in children living in non smoking homes in U.S counties with smoke free laws. Unfortunately, children living in homes with smokers exhibited little or no benefit from the smoking bans.

Children are more susceptible to the toxic compounds in secondhand smoke because they have higher breathing rates and their lungs are still developing. Exposing a child to secondhand smoke can irritate the lungs, and can trigger an asthma attack in children with asthma.  Secondhand smoke has also been linked to respiratory illnesses and middle ear disease.

The researchers noted approximately 20 percent of the youth in the Harvard School of Public Health study lived with a smoker in the home. These children had the highest cotinine levels and could benefit the most from an intervention to reduce exposure, regardless of smoke free laws that might be in place.

Senior author of the paper, Gregory N. Connolly, said, “One way to reduce or prevent adults from smoking around children is for physicians to counsel parents to stop smoking.”

The study showing an enforced smoking ban benefits children by reducing secondhand smoke is in the June 7, 2910 advance online edition of the journal Pediatrics.

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