CRUSADOR Editor Greg Ciola Interviews Food Investigator And Whistleblower David Migdal About The Hidden Ingredients Masqueraded In Thousands Of Foods And Beverages That Can Cause Serious Health Problems And Possibly Kill You
Most foods and beverages being sold on the market should be classified as deadly poisons. In any given year common foods and beverages claim more victims than any terrorist organization. Most products contain genetically modified ingredients, artificial growth hormones, antibiotics, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, artificial colors, preservatives, additives, bleaches, dyes, excitotoxins, neurotoxins, heavy metals, synthetic vitamins, inorganic minerals, emulsifiers, stabilizers, solvents, hydrogenated fats, pesticides, herbicides, and other toxic compounds that were never intended for human consumption.
Why are the FDA, EPA, and USDA allowing this to occur? The answer is they are in cahoots with the corporations that are doing these things to our food supply. Major government agencies allow corporate interest groups to buy legitimacy with the American public. The federal government, on behalf of the big corporations, is rubber stamping toxic warfare to be conducted against the American people by allowing many of these potentially harmful products on the market. Unless you understand the seriousness of these problems and take action yourself, chances are likely that you will succumb to some kind of illness or health problem and exit this planet prematurely.
In an attempt to shed light on these subjects and alert our readers to the landmines that should be avoided, CRUSADOR sat down with food investigator and whistleblower David Migdal. In this power-packed interview Migdal blows the lid off of the food industry’s lies that are killing and sickening millions of people every year. If you care about what you put into your body, or if you’d like to inform a friend or family member about the problems with the foods and beverages they are consuming, the following interview will go a long way in letting you know what to avoid and why.
CRUSADOR: David thanks for the time you’re giving me to share your thoughts on what’s occurring with a vast majority of the foods and beverages being sold to consumers. You seem to be able to zero in on the most important issues and distill out the facts. Tell our readers how you started looking into what’s wrong with our foods and beverages and why you feel so passionate about alerting others to their dangers?
I really owe my start to my parents. When I was young they both became heavily involved in the health food movement. This was back in the 1970’s when many people thought you were a little odd for eating health food. Having an investigator’s mindset and following along the path that my parents started me on, I began looking intently at every aspect of food and food ingredients about ten years ago. This led me on a long trail that I still haven’t gotten to the end of.
I think most people know very little about the dangers inherent in the products they are consuming. We are being negatively impacted by more chemicals, toxins and artificial ingredients than any generation that has ever lived. What has been the result of this assault? Cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, obesity, birth defects, and other health problems have never been greater. Just look at the number of people hooked on pharmaceutical drugs as a result. We should look at the things we’re eating and drinking before resorting to pharmaceutical drugs that do very little to correct a health problem.
CRUSADOR: What are some of the leading problems you’re finding with many of the foods and beverages on the market?
This interview would be far too long if we tried to cover everything. We can touch on some key issues like genetic engineering, the dangers of conventional dairy products, artificial ingredients, food irradiation, food additives, neurotoxins added to products and things like that.
CRUSADOR: Let’s begin with genetic engineering since you brought that up. I wrote a book about this problem titled “GMOs – Beware of the Coming Food Apocalypse!” What I discovered about genetic engineering enraged me. What’s your take on this issue? Is it really a serious problem that we need to be concerned about?
Absolutely. The entire human race has been turned into a genetic experiment. This all started back in the mid 1990’s when Monsanto and a few other biotech companies thought they knew what was best for our foods and started manipulating milk production with cows and the genetic traits of key crops like soy, corn, cotton and canola. Tinkering with genes and doing things with foods that God never intended is a gross violation of creation in my opinion. In a little over ten years we’ve gone from very few genetically altered products being on the market to having almost 70 to 80% of the products now sold in supermarkets containing at least one ingredient that came about through genetic engineering. There are no laws that mandate that food companies have to tell us which ingredients are genetically engineered. We’ve been denied our right to know what’s going into a product. The FDA doesn’t believe we need to be concerned; they claim that a product is the same as long as its nutritional make-up is the same. This means that if a tomato is still red and has the same relative protein, fat and carbohydrate content that a conventional tomato has, it’s not important what genes were inserted onto its DNA. The EPA says these foods are safe even though genetic engineering has turned some crops into pesticide breeding factories. Other crops have been manipulated to make them immune to herbicides like Roundup. Genetic engineering isn’t about creating better products that benefit humanity. In my opinion it is a huge scam and it’s being used to destroy farmers and allow a handful of corporations like Monsanto to control all food production on planet earth.
The sad truth is we really don’t know what the long-term consequences are going to be from eating foods manipulated through genetic engineering. There were no human safety studies done to validate these products to be safe. The government never required it and the biotech companies tried to bury any field tests they conducted that showed a potential problem. There are hundreds of well respected scientists who question genetic engineering. Some say there may be a link to cancer from these foods. Our DNA could be altered and send incorrect messages to our cells that cause mutations because we’re now eating genes that we never ate before.
Researches like Jeffrey Smith, author of the book “Seeds of Deception” and "Genetic Roulette" says that there is evidence to show that gut flora has been found to contain the bacterial genes used in altering genetically engineered crops. Well, is that a concern? Gut flora and digestion is what keeps us alive. We don’t have a clue what effect these genes may have on our flora or our digestive system in the long run. We’ve got sick crops, sick animals and sick people that have all been harmed in some way or another by genetic engineering yet we’re turning a blind eye as though everything is fine. The only way to avoid the problem for sure, at least for now, is to go organic. That’s a lot more expensive though. What about people that can’t afford organic, especially with an economy that has turned upside down? I guess they’ll just have to continue eating genetically engineered foods and play the crapshoot. People should be outraged that they have been forced to eat genetically engineered foods without knowing it and without knowing what the possible consequences could be. Don’t look to the government for answers. They’re just the gatekeepers and mouthpiece for the big corporations.
CRUSADOR: Let’s touch on the issue of dairy since it follows along the lines of genetic engineering. What’s wrong with a lot of our milk, cheese, yogurt and butter?
All someone has to do is visit a commercial dairy farm that raises dairy cows and they’d be in for a shock. We’re not talking about healthy cows grazing on good grass and producing high quality milk. Cows are compacted into tight spaces and force-fed a diet of genetically engineered grains that don’t agree with their body. Rarely do these animals see the light of day. Many are injected with a powerful genetically engineered hormone called rBGH or Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone. This hormone is a genetically engineered replica of the natural growth hormone somatotropin that is produced in a cow’s pituitary gland. Cows injected with rBGH produce up to 30% more milk. Unfortunately, the end result is a lot of sick cows because this process is something entirely unnatural. This is cows on steroids! To treat the sick cows, the entire herd is given powerful antibiotics and other drugs. We’re told from the government that very little if any of these by-products make their way into dairy products consumed by humans. However, in 1990 the government raised the standard for antibiotic residues in milk from one part per hundred million to one part per million. That’s a hundred-fold increase! Did you know that the largest users of antibiotics are dairy farmers? To think that these by-products aren’t making their way into dairy products is absurd.
Robert Cohen, author of the controversial book “Milk – The Deadly Poison” says that the new milk from cows treated with rBGH contains increased levels of these same potent growth factors. Could this be one of the reasons why young girls and boys are going through puberty at a much earlier age than before? According to Cohen, “After cows were injected with this hormone, their milk contained increased levels of another hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), the most powerful growth hormone occurring in nature. The greatest biological coincidence of all time had occurred. IGF-I was identical between cows and humans. No other hormone known to science is identical between another species of animals and humans. IGF-I is the lone exception, containing 70 amino acids in the same gene sequence in humans and bovines. When we drink milk we are taking in the most powerful hormone naturally produced by our own bodies. However, the survival of this growth hormone in milk is safeguarded by naturally occurring mechanisms unique to milk.”
I haven’t even touched on pasteurization and homogenization and what it has done to traditional milk. One of the first things anyone should do if they are dealing with a health problem is to get off all dairy. Not just milk either. I’m talking about butter, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, whey protein, half and half and anything else produced from cow’s milk. If you aren’t sick and you prefer to stay on dairy, you should purchase the organic milk and dairy products that are available predominately in health food stores although many grocery chains are starting to cater to this market too. Organic Valley has some of the best products on the market. There is a movement towards raw milk and there are many success stories of people getting their health back from drinking it. I would caution you to be careful before drinking raw milk, though. You better be sure where it’s coming from and how it was produced and start drinking very small amounts. Milk was never designed to be consumed in quarts or gallons by the day.
CRUSADOR: Tell us about MSG. Is this ingredient really masqueraded in thousands of foods, especially fast foods, along with soda and some bottled drinks? If so, why are manufacturers using it and are there other names it shows up as on labels?
The answer to your question is yes, MSG is found in so many products that are on the market that there would be a famine if the government ever mandated that this ingredient be removed. It is so common that you literally have to avoid all fast food restaurants, almost all brand-name packaged, boxed or canned foods, and most soda and bottled drinks. MSG is the acronym for monosodium glutamate. Technically speaking, MSG is approximately 78% free glutamic acid, approximately 21% sodium, and up to 1% contaminants.
According to the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, “MSG is a food additive that enhances flavors in food. It virtually has no flavor of its own, but neurologically causes people to experience a more intense flavor from the foods that they eat containing the substance. To millions of consumers, it means experiencing an adverse effect from the additive and possible adverse health effects in the future. To the food industry, it means increased profits, a simple way to balance taste in a product line and mask unwanted tastes, and to make otherwise unpalatable foods acceptable. In particular, MSG helps replace flavor lost by elimination of fat in many low-fat and no-fat foods.”
I will take what Price-Pottenger said one step further. MSG addicts people to a food or beverage. That’s one of the main reasons why it is used. The FDA requires food manufacturers to label monosodium glutamate. Unfortunately, there are a whole host of other ingredients that are found on labels that contain free glutamic acid and are used deceptively by manufacturers to mislead consumers that may want to avoid this toxic agent. Here’s a list of ingredients found on many labels that usually contain MSG that you need to be aware of:
Natural flavoring, natural flavors, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast, textured protein, hydrolyzed protein, seasonings, sodium caseinate, gelatin.
Any time you see one of these ingredients on a product label, even if it’s in a health food store, you should consider avoiding it if you don’t want to consume MSG. The words “Natural Flavoring” or “Natural Flavors” are some of the most deceptive ingredients listed on the labels of many foods and beverages. The Code of Federal Regulations mandates that the terms “Flavors,” “Natural Flavors,” or “Flavorings” may not include MSG, hydrolyzed proteins, and autolyzed yeast. Each of these must be declared on the label by its common name rather than hidden within another blanket.
However, manufacturers have some clever and deceptive ways to get around these regulations. Companies are able to bypass these laws by changing the molecular structure of the chemical they are trying to hide, until its previous name no longer exists. If there is one molecule difference with MSG, and the chemical mixture tastes like a “natural flavor,” that is all they need to call it one and not MSG.
So, let’s take this issue to the beverage industry. All Coke and Pepsi products for example, list either “Natural Flavors” or “Natural Flavoring” as an ingredient. Here’s an interesting thing to ponder if you know how to read labels. A can of Coke has 50 milligrams of sodium and a can of Pepsi has 35 milligrams, yet sodium is not listed as an added ingredient. How could that be? Where does the sodium come from?
Have you ever heard about Coke’s secret formula? Coca Cola guards their unique flavor under lock and key. The answer is it is masqueraded under the name “Natural Flavors.” Natural Flavors could contain a number of different ingredients, possibly even MSG, aspartame or other dangerous additives. I’m not stating as fact that Coke or Pepsi have MSG in them, but I will say that all of this is highly suspicious when these tricks are allowed to go on by the government. Since most of the unquestioning public is misled by the word “Natural” they have no idea what manufacturers are doing with their products. This is one of the dirty little secrets occurring in the food and beverage industry. There is so much mystery behind ingredients that it’s not easy to identify everything that could contain MSG or free glutamic acid. The main way to get around it is to avoid all fast food, soda, processed foods, candy bars, chips, and sweets. Otherwise, it’s a crap shoot.
One of the leading experts on the dangers of MSG and other artificial food ingredients is Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D., author of the book “Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills.” Blaylock says that MSG literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Blaylock contends that there is scientific evidence that proves MSG and other excitotoxins like aspartame can cause brain damage in your children, affect your nervous system, and even precipitate many of the neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and Alzheimer’s disease. In Blaylock’s book, he talks about the findings of Dr. John W. Olney, M.D., a neuroscientist working at the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Olney tested MSG on animals and Blaylock says: “His findings indicated that MSG was not only toxic to the retina, but also to the brain. When he examined the animals’ brains he discovered that specialized cells in a critical area of the animals’ brain, the hypothalamus, were destroyed after a single dose of MSG.”
If you wish to live a long, healthy, prosperous life on this earth, then MSG is one ingredient that you need to avoid at all costs. The government knows it’s bad and so do the manufacturers, but neither of them have an interest in eliminating this poison from the market. MSG is a guaranteed slush fund for manufacturers. People literally become addicted to their products. The government will not do anything to jeopardize its relationship with the food and beverage industry, some of its largest donors and lobbying groups that pump big money into campaigns. It’s a win-win all the way around. Plus the pharmaceutical industry just loves all the clients they’re getting from the side effects of this poison.
CRUSADOR: What can you tell us about aspartame?
Aspartame is probably one of the most toxic substances you can put into your body. Trying to avoid consuming aspartame is like trying to find your way through a maze. If the food giants can’t get you with their genetically engineered foods and MSG, then they’ve got aspartame as their clean up hitter. Aspartame is found in thousands of different products on the market, everything from gum, breath mints, diet soda, tea, sports drinks, candy bars, yogurt, protein powders, ice cream, children’s vitamins, cake mixes, coffee creamers, toothpaste, mouthwash, ad infinitum.
Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Aspartame is the generic name for the more common brand names NutraSweet and Equal. Like MSG, aspartame is also classified as an excitotoxin and a neurotoxin. There is no single substance that has ever been used like aspartame that has caused as many adverse side effects in people. There are over 92 different documented symptoms listed by the FDA as being caused by aspartame. Things like Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain are just a few of the long list of problems associated with aspartame.
Leading health advocate Dr. Joseph Mercola has an excellent story posted on his website regarding the dangers of aspartame titled “Aspartame: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You.” (http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm) One of the big concerns with aspartame is that it releases methanol in the body. In Mercola’s story he reports that:
“Methanol/wood alcohol is a deadly poison. Some people may remember methanol as the poison that has caused some ‘skid row’ alcoholics to end up blind or dead. Methanol is gradually released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin.
The absorption of methanol into the body is sped up considerably when free methanol is ingested. Free methanol is created from aspartame when it is heated to above 86 Fahrenheit (30 Centigrade). This would occur when aspartame-containing product is improperly stored or when it is heated (e.g., as part of a ‘food’ product such as Jello).
Methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body. Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin. An EPA assessment of methanol states that methanol ‘is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic.’ They recommend a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day. A one-liter (approx. 1 quart) aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily or 32 times the EPA limit.”
The amazing absurdity regarding aspartame is that it actually causes weight gain and increased appetite. The main reason for using aspartame in so many products on the market is to make them taste very sweet and enticing without getting the extra calories or carbohydrates. Aspartame plays all kinds of tricks with your hormones and metabolism. It causes unstable blood sugar levels, which increases the appetite and causes cravings for sweets/sugar.
Consider the following position statement from Sandra Cabot, M.D. that appears on the following website, http://suewidemark.netfirms.com/aspartam.htm: “When you ingest the toxic chemical aspartame it is absorbed from the intestines and passes immediately to the LIVER where it is taken inside the liver via the liver filter. The liver then breaks down or metabolizes aspartame to its toxic components – phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. This process requires a lot of energy from the liver which means there will be less energy remaining in the liver cells. This means the liver cells will have less energy for fat burning and metabolism, which will result in fat storing. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing ‘fatty liver’ and when this starts to occur it is extremely difficult to lose weight. In my vast experience any time that you overload the liver you will increase the tendency to gain weight easily.”
CRUSADOR: That’s amazing research that you’ve pulled together. I can’t believe aspartame is still on the market and I’m even more amazed that so many people continue to shove this neurotoxin down their throat knowing how bad it is. It’s almost as if people have a death wish and don’t care. What about another popular artificial sweetener that seems to be taking over where aspartame left off – Splenda? What can you tell us about this?
Splenda is another artificial sweetener disaster. I guess after aspartame got barraged with so much bad press, even though it’s still being used and found in an increasing number of products, Splenda seems to be the next substitute killer to take its place. Splenda is the brand name for sucralose. Like aspartame, Splenda was rushed through the approval process with the FDA before closer scrutiny was given to it. Sucralose is a chlorinated sucrose derivative. Since when has chlorine ever been good for the human body? Splenda is starting to show up everywhere and like aspartame, so are the problems arising from its use. Anyone who would like to learn more about Splenda should do a search on www.google.com and they will find all kinds of eye opening facts.
CRUSADOR: Let’s take a look at sugar and high fructose corn syrup. These products are ubiquitous in the food and beverage industry. How bad is sugar and should we avoid it as much as possible?
I’m glad you asked me that, Greg. I would be doing an injustice if I didn’t also condemn the high amounts of sugar and high fructose corn syrup found in so many products. While they may not be neurotoxic like aspartame or MSG, they do have a very damaging effect on the body over the long haul.
For starters, sugar is one of the most acidifying substances you could ever put into your body. Sugar will throw off your pH and is the fuel source that harmful microorganisms feed on like bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Sugar even fuels cancer. Studies show that the average American consumes 175 LBS. of sugar per year. That’s an astounding number. Corn syrup is just a trick name like I’ve already explained with other ingredients. Corn syrup is garbage. Rarely will you ever see just the words “corn syrup” appearing on a label. In most products it is “high fructose corn syrup.” This is corn syrup that has been spiked with sugar. High fructose corn syrup is the second ingredient in all non-diet bottled soda next to the first ingredient – water. This means that you’re basically drinking pure sugar water with chemicals added to it. High fructose corn syrup is found in many foods as well, including all bread in fast food restaurants and most bread found in the grocery store.
Nancy Appleton wrote a few excellent books exposing the sugar industry. In her one book, “Lick The Sugar Habit,” she says that sugar disrupts all body chemistry; severely weakens the immune system, and is implicated in over 100 health problems including diabetes, allergies, heart disease, and obesity. For example, sugar upsets the balance of minerals, increases triglycerides, interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium, weakens eyesight and causes tooth decay. It even impairs the structure of DNA, causes free radicals, damages and over-stresses the pancreas, makes bones brittle, causes depression, and slows down the ability of the adrenals to function. If you think your body can handle that, Greg, then I say, “Eat up and enjoy all the sugar you want.”
CRUSADOR: Tell us about the health dangers of refined salt and why it should be avoided?
The salt used in almost all manufacturing today, especially with fast foods and processed foods, is not the kind of salt that your body recognizes as biocompatible. This salt typically contains bleaching agents, anti-caking agents, leaching agents and other processing agents, which are all chemical agents that can harm your body. This form of salt is nutritionally worthless and quite toxic to the body because all of the vital trace minerals that are typically present in salt before it is processed are stripped away. This is why most salt has a white, uniform appearance.
Food manufacturers and fast food chains use this form of toxic salt because it is dirt cheap and it literally addicts people to their food, similar to MSG. Most Americans consume more than double the recommended daily amount of sodium per day due to a steady diet of processed foods, beverages and bottled drinks. All salt, unless it is unrefined and has all of the vital trace minerals left in it, is a poison. Over time it will deaden your sense of taste so your mind is tricked into thinking foods and beverages only taste good if they are loaded with salt. If the big corporations producing most of our foods and beverages really cared about people’s health they would go out of their way to manufacture wholesome, high quality products that benefit the human body instead of poisoning them with substances that they know are harmful.
Everything we have heard about salt being bad and causing high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke has truth to it because we are talking predominantly about refined salt devoid of minerals. In fact, it gets even worse. In the spring of 2005 Sydney University scientists proved that salt has a dangerous adrenalin-inducing effect on people suffering from high blood pressure, or hypertension. According to U.S. Fulbright scholar Dr. Virginia Brooks and Professor Roger Dampney from Sydney’s Department of Physiology, when people get a fright, their sympathetic nervous system is activated and they experience a rush of adrenalin. But people with high blood pressure experience a sustained increase in sympathetic nerve activity when they consume dietary salt. Their collaborative research has produced new data to support the hypothesis that dietary salt activates the brain in hypertension sufferers, producing sustained increases in sympathetic nerve activity, or what is commonly called the ‘fight/flight’ response.
CRUSADOR: What can you tell us about food irradiation? Is this really as common as I have heard and what effect does it have on food and a person’s health?
Like so many other things, Greg, irradiation is another serious concern and it’s being done to more and more products every day. The reasoning behind irradiation is that it can reduce or eliminate bacteria such as E. coli and other harmful organisms that may be present in meat or on products we buy like fruits, vegetables, spices, and herbs. Currently, irradiation is done using radioactive gamma sources, usually cobalt 60 or cesium 137, or high energy electron beams. Opponents of irradiation claim serious health concerns because it creates super energized free radicals and alters the molecular structure of the food. When the molecular structure of food is changed from something that is biocompatible with the human body to something that the body cannot recognize, the body will not obtain nutritional benefits because the food has become a foreign substance. Irradiation creates a host of new chemicals and has been shown to destroy enzymes, antioxidants, vitamin A, thiamin, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, C, E, and K. Amino acid and essential polyunsaturated fatty acid content may also be affected.
The FDA states on their website that: “During irradiation, foods are exposed briefly to a radiant energy source such as gamma rays or electron beams within a shielded facility…. The Food and Drug Administration has approved irradiation of meat and poultry and allows its use for a variety of other foods, including fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices. The agency determined that the process is safe and effective in decreasing or eliminating harmful bacteria. Irradiation also reduces spoilage bacteria, insects and parasites, and in certain fruits and vegetables it inhibits sprouting and delays ripening. For example, irradiated strawberries stay unspoiled up to three weeks, versus three to five days for untreated berries.”
FDA law currently states that irradiated foods are required to bear a radura logo with either the statement “treated with radiation” or “treated by irradiation.” However, many herbs and spices imported to the U.S. from the orient, specifically China and India, are being irradiated and making their way into thousands of supplements and food products that don’t specify they have been irradiated on their packaging. If you break irradiation down, it’s really just a band-aid for improper farming and food processing. The main reason why there would be harmful bacteria or parasites on meats, fruits, vegetables or herbs is that they came in contact with feces somewhere along the way. America imports so many foods from different areas of the world that have very low farming standards that irradiation is held out as an efficient way to protect the public. We should be holding farmers and meat packaging plants to higher standards instead of allowing their feces contaminated products on the market or accepting irradiation as some beneficial alternative to protect us.
CRUSADOR: Since you just mentioned feces contamination with some of the meat, tell us why there are so many problems with the meat that’s on the market today, unless it is organically raised and comes from a high quality health food store like Whole Foods?
Like I stated earlier about dairy production, if people ever witnessed what took place inside a slaughterhouse or witnessed how most of the conventionally raised animals are taken care of at the farm they would be horrified. Factory farming has been the cause of many health problems both in animals and humans. The days of the small mom and pop farm raising healthy animals on healthy foods and healthy fields rarely exist any longer. From farm to fork virtually every aspect of the meat packing industry is now in the hands of large agribusiness conglomerates. Many of the workers at the farms and in the meat processing plants are illegal aliens. In fact, during some of the recent immigrant protests that took place, Tyson Foods was forced to shut down entire plants. Plant standards are extremely low. No longer can anyone believe that in the United States there is adequate inspection and control of slaughterhouses.
For example, chickens are crammed into huge caged warehouses under controlled lighting to cause them to produce two eggs a day instead of one. Rarely, if ever, will they see real sunlight in their lifetime. During their short life span they are force-fed a diet of unhealthy food while eating their own feces and that of other birds. The air smells so bad and the environment is so unsanitary that large amounts of antibiotics are given to the already sick chickens to prevent them from dying. The animals are also pumped full of growth enhancing drugs to get them to market much faster. Once at the slaughterhouse it’s a gruesome mess of feathers, blood and feces. It would take me far too long to get into the entire subject but the same kinds of problems exist with raising beef and pork. Like we’ve been discussing throughout this entire interview, Greg, all of these issues are having a negative impact on people’s health and must be acknowledged if longevity and wellness are in your future.
CRUSADOR: Let’s pick up on some other food additives — things like artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, etc…
The very word “artificial” should be enough to alert you to danger. Why would you want to put something artificial into your body? Artificial means man-made poison. Let’s look at color in a little more detail. If you look at the composition of light, it consists of the seven colors of the rainbow. When you put all seven colors together it makes pure white light. Those seven colors manifest in a number of ways in our world. One distinguishing way is through the foods that are produced from the earth. Just look at the vast array of color in fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Why is it that these foods are so healthy for us? It’s because they transfer light energy to our cells. The human body was specifically designed to process and absorb full spectrum light whether it’s through our eyes, skin or mouth. Our cells, DNA, and every other biochemical process in the body require light to function at a high state of health.
So why are products with artificial colors so bad? They are incapable of transferring light energy to our cells and actually work to block light. They are man-made colors that make a food or beverage appear attractive and healthy when quite the opposite is true. If you do your own research and look at the data you will discover a number of health concerns with artificial colors. Most artificial colors are cancer-causing carcinogens derived from petroleum by-products. They should never be used to color a food or drink.
Artificial flavors are just as bad. Many of the artificial flavors have MSG and aspartame in them. There could be hundreds of different compounds in an “artificial flavor.” It’s another way to masquerade dangerous chemicals. The laboratories that produce artificial flavors keep their formula under lock and key. To them, it could mean the difference between success and failure with a product. Artificial flavors allow manufacturers to take a bland or bad tasting product and turn it into something palatable. I contend that the more artificial ingredients a person consumes the more they will dislike natural products. Artificial flavors manipulate your sense of taste in an unnatural way.
Chemical preservatives are very harmful to the human body and another major problem with processed foods. There are over a thousand different additives with foreign sounding names that are approved by the FDA. While preservatives may be in minute amounts in a lot of products, regularly consuming processed foods and beverages will overload the body with a toxic brew of unknown chemicals. The reasoning and logic behind preservatives comes down to the greed factor again. Manufacturers want products to stay fresh for months and in some cases many years before going bad. In theory it sounds good but is that the way the Lord intended for us to eat? Man was supposed to get his food from the field. The further away man gets from the field, the further away he will be from good health. That’s the bottom line.
According to Dr. William Rice, a licensed Nutritional Consultant, many common additives have been linked to cancer, allergies, migraines, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, and brain damage. To make things worse, many additives do not appear on labels. According to Rice, food manufacturers are not required to list all the ingredients on certain foods like ketchup, mayonnaise and ice cream. A shocking 93 additives may go unlabeled in bakery products, 76 in soft drinks, 58 in frozen desserts, and 31 in cheese.
CRUSADOR: What can you tell us about pesticides and other industrial contaminants and is this a problem?
Pesticides are a major problem affecting people’s health. Recent scientific tests show that every person alive in the United States of America has pesticide residues in their body. Industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticides are abundant in our water and food. In a recent study released by the U.S. Geological Survey, they found the presence of 100 pesticides across the nation’s waters. Where are most of these pesticides coming from? Unfortunately, the majority are from farmers that have been conned into using them by chemical companies that think they know what’s best. Pesticides are a serious health risk. Many pesticides are linked to cancer, birth defects, and neurological disorders.
Last year for example, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a report that found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born in August and September of 2004. According to the report: “The umbilical cord blood of these 10 children, collected by the Red Cross after the cord was cut, harbored pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage.”
Also, there were the reports not too long ago that showed high levels of rocket fuel in lettuce and other vegetables grown in fields irrigated by the Colorado River. One story released by EWG stated: “Test results never before made public show that leafy vegetables grown with contaminated irrigation water take up, store and concentrate potentially harmful levels of perchlorate, a thyroid toxin that is the main explosive ingredient of rocket and missile fuel.”
And we wonder why so many people are sick today. That’s why I call all of these problems “Deadly Deceptions.” We’re being deceived and indiscriminately taken out by the toxic chemical assault we’re all under. The only way to avoid pesticides and rocket fuel in your vegetables is to eat organic foods. Otherwise, like all the other issues we discussed, you are playing Russian roulette with your health.
CRUSADOR: One last topic I would like to touch on before wrapping up this interview is hydrogenated fats and trans fats. What can you tell us about them?
Avoid them at all costs. Most of the processed foods and just about all fast foods contain toxic fats that will harden your arteries, slow down your metabolism, cause high blood pressure, obesity, cancer and a number of other health problems. If you are consuming anything with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat/oil in it, you’re asking for real trouble. Hydrogenated oil does not occur in nature. Hydrogenated oil is a way for the food companies to extend the shelf life of oil that would normally go rancid. The same reasoning behind preservatives is the excuse for using hydrogenated oil.
Most dietary fats and oils exist in a structural form called the “cis” form. Oil becomes partially hydrogenated when you bubble hydrogen gas through it at high temperatures which changes their molecular structure to the “trans” form. Oil goes from a liquid to a solid once hydrogen is bubbled through it. The difference in cis and trans shapes is of major significance. Trans fats interfere with important, normal functions by inhibiting enzymes which are necessary for the body’s normal metabolism of fats, and their negative interference lingers long after the point of ingestion.
Margarine is a great example. Margarine is nothing more than hydrogenated soybean oil with artificial color, flavor, and salt added to it. You could take a tub of margarine and leave it outside for fifty years and it would probably not spoil. Even bugs won’t eat margarine. Yet, consumers eat this plastic tasting garbage and somehow think it’s a healthy alternative to butter.
CRUSADOR: Should we boycott the companies that are putting all of these products out?
I think a boycott is a good idea but not really feasible. Getting any group of people organized in America to do anything is virtually impossible unless billions of dollars are behind it and well known personalities spearhead the fight. There are two major obstacles to overcome to change the system. One, so many people are addicted to these toxic foods and beverages that it’s like trying to get a crack addict clean. If people don’t have their fast food, Coke or Pepsi, they literally go into meltdown. Not only can’t most people get off of these products, many don’t care. A large segment of our society seems to have lost the will to live. Maybe that’s what all the MSG and aspartame has done to them. They’re happy being 50 or 100 pounds overweight, and popping fifteen different meds everyday from the side effects they have from ingesting these products.
The other obstacle with a boycott is that most foods and beverages are manufactured by a handful of companies. A legitimate boycott would create serious havoc with trying to find alternatives and that’s not likely to happen. I would say that approximately twenty to thirty companies control 70 to 80% percent of the entire food and beverage market in the U.S.
The best way to make a difference is to change yourself first. Take the initiative to learn more, study labels and start changing the products you buy. While I have focused on a lot of the problems in the market, there are some very positive things occurring. Take Whole Foods for example. This health food chain is growing by leaps and bounds. Their stores are jam-packed every time you shop there. In my opinion this company has the best run stores in the country. The selection of high quality, natural products is impressive. The organic industry is growing by close to 20% a year. More and more people are waking up and demanding better foods. Some big grocery chains are starting to cater to the health food market. Publix, a large chain in Florida, continues to expand their selection of organic foods and has plans to open GreenWise stores similar to Whole Foods throughout the state. There is some encouraging news to report so hopefully I didn’t alarm your readers to the point where they felt powerless to avoid the assault. Knowledge is power. Learn the truth and vote with your wallet.
CRUSADOR: Well David, you’ve given our readers plenty of good information to help them along in their quest for better health. I appreciate your time and the hard work you’re doing to educate people about these dangers. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Greg. We really need more truth tellers and publishing companies like yours that are willing to alert people to what’s happening, but also help offer solutions.