Traces Of Toxin Found In Eggs

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Traces Of Toxin FoundIn UK EggsFrom Patricia Doyle, PhDdr_p_doyle4-18-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From ProMED-mail Source: PA News Wed 14 Apr 2004 Limit Egg Intake Warning As Traces Of Toxin Found By Laura Scott The Scotsman Children and people with heart conditions were today being warned to limit the number of eggs they eat after traces of a toxic drug were found in around one in 10 tested. Organic farming group the Soil Association issued the advice in light of new [uK] Government figures which reveal 12 percent of eggs tested contained residues of Lasalocid. The antibiotic, which is used to treat parasitic stomach infections in livestock, gets into laying hens and consequently eggs through batches of chicken feed which have been contaminated by accident. People with cardiac arrhythmia, children, and adults who eat 3 or 4 eggs a day are most at risk from the drug, the association claims. It says Lasalocid has been linked to increased heart and breathing rates, paralysis and even death in poultry. It has also voiced concerns that there may be a link between the consumption of contaminated eggs and Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. Richard Young, policy advisor at the Soil Association, claims current egg testing methods are not thorough enough to weed out the majority of contaminated eggs. "In this country [uK] we eat 26 million eggs a day, and there are only about 250 sample egg tests, so the question is how many contaminated eggs slip through the net?" he said. "If you're a consumer that gets the bad eggs, you're not just going to get one bad egg. The whole batch that egg came from is probably contaminated, so you're going to get a whole bad lot at one time." Consumers should be aware of the potential danger and limit their daily egg intake, according to the association. Mr Young said: "We advise people to be moderate in the way they eat eggs. Eat organic if you can and certainly give organic eggs to children, and 2 eggs in one day would be the maximum you should have." http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm -- ProMED-mail <promed [Lasalocid is a feed additive drug in the class of ionophores. It is a drug for use in animals only, and there is no comparable drug or drug category for humans. However, rules of the European Union have banned lasalocid from being added to feed that is given to laying hens. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is responsible for enforcing this legislation within the UK. Although this problem may have existed before, the maximum level of lasalocid reported in eggs has risen significantly over the past year from 620 micrograms/kilogram in 2002 to 3450 in 2003. 2 of the 250 samples contained levels above 3000 micrograms/kilogram. According to the Food Safety Agency (FSA), the levels of lasalocid in eggs do not raise any immediate health concerns for consumers. The FSA doesn't recommend a limit on how many eggs should be eaten. However, babies under 6 months should not be fed eggs because of the potential risk of allergic reactions. Some eggs contain salmonella bacteria, which can cause serious illness, especially among elderly people, babies, toddlers, pregnant women and people who are already unwell. So that means you always need to be careful how you use eggs, but particularly when you are preparing food for one of these groups. There are 3 main issues you should be aware of: - avoiding the spread of bacteria - cooking eggs properly - storing eggs safely. - Mod.TG] [The carboxylic ionophores are open-chained oxygenated heterocyclic rings with a single terminal carboxyl group of moderate molecular weight (200-2000). Ionophores form lipid-soluble complexes with polar cations (K+, Na+, Ca ++ and Mg++), have a diverse antibacterial spectra and are produced by fungi, predominantly _Streptomyces sp_. These compounds are used as anticoccidial and growth promotant feed additives. Lasalocid is used in broiler chickens (brand name Avatec) for the prevention of coccidiosis caused by _Eimeria sp._ and in cattle (brand name Bovatec) for improved feed efficiency and increased rate of weight gain. Clinical pathology of ionophore-induced toxicity includes elevated enzyme levels of muscle origin such as aspartate transaminase (AST) and creatine phosphokinase (CPK). Other serum enzymes that may be elevated are lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase. Additonally, there may be elevations in blood urea nitrogen and bilirubin. Serum calcium and potassium levels may fall to life-threatening levels in horses. Hemoconcentration may also occur. The ionophores are generally safe at prescribed levels in intended species. Certain management situations increase the possibility of toxicoses including overdose, mixing errors, premix consumption, and misuse in non-target species such as horses, adult turkeys, and dogs. Concurrent administration of other drugs, including chloramphenicol, erythromycin, sulfonamides and cardiac glycosides, can potentate ionophore toxicosis. Calcium ionophores (Lasalocid is a divalent ionophore) clearly have effects in human cells. Binding of calcium can produce the signs and symptoms of hypocalcemia and can upregulate or downregulate cellular functions based on the role of calcium in such processes. It is unclear if the levels in the eggs would cause clinical or subclinical effects in humans. Source: <http://www.abvt.org/ionop.html> Veterinary References ------------------- Blanchard PC, Galey FD, Ross F, et al. Lasalocid toxicosis in dairy calves. J Vet Diagn Invest 1993;5:300-302. Hanson LJ, Eisenbeis HG, Givens SV. Toxic effects of lasalocid in horses. Am J Vet Res 1981;42:456-461. Galitzer SJ, Bartley EE, Oehme FW. Preliminary studies on lasalocid toxicosis in cattle. Vet Hum Toxicol 1982;24:406-409. Galitzer SJ, Oehme FW. (1984) A literature review on the toxicity of lasalocid, a polyether antibiotic. Vet Hum Toxicol 1984;26:322-326. Safran N, Aizenberg I, Bark H. Paralytic syndrome attributed to lasalocid residues in a commercial ration fed to dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1993:1273-1275. Human References ------------- Serrani RE, Gioia IA, Corchs JL. The homogeneous effect of calcium ionophore A23187 on potassium loss in human foetal red cell populations. Physiol Res. 1995;44: 275-280. Rittenhouse SE. Activation of human platelet phospholipase C by ionophore A23187 is totally dependent upon cyclo-oxygenase products and ADP. Biochem J. 1984;222:103-10. - Mod. LL] .........................tg/pg/jw Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat= & Board=emergingdiseases Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health