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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1978)
THE BATTALION Page 7 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1978 The Battalion Classified 845-2611 Nitrite danger A&M specialist says ‘cure’worse than harms HELP WANTED HELP WANTED FOR SALE FULL OR PART TIME Flexible hours to fit your schedule Rapid advancement ♦Day shift ♦Night shift (til 10:00 p.m.) ♦Weekends Minimum starting salary $2.75 per hour for inexperienced persons. Cashier experience helpful. Apply in person only: 9:30-11:00 a.m. (if possible) Whataburger Bryan 1101 Texas College Station 105 Dominik BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES DUPLEX FOR SALE By owner. Large two bed room duplex. 2-story, large, rooms. Fireplace, garage, fenced back yard. Assume loan balance. 1915 Pine Tree Drive, Bryan. Call 823-5064 before 5 or 779-8991 after 6 846-6714 & 846-1151 UNIVERSITY SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER PUTT THEATRg GROUP SALES TICKETS WILL BE ACCEPTED Banning the preservative nitrite in cured meats could be a “cure worse than the disease,” claims a Texas A&M University meats spe cialist. Eliminating nitrite would only remove 2 percent of the average person’s daily intake of the chemi cal. The other 98 percent would still come naturally from other sources like saliva, vegetables and ingested proteins, said Dr. Jeff Saveli of Texas A&M’s Texas Agricultural Ex tension Service. He serves on the Nitrite Safety Council, composed of representa tives from livestock, poultry and meats industries. Saveli said nitrite is one of the best, if not the best, inhibitor of botulism poisoning. The chemical has been used for centuries, first by accident and then by design, to give that particular taste and color nor mally associated with cured meat products. It is used in hams, bacon, hot dogs, sandwich meats and other meat products. Saveli said nitrite is one of the best, if not the best, inhibitor of botulism poisoning. The chemi cal has been used for centuries. Saveli stressed there is currently no effective replacement for nitrite. If nitrites are banned, one alterna tive would require all meat products to be refrigerated below 40 degrees Fahrenheit for safety. “In banning nitrites, the cure may be worse than the disease,” Saveli said. “Were fortunate that the cured meats industry hasn t had a high incidence of food safety prob- SMALL INVESTMENT LARGE RETURN Get into the most needed exciting business in the United States. Our Nationally Advertised Urea Formal dehyde Foam passes all tests. It offers the most Modern Equipment for foaming wall cavities and shredded Foam for Attics* has an indefinite shelf life, and can be used with your present equipment!! Our Cellulose advanced technology in sure the finest insulating material available. Our Cellulose meets or exceeds all new testing requirements!! Our Cellulose is U. L. listed!! Our Cellulose has Class 1 fire rating!! Insul-Quip Equipment Complete line of Foam units, Cellulose blowers, Comb. Foam & Cellulose shred ders, Spray-up and many more related items. Complete training, marketing procedures, and methods available to all our Dealers. Call Collect Insulation Headquarters 214 783 7646 111 Arapaho Central Park, Richardson, t Mm2 7-7:30 MAYBE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNGER CHILOBEN fansiWMb - ■ - I ,'y It was the Deltas against the rules.. the rules lost! 7:30 9:40 ADULT NATUWAI. S3.oo lamp««n:% AMIMAL U«UfE [rJ-ss- $l .50 ADULTS $2.00 UNIVEG6AI PICTUfU TECHNICOLOR Ijmiiiiiiiimmimiiimimiimimiimiiimmuiiimmiiiiiiiiimmiiiuiimiiiiiinmiiiiimiiiimimm^ I MAMA'S PIZZA 1 DELIVERS ^9 11 A.M.-11 P.M. DAILY i PIZZA, SPAGHETTI, LASAGNA, SALADS, & DRINKS [$5.00 MINIMUM) « 1 = § Q Q| | _ ■ = aiHiiimimiiiiNmMimmmmimiimmmimiimimmimiNmiiiimiiiiiiiimiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiffi; 846-3380 'ALTERATIONS 1 IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF OLD TEXAS WHERE MOTHER TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND ALTERATIONS. “DON’T GIVE UP — WE LL MAKE IT FIT!" AT WELCH'S CLEANERS, WE NOT ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCEL LENT DRY CLEANERS BUT WE SPECIALIZE IN ALTERING HARD TO FIT EVENING DRESSES, TAPERED, SHIRTS, JEAN HEMS, WATCH POCKETS. ETC. (WE RE JUST A FEW BLOCKS NORTH OF FED MART.) WELCH’S CLEANERS 3819 E. 29th (TOWN & COUNTRY SHOPPING CENTER) lems. This can be directly linked to the use of nitrite in these products. “I can’t see how increasing the risk of botulism and completely re vamping the cured meats industry is worth lowering the 2 percent inci dence of a chemical that has been used in meats for hundreds of years. ” Saveli said the federal govern ment will possibly move to phase out nitrites over a period of time be cause of a recent Massachusetts In stitute of Technology study linking the preservative with cancer. “Nitrite is the only chemical that will do it all — prevent boUilism, give flavor and color and still retard oxidation. No substitute has been found that even comes near to it, even though hundreds of substances have been tested as possible re placements,’ Saveli stressed. The controversy over nitrites sur faced in mid-August when the USDA and the Food and Drug Ad ministration announced the findings of the MIT study. The report indi cated the possibility that nitrites caused lymphoma, a form of cancer, in laboratory rats. The animals were fed levels of nitrites greatly exceed ing those found in foodstuffs. Neither agency made a recom mendation for further action at the time, although Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Carol Foreman said some attempt will be made to phase out nitrites. In the study, 2,000 laboratory rats were fed up to the human equiva lent of 586 pounds of cured meats per day. Tests revealed a 12.5 per cent incidence of cancer in the nitrite-fed rats, while the rats that were not fed the chemical had a cancer incidence of 8.4 percent. There is a definite need for con tinued research to learn more about the benefits and hazards associated with the use of nitrites, Saveli said. “Is one study, the first of its kind, enough to change an entire indus try’s production methods, plus in crease the risk of botulism?” he asked. The economic impact cannot he ignored either. Cured meats are a $12.5 billion industry with a domes tic annual production of more than 9 billion pounds of food products. “Is one study, the first of its kind, enough to change an entire industry's production methods, plus increase the risk of botulism? “ He noted almost 70 percent of the pork produced in the United States ends up in cured meats like bacon, sausage and ham, while the remain der is sold as fresh meat. The effect would also reach far beyond the pork producer to meat packers, retailers and consumers, as well as farmers, tractor and equip ment manufacturers and other re lated industries. Suggestions coming from the government on what to use in place of nitrites include other chemicals (such as potassium sorbate), freezing and radiation treatments. All are feasible, Saveli said, but each is rather expensive at present and would require some time to start new processing production. Drugs are available for rare diseases Be careful with fire* Remember: there are babes in the woods* And those baby fawns, rabbits, squirrels and trees need a safe, happy home. They need a place where they can grow up strong and healthy. Like babes everywhere. So, please, be careful with fire when you’re in the forest. Follow all the rules of safety and caution —just like any other place where there are children at play. 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They are not licensed by the Food and Drug Ad ministration, and are available only through the CDC by special clear ance from the FDA. One of them, varicella-zoster immune globulin, is used in chil dren and teen-agers with leukemia or lymphoma who have been ex posed to chicken pox, an ordinarily mild disease that can be fatal to cancer patients whose immune capability has been reduced by chemotherapy. It also is used to prevent chicken pox in people with congenital or ac quired immunodeficiency, those under immuno-suppressive medica tion, and in the newly-born of a mother with chicken pox. Dr. Stephen R. Preblud, of the CDC’s immunization division, says the globulin does not confer long- lasting immunity but is highly effec tive in protecting against one expo sure to chicken pox. It also has to be administered very soon after exposure to the dis ease. “We don’t think it w ill do any good unless it is given within 96 hours of exposure, ’ he said. He said ZIG, as the drug is known, “is the only thing we have right now," to prevent chicken pox infection in immuno-defieient children. The CDC has provided ZIG since January 1972 to more than 1,500 children. The drug was prepared from the blood plasma of healthk donors convalescing from herpes zoster infection (shingles), an infec tion in adults caused by a virus simi lar to chicken pox. Preblud said, however, the sup ply of ZIG fell far short of the need because there were not enough donors. In an attempt to meet in creasing demand, he said CDC con tracted with the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute and State Labora tory Institute of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to provide the drug from plasma ob tained from blood banks. “Death from chicken pox itself after ZIG lias been given is very rare,” he said. “It also appears to he very successful in preventing com plications from chicken pox.” The CDC also has stockpiled a formidable array of other investiga tional drugs to combat a wide vari ety of illnesses caused by parasites that occur infrequently in this coun try, including African sleeping sick ness, South American sleeping sick ness, amebic dysentery and Orien tal sore. Dr. Dennis D. Juranek of the CDC’s parasitic diseases division, says an average of 2,500 to 3,000 pa tients are treated with these drugs annually. 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