listeria

What you need to know about keeping your food safe

If it seems like food poisoning is becoming more common, that's because it is.

So far this year, there have already been seven multi-state outbreaks leading to recalls for listeria, salmonella, and E.coli... and we haven't even hit the halfway mark yet!

The latest recall was a doozy, with a reported 358 products sold by CRF Frozen Foods in all 50 states at well-known stores like Costco, Wal-Mart, and Safeway and under 42 different brands including Bybee's, O Organic, Organic by Nature, and Wild Oats.

As we get older, we need to be extra careful when an outbreak like this occurs. Like other illnesses, foodborne illnesses tend to pick on children and seniors the most. Of the nearly 130,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, most are children and older adults with weaker immune systems.

What could keep someone else in the bathroom all day could land YOU in the hospital... or the morgue.

Although there have only been eight illnesses reported across three states thus far, two of the sick people have actually died.

The CDC is saying that listeria was not the ultimate cause of death in the case of the current listeria outbreak -- but if you're struggling with other health conditions that may already be compromising your immune system, the last thing you need is yet another infection to push you over the edge.

Your body can only fight so much at any given time.

So what can you do now?

• Check your fridge and freezer for the contaminated brands and foods. You can find a full list of recalled items here -- and if you find any of them, you can throw them out or bring them back to the store for a refund.
• Wash and disinfect anything in the kitchen that might have been contaminated or can breed dangerous bacteria, like cutting boards, countertops, and even the inside of the fridge.
• Keep your fridge set to 40°F or lower and the freezer 0°F or lower, but listeria can actually still grow in the cold. Heat is what can kill this dangerous bacteria, so cooking your foods (veggies and meat) will make them safer to eat.
• Buy organic, fresh, and locally-grown produce as much as you can -- and wash everything thoroughly before eating, even if you plan to cook them. Scrub AND peel your produce to remove anything that might make you sick.

Unfortunately, it's possible you may have already eaten one of the recalled foods. If you start showing any of the symptoms of listeria -- which include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea -- seek medical attention right away.

You can never tell when food poisoning will strike -- but knowing exactly what to do is critical. You can learn more about how to recover quickly from it in this free report from my e-Tips archives.

It may even save your life!

Raw milk farm closed for being too healthy?

In late January, a group of jackbooted government thugs descended upon a small South Dakota farm, shutting down the operation and warning the state's citizens that the farmer was a grave threat to their lives.

And it was all because of something he had in his barn.

No, it wasn't a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher or a tub full of anthrax. It was a cow.

And if that doesn't make a lick of sense to you, welcome to the nanny state's war against raw milk and the honest folks who sell it.

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture finally admitted something the state's farmers could have told you for years -- they don't know what the hell they're doing. For an entire week in January, DOA closed Trever Gilkerson's Jerseydale Farms after his raw milk tested positive for listeria. And if you own a small business, you know how much one week closed can hurt.

The state even issued a release encouraging the good people of South Dakota to stay far away from Gilkerson's farm, warning that his milk could cause everything from convulsions to miscarriages.

The only problem was that these government boobs must have been absent the day they taught science in science class. Gilkerson's milk actually tested positive for listeria innocua, the strain of listeria that's good for you!

And if these taxpayer-funded flunkies want to accuse raw milk of being loaded with beneficial bacteria and enzymes, all I can say is, "Guilty as charged!" As I've told you before, raw milk is a nutritional goldmine that can battle everything from allergies to digestive disorders.

Don't spend another day swallowing Big Dairy's lies about raw milk. They may be working state health officials like puppets, but it's time for you to cut the strings. Check out my book The Raw Truth About Milk, and see how the best health of your life could be one delicious cold glass away.