Contamination problems in canned foods and in pharmaceutical drugs...

New Scientist Short Sharp Science Blog: Total Recall - New Scientist

Extracts:

"If we can send people to the Moon, why can't we make canned chilli that's safe to eat? That's the question that's on my mind today as I read about the recall of various types of canned chilli, beef stew and other meat products from the Castleberry Food Co. company, which is based in Augusta, Georgia, US. Inspection officials reportedly said on Thursday that the dangerous botulism toxin found in cans of the chilli sauce might have resulted from an equipment malfunction.

Great. So now, on top of spinach, peanut butter, olives and tomatoes, here's another food I'll eat with trepidation, at least in the short term. It certainly doesn't help that the US Food and Drug Administration is overwhelmed and has recently scaled back the number of food inspectors it employs."

"Roche Pharmaceuticals announced this past June that some batches of an AIDS drug called Viracept produced at its Swiss plant contained a dangerous chemical. The company reportedly says that the recall affects 45,000 patients worldwide. The New York Times describes how poor people in developing countries face a horrible dilemma: "The recall has left those patients with the painful choice of discontinuing a lifesaving medicine, or using a drug that might contain a dangerous contaminant.""

With regard to the dilemma caused by possibly contaminated pharmaceutical drugs. the best course surely is to transfer our trust from Big Pharma to good nutrition.

Reducing salt in food to an absolute minimum, and eliminating unnatural chemicals that would never normally be present in food and drink, would be a boost to good health and the body immune system.

IMO, Big Pharma's products do far more harm than good and are really of benefit only to the shareholders.