"What Are We Doing To Ourselves?"
By Capt. Fred Davis
Published: Friday, January 24, 2014

This column may sound familiar. Its intent is to make you think. Do you realize what we do to ourselves?

We are told the FDA will protect us. The Food and Drug Administration has the last word on what can be used in the food and drugs we consume. It also may change the category under which content of an item may be placed.

An example of prepared food content is MSG (monosodium glutamate). At one time, this ingredient was considered a preservative. After it became widely known that people (myself included) were allergic to it, labels declaring no MSG and no preservatives began appearing on many products. These labels led us to believe we could eat the items without concerns about a reaction.

We believed the labels and after checking the ingredient list noted that MSG was not listed, so we ate the product. Bad choice.

Surprise! MSG is back in the listed ingredients but you don’t see it because it is now a flavor enhancer. If you are one of the many who suffer the effects of MSG be aware it is no longer considered a preservative by the FDA. So it’s no different — just the ingredient label listing has changed. Unfortunately, reaction to it for those of us allergic has not changed.

MSG is not the only food processing content that is harmful and therefore causes allergic reactions. Sodium benzoate (my doctor said that is just another name for MSG) is a listed additive in many foods. I mentioned it in an earlier article about ice cream stating it was used in four or five different brands. Is this a preservative or a flavor enhancer?

Another additive I recently discovered to be harmful, again in my ice cream, is turmeric (it is also used in mustard). If you look it up, you will see under possible reactions in humans: “May cause bleeding and inhibit clotting. If you are planning surgery, do not ingest.” The FDA knows what can result from eating products, especially in volume, that cause bleeding — serious outcomes.

As I see it, our FDA, which is charged with looking out for our well-being, is dropping the ball. It has approved dangerous content to be placed in our food and drugs. Even when an ingredient is singled out as harmful, they allow a name or category change to get around the prohibited content.

Drugs can be even more harmful than foods that are being approved. If you tune out the commercials and pay no attention, you may not be aware of the disclaimers stating: may cause headache, bleeding, nausea, dizziness and rarely death!

I personally would prefer taking a medicine that will relieve my symptoms, but not cause death. It is noted in the statements that death is not a common effect, but I wonder if any of the FDA inspectors realize that — although occurring rarely — death is permanent.

If you don’t believe what the FDA approves, grab yourself a coffee or tall glass of water and read that pamphlet (after getting your magnifying glass) that comes with your prescription. Many of them say death may rarely occur along with a multiple of other problems.

Yes, the FDA is keeping an eye on what we may ingest, but are they keeping score on how we are reacting to it?

Really dangerous toxins are being placed in our food and drugs and we are pretty much unaware. And let’s not even talk about our chicken! That may be a later column.

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