7. BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY
• A BRAIN DISORDER IN ADULT CATTLE THAT MAY BE SPREAD TO HUMANS
THROUGH DISEASED MEAT.
• HUMANS MAY ACQUIRE THE DISORDER BY EATING DISEASED MEAT
PRODUCTS. WHEN IT COMES FROM CATTLE, THE DISORDER IS CALLED
CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJD). CJD ULTIMATELY LEADS TO DEMENTIA
AND DEATH. THE CONDITION IS RARE.
• THE DISEASE IS MARKED BY RAPID MENTAL DETERIORATION, USUALLY WITHIN
A FEW MONTHS. MOST PEOPLE EVENTUALLY LAPSE INTO A COMA.
8. PEOPLE MAY EXPERIENCE:
• MOOD: ANXIETY, APATHY, OR NERVOUSNESS
• MUSCULAR: PROBLEMS WITH COORDINATION OR RHYTHMIC MUSCLE
CONTRACTIONS
• SENSORY: PINS AND NEEDLES OR UNCOMFORTABLE TINGLING AND BURNING
• COGNITIVE: DEMENTIA OR CONFUSION
• PSYCHOLOGICAL: MAJOR DEPRESSION
• ALSO COMMON: IMPAIRED VOICE, INSOMNIA, RESTLESSNESS, OR
UNRESPONSIVENESS
9. CONCERNS OF GENETICALLY
MODIFIED (GM) FOODS
• CONCERNS RELATED TO NUTRIENT ASPECT OF GM FOODS, ELIMINATION, LOSS,
REDUCTION OR INCREASE IN MICRONUTRIENTS DUE TO GENETIC MODIFICATION AND
INCREASE IN ANTI-NUTRITIONAL FACTORS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.
• THE TRANSGENIC MATERIAL FROM GM MAIZE CULTIVATED BY A FARMER COULD BE
TRANSFERRED IN NON-GM MAIZE CULTIVATED IN THE NEIGHBORING FARMER'S FIELD
WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE. THERE COULD BE THE POSSIBILITY OF DEVELOPMENT OF
RESISTANCE IN THE TARGET ORGANISM.
10. CONCERN OF DIOXIN-CONTAMINATED
FOODS
• DIOXIN AND RELATED COMPOUNDS, I.E. POLYCHLORINATED DIBENZO-P-DIOXIN
(PCDDS),POLYCHLORINATED DIBENZOFURANS (PCDFS) AND POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
(PCBS),ARE HALOGENATED AROMATIC COMPOUNDS WHICH ARE INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS
THAT PERSIST IN THE ENVIRONMENT. IN ADDITION TO CANCER, DIOXINS HAVE BEEN LINKED
TO ADVERSE HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS SUCH AS DEVELOPMENTAL, IMMUNOLOGIC AND
ENDOCRINE TOXICITY.
• DIOXINS ARE LIPOPHILIC (FAT-LOVING) COMPOUNDS WHICH ACCUMULATE IN THE FAT OF
ANIMALS
11. • THE TYPES OF FOODS WHICH TEND TO HAVE THE HIGHEST DIOXIN CONCENTRATIONS ARE
DAIRY PRODUCTS, MEAT AND POULTRY, EGGS, FISH AND ANIMAL FATS. GREEN
VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND GRAINS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE THE TYPES OF FOODS WITH
THE LOWEST DIOXIN CONCENTRATIONS.
• DEPOSITION OF AIRBORNE DIOXINS ONTO PLANT AND SOIL SURFACES, AND SUBSEQUENT
INGESTION OF THIS CONTAMINATED VEGETATION AND SOIL BY FOOD ANIMALS, IS
CONSIDERED THE PRIMARY PATHWAY BY WHICH DIOXINS ENTER THE FOOD CHAIN.
