Food News

Hobs may reduce Clostridium perfringens in chickens, claims US study
By Jane Byrne, 03-Nov-2008

Related topics: Public Concerns

Researchers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in collaboration with a scientist from Farleigh Dickinson University, claim that the hob plant (Humulus lupulus) contains bitters acids which are powerful antimicrobials and can be used to control pathogenic bacteria in the intestines of chickens.

The scientists focused on one compound of the hob plant in particular, lupulone, and assessed its ability to control levels of C. perfringens in chickens.

The ARS group said the study, which was published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, was triggered by the need to find alternatives to antibiotic use in poultry feed as several types of bacteria are building resistance to antibiotics.

The research will be of interest to meat processors as bacteria such as C. perfringens in the intestines of chickens can cause contamination of meat during processing and can also result in significant production losses by causing disease in the broiler chicken, explained the researchers.

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Why I Became A Vegan

It's been almost six month since I changed my lifestyle and became a vegan

I wish I had done this years ago.
I remember when I was in my 20 I read a book by Upton Sinclair "The Jungle" after that I did not eat meat for about a year but eventually fell back in to the habit.





I grew up with meat on the table, and I have to say a nice pork roast, pork chops , fillet Mignon, cordon blue are all still making my mouth water a bit.

But when I think of how meat is processed and how the animals are treated while they are alive, I can't stomach looking at a piece of meat and eat it.

The two factors that returned me away for good are:

A: Contamination of the meat
B: The inhuman treatment of the animals

Those two factors together make if impossible for me to ever partake in the consumption of meat and meat products.

I think the mass production of meat and meat products and the industrializing has lead to a society that rarely thinks of all that goes in to this type of product and business.

Some of the people working in the meat industry are abusers that found a place where they can get away with behavior that would normally be criminal.

Somehow it's OK to poke the eyes of a pig with a sharp object. Somehow it's OK to pick up a chicken or turkey and throw it against the wall, or break it's wings.

Thew list of torture and abuse perpetrated against living beings for food is endless.

Actually form a nutritional stand point we do not need meat. I found myself eating lots of vegetables, starchy vegetables like corn, greens and beans rice and soy products. Lentils are a great source of protein and Quinoa is a total protein whit all the amino acids just as meat has.

I shall make a list of some of the meat substitutes in another post.

I would love to her from you and why you became a vegetarian or vegan.