Book Title: Request To Indian People From Vegetarians Of World
Author(s): Young Indian Vegetarians
Publisher: Young Indian Vegetarians

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Page 36
________________ 34 FOOD POISONING AND OTHER HEALTH HAZARDS FOR MEAT EATERS Meat being the flesh of dead animals presents numerous hazards to health. One such health hazard is food poisoning. The term food poisoning is applied to acute inflammation of the gastro-intestinal tract following the consumption of food contaminated by harmful organisms. More than threequarters of all bacterial poisoning have ben identified with animal foods. Certain bacteria of salmonella are the principle agents of food poisonig and many of these have acquired resistance to the drug used against them. Epidemics of salmonella infection are usually traced in such foods as meat pies, sausages, beef, poultry. A vegetarian diet can greatly reduce the risks of food contamination. The vegetarian starts off with an advantage since salmonella do not grow well on plants. When they do appear, it is almost certainly due to contamination by contact with affected surfaces or in general through unhygenic practices. Recently there have been many cases of food poisoning in Britain. One example is salmonella poisoning in a number of London hospitals. It was verified that some patients died of salmonella infection. Roast beef was the vehicle by which the disease was spread in wards. In Britain notified cases of salmonella poisoning have risen from 10,000 in 1977 to 17,000 in 1983 and deaths from 25 in 1972 to 65 in 1982. Apart from food poisoning there are various hazards associated with meat diet. Intestinal worms, the most common of which is tapeworm have ben found living within the human body since man began eating animal flesh and sea foods. If the eggs of the pork tapeworm are swallowed by man, they hatch in the small intestine and larval forms develop in various regions of the body. Consequence of this may be grave. Future freedom from intestsinal worms can only be guaranted by a total vegetarian diet. As well as presenting physical hazards, eating also affects our mental faculties. Animals are under severe emotional stress prior to and at the time of death. Their flesh is fed by a bloodstream which is loaded with stress hormones, lactic acid and other toxic waste products, mostly constitute the "Delicious flavours" associated with cooked animal flesh. All these free chemical are ingested without realisation that they are materially contributing towards modern man's mental unbalance. Nutritionists are now agreed that distinctsion between plant and animal proteins is no longer valid and that it is perfectly possible to blend plant proteins together to previde a product which is as nutritionally aceptable as animal protein. The people who profit by exploiting large numbers of animals do not need our approval. They need our money. The purchase of the corpses of the animals they rear is only the support factory farmers ask from the public. They will be able to defend themselves against criticism with the reply that they are only providing the public with what it wants. In conclusion it can be stated that a vegetarian diet is by far a healthier diet in all respects: Physically, Mentally and spiritually. Rekha Mavani Meeta Mavani Priti Mavani

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