Mary's Blog I Love You

Smithtown, NY (December 31, 2018) – Police have reported a pedestrian who was seriously injured after being hit by a pickup truck on Sunday afternoon, December 30, in Smithtown. The accident was stated to have occurred at around 2:30 p.m. along Main Street, according to authorities who responded to the scene. Dispatchers sent police along with emergency medical crews to the accident site after receiving a call concerning an injured pedestrian. 66-year-old Carmine Mandarano, of Northport, was reported to have been walking along the westbound lane on Main Street when he was struck by a pickup truck. Emergency medical responders immediately transported Mandarano to Stony Brook University Hospital to be treated for serious injuries. Police said that the driver involved remained at the scene and cooperated with authorities. No charges have been filed at this time. No further information has been provided. New York Pedestrian Accidents We would first like to extend our sincere sympath...

A decision from the European Court of Justice has decided that genetically distinct plants achieved through new plant breeding techniques like mutagensis qualify as genetically modified organisms. What is the idea behind Mutagenesis? The Court’s Decision The decision has implications for different strains and species of plants developed using the technique, which will now be governed in the European Union by the rules the international bloc has set out for genetically modified organisms, called the GMO Directive. According to the website Feed Navigator, high court’s opinion is somewhat unusual in that it runs contrary to the recommendation of the court’s Advocate General, who recommended that such organisms be exempted from the requirements of the directive. The case that prompted the decision emerged from France in 2016. Breeders were achieving new strains of plants with desirable qualities without introducing novel DNA into their genomes. Instead, they were playing with the DNA t...

A new study found that plastic bins used in security check at airports carries more filthy germs than even the airport toilets. PETA – an animal rights organization – used the opportunity to place ads at the airport luggage bins saying ‘Meat kills, Go Vegan’ to strengthen their campaign against eating, wearing or abusing animals. They emphasized on the variety of pathogens that animal flesh carries like Ecoli , Salmonella that can cause food poisoning. But PETA – have you not noticed that veggies carry Ecoli, too? In fact, it’s been found that around 20%-30% of outbreaks linked to Ecoli are caused by contaminated vegetables. For anyone who has been following the romaine lettuce outbreak, it has become apparent that meat is not the only carrier of Ecoli. Veggies can carry deadly Ecoli bacteria too, and can infect humans. In fact, this year started out with an Ecoli outbreak that was linked to romaine lettuce. And yet another outbreak that caused 5 deaths was also linked to Ecoli f...

As the holiday season gets in full swing and people are already patiently waiting for Santa to appear, there is a real buzz swirling around at the moment. It is hard to not be caught up as this is the season to be jolly. Thrown in this joy for good measure is national ‘I love honey day’ which is celebrated on the 18th December in the United States. There is no doubt that Americans love honey as we are the largest honey consumer in the world. However, we must give a shout out to Iceland who has a dedicated honey week! It appears that a land illuminated with incredible northern lights and glacier water is conducive to honey loving! In the U.S, we can try to compete with this natural beauty with our impressive national parks (go Yellowstone!) but we really excel in our honey production given that there are over 300 different types of honey produced. This article will seek to educate about the wonders of honey and get every reader inspired to drink, eat or harvest the best honey the wor...

The year 2018 has been a larger than usual year for recalled food products.  In fact, as of December, over 650 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recalls have been reported. Let that number sink in for a moment. In less than 365 days there have been 650 food recalls. The FDA and USDA are regulatory agencies that, in part, monitor food products that pose a risk to health and safety.  These agencies have been busy throughout 2018 with the FDA handling 534 recalls and the USDA handling 122 recalls.  If you are curious what this looks like, it is over 125 million pounds of food.  And this is a low estimate, as over a third of the recalls did not include a weight therefore not counted in this 125 million. We hear about recalls all the time.  How significant can it be?  Let’s just say it is one for the record books.  It has surpassed the 2008 record making 2018 one of the largest recall years i...

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