10 Most Dangerous Foods....Watch your Back

The media drops the ball, yet again:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Leafy greens -- including lettuce and spinach -- top the list of the 10 riskiest foods, according to a study from a nutrition advocacy group released Tuesday.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest listed the following foods, in descending order, as the most risky in terms of outbreaks: leafy greens, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries.

The scientists rated these foods, all of them regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, by the number of outbreaks associated with them since 1990, and also provided the number of recorded illnesses.

"Millions of consumers are being made ill, hundreds of thousands hospitalized and thousands are dying each year from preventable foodborne illnesses," the study said. "Unfortunately, the FDA is saddled with outdated laws, and lacks the authority, tools and resources to fight unsafe food."

Enter normal human being. I mean c'mon! I'm not challenging the statistics, but in none of the coverage I've seen so far about the 10 Most Dangerous, Spooky, Scaaaary foods, does anyone think to mention that many of the associated illnesses can be marginalized or eliminated completely by simply washing, properly storing and properly preparing each food. The media, on cue, chooses to scare, rather than inform. You see, the bummer about this study is that 8 out of the 10 foods mentioned are whole foods; exactly the type Joli and I are constantly recommending our client's eat. Believe me, there are plenty of people out there who are already on the fence as to whether or not whole foods, fruits and vegetables need better representation in their lives. Along comes this substantively significant, but horribly delivered study about Devil Foods, and a new batch of people will walk away from whole foods. Would it have killed the authors of this study, or the FDA, to add an addendum mentioning that there are simple steps to take that would greatly reduce the risks posed by these foods? Of course not. Plain 'ol lazy. Keep eating the good, whole stuff.

-B