Dangers of eating healthy

[Nesacat]

Peruvian lettuce proves deadly for Moroccan camels

LIMA, Peru, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Healthy eating has proved fatal for a group of camels donated to Peru by Morocco's King Mohammed.

Two camels died this week and another is sick after being fed a type of Peruvian lettuce that poisoned the animals with its high nitrate levels, initial tests showed on Thursday.

"The animal feeders thought that the lettuce would have lots of protein and that's why they gave it to them," said William Raffo, head of animal hygiene in Peru's desert coastal city of Ica, which has a climate similar to North Africa's Sahara.

Officials fear the other seven camels donated to Peru may have eaten the lettuce and could become ill.

"It seems like an epidemic," said Moroccan embassy official in Lima Abdelilah Nejjari.

King Mohammed donated the camels to Peru in 2003 to boost bilateral diplomatic and trade ties.

*Wonder what effect exactly this will have on those bilateral ties.*

 

[j d worthington]

Oh, dear... I see problems on several levels here. One of which is the level of nitrates ... was this from the fertilizer used, a natural concomitant of this type of lettuce, or what?

The other is the rash of stories we've been getting about the dangerous of produce lately, from ebola from spinach and lettuce to deadly carrot juice causing permanent paralysis. I can't help but question just where the blame lies in all this... who has been skirting the regulations, for instance, and who hasn't been testing things properly; who has been utilizing unsafe methods for growing and processing, etc. At this rate, not only will we see such an impact on these animals, but people are going to start avoiding produce, which is going to have severe effects on several levels, including economic and health-related.

 

[Whitestar]

Do you have the link for that?

 

[carrie221]

You know all this bad press about vegies it going to be used by some kid not wanting to eat their vegis... it will not stop me but it is kinda scary news

 

[Nesacat]

Do you have the link for that?

I'm sorry Whitestar ... I have access to the Reuters news wire at work and I just copied off that so there's no link I could post. It might be online though.