Conference moira::parenting

    Donna,  I can't help you with this but maybe you should look in the
    medical notes file for information also.  I can't remember what node
    its on, sorry but maybe someone else can help you with that.
    
    
    
    Liz
    
    

   Medical is at VMSZOO::MEDICAL



   Debbi

    I did and saw nothing there on it.  Well, it will be off to the
    library.  Seems to me there was a lot in the news about it this summer
    for some reason.
    
    Thanks anyway,
    
    Donna
    

    e-coli is a bacteria which normally resides in the large intestine.  It
    is not good if it gets into the stomach or small intestinges.  Usually
    this happens by eating contaminated, undercooked seafood or meat. 
    Symtoms of the infection are vomiting, diarreah, cramps, etc.  It is a
    dangerous infection for people with undeveloped or imapaired imune
    systems.  
    
    Meg

    
    I got it a couple of years ago while out of the country. I had
    diarrhea, a temperature of 101, was wiped out. I kept saying I had jet
    lag but after a week of it I realized I was in denial. Antibiotics took
    care of it after it showed in a stool sample.
    
    the cake batter is a different thing...that's salmonella (sp?) from raw
    eggs. 
    
    Either one can be fatal so I won't let my daughter eat cake batter
    and we never do uncooked meat.

    
    There was a big article recently in the NJ Bergen record which found
    that it actually has killed many in the 2 year old range and it
    is a BIG issue right now...
    
    They have backtracked and are horrified by the number of cases..
    
    What they recommend for that age group (evidently adults will
    just get diarehea but 2 years olds get more complications)
    is that all ground meat is cooked so that there is no
    pink showing..
    
    Ground beef was the biggest offender.. they recommend that you
    do not get hamburgers at restaurants... some of the cases
    where the toddlers died came from restaurants like diners 
    and Jack in the Box fast food... (didn't know they were
    still around...) It evidently mimics other illnesses so
    not often reported.. 
    
    The Federal Gov't is currently looking into it... they
    recommend cooking all meat to medium -well. done..
    
    

While I was on maternity leave over the summer, Phil Donoghue had a show on
this very topic.  It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen.  He had
3-4 sets of parents whose children had either died or were permanently damaged
by this e-coli bacteria.  There was also a scientist from Agriculture Dept or
Food and Drug (whichever dept. covers meat)

What I remember them saying was -  children under 4-5 are most at risk. I forget
why their  bodies cannot handle it but just recall the consequences of worst
case.  They said the foods to watch out for in particular are ground meats such
as hamburger, hotdogs. (I do think all documented cases of injury have been from
hamburger.) A piece of steak is not as likely to be infected. They
also suggested cooking meats hotter than the government recommends - I think
the "absolute" safe zone was 150-160 degrees.  Finally, if you do get your
child a hamburger in a restaurant, they suggested you cut it in half and if
you see any pink, don't eat it or return it.  

This was one show where there weren't two opposing sides.  Everyone was in 
agreement as to how serious this is for kids and all felt the government needs
to place more controls on inspection and people need to become more educated on
consequences.

Kathy

    Isn't this why the use of honey in kids under one is discouraged?
    Honey is suseptible to the e-coli bacteria.
    
    Jodi-

No, honey sometimes has botulin.  E. coli comes from feces.  Its presence in
meat is due to unclean conditions in slaughterhouses and other meat handling
facilities.

>E. coli comes from feces.  Its presence in meat is due to unclean 
>conditions in slaughterhouses and other meat handling facilities.

And if I remember correctly, is most commonly present on the outside of the 
meat.  When, say, a steak is cooked, even rare, the outside of the steak is 
usually well cooked, so the E. coli are killed.  But in ground meat, such as 
hamburger, what was formerly on the outside is now mixed throughout the meat, 
so there could be e coli in the interior of the meat.  If the interior is not 
fully cooked, the e coli may not be killed.

Now for a story I saw in the newpaper.  In case anyone's offended, I 
apologize in advance for my observation at the end.  

There was a party celebrating a 25th wedding anniversary.  Several of the 
guests began vomiting, and some had to be taken to the hospital.  The problem 
was traced to a dish that had been transported from New Jersey to 
Massachusetts in the trunk of a car, and had not been re-heated before 
serving.  The dish contained chicken gizzards and bananas.

My observation was -- chicken gizzards and bananas?  Someone please tell me 
it's really delicious, because the THOUGHT of it, let alone the poor 
preparation and transportation, is enough to make me a bit queasy.

Clay

What, you've never heard of "Gizzard-Banana Delight?"

    I read that article also.  I was under the impression that
    it was a wedding.  They mentioned that the bride became ill
    also.   The article said that the dish had not been refridgerated
    on the trip from NJ to MA.  Wonder if they'll ever let 
    THOSE people contribute to the pot luck again?  ;-)
    
    What shocked me was the number of children that became
    ill, as the mother of a 4 yr old I was surprised to see
    that any child would eat something with Chicken Gizzards
    and bananas!  However, the article mentioned that it was
    a Hispanic wedding, and I assume the dish was common to
    that culture.
    

    re. 12
    
    Boy, and I thought my mom was awful making us eat liver!
    
      8-)
    
    -Chris

    
    It is a hispanic dish, but I believe it's made 
    from chicken *giblets* & bananas.  
    
    For some reason, when we had a pot luck Hispanic lunch
    at the BOO site, everyone kept calling it gizzards instead
    of giblets.
    
    

Gizzards *are* giblets, as are hearts and livers.

    Actually, the gizzard is the muscular enlargement of the digestive
    tract, used to help process a bird's food.  Some birds even swallow
    sand grains or small pebbles to help grind their food.
    
    Gizzards is too close to the word "guts", IMHO.......
    
    

...and it was probably plantains, not bananas, which are very commonly
served, fried, with various Hispanic dishes - Cuban is the case I'm
thinking of, having lived in Tampa for years...

But I'd like to thank the person who brought it up (no pun intended)...
on face value, your note really cracked me up...chicken gizzards and
bananas...;-) ;-)

tim

    This is overdue, but since I do have a tiny bit of firsthand info on
    this incident.
    
    The party was a 25th wedding celebration, held at one of the local
    function clubs in Webster MA.  It was a chicken liver and banana dish,
    which as mentioned was transported from NJ to Webster in the cook's
    trunk, un refrigerated.  Most of the party guests were staying in one
    location.  The party was midafternoon, the dish was never reheated, nor
    kept warm on the buffet table.
    
    As a resident of a neighboring town, and formerly active on its
    ambulance, about 9:30 that night all three of Webster's ambulances, our
    town's two ambulances, and another neighboring town was pressed into
    service for severe abdomimal problems of the guests ranging from small
    chilren (under5) to senior citizens.  Most of the guests were treated
    at several area hospitals and released, with none having long term
    effects.
    
    Just FYI, a group of us recently was given a tour of a McDonalds, near
    one of our sites in fact.  
    They do not "flip" their burgers, in fact they are cooked on a double sided
    grill,(sort of like your home grilled cheese/waffle baker) to a temp
    exceeding government standards.  This has been SOP for them for quite
    some time, so no adjustments had to be made after the Jack-in-the-box
    incident, they were already in compliance.  McD's will allow you to
    tour their facilities upon request.  Our group of teens happened to be
    there a little later on a Saturday night, and it was a combination of a
    very PR oriented shift manager, and a lot of curious teens, who are
    very grateful for the tour.  I learned quite a lot about how strict and
    standard they keep the restaurants.