Toxins in the Food Chain

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Toxins in the Food Chain

 

 

 

" Over four hundred pesticides are currently licensed for use on America's foods,

and every year over 2.5 billion pounds are dumped on crop lands, forests, lawns,

and fields. "

 

 

One of the greatest long-term problems health-conscious individuals face is the

pervasive contamination of America's food supply. For decades, the FDA (Food and

Drug Administration) and other government agencies have allowed the

multibillion-dollar food industry to grow and process its products with hundreds

of questionably safe chemicals such as pesticides, industrial pollutants, dyes,

stabilizers, and preservatives, as well as antibiotics, hormones, and other

drugs given to animals. The long-term consequences of ingesting these chemicals

is still not well understood. Many experts now believe that lifetime ingestion

of these chemicals can play a major role in causing cancer, neurotoxicity

(destruction of nerve tissue by toxic substances), birth defects, decreased

immune function, food allergies, and chemical sensitivity.

 

In his book, Diet for a Poisoned Planet, David Steinman, former representative

of the public interest at the National Academy of Sciences, makes an exhaustive

study of how contaminated the food chain is with chemical residues. As a

solution, he recommends the general principle of eating food as low on the food

chain as possible. Animal products, high on the food chain, are laden with

pesticides from the foods the animals consume, as well as antibiotics, sulfa

drugs, and growth hormones. Plants, on the other hand, are relatively less

contaminated, usually only by what's been freshly sprayed on them.

Environmental Medicine

 

 

" It seems like we've heard nothing but bad news about foods for the past few

years, " writes Steinman.1 " Sometimes it seems that nothing is safe to eat, and

that we live in a constant state of food anxiety . . . but you must not feel

helpless. There is plenty of safe, delicious food to eat. And for your own

well-being you need to find it. "

 

Although many believe that the first step toward a healthy diet is knowing what

to eat, it is more important to know what to avoid. Some areas of concern are:

 

Pesticides: Over four hundred pesticides are currently licensed for use on

America's foods, and every year over 2.5 billion pounds are dumped on crop

lands, forests, lawns, and fields. According to Steinman, a person gets several

types of pesticides with a salad, different ones in meat or fish, still others

in the vegetables on the side, and a separate dose with dessert. Wine has

pesticides and, in many areas, water as well. In a single meal a person would

easily consume residues of a dozen different neurotoxic or carcinogenic

chemicals.

 

Yet, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs

does not include the potential exposure to the same pesticide when calculating

permitted residue levels of a given compound on a single crop. The agency sets

these levels with " blinders " to the fact that people eat more than one product

that has permitted residues of the same compound. EPA scientists have found that

at times these residues, if totaled, exceeded 500 percent of the allowed daily

intake.2

 

Furthermore, many chemicals in food have not been adequately tested for human

safety. And they have certainly not been tested with the " chemical cocktail

syndrome " (multiple chemical exposure) in mind. The EPA does not have a

scientifically acceptable method for determining the risk for multiple chemical

exposure. Yet when scientists have done studies on multiple chemical exposure,

it seems quite clear that the chemicals act synergistically. In one 1976 study,

a scientific team used three chemicals on a group of rats. The chemicals were

tested one at a time on the rats without ill-effect. When the scientists gave

the rats two at a time, a decline in health was noted. When the rats were given

all three chemicals at once, they all died within two weeks.3

 

Additives: Approximately two thousand food additives-artificial colors,

artificial flavors, stabilizing agents, texturizers, sweeteners, antimicrobials,

and antioxidants-are currently permitted in America's food supply by the FDA.

Yet studies show that some additives may be carcinogenic, such as Blue Dye No.

1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3, while others pose still different

hazards. In 1981, researchers at the National Institutes of Health reported that

Red Dye No. 3 may interfere with the neurotransmitters of the brain.10

Meanwhile, aspirin-sensitive people have developed life-threatening asthmatic

symptoms when ingesting Yellow Dye No. 5, which is found in breakfast cereal,

bottled soft drinks, ice cream, sherbet, candy, bakery products, and pasta.11

 

Food additives can also have profound effects on behavior. Authorities at Tehama

County Juvenile Hall in Red Bluff, California, had positive results in curbing

antisocial behavior when they used honey in place of sugar and eliminated meats

cured with nitrites and other foods with additives.12 United States Naval

Correction Center officials in Seattle, Washington, discovered that removing

white bread and refined sugar from the diet of inmates reduced the incidence of

violent behavior.13

 

In 1979, the New York City public schools ranked in the thirty-ninth percentile

on standardized scholastic achievement test scores, meaning that 61 percent of

the nation's public schools scored higher. That same year, the New York City

Board of Education ordered a reduction of the sugar content of foods served in

the schools and banned two synthetic food colorings. In 1980, New York's

achievement test scores went up to the forty-seventh percentile. Next, the

schools banned all synthetic colorings and flavorings. Test scores increased

again, bringing New York City schools up to the fifty-first percentile. By 1983,

when the additives BHA and BHT were removed from foods, New York City schools

scored in the fifty-fifth percentile. Prior to the dietary changes, the academic

performance of the students never varied more than 1 percent up or down in the

course of a year.14

 

Irradiation: This process exposes food to radioactive materials like cesium-137

and cobalt-60 to kill insects, kill bacteria, kill molds, kill fungi, prevent

sprouting, and extend shelf life. Irradiation may not be as dangerous as its

harshest critics charge; however, this process leads to the formation of

additional toxic substances in foods, including benzene and formaldehyde.

Irradiation of foods may also have other hazardous consequences. For example, a

study conducted by Ralston Scientific Services for the U.S. Army and the USDA

(United States Department of Agriculture) found that mice fed a diet rich in

irradiated chicken died earlier and had a higher incidence of tumors.15

 

 

 

 

The Radura Label required on irradiated food by the U.S. FDA

 

 

 

Furthermore, foods that have been irradiated lose much of their nutritional

value. The vitamin C content of potatoes can be reduced by as much as 50

percent, according to a Japanese study.16 In cooked pork, a dose of irradiation

equal to one-third the level permitted by the FDA reduced thiamine levels by 17

percent.17 Finally, irradiation plants pose hazards to workers as well as to the

communities where they are located.

 

Unfortunately for consumers, while whole irradiated foods must be labeled with

the flowerlike radura symbol, irradiated ingredients within foods are not

identified. For example, commercially prepared spaghetti sauces may contain

irradiated ingredients but not have to carry any warning.

 

 

 

 

Top Ten Food Additives to Avoid

 

 

Aspartame: This chemical sweetener has the longest list of complaints the FDA

(Food and Drug Administration) has ever received-over three thousand. Aspartame

also goes under such brands as NutraSweet? and Equal?. Symptoms associated with

aspartame sensitivity can range from rashes, mild depression, headaches, nausea,

ringing ears, vertigo, and insomnia to loss of motor control, loss or change of

taste, slurred speech, memory loss, blurred vision, blindness, suicidal

depression, and seizures.4 Many doctors now warn pregnant women to avoid any

products containing aspartame.

 

 

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO): A potentially dangerous additive for some

persons, BVO is used as an emulsifier in some foods and as a clouding agent in

many popular soft drinks. Bromate, the main ingredient of BVO, is a poison. Just

two to four ounces of a 2 percent solution of BVO can severely poison a child.5

 

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT): Used to

prevent fats, oils, and fat-containing foods from becoming rancid, BHA or BHT is

often also added to food packaging materials. Researchers report that BHA in the

diet of pregnant mice results in brain enzyme changes in their offspring

including a 50 percent decreased activity in brain cholinesterase, which is

responsible for the transmission of nerve impulses. BHA and BHT also affect the

animals' sleep, levels of aggression, and weight. The authors of the study

speculate that BHA and BHT can affect the normal sequence of neurological

development in young animals too. Many consumers eat nearly twenty milligrams or

more of BHA or BHT daily. Babies who are beginning to eat solid foods are

estimated to ingest as much as eight milligrams per day.6

 

Citrus Red Dye No. 2: Used to color orange skins, Citrus Red Dye No. 2 is a

probable carcinogen and may cause chromosomal damage. Some experts contend that

this compound does not migrate from the organ skin into the pulp but the FDA has

recommended a ban. Its continued use should be one more reason to seek

organically grown foods.

 

Monosodium glutamate: Also known as MSG, monosodium glutamate is a flavor

enhancer often found in fast food, processed food, and packaged food.

Sensitivity symptoms include headaches, flushing of the skin, tightness of the

chest, heart palpitations, and nausea.

 

Nitrites: Nitrites are used as preservatives in cured meats such as bacon, ham,

and smoked fish to prevent spoilage. Nitrites form cancer-causing compounds

known as nitrosamines in the gastrointestinal tract. They have been associated

with human cancer and birth defects.7

 

Saccharin: Still widely used as an artificial sweetener, this additive is a

possible human carcinogen. Every packet of Sweet 'n Low? has forty milligrams of

saccharin. It is also used as a sweetener in soft drinks.

 

Sulfur dioxide, sodium bisulfite, and sulfites: These are used to preserve foods

such as dried fruits to prevent them from drying and stiffening, and are also

used on shrimp and frozen potatoes. The FDA has received hundreds of letters

reporting adverse reactions in asthma sufferers who have consumed foods with

sulfiting agents. At least four deaths caused by acute reactions to sulfites

have been reported to the FDA.8

 

Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ): This chemical is often used along with BHA or

BHT to spray the insides of cereal and cheese packages. TBHQ, which is toxic at

extremely low doses, has been implicated in childhood behavioral problems. It is

mainly found in candy bars, baking sprays, and fast foods.

 

Yellow Dye No. 6: Used in candy and carbonated beverages, Yellow Dye No. 6

increases the number of kidney and adrenal gland tumors in rats. It may also

cause chromosomal damage as well as allergic reactions. It has been banned in

Norway and Sweden.9

 

 

 

 

Problems with Eating Red Meat

 

 

 

David Steinman reports that the combination of a high-fat diet and toxic

overload may have a synergistic effect on human health. Fatty foods, he says,

particularly red meat, can increase the toxicity of the chemicals that are

lodged in them. In several animal studies, chemical carcinogens were more likely

to produce tumors in the group that was fed fatty food than in the group fed

low-fat foods.18 Thus, a high-fat diet of animal foods can be especially

troublesome because the most potent pesticides are concentrated in fat and the

chemical properties of fat itself may actually increase their carcinogenicity.

 

Worldwide, a clear association consistently appears between the highest rates of

breast, colon, and prostate cancers and nations that have the fattiest diets.19

But the link between cancer and meat eaters' exposure to toxic chemicals goes

even deeper. All fried and broiled foods contain mutagens, chemicals that can

damage cellular reproductive material. But fried and broiled meats have far more

mutagens than similarly prepared plant foods. One study indicates that some 20

percent of American meat eaters may have toxic mutagens in their digestive

tracts that can be absorbed into the bloodstream where they can attack cells.

The same study indicates that vegetarians are unlikely to have any mutagens in

their digestive tracts.20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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