By the Numbers

— According to a recent article in USA Today, experts estimate that 5% of children under the age of six have food allergies, with peanuts topping the list. Noting that this has brought the lowly peanut under fire in school districts nationwide, the article nonetheless added that peanut butter remains a dietary staple among the under-18 set—so much so that the average student is estimated to consume 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the day of graduation.

— An article in the December 7, 1998 issue of the Ottawa Sun cited a recent study out of Chicago which allegedly reported that 36% of Americans fear food poisoning and approach food with more paranoia than pleasure. Noting that Canadians, too, may be developing a fear of food, the newspaper sought comment from Pamela Sharfe, environmental health manager for the Toronto public health department, who was quoted as saying, “Foodborne bacteria is now considered a major public health problem. One in six people (1.5 million) in Ontario get food poisoning every year at an annual cost of half a billion dollars in insurance payments and loss of work.” The statistics, she added, reflect only one tenth of reported cases.

— How safe is organically grown food? Perhaps not as safe as you thought. According to the December 5, 1998 edition of the National Post, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed 2,471 cases of people infected with the O157:H7 E. coli virus in 1996. In at least 85 of those cases, the paper states, organic foods, which make up barely 1% of the U.S. food supply, were implicated. Citing U.S. Food and Drug Administration sources, the article adds that crops grown organically have higher rates of infestation by natural toxins from fungi, including aflatoxin, one of the most virulent cancer agents known to man.

— Based on figures supplied by the CDC and the National Weather Service, the Meat Importers Council of America recently reported that a U.S. citizen stands: