By Keetah Bryant (FRL)
Going through my e-mails on the weekend, I came across a petition to ban British Columbian drugstores from selling cigarettes, something that’s already been done in seven Canadian provinces. Apparently there’s a contradiction between the idea of being a health care provider and a dealer of death. While yes, it is a contradiction of sorts, it’s only one of many contradictions provided to us by our local drug store, and Canadian social and business policy at large.
What other items do drugstores sell? At this point, discussion on the ever-lurking monsters, the pharmaceutical companies, will be left for another debate. What I would like to to point out are the contradictions behind other products that you can purchase in the drug store, and then subsequently ingest. Food items, if you’d like to call them that.
To begin with, there’s a plethora of pop.
Coca Cola and a Whole Lot More...
Many of these sweet drinks contain more than just preposterous amounts of sugar (which, it has been agreed, is something most of us could do with less of). Other ingredients include sodium citrate, caramel (E150), brominated vegetable oil, and sodium benzoate, among others.
Sodium Citrate: This is a proven anti-coagulant. Yes, that’s right, it interferes with your natural blood clotting mechanisms. Good I suppose, if you were trying to bleed to death. The citrate ion, present in this little additive, actually chelates calcium ions in your blood, making clotting impossible.
Caramel (E150): This sweet sounding additive is actually a colorant, not anything else. Also present in things like brown bread, many scientists believe consumption of this agent can result in neurological disorders and adverse effects to our disease immunity systems.
Brominated Vegetable Oil: Present in some of citrus-flavored drinks here in Canada, this nasty little additive has been banned in the UK. Apparently it can accumulate in our tissue, and lead to various anatomical abnormalities.
Sodium Benzoate: This ingredient can also be found in things like fruit juices and ketchup. Some doctors believe it can lead to neurological disorders and allergic reactions, like asthma.
Chips and Salty Snacks...
Snack corporations have recently recognized the need to remove hydrogenated oils and trans fats from their products. As consumers became aware of the grave dangers these sorts of additive posed to their health, the companies responded by offering trans-fat free products. Although some types of chips boldly state the presence of MSG in their bags, others allude to the less familiar, although equally damaging taste enhancers like disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.
MSG (Monosodium Glutamate): This substance is widely known to cause allergic reactions in people, manifested in any number of ways, including headaches and skin conditions. It has been associated with brain damage, possible psychological side effects such as depression, and can also lead to birth defects.
Not only are these chemicals associated with brain damage, they also have pre-determined and targeted effects our brains. These man-made substances elicit a chemical response in our brains, causing us to consume large amounts of food items treated with taste enhancers. As such, deep and lasting associations form between us and the products we consume containing these chemicals, and this could be likened to a deadly addiction.
Chocolates, Candies, and Sweets
Once again, we’re going to ignore the consideration of sugar altogether, and rely on the previously mentioned general consensus on that topic. We’re also going to ignore the consideration of caffeine, as we did in the discussion of soft drinks. We’re also going to ignore the ever-present hydrogenated oils and trans-fats that seem to be an integral part of today’s drugstore shelf chocolate. Rather, we’ll take a look at some less familiar but equally ubiquitous ingredients like soy lecithin and carrageenan.
Soy Lecithin: Soy lecithin comes “from sludge left after crude soy oil goes through a ‘degumming’ process. It is a waste product containing solvents and pesticides, and has a consistency ranging from a gummy fluid to a plastic solid. Before being bleached to a more appealing light yellow, the color of lecithin ranges from a dirty tan to reddish brown” (Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD. 2004)
Visit: www.wholesoystory.com
Carrageenan: According to Dr. Robert Cohen, “carrageenan is about as wholesome as monosodium glutamate, which is extracted from rice, and can be equally considered as “natural”. Aspartame (NutraPoison), is also natural, as it is extracted from decayed plant matter that has been underground for millions of years (oil). So too are many other substances, such as carrageenan that can also be classified by the FDA and USDA as wholesome and natural food additives” (2005)
Dr. Tobacman has done numerous studies on carrageenan and it’s effects, on animals as well as humans. She has demonstrated that “digestive enzymes and bacterial action convert hight weight carrageenans (those found in our food) to dangerous low molecular weight carrageenans and poligeenans in the human gut. These carageenans have been linked to various human cancers and digestive disorders”. Dr. Tobacman has also found indications linking carrageenan consumption to breast cancer in women.
Because only the degraded form of carrageenan (the degraded stuff in our stomachs after we eat it) can cause cancer, and not the undigested form, as added to many of our foods, the FDA granted the substance it’s GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, and as such, it appears in numerous food items.
The Verdict:
After careful consideration of the products that are present in our drugstores, the things they contain, and the harm they have been proven to cause, it only seems petty to instigate a campaign directly against cigarettes. At least people generally know the ills that cigarettes can cause - primarily lung cancer, strokes, bad teeth, and death. At least these products are labeled as harmful. At least these products are limited to consumption among the age of majority. At least cigarettes aren’t being sold as something benign, masquerading behind a corporate facade. What’s more cause for concern is the relative ignorance that prevails when it comes to food additives and the damage they do to our bodies.
There are no grave warning labels on our food packages in Canada (although they are readily available in parts of the UK). We as people are generally unaware that we are doing ourselves harm by ingesting these thing, even when we do so on a very irregular basis. There are no chip bags with ominous cancer warnings. How many people would buy a bag of monosodium glutamate-laced Doritos if they were slapped with the warning: MAY CAUSE PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE. How many women would indulge in “light” pudding snacks if the label also read “WARNING: AMOUNTS OF CARRAGEENAN IN THIS PACKAGE HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE BREAST CANCER”?
Fighting against cigarettes is a socially acceptable, noble thing to do - it protects our children (and us) against the evils of large corporations and their ability to profit of our ill health. But, as in every war, the first consideration would be to KNOW YOUR ENEMY. The enemy is not the presence of the tobacco in the pharmacy, the enemy is the presence and persistence of corporate provisions everywhere we turn, and the dangerous substances they sell to us as “food”. But hey, at least now it’s trans fat free.
These sorts of petty contradictions will continue to be the norm until profit loses it’s primacy in our society, and knowledge prevails over the ignorance that these profit-centered institutions and ideologies have imposed upon us.
Website Resources (Do Your Own Homework)
http://www.caloriecontrol.org
http://www.soyonlineservices.co.nz/06guidance.htm
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.newint.org/issue135/action.htm
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/lecithin.html
No comments:
Post a Comment