Is it Healthy or Not?

I know someone who won't eat beef because of the risk of mad cow disease, and she also won't eat shellfish because of PCB content, and she won't eat salad because she worries that you can't wash the veggies enough to get the pesticides off of them, and she won't touch poultry now with the bird flu scare, and the list goes on and on. But as many of us know, beef is a good source of iron, raw veggies are refreshing in the summer, chicken is a good source of low-fat protein, and shellfish is just yummy. So should we pay more heed to the benefits or the potential drawbacks of the foods we eat?

MSN.com has a good article that clears up some of the confusion that exists with some of our favourite foods. Interestingly, it sounds like the Food Geeks' Food Philosophy is not only a good guideline for nutritional balance, but including a large variety of foods in your diet helps to mitigate many of the health risks related to foods.