Reaching for a glass of milk or fresh produce may seem like a healthy choice. But before you pat yourself on the back, take heed: These and other food pyramid mainstays can turn harmful at the drop of a recall. Read on to see if your favorite snack or drink has made serial appearances on the Food and Drug Administration’s Most Unwanted list.

1. Milk
2007 marked the year of the Chinese milk scandal—a tragic case in which contaminated milk produced in China was responsible for killing at least six of the region’s children. The culprit: toxic levels of melamine, a chemical substance with a high nitrogen content that was added to diluted milk to fool quality-control equipment into believing that nitrogen from protein was present at normal levels. Globally, the deception hit hard as well; authorities from Australia and Asia to Europe and the U.S. withdrew infant formulas, coffee, tea, candies, soup, cheese, biscuits, premade desserts, and chocolate made from the tainted dairy product.

Since the harrowing incident, milk has continued to appear on the Food and Drug Administration’s recall list. Just this month, a national supplier of instant nonfat dry milk was responsible for multiple recalls by brands that utilized its salmonella-plagued product. Foods that contain the instant dry milk run the gamut, from hot chocolate mixes and protein drink powders to seasoned popcorn and cake mixes.

2. Red Tomatoes
In 2004, salmonella-infected Roma tomatoes caused multistate illnesses, and last summer the FDA again issued a code red after hundreds of people nationwide became ill and even hospitalized. Though the FDA deemed cherry, grape, and vine tomatoes to be safe, many Americans still abstained; even fast-food chains like McDonald’s erred on the side of caution, pulling tomatoes from their burgers even though no salmonella had been detected in its supply.

3. Beef
The UK has long dealt with mad cow disease, and in February 2008, the U.S. experienced a related scare after a video by the Humane Society depicted a California-based plant preparing “downer” cattle for slaughter. Though meat from nonambulatory cows puts consumers at a higher risk of contracting E. coli, salmonella, and mad cow disease—and is banned under federal law from entering the food supply—employees at the slaughterhouse were shown using inhumane practices to force weak cows to stand so they would pass inspection. In the wake of the leaked video, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef. Between 2006 and 2008, there were more than 20 beef recalls in the U.S., with the most recent recall taking place in June: Right before the Fourth of July, the USDA launched a massive recall of E. coli–affected beef from a global producer.

4. Canned Soup
In 2004, a major canned-soup manufacturer issued recalls in seven states after metal fragments were detected in its New England clam chowder. Three years later, in 2007, another big-brand soup label notified retailers in 24 states that its Baked Potato with Cheddar & Bacon Bits might also contain hard plastic bits. Eek.

5. Bagged Spinach
Undoubtedly a superfood, packed with a multitude of nourishing vitamins, spinach, when purchased in the convenient prepackaged, salad-ready fashion, may be more harmful than it is healthful: Since 2006, when spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria killed three people and shook consumer confidence in leafy green veggies, Popeye’s go-to snack has continued to be plagued by recalls. The most recent occurred in April, when a warning was issued for salmonella-infected spinach sold in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota.

6. Smoked Salmon
Salmon, lauded for its healthful omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and protein, isn’t without its risks as well. When shopping for the seafood favorite, your best bet is to buy fresh, not packaged and presliced. Over the past five years, the latter has repeatedly been recalled for containing listeria, bacteria that induces flulike symptoms and increases the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth in pregnant women.

7. Alfalfa SproutsSprouts provide the perfect garnish to a tuna or veggie-packed sandwich, but they are often harbingers of bacteria. The latest recall occurred in April 2009, and the FDA investigation is ongoing. So far six states, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia, have associated illness with salmonella-contaminated sprouts, and more than 30 cases of illness have sprouted.

8. Nuts
A snacker’s favorite, these allergens have seen ongoing callbacks. Pistachios have been making headlines recently (in March of this year, a million pounds of the nut were recalled, due to salmonella poisoning), but almonds and peanuts are the biggest offenders. The year 2004 was a particularly rough one for almonds after a nationwide supplier reported salmonella, leading tons of brands to recall their product (10 states were affected and more than 20 illnesses were reported). Peanuts, another miscreant, also experienced a major setback when, in January, the Peanut Corporation of America recalled salmonella-contaminated peanuts it had produced over the past six months. Since then, at least eight people have died and more than 500 peanut-induced illnesses across 40-plus states have been reported. Overall, more than 400 products—everything from peanut butter sandwich crackers to nutritional bars—have been pulled from store shelves.

9. Bottled WaterA study released by the government’s General Accounting Office this month revealed that regulation of bottled water (under the FDA’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) is less strict than the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of tap water (under the Safe Drinking Water Act). Seems that swigging Brita-filtered water from a Nalgene container is a purer way to get your daily H2O requirement than store-bought liquids. During the past five years, several bottled-water recalls have taken place: In 2006, multiple labels were found to contain dangerous levels of bromate (a carcinogen); in 2007, popular mint-flavored waters were found to harbor stomach fluesque B. cereus bacteria; and in 2008, another major brand reported a diluted form of a food-cleaning compound in its product (that same year, a second nationally distributed brand was also recalled because of customer complaints about a strange smell).

10. Cantaloupe
In 2008, contaminated cantaloupes from a Honduran grower and packer resulted in multiple brands issuing recalls of its product. The salmonella-ridden fruit caused illnesses across the U.S. and Canada, and it’s estimated that 15 to 20 people were hospitalized. In May, another cantaloupe recall took place, albeit on a far smaller scale; cantaloupes distributed to nationwide store chain locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia tested positive for salmonella.

Dishonorable Mention: Carrot Juice
Though the incidence of food-borne botulism (a rare, life-threatening paralytic illness caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum) is extremely low, in 2006 a U.S.-based distributor’s bottles of carrot juice became contaminated by the bacteria, causing the FDA to issue a countrywide recall of the product, which was also sold in Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong. The warning did not come soon enough for some, however—four people in the U.S. were reported hospitalized with respiratory failure and descending paralysis from the carrot concoction, with two similar cases reported in Canada. Even with the aid of a doctor-administered botulinum antitoxin, full recovery from botulism often takes months—a large price to pay for trying to drink healthfully.
By Emily Hebert

Help support our local pets and no kill shelters by attending this fun event.

Hot Dog PR

Have you heard that there is a new Las Vegas football team? Have you heard the name? I don’t get it either. Below are two articles looking at both sides of the rational for the name of the newest Vegas home team.
Please leave me a comment regarding your thoughts on the new team, the name, and your odds on bet on how many season before this league is out of business like all the other teams that have tried to make a go of it.

United Football League Introduces Las Vegas Locomotives as Team Name & Unveils Uniforms

LAS VEGAS (August 10, 2009) – At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the Las Vegas franchise will be named the Locomotives and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Locomotives’ “Premiere” season colors of silver, blue and white. The name “Locomotives” was selected after reviewing more than thirty thousand fan entries and receiving interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. Las Vegas Locomotives Head Coach Jim Fassel was also in attendance at the press event.

“It was critical for us to select team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” said Commissioner Huyghue. “Las Vegas was originally established in 1905 with the opening of the Salt Lake, San Pedro and Los Angeles Railroads. We wanted to honor the vast history of the city and the intrinsic benefits that this innovation provided to the community.”

Previously, the UFL announced Miami-based GameWear Team Sports as the League’s official uniform supplier. GameWear Team Sports is one of the leading athletic uniform outfitters in the country and has worked extensively in growing the sport of football on the grassroots level. Award-winning designer Ron Caruso of Purepartner created all the teams’ uniforms using derivatives of the official League logo for all the designs while making each one distinctive.

“The inspiration for the “Premiere” season uniform design comes directly from the UFL shield and its foundation colors which represent “green grass”, “blue sky” and silver for innovation,” said Caruso. “Throughout the uniforms, we used the dimensional “arc” of the shield on the chest and supporting “arcs” on the sleeves and pants. The unique font of the numbers reinforces the shield’s classic bold typeface with angles and dimensional treatments conveying depth and motion. The four uniform designs work together in a unified branded system, providing manufacturing efficiencies while allowing each team to retain its own unique and differentiated character.”

“We are extremely pleased with the names selected for all of our teams and the overall “Premiere” season uniform design,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “Name selection for a new sports franchise can be an arduous process having to take into account the disqualification of many great possibilities due to trademark and copyright issues. There was a team of experts headed up by Jeff Sofka of Bendigo Co., and included Charley Inc., GameWear Team Sports, Purepartner, and many others who assisted in the name selection and uniform design processes and we are grateful for all of their hard work.”

The UFL launched its Name the Team Campaign with the redesign of its website in February. From that time, more than thirty thousand entries were submitted. Fans who submitted the selected names will be notified and given the appropriate credit.

The Las Vegas Locomotives’ first game of the season will be on October 8th at Sam Boyd Stadium against San Francisco. Tickets are now on-sale and can be purchased by calling UNLV Tickets Charge by Phone at 702.739.FANS or log onto www.UNLVtickets.com.
Source: http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3883163

The Las Vegas Locomotives? Sin City Football Franchise’s Lame Name and Lamer Rationale Bode Poorly for Today’s San Francisco Unveiling
By Joe Eskenazi in SportsTuesday, Aug. 11 2009 @ 6:30AM
When is a name a trainwreck?
​The UFL announced the name of its Las Vegas franchise: The Las Vegas Locomotives. This is a remarkably banal and impotent name for a sports franchise — in Vegas or anywhere. We can come up with scads of PG-13-rated names better suited for a Vegas football team than “Locomotives” in five minutes (and we’ll do so after the jump). But this lousy, unimaginative team name was nowhere near as nauseating as league commissioner Michael Huyghue’s bogus explanation for choosing it.

“It was critical for us to select team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” he said. “Las Vegas was originally established in 1905 with the opening of the Salt Lake, San Pedro and Los Angeles Railroads. We wanted to honor the vast history of the city and the intrinsic benefits that this innovation provided to the community.”

Wow. Rosemary Woods was more convincing when she “explained” how she inadvertently managed to erase 18 and a half minutes out of the Nixon tapes.

In what way does Locomotives”reflect” Las Vegas more than it would any other of the literally hundreds of western cities and towns that got their start when the train came through? Let’s not waste words — it doesn’t.

If you were to choose 100 random people and play word association games, would any of them list “locomotives” as one of the first 10 terms associated with the word “Vegas”? The Vegas oddsmakers would probably put better odds on the Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl.

So what you’ve got here is a generic nickname that has absolutely no special resonance for a Las Vegas crowd. It’ll be interesting to see how many of the other team nicknames are alliterate (this’ll be a challenge with Orlando, but the chances of San Francisco’s name starting with an “S” just got a bump from the bookmakers).

Finally, if the league couldn’t think of a relevant nickname, at least they could have found something cool. But “Locomotives” is a term that conjures up mental imagery of hokey 1950s-era announcers introducing Superman cartoons or overall-wearing toddlers playing with choo-choo trains. It’s just not a very modern or elegant word.

So what’s going on here? I would guess that the strategic use of the term “community” in Huyghue’s prepared statement implies that the league is trying to put forward some kind of misbegotten family-friendly vibe — so no mention of the one thing Vegas has that other cities its size don’t: massive gambling, gaming, and party-hearty industries. If this is the goal, it goes without saying that it’s a mistake. Las Vegas is fine with its dual identity; its residents long ago came to grips with the fact their hometown is simultaneously the nation’s decadent, booze- and gambling-saturated capital yet also a suburban sprawl of 553,000 people living in affordable homes and racking up massive air-conditioning bills. Look, the city’s own tourism ads tout the wild, anything-goes nature of Vegas and its mayor is a paid pitchman for Bombay Sapphire gin who told elementary school children that one of his favorite hobbies was “drinking.”

Las Vegans get it. They don’t need a whitewashing job — and, frankly, if that’s the UFL’s notion, it’s insulting to everyone’s intelligence. And if that’s not what the league is doing here — then they have quality control issues. Either way, it’s a shame: it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and predict imminent failure for a costly new sporting endeavor in this business environment, but Huyghue and the league have put forth a solid business model and feature teams manned by competent players and former top-level coaching staffs. Why ruin that good work with such a transparently awful team name and ridiculous explanation for choosing it?

Anyhow, here’s a handful of Vegas team names that are plenty better than “Locomotives,” knocked out in five minutes:

Aces, Blackjacks, Dealers, Dice, Desperadoes, Jokers, Suicide Kings, Hitmen, High-Rollers, Rollers, Fear, Scorpions, Highwaymen, Heavyweights, Bombardiers, Stallions, Slingers, Convoy … time’s up.

Anyhow, we’re now more than a bit wary of what kind of name the league feels “reflects the local community” here. We’ll know soon enough.
Source: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/08/the_las_vegas_locomotives_sin.php

The decline of live Las Vegas Entertainment continues to prevail as it claims yet another victim. The news that Charlie’s Bar (2089 N. Jones) will close next week was shocked its regular neighborhood patrons. However it was even more shocking to the regular live bands that have played in rotation at Charlie’s Bar.

Charlie’s Bar will go out in true rock star fashion as it will host an all out musician’s jam going away party of sorts on Wednesday, August 20th. According to Doug, everyone is invited to come, play, share stories and close down Charlie’s Bar in a way fitting for the thousands of musicians who have graced the stage.

One may think that one bar closing is not that big of a deal as Vegas is full of them. However it is quickly becoming a trend of closing establishments that are fixtures in our neighborhood that employs our citizens, provides a literal stage for local bands to haon their skills as musicians and generates gaming and other tax revenue for our city.

A drive down any major Las Vegas street whether it be Charleston, Sahara, Tropicana or Flamingo shows the signs the economy chipping away at what has always been the thriving entertainment capital of the world. A whole host of bars and restaurants closed and their rich history all but forgotten. In recent weeks, Spanky’s Pub also has been forced to close.

Some blame the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants which was voted into law in January 2007. Yet some locals state that they simply do not have the money to go to bars and restaurants anymore. Dinner and an evening of entertainment is a luxury that far too many can no longer afford.

Although The Strip continues to maintain and news is hopeful of a recovery, our neighborhoods that surround the strip could become an entertainment ghost town which we will only have fond memories and stories to share of what local entertainment was all about long ago.