StumbleUpon | Kymus's blog posts

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958481/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:10:57 -0800

Recently, a featured article on StumbleUpon (The 10 Most Dangerous Foods) has gotten a lot of attention and is surrounded in controversy. As a health professional, most of it I was already familiar with, and some of it I had never heard of. Looking through the comments on the article, I found that a large number of people disagreed with the conclusions of this article for reasons that were not always articulately explained nor sourced with specific data showing how this is wrong.. Comment after comment mentioned how it's stupid hippie bullshit and only stupid hippies think that GMO is bad (likewise, apparently anyone apposing GMO is a science-phobe) and there is absolutely no difference between organic and conventional foods except for the cost.

(FYI: GMO = Genetically Modified Organism... of course, I'm sure that everyone who gave this article a critical review already knew what that acronym meant since I assume they've all spent a good deal of time reviewing the scientific literature available on this subject or they wouldn't have criticized it in the first place..)

I must say that I was rather surprised and confused since in all the years I've spent studying health and nutrition, most all of these issues I've read about and understood as a basic (albeit inconvenient) truth. Well, I for one am never afraid of being proven wrong; I think that it's paramount for everyone to be able to prove without a doubt that what they believe to be true isn't an opinion but is indeed a verifiable fact. So, I decided to do some heavy fact checking.. After about 5 days of research, here's all the evidence that this "bullshit" "lieing" "hippie shit" "science-phobia"-ridden article supposedly doesn't have..

(note: Since StumbleUpon limits one to the amount of information that is allowed to be posted per blog entry, I'll be linking to these one by one. To make things easier to read, I've decided to link to each section straight from here. Hopefully the typical stumble-idiots won't do what I originally wanted to avoid (skimming the article, barely reading it, and then calling it all bullshit)).

1) Farmed Salmon has toxins and PCB's
2) Conventionally Grown Bell Peppers should be avoided since they have a high pesticide load
3) Conventional Strawberries are irrigated with NutraSweet-laced water and captan enhances their red color
4)Chilean Sea Bass contains excessively high levels of mercury and should be avoided
5) Conventional Peaches contain the highest levels of pesticides and should be avoided
6) Genetically Modified Corn is bad and so is GMO
7) Bluefin Tuna has high mercury content, so avoid eating it
8) Industrially Farmed Chicken contains controversial growth hormones and other problems
9) Conventional apples have a heavy load of pesticides; avoid them
10) Cow's milk containing rBGH does not break down and can lead to cancer
Conclusion

update:� To date, not a single detractor of the original article has provided me with any of the research they used (yeah right) to determine that the article in question was wrong. I still welcome this information (if it's even out there) and I promise to read it.

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958372/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:06:53 -0800

The article in question links to this article from MSNBC: More pollutants in farmed salmon than wild; I am going to assume that there is no serious criticism of this claim... The solution? The Environmental Working Group suggests eating Wild Alaskan Salmon instead.

Continue to 2) Conventionally Grown Bell Peppers should be avoided since they have a high pesticide load

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958303/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:05:04 -0800

Again, the article links to a report from the Environmental Working Group that discusses The Dirty Dozen. But one thing that the author is missing is a source for why organic sweet bell peppers are better. Let's start with the fact that a 4-year study concluded that organic crops have more antioxidants and vitamin content. But it doesn't stop there; the pesticides used on sweet bell peppers are indeed harmful. How do I come to this “hippie”, “anti-science”, “BS” conclusion? If you read the previous link, you will notice it mentions that:

“The most dangerous chemicals used in farming such as organophosphates [pesticides] have been linked with a range of conditions such as cancer, decreasing male fertility, foetal abnormalities, chronic fatigue syndrome in children and Parkinson's disease“.

So what proof is there that organophospahtes are in sweet bell peppers? Well right here we can see that they are sprayed with: acephate, bensulide, naled, dimethoate, endosulphane, and malathion.

Continue to 3) Conventional Strawberries are irrigated with NutraSweet-laced water and captan enhances their red color

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958258/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:03:33 -0800

This one is somewhat fuzzy; if the author knows something I do not, then I really do think they should have provided extra sources. Using a quick search, I couldn't find any concrete information on the NutraSweet claim. The link provided on the article claims that the source is from a 1999 report from the Consumers Union (the people behind Consumer Reports). I couldn't find any information concerning "strawberries" or "nutrasweet" dating before 2000, so I have contacted the Consumers Union for the official word (and I am now waiting for a reply).

(update: Still nearly 3 months later and the Consumers Union has not gotten back to me with an official word)

Now what about the second claim concerning captan? If you really think it's absurd that a chemical would be used to improve the look of the strawberries, then clearly you know very little about the food industry. When I looked up captan, sure enough it was there: it improves fruit finish by giving it a healthy, bright colored appearance. Captan was supposed to of been phased out of general use as a pesticide in the US in 1989, but I have not found any information regarding its use and regulation in other countries. This is important to note since a great deal of produce comes from other countries since it's simply cheaper that way.

Continue to 4)Chilean Sea Bass contains excessively high levels of mercury and should be avoided

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958207/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:01:29 -0800

Really now, this is a surprise to some people? Seriously? Well, for the surprised, you can see that the Oceans Program of the Environmental Defense Fund has mentioned that this fish shouldn't be consumed by adults no more than twice per month, and only once per month for children due to its high mercury content. So does that mean that mercury isn't full of vitamin C after all? Yep, guess so accourding to the US Geological Survey.

Continue to 5) Conventional Peaches contain the highest levels of pesticides and should be avoided

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958186/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:00:39 -0800

The article links to the Organic Center, but I know that's just not good enough for some folks. After all, they're probably stupid hippies with an agenda....... maybe they even work for Al Qaeda! We don't know, sadly. Thankfully though, there is the Environmental Working Group who can clearly tell you that peaches top the “dirty dozen”. What's a little pesticides with your cereal? You're welcome to sprinkle some of those delicious chemicals on your corn flakes, but the rest of us would much rather follow the information from the studies I posted in #2.

Contiue to 6) Genetically Modified Corn is bad and so is GMO

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958121/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:57:54 -0800

Oh boy, here we go with the knee-jerk response of "It's science phobia!!" and "GMO is natural!". Sadly, some people don't understand the difference between GMO and cross breeding. The article in question links to SeedsOfDeception.com which is a site that's very critical of GMO. The area of the website in specific that is linked to offers a summary of a number of studies done on GMO foods published in the book Genetic Roulette.

Unfortunately, the studies given were not definitive enough for my liking (namely, not enough information for me to easily look up the original study so that way there is no question about the authenticity of these specific studies. My rule of thumb through all of this has been "if it can't be found in a quick google search, then don't bother") . Here is an article written by the author of the books Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette; it is sourced with many studies and explains a lot of the problems with GMO foods as a whole. But I know that's not objective enough for some. So considering that, here are some studies that deal with corn that I found myself:

No need for condoms - GE corn can do the job

Bt Toxins in Genetically Modified Crops: Regulation by Deceit

Study Finds GM Corn Disturbs Immune System of Mice

Monsanto's GM Corn MON863 Showed Kidney, Liver Toxicity in Animal Feeding Study

The truth is that the issue of GMO is very huge and covers a range of issues. An entire book could be written on the known dangers that have been documented and the potential dangers that have not yet been fully studied.

I am only going to provide a few informative links that cover various issues. This is not meant to be definitive since the interest of this article is solely for determining factual accuracy of the current article in question. So the only thing I am trying to establish here is that "more research needs to be done concerning human consumption of genetically modified foods and there is valid criticism of them":

Report Reveals Bt risks to Insects and Soils

Exposed: the great GM crops myth

Overview: Genetically Engineered Crops Will Not Solve the Global Food Crisis

Biotech Snake Oil: A Quack Cure for Hunger

Continue to 7) Bluefin Tuna has high mercury content, so avoid eating it

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958050/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:55:19 -0800

Here we go again with mercury (which remember, doesn't contain vitamin C and stuff)! Well, let's go and check the scale I used previously. Survey says.... wow! Bluefin tuna has excessively high levels of mercury and PCB's (more than Chilean sea bass) and it is suggested that only men eat � a serving of Bluefin Tuna a month at most. I know some people are already rolling their eyes at the suggestion to not eat some kinds of fish.. the bottom line is this: if you want to risk your good health with neurotoxins and industrial compounds, then go right ahead!

Continue to 8) Industrially Farmed Chicken contains controversial growth hormones and other problems

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29958003/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:53:39 -0800

This is an issue that is usually controversial because of the argument of Free Range/Organic versus Conventional. Instead of arguing ethics here, the author speaks on the usage of growth hormones and antibiotics. The first thing mentioned is the debate over the instances of early puberty in schoolchildren and the notion that growth hormones from chickens are contributing to this. Stated very clearly is that there's not enough evidence to determine this conclusively, and a link to a fact sheet from Cornell University is given. Seems clear enough to me..

The next part is just as straight forward: conventional chicken meat is dangerous. Studies from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy as well as the Sierra Club have shown that conventional meat from chickens is contaminated with arsenic and the over-usage of antibiotics has bred antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Continue to 9) Conventional apples have a heavy load of pesticides; avoid them

http://Kymus.stumbleupon.com/review/29957944/

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:51:12 -0800

Unfortunately, the original article cited names, but no links or anything. Really, this is very easy to figure out. In the EWG's list of the top 12 produce items to avoid due to heavy usage of pesticides, apples show up right between Peaches (#1) and Sweet Bell Peppers (#3). On their website, the EWG had this to say:

Conventional apples are sprayed with 36 types of pesticides, and the EWG found that 91% of tested apples were contaminated. Even peeling a conventional apple won't completely eliminate chemical residue, so it's best to buy organic. The two types of fiber in apples--soluble and insoluble--can reduce cholesterol levels and the risk of hardening of the arteries, heart attack, and stroke. Apples also keep blood sugar levels stable, and can help prevent kidney stones. Bonus: You'll find that organic apples taste sweeter than conventionally grown.

Now personally, I'm curious as to what kind of (if any) organophospahtes are used when spraying conventional apples since we've already established that the British Medical Association cautions that they are linked to a whole slew of problems (cancer, decreasing male fertility, foetal abnormalities, chronic fatigue syndrome in children and Parkinson's disease). Checking a some-what official source, we can see that Phosmet, Azinphos-methyl, Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, and Methidathion are all sprayed on apples.

Continue to 10) Cow's milk containing rBGH does not break down and can lead to cancer