Is The Food Safe?

[Possum]

1 hour ago, Guy F. said:

"Health officials said 261 people had been affected. Ms Marcos was not among them, according to reports."

We might assume she was not eating the same food as was served to the guests.

The "guests" that got sick were seen carrying food inside clear plastic botulism incubators

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 2/27/2023 at 11:23 PM, mountainside said:

Of the airports I've passed through, the one where I would have felt entirely comfortable eating anything anywhere, is Changi.

Is it because you have to take out a bank loan to get a meal or a sandwich that makes it comfortable? But don't buy a lobster, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/burger-lobster-at-jewel-changi-airport-suspended-till-further-notice-after-17-people-fall-ill  

[mountainside]

1 hour ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Is it because you have to take out a bank loan to get a meal or a sandwich that makes it comfortable? But don't buy a lobster, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/burger-lobster-at-jewel-changi-airport-suspended-till-further-notice-after-17-people-fall-ill 

My bubble has been burst.  You're reminding me of why we like Clark so much.  Never got sick.  No bank loans needed for a meal.  Never once got lost in the airport.  Was always able to find the CR on my own . . .   Come to think of it, same thing with Cebu-Mactan.  But wait a minute . . .  I've read about the drive to make Cebu City like Singapore.  Does that mean that the renovated airport will become like Changi?  Can't grab a safe bite anywhere?  Say it ain't so . . .

Well, at least my wife is looking forward to seeing the new Singapore Merlion at Carbon Market -- she swears she's never gotten sick from the food there.  I'll be sure to ask her choose what we eat.  "Up to you." 

Edited February 28, 2023 by mountainside

[RBM]

17 hours ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

It's too hot and/or wet to grow most vegetables here other than areas at high altitude. 'Almost everything you plant' certainly won't grow well here.

 

Have you tried hydroponics here, we have amazing success.

[Tommy T.]

On 2/27/2023 at 3:19 PM, JJReyes said:

In the West, there is an expectation that the food is safe to consume.  They have food safety inspectors making sure manufacturers, food processors, distributors, and retail outlets comply with all kinds of rules to reassure the public that the food is safe.  What about the Philippines?  This is not a life-or-death situation.  Those will make the evening news.  It's something more like coming down with food poisoning and becoming really sick.  What precaution should you take?

I will add here... I had a friend who had worked in the USA (an American) at the USDA as a meat inspector.

He refused to eat any meats that I offered to cook for him that came from USA. He simply told me that it was totally disgusting to see the processes and also the final products... And I believe he is vegetarian or at least only eating wild-caught fish since then...

That tells you a lot about meat quality in the world... Yes?

 

[JJReyes]

The best food inspectors are with the US Army.  During the Spanish American War, more soldiers died from food poisoning in Cuba and the Philippines than from the fighting.  The heat, humidity and poor handling contaminated the food supplies.  Today, every military base (US Army supplies the manpower for all services) must have a food inspector with the rank of Captain or Major and a command that inspects every food facility every single day.  If McDonalds has a facility in the base, it will be inspected every single day.  The result is zero food poisoning inside US military bases for over 100 years.  Makes sense.  You don't want an entire battalion or brigade sick because of the food.  

The debate over the quality of meat, fish or poultry is different.  Should you even consume them?  You could, or course, become a Vegan.  Tried it for a week.  My conclusion is I might as well live a few years less than give up my favorite dishes.  What I am careful about is food source.

[Gator]

19 hours ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

It's too hot and/or wet to grow most vegetables here other than areas at high altitude. 'Almost everything you plant' certainly won't grow well here.

Not sure if I fully agree with that statement. My wife’s family are farmers in Cebu. Their farm is in the mountains, but it’s only a few hundred feet above sea level; not high altitude by any means. They’ve been successfully growing a variety of crops for well over 2 decades. The only corn they grow is for their own personal consumption (ground into meal) and to use for livestock feed (cows and chickens). Their crops are mostly lettuce (a few varieties), radishes, cherry and grape tomatoes, mangos, onions (large white and small red), various herbs, eggplant, cucumbers (various varieties), coconuts, and recently added dragon fruit and persimmons. Being they're certified organic (one of the only one in Cebu) they work closely with, and are monitored by, the Philippines Department of Agriculture as well as with a local ag college.  Maybe they’re the exception to the norm. I don’t know, I’m not a farmer…..are you? 

[JJReyes]

4 hours ago, Gator said:

Not sure if I fully agree with that statement. My wife’s family are farmers in Cebu. Their farm is in the mountains, but it’s only a few hundred feet above sea level; not high altitude by any means. They’ve been successfully growing a variety of crops for well over 2 decades.

As a general rule, crops like rice, corn and sugar are grown in the lowlands because they need lots of water.  Most vegetables need good draining areas so they are grown upland.  Otherwise, their roots will rot.  There are exceptions like mountain rice and watercress that needs water.  

[fillipino_wannabe]

On 3/1/2023 at 9:52 AM, Gator said:

Not sure if I fully agree with that statement. My wife’s family are farmers in Cebu. Their farm is in the mountains, but it’s only a few hundred feet above sea level; not high altitude by any means. They’ve been successfully growing a variety of crops for well over 2 decades. The only corn they grow is for their own personal consumption (ground into meal) and to use for livestock feed (cows and chickens). Their crops are mostly lettuce (a few varieties), radishes, cherry and grape tomatoes, mangos, onions (large white and small red), various herbs, eggplant, cucumbers (various varieties), coconuts, and recently added dragon fruit and persimmons. Being they're certified organic (one of the only one in Cebu) they work closely with, and are monitored by, the Philippines Department of Agriculture as well as with a local ag college.  Maybe they’re the exception to the norm. I don’t know, I’m not a farmer…..are you? 

Yes things like that will grow, I thought you were referring to common 'western' vegetables like potatoes, carrots etc. 

Maybe if they're far from another farm that grows vegetables in the mountains or something then organic may work but that's not really practical for most farms.

I have cucumber, yard long beans and tomatoes on my farm. I did hope to make it organic but that dream ended almost immediately when I saw 3-4 different bugs having dinner on my seedlings almost as soon as they were planted lol.

[Gator]

43 minutes ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

Yes things like that will grow, I thought you were referring to common 'western' vegetables like potatoes, carrots etc. 

Maybe if they're far from another farm that grows vegetables in the mountains or something then organic may work but that's not really practical for most farms.

I have cucumber, yard long beans and tomatoes on my farm. I did hope to make it organic but that dream ended almost immediately when I saw 3-4 different bugs having dinner on my seedlings almost as soon as they were planted lol.

I’ll ask the wife what they use for pest control. In the USA (central Florida) I used to spray my tomato, basil, bell pepper and cucumber plants (home garden) with a solution of cayenne pepper, dawn dish detergent and water. About heaping tablespoon or so of cayenne pepper into a quart of boiling hot water, shake well to fully dissolve it and then add about a teaspoon of Dawn; poured into a small pump sprayer (2 gallon I think) and topped off with water from the garden hose. Worked very well. Only had spray every few days or after it rained. Of course wash your veggies well once you harvest them and avoid getting the solution into your eyes. It happened to me once when it was windy, even after thoroughly flushing out my eyes with clean water my eyes were red for hours and sinuses got fully drained; and let’s not even talk about the pain! Lol. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Gator