Guest guest Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 A Deadly Trade Secret in Our Food JoAnn Guest Nov 04, 2005 17:08 PST http://www.healthliesexposed.com/articles/article_2005_09_17_0411.shtml 9/17/05 Author: Luise Light, MS, EdD Source: Crusador A Deadly Trade Secret in Our Food Health authorities sound alarm about a toxin in food – but only tell us part of the story. By Luise Light, MS, EdD It's not often that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) alert the world to dangers of an industrial chemical in processed food capable of causing cancer, nerve damage and reproductive abnormalities. The UN agencies urged people to stop eating starchy foods commercially made by frying, roasting and baking until levels of the hazardous chemical, acrylamide, are reduced or eliminated. Three years ago, Swedish scientists published a study that showed significant levels of acrylamide in food products after commercial, high temperature frying, roasting and baking of potatoes and grain products. Processed foods with dangerously high levels of acrylamide were found in many of the most popular foods consumed in North America by all age groups, including children. High levels were found in: breakfast cereals, potato and corn chips, French fries, bread, rolls, pizza and pastries, among other foods. International alarm followed from the discovery that high acrylamide levels in foods greatly exceeded the EPA allowance for the chemical in drinking water. For example, a large order of French fries was found to have 300 times more acrylamide than what EPA allows in a glass of water. Acrylamide is a potent nerve toxin that affects male reproduction and causes birth defects and cancer in animals, and is considered a probable human carcinogen. Polyacrylamide is a non-toxic material that, when exposed to heat and light, readily breaks down to un-polymerized acrylamide, which is a neurotoxin. Polyacrylamide is extensively used worldwide in many industrial processes because it is highly soluble and, through gelling and binding actions, stabilizes flows of materials. Widely used as an additive in water purification systems, other uses are in the pulp and paper industry, oil-drilling and mining, permanent press clothing manufacture, and contact lens manufacturing. The chemical is also used as a gelling agent in the making of explosives. Acrylamide resins coat home appliances, building materials, and automotive parts, and are used in formulating cosmetics, soaps, hair grooming products, dental fixatives, latex thickeners, and adhesives. Residues on foods come from extensive use of polyacrylamide in pesticide formulations and soil treatments and they also may be responsible for acrylamide contamination of processed foods reported by Swedish scientists. The alert sounded by international health agencies suggested that the Swedish findings probably resulted from chemical reactions in processing and the release of chemicals during high temperature cooking and frying of foods. But that wasn’t the whole story. The WHO/FAO release didn’t mention that polyacrylamide is a well-known additive to commercial pesticides. The Monsanto herbicide, Roundup© (glyphosate), is mixed with polyacylamide and likely to release acrylamide when exposed to heat and light in the field, according to Professor Joe Cummins of the British Institute for Science and Society. Crops genetically modified to be herbicide-tolerant of the pesticide Roundup©, and the use of the herbicide to prepare soils for normal (non-GM) crops results in the release of acrylamide into the environment. Additives used in herbicide mixtures are trade secrets in North America so information on polyacrylamides in pesticides has not been available until now. Monsanto’s Roundup© is the primary glyphosate herbicide used in the world today. Monsanto’s herbicides are all around us, and we can guess that acrylamide is, too. Here’s how Monsanto describes the widespread use of its product: “Monsanto’s herbicide products include more than 90 glyphosate-based herbicides globally, including Roundup agricultural herbicides and Roundup branded turf and ornamental products. These products can be used to control weeds on the farm, the golf course and in home gardens, create sustainable agricultural systems that preserve topsoil, help retain soil moisture, and provide a valuable tool for integrated pest management programs. They can be used to help prepare deforested land for reforestation, reclaim land for grazing or agriculture that has been taken over by weeds, restore wildlife habitats, control roadside vegetation and rid school yards and parks of noxious weeds like poison ivy, among many other uses.” (www.monsanto.com) The UN agencies have called on governments to work with their food industries to significantly lower the level of acrylamide in foods, noting that it is currently technically feasible to do so. However, with health and food agencies emphasizing the importance of consuming more anti-oxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, believed helpful in mitigating the damage from toxic contaminants, will we be exposed to even higher levels of the potent neurotoxin, acrylamide? Furthermore, if there are residues of acrylamide on vegetables, what will be the affects of consuming more vegetables? Neither the USDA nor the EPA has conducted any testing of the health consequences of acrylamide residues on vegetables. Unless the problem of acrylamide-laced pesticides is tackled, changes in processing and cooking methods are unlikely to make a dent in human exposure to the chemical. A ban on use of polyacrylamide in agriculture, on golf courses, schoolyards and parks is essential. While we’re at it, let’s also ban corporate trade secrets known to be harmful to people and the environment. As Wendell Berry, the great environmentalist, reminds us, “The world that is around us is also within us. We are made of it; we drink, eat and breathe it; it is the bone of our bone and the flesh of our flesh.” ## Luise Light, MS, EdD expresses thanks to Pam Killeen for her assistance in writing this article. Watch for the release of Luise Light’s new book, What to Eat; 10 Things you Really Need to Know about Eating for Health and Wellness, in spring, 2006. My email is: luval-. JoAnn Guest mrsjo- www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets AIM Barleygreen " Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future " http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.