Heather Moore of the PETA Foundation seems to be downplaying the recent E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce. First, she assumes that everyone knows what PETA stands for, because she didn’t spell it out in her letter (“Romaine lettuce not root cause” Friday’s Guardian). It stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a special interest group whose tactics many find disagreeable.
But, that aside, my concern is her comments that seem to go against the warnings of Health Canada (“Plant-based foods don’t naturally harbour E. coli bacteria”). True, but they most certainly can harbour it due to many reasons, including improper handling during harvest, shipping, selling, etc. I see her letter as pushing her vegan agenda by trying to mover the blame of the infected lettuce to animal production for food.
Push your vegan agenda if you wish, Ms. Moore, but not at the dismissal of science-based health warnings.
Lloyd Kerry,
Charlottetown
