Home > Plasmid: Science and bio-tech research blog > Archives > 2006 > December
December 2006
Don’t blame the onions
Seven-layer-salad lovers fear not: Green onions are not to blame for the latest E. coli 0157 outbreak. You might want to give that iceberg a second wash, though.
In a missive to physicians today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the Taco Bell customers sickened in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Deleware had three ingredients in common: ground beef, cheddar cheese and lettuce. Most likely, it was the shredded lettuce.
Green onions were not on the list.
According to the CDC:
“Evaluation of additional information about the locations of involved restaurants, the patterns of distribution of food ingredients, and the characteristics and preparation of food ingredients indicates that shredded lettuce consumed at Taco Bell restaurants in the northeastern United States was the most likely source of the outbreak.
“Because multiple Taco Bell restaurants were involved during the same time period, contamination of lettuce likely occurred before reaching the restaurants.
“Health officials and the restaurant chain are working collaboratively to learn more about the shredded lettuce to determine how it may have become contaminated.”
In the spinach outbreak earlier in the fall, water used to irrigate California spinach crops was believed to be the cause. Could the same be true of the Taco Bell lettuce? Taco Johns customers in the midwest may have been sickened by a similar bug. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, wash those fruits and veggies really well, and don’t eat pink burgers. This strain of E. coli can kill.
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The CDC’s Cornball Carol
Is it possible that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a sense of humor? How else to explain this little carol?
It’s sung to the tune of “The 12 Days of “Christmas” but it’s been rewritten with the rather Buddhist sounding “The 12 Ways to Health” as the refrain. Give it a listen.
And when you figure out how to simultaneously “manage stress” and “monitor the children” let me know.
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Cocktail Party Caution
See that cheese platter?
The one on the buffet, with the creamy Camembert and tasty smoked Gouda? And those tempting little water crackers, and the lovely spiced olives.
Cocktail party food can be so beguiling.
But would you enjoy it quite so much if you knew that eating one cracker with cheese and a slice of salami will require 41 minutes of walking or 20 minutes of swimming to burn off?
Would the lovely olives seem quite so tasty in the knowledge that they’ll require a 16-minute bike ride to expend?
Would you enjoy sneaking the little 1 ounce handfull of potato chips as much understanding that 53 minutes of yoga will be the price?
Breathe deeply, now.
A new book from Simon & Schuster’s Fireside books promises to take all the Ho Ho Ho out of he-he-helping yourself to the holiday buffet. The Diet Detective’s Count Down hits stores in January 2007, but Plasmid has taken a pre-holiday sneak peek.
Author Charles Stuart Platkin has made calorie counts meaningful by showing how much physical activity the numbers represent. It’s a broad-brush approach to be sure — an athletic large man is going to burn calories at a different rate than a sedentary older woman who needs a hip replacement.
But it’s a sobering reminder that we pack on what we don’t burn, and we burn less than we might think.
Above all, it dramatically illustrates the importance of making smart food choices.
For example: Platkin says a 4 ounce glass of white wine will require a 25 minute walk to burn. But a Pina Colada? Nearly 2 hours!
It’s enough to make you want to reach for a nice cold beer. Except that would mean another 16 minutes on the bike.
So when New Year’s Eve rolls around and you’re toasting the new year, remember a 5 ounce flute equals a 15 minute jog.
Enjoy those parties.
Dressed for the occasion at Pfizer
Financial news can be pretty flaccid stuff — “Earnings exceeded analysts expectations blah blah blah…”
That’s mostly what went on in the staid press lockdown room at Pfizer’s Groton, Conn. R&D center Thursday, where the Scripps-Pfizer collaboration was announced along with issues of lapsing patents and wide pipelines.
But a few funny moments stuck out. The Wall Street Journal’s Scott Hensley arrived sporting a suitably subtle Viagra tie, with little blue-diamond pills dancing around happy peeled bananas.
That set the CNBC crew off in search of items to one-up him. They discovered the Pfizer company store loaded with Viagra, um, stocking stuffers. The Viagra stress-pill squeeze toy is sure to be a hit with their editors, as well as the Viagra sweatshirts and baseball caps. Great conversation starters at the kids’ soccer game, no?
Don’t worry, Post editors… I resisted the urge.
Viagra’s pretty old news at Pfizer at this point, and “fun” drugs aren’t in the pipeline, unless you get giggly over pills that promise to fight obesity. You might if you own the stock.
Pfizer sees gold in them thar fat folds. They predict the market for anti-obesity drugs to be worth about $35 billion. That’s billion with a “B.” They highlighted a couple of different drug candidates. Here’s the skinny:
Gut MTP Inhibitors — MTP is short for microsomal triglyceride transfer protein. The idea is that this drug candidate would block the absorbtion of artery-clogging triglycerides. That way, the burgers and fries would just keep going without leaving behind souvenirs in the arteries and on the love handles. Any coincidence that Pfizer’s new CEO, Jeffrey Kindler, used to be chairman and CEO of McDonald’s Boston Market?
CP-945,598 Now in late-stage clinical trials — It’s supposed to fight obesity by blocking the same pathway that causes pot to give people the munchies. Seems cruel. Give us the pill that lets us eat as much Krispy Kreme as we want, than take away our desire to eat it…..
Still, none of this sounds like as much fun as Viagra. But with 242 programs spanning 11 therapeutic areas, there are bound to be more surprises out of Pfizer.
After all, Pfizer scientists didn’t set out to cure the world of erectile disfunction. Viagra was supposed to treat angina. It was a total failure because of this unwanted side effect that popped up in clinical trials………
Don’t you love silver linings?
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