IBM is
currently putting together database and barcode tracking to allow farmers and grocers in China to track your porkchop, from the pig to the plate. Using supply chain tracking (similar to what is done already in other industries), the goal is to limit and hopefully prevent disease outbreaks by tracking the health of the animal, including which other animals it has come into contact with. So the next time you sit down for some nice ham, you might be able to scan the barcode (or RFID tag) to see whom else on your block shares your own porcine six degrees of separation.
[more inside]
posted by Old'n'Busted
on Dec 19, 2011 -
21 comments
Body fat
causes cancer according to a scary report from
the American Institute for Cancer Research and the
World Cancer Research Fund that reviewed 7000 studies. Obesity creates "a low-grade chronic inflammatory state" that promotes cancer. This report seems more foreboding than others of its ilk, e.g.: "Even small amounts of excess body fat, especially if carried at the waist, increase risk." Drinking is also carcinogenic: better limit yourself to 2 drinks a day if you're male and 1 if you're female. (Of course,
breathing is also bad, and so is
sunlight. ) Conclusion: you can live a really long time if you don't like to eat or drink, though you want to avoid taking this to
extremes.
posted by cogneuro
on Oct 31, 2007 -
115 comments
After reading that
beef has been recalled from my local grocery store, I spent some time reading
Mad Cow USA a book written back in 1997 but not widely published because of fears of repercussions under the Texas food disparagement act. AlterNet has an
article written by one of the book's authors summarizing some of the key points of the book. Some claim that only ground beef is infected, while
others claim that's bull.
mad-cow.org has a lot of good information on the topic, and it seems the powers that be are going to
blame Canada.
posted by woil
on Dec 30, 2003 -
14 comments
Going bananas. The only fruit to ever appear on a Velvet Underground album cover (not to mention the title of a J. D. Salinger short story) may be on its way to extinction. Facts: I) total disappearance could occur within a decade; II) bananas are the staple diet for half a billion people and III) current genetic tampering mean that, even if the fruit doesn't quite disappear, it will taste and
look different (Guardian article
here). Feeling nostalgic already? Visit the stylish
Banana Museum or give someone you love the
Enchanted Banana of Happiness (not what you're thinking). first link via
Fark
posted by 111
on Jan 15, 2003 -
53 comments
In 2000, 40% of chickens sent to stores from seven plants was contaminated. And this is just the one we've heard about. Between stories like this and the animal diseases in Europe, meat is looking less and less appetizing. It looks like what the food industry gets away with may finally be too outrageous to be ignored. Not to mention whether non-meat foods are processed with any more attention to sanitation than meats. Of course if they can get away with cutting costs this way, they will.
posted by aflakete
on Mar 2, 2001 -
13 comments
Mad Cow disease spreads through Europe. Now as I understand it, cattle get it by eating food which contains parts of other cattle or sheep who had the disease.
The solution seems straightforward enough: stop using animal-derived ingredients in the food fed to cattle. SO WHY THE HELL ARE THEY STILL DOING IT? Why is this so complicated? Is there something I'm missing here?
posted by Steven Den Beste
on Nov 24, 2000 -
18 comments
