CNN's Larry King Live: "Should You Eat Meat?" - Part 1

(Part 2)
Here's the entire program. It aired Monday, October 12, Transcript

Guests (Deep breath):

• Barbara Kowalcyk, Director of food safety at the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFIRP). Her 2-year-old son Kevin died from E. coli complications.
  
• Pat Buck, Kevin's grandmother, Barbara's mother, Director at CFIRP.
  
• Nicole Fenstermaker, Her 7-year-old daughter Abby died from E. coli complications.
  
• Bill Marler, Foodborne illness attorney and food safety advocate.
  
• Patrick Boyle, President & CEO of the American Meat Institute.
  
• Elsa A. Murano, PhD, Former USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.
  
• T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell, Co-author of "The China Study."
  
• Nancy Rodriguez, PhD, Professor of nutritional sciences at University of Connecticut, Director of sports nutrition in the Department of Sports Medicine.
  
• Anthony Bourdain, Chef, author, host of "No Reservations."
  
• Jonathan Safran Foer, Author, forthcoming book, "Eating Animals."

Excerpts:

E. coli is contagious:

Bill Marler: "[7-year-old] Abbi contracted it by being in contact with her grandfather."

E. coli is potent and stealthy:

Bill Marler: "Between 10 and 50 bacterium are enough to kill. Thousands of them would fit on the head of a pin. You can't see it, you can't taste it, you can't smell it."

Number of E. coli-related illnesses are down:

Patrick Boyle (American Meat Institute): "These illnesses are down 60 percent in the last 10 years."

Number of E. coli-related illnesses are up:

Bill Marler: "Numbers of E. coli illnesses and deaths ... there's been a pretty significant increase over the last three years."

Larry King: "What -- what -- Patrick said it's down 60 percent. That's not a true figure?"

Barbara Kowalcyk (Statistician): "No. In my opinion, it's misleading. The data that I believe Patrick is talking about comes from USDA's regulatory testing program ... which was not designed to ... give us an idea of what the prevalence of pathogens in the food supply are."

Hamburger is riskier than other meats. E. coli? It's in there:

Bill Marler: "When you cook a steak, assuming that steak hasn't been penetrated, you can kill the bacteria that's on the outside of the meat. It's not on the inside of the meat. But when you ground that meat up, that E. coli is in there."

Feces do not a diet make:

Anthony Bourdain: "We may be designed to eat meat. We are not designed to eat fecal choliform bacteria."

Meat isn't essential for humans. Nutritionist Rodriguez had her own, or some other interested party's agenda:

Larry King: "Dr. Rodriguez, you believe that animal proteins can and should be a part of the diet, correct?"

Nancy Rodriguez (Here and in 17 other places): "Yes. I think that animal proteins provide essential nutrients." ... "such as those amino acids or iron, zinc and, in the case of dairy products, calcium."

Colin Campbell: No, I disagree. A plant-based diet -- a whole foods plant-based diet really has all the nutrients that we actually need at optimum levels of intake.

Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian diets, JADA, July, 2009:
"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.

Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.

The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates."

Continued in Part 2...________