Thursday, June 16, 2011

Antimicrobial Silver and Food Products


With the recent outbreaks of deadly E. coli and MRSA in foods, why isn’t antimicrobial silver being used more often in food-related products such as food storage containers, food wrapping products and food processing equipment?
Hi, Steve Barwick here, for www.TheSilverEdge.com...
In recent weeks we’ve seen massive outbreaks of E. coli food poisoning throughout Europe, and now in the United States too.
In Europe, nearly 3,000 have been sickened by the latest outbreak, and 30 people are dead.
Here in the U.S., 13 cases of E. coli infection, with one death so far this past week.
What’s more, recent studies have demonstrated that nearly 50% of all U.S. meat is contaminated with MRSA, the drug-resistant strain of staph that now kills more people in the U.S. than AIDS.
Yet, here in the U.S. and around the world, the environmental bureaucrats are doing everything in their power to stop the use of silver-based antimicrobials in food-related products and food processing equipment…
…even though incorporating silver into food-related products would dramatically reduce food-borne illness and disease, and save millions of lives globally!
Many companies have wanted to use nanosilver, for example, as a coating on food processing equipment to keep bacterial counts down, or in food storage products to prevent food spoilage and dramatically reduce bacterial contamination.
But they have met nothing but resistance from the environmentalists.
There is even a silver-impregnated butcher paper for wrapping meat, which would prevent the spread of dangerous pathogens on meat products.
But the environmentalists have been trying to stop that product from coming to market, too.
EPA Regulations Now Prevent the Public From Knowing About Silver-Based Products
There have been a small handful of food-related products utilizing antimicrobial silver that have actually made it to market.
For example, some small plastic food storage containers now have silver imbedded in the plastic, which keeps germs from spreading too quickly in the food stored in these containers.
Some of these silver-impregnated plastic food storage containers were sold by the well-known company, Sharper Image.
But Sharper Image quit carrying these products because of new regulations from the EPA preventing them from mentioning the antimicrobial silver in the product without registering them with the EPA and having to perform millions of dollars worth of environmental impact studies first to prove the products are "safe for the environment."
(Here’s where to get these nano-silver impregnated food storage containers, before they’re taken off the market completely.)
Daewoo Corporation, from Korea, has also come out with a refrigerator that utilizes silver-impregnation on all inside contact surfaces, in order to reduce food spoilage and bacterial contamination. But the product isn't selling well in the U.S. due to all of the negative publicity from the environmentalists, and the new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It's ridiculous, of course, but these are the kinds of roadblocks innovative companies trying to use silver in food-related products to help prevent food-borne illness and disease are running up against.
Worldwide Blockade Against Silver In Food Products
The same thing is happening worldwide. For example, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has recently ruled that there's "no place for nanosilver in consumer products such as foods."
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment is essentially the German equivalent of our Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency rolled into one. This German institute is also heavily influenced by environmentalists.
In my recent article explaining the environmental blockade against the use of silver-based antimicrobials in food products, I decimate the contention that silver is dangerous to the environment and therefore should not be used in food, food storage, or food processing.
For many decades now silver has been safely used in family and public swimming pools here in the United States and around the world.
It has also been used extensively in spas and hot tubs...in prescription medicines like Silvadene cream...and it is also sold as an oral nutritional supplement in the form of colloidal silver to tens of millions of people across North America annually.
Indeed, in Mexico a colloidal silver product called Microdyne is the #1 selling product for decontaminating water and preventing water-borne bacteria from causing bowel infections and diarrhea.
Yet problems with these silver-based products are extremely rare even though they are used extensively by millions of people. And uncountable cases of illness and disease are prevented or quickly healed, thanks largely to the use of antimicrobial silver in these arenas.
Unfortunately, the environmentalists are fighting tooth and nail to prevent silver from being used in foods, food storage, food wrapping or food processing.
Even though tens of millions of people are sickened every year by food-borne pathogens, hundreds of thousands of lives are lost, and billions of dollars in unnecessary health and medical costs are incurred...
...the environmentalists doggedly cling to the mistaken notion that silver might somehow harm the very environment it comes from in the first place – even to the point of making up wild and unsubstantiated charges against silver in order to scare the public away from using it.
It's a sad situation. But that's where things stand right now.
Using Colloidal Silver to Protect Your Family Against Food-Borne Illness and Disease
In the meantime, you can be proactive by using colloidal silver to spray your store bought fruits and vegetables before storing them in the fridge.
Many people even use a simple colloidal silver-based fruit and vegetable wash, which you can make quickly and easily out of common kitchen products.
You can also spray colloidal silver onto your kitchen cutting boards, countertops, sinks, faucets and handles, etc. to help prevent the spread of dangerous pathogens that can cause serious illness and disease.
(Spray bottles for colloidal silver can be found at some of the sources listed in the article at this link.)
And of course, at the first sign of tummy troubles, many people start using colloidal silver orally, right away, to nip the potential food poisoning in the bud.
In a future issue, I’ll write more extensively on this topic of antimicrobial silver and food. Until then, I remain...
Yours for the safe, sane and responsible use of colloidal silver,
Steve Barwick, author
Helpful Links:
Important Note and Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and reliability thereof. The author, Steve Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. Nothing reported herein is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting in journalistic fashion what he has learned during the past 17 years of journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with caution. Readers should verify for themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas, conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and experienced health care professional. Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim responsibility or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred as a result of the use or application of any information included in this Ezine.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder why people leave out what they don't like. I remember growing up as a child in India, every newborn received a small bowl, apoon, tumbler, or a drinking cup, eve a blunt rattle, a feeding bottle (all or at least a couple of things) made of sterling silver. I too, along with my 3 siblings, were fed using a sterling silver bottle. It was never boiled, only soap & water wash before & after feeding the baby. The smallest carbon foot print compared to antu other material, with no chance of making it to the landfill". Indians have known it for generations, the antimicrobial properties of silver & have used it in the form of eating utensils & dishes. I believe that the use of the silver & gold foil to garnish some of the foods too had the same purpose. Obviously, that all changed with the introduction of the western medical & science knowledge, which has yet to show any significant benefit to society & environment...

Steve Barwick said...

So true, Anon. Here in the U.S. it has gotten so bad the lawyers are actually suing companies that manufacture those little silver balls cake decorators used to put on cupcakes and birthday cakes, because they actually contained small amounts of real silver. In many decades those little silver balls were used as cake decorations, and never caused a single person any harm. But now with all of the hoopla over silver, the bureaucrats and lawyers are even going after the cake decorations. Pathetic.