[wake]

Just a friendly heads up to the rock man

would hate to lose you like that

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/ ... cream.html

[Poordogabone]

It must be pretty bad, what kind of bacteria survives in a frozen environment?
Anyway, I would never trust a product which name kinda sounds like blue balls.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Poordogabone', 'I')t must be pretty bad, what kind of bacteria survives in a frozen environment?
Anyway, I would never trust a product which name kinda sounds like blue balls.

[Poordogabone]

Thanks for the info Outcast_Searcher.
I think we tend to over protect ourselves from bacteria/microbes exposure here in the US. Pasteurizing, sterilizing everything. For one we miss out on beneficial bacteria and in the long run are probably weakening our specie. Our immune system evolved getting a daily work out for billions of years and we westerners dropped out of the arms race to some extend. I heard that doctors now prescribes pills containing fecal matter for certain cases.
It's also the case that the segment of population most resistant to HIV in Africa are the prostitutes. Anyway I'll stick to Ben & Jerry.

[Subjectivist]

How do you link five deaths spread over twelve months to a single strain of Bacteria from a single source? If the Blue Bell processing plant was putting out contaminated product for such a long period of time there should be thousands of illnesses and scores of deaths, not just five all housed in one facility.

[Fishman]

Listeria can be a nasty bug. Most bacteria can stand cold, just less growth. And Subject, they should have NO listeria, its a breakdown in processing somehow. Though I agree with Poordog to some extent, exposure to bugs that can kill you ... tend to kill you. Eat some dirt maybe, or lick an air filter to get your allergens through your IG A system instead of your Ig E (not medical advice)

[ROCKMAN]

Sub - I thought that was suspicious also. No doubt thousands of other folks (mostly Texans) ate ice cream produced in that batch. Granted Texas are tougher them most (especially those Kansas pussies) but we still get the runs like everyone else...we just not as prone to complaining about it. And it was only folks in the hospital that ate it who became ill? Heck, hospitals have been proven to be one of the biggest sources of illness. Just look how many sick folks you'll find in every hospital.

Actually my doctor has me laying off BB for the most part. But I'm tempted to hunt down some of those frozen snacks. A side effect of the MS medication includes bouts of constipation so a little bit of the runs would actually be welcomed. Hmm...too much information? LOL.

[BicycleDave]

Hey Rockman, well I'm probably stuck in the same mindset I was years ago on TOD. Although my long term view is pretty pessimistic, us engineer types just can't escape the urge to "Fix Things". And, I still think that humans have the brainpower potential to avoid the worst consequences of our past (and current) behavior if enough of us really understand the problem and feel motivated to do something about it. However, serious problems seldom have good solutions unless the stakeholders have a deep understanding of both the symptoms and the causes - something that appears to be sorely lacking today.

In my blog [Blog url redacted or we would not let this pass as a first post - davep] I've ranted on about the symptoms related to poverty, water, soil, forests, commodities, etc. It's pretty amazing how most of these symptoms of an ailing planet seem to be relegated in the MSM to some kind of liberal fringe cause or worse yet, a cynical ruse for financial or political mischief. As for root causes - well, you may recall that I'm a fan of Richard Dawkins and his meme theory. For most of us, we got some pretty nasty mental scars from our childhood indoctrination of political, religious, and economic ideologies foisted upon us by our parents and/or community - scars that make critical thinking as adults very difficult in certain areas.

And, as JM Greer likes to point out, the most pervasive religious doctrine in the US today is our faith in technology and "Progress" - he calls it the religion of progress - the blind faith that there will always be some technology innovation that will "save" us. Reminds one of the South Seas Cargo Cults.

Just how a meaningful percent of humanity comes to understand the problem is the big question in my mind. Suggestions for "solutions" are pretty meaningless at this point as humanity has no common goals. Some folks would like to find another planet, many are only concerned about salvation in an afterlife, many are sure we can just muddle on as technology fixes things, and lots of people could care less as daily life is already a huge problem.

On a personal note: you mentioned MS - I assume this is Multiple Sclerosis? I rode the MS 150 in Wisconsin for 10 years but finally had to come to grips with the limits of my old body. Someone near and dear to me has had MS for nearly 30 years.

[ROCKMAN]

Dave - Your post about tech spurred a thought, of all things, about Albert Noble. Most probable understand his motivation with the Peace prize stemmed from his development of explosives. Explosives that made warfare much more "efficient". Similarly the development of fossil fuels unarguably made our lives more efficient also. But just like Albert’s work, it has come with a downside. So in 50 to 100 years will the “Noble” of the fossil fuel industry offer a fitting prize to folks who might have led the way with alternative energy sources?

[Timo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ROCKMAN', ' ')Granted Texas are tougher them most (especially those Kansas pussies) but we still get the runs like everyone else...

[hvacman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.') So in 50 to 100 years will the “Noble” of the fossil fuel industry offer a fitting prize to folks who might have led the way with alternative energy sources?

[ROCKMAN]

Timo - An as the ask in Texas: Do you know the difference between an jackass and a thoroughbred? The Red River. LOL. I threw that little "pussy" slap out hoping I would catch the eye of an Okie. But a jayhawker is just as good. Growing up in S La and now being a TBC allows me freedom to tease a wide variety of folks...including Texans. TBC = Texan By Choice.

Back to the thread: going to visit my daughter in Greece at the end of April. And guess what they do to keep the MSG happy at the embassy...they import Blue Bell. Your tax $'s at work...thank you. LOL. MSG = Marine Security Guard.

[vox_mundi]

FDA: Recall expanded for Blue Bell Ice Cream products

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')ederal authorities say Blue Bell is expanding the recall of some ice cream products because of possible exposure to the listeria bacteria.

Blue Bell is recalling 3-ounce cups of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream that have tab lids. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the cups could be contaminated with the bacteria, which can cause fatal infections in young children, the elderly and others with weakened immune systems.

The Blue Bell creamery in Brenham, Texas, earlier this month recalled several other products made on the same production line after listeria was detected.

Five people developed listeriosis in Kansas after eating Blue Bell products and the FDA says three of them died. The five ate the ice cream while hospitalized in Wichita for unrelated causes.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Fishman', ' ')Though I agree with Poordog to some extent, exposure to bugs that can kill you ... tend to kill you. Eat some dirt maybe, or lick an air filter to get your allergens through your IG A system instead of your Ig E (not medical advice)

[dinopello]

Blue Bell is pulling ALL products from everywhere due to listeriosis

What a waste. The number of infections still seems to be small, but I guess they are doing the cautious thing

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')lue Bell CEO and President Paul Kruse promised to make sure all products are safe before they go back on sale.

"We're committed to doing the 100 percent right thing, and the best way to do that is to take all of our products off the market until we can be confident that they are all safe," Kruse said in a statement on the company's website.

"We are heartbroken about this situation and apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers."

Blue Bell said its new safety measures will include more extensive cleaning and sanitizing of equipment; increasing the swabbing and testing of facility surfaces by 800%; providing more employee training; and sending samples to a lab for testing every day.

[ROCKMAN]

dino - Sad day indeed. And a dangerous one also: road rage was already bad enough in Texas. Now we'll have a bunch of pissed off red necks going thru Blue Bell withdrawl.