Article: The 7 foods experts won't eat

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-7-foods-experts-wont-eat-547963/

Item #1 took my by surprise, especially since it's a staple in our kitchen.

That's one of the most ridiculous pieces of journalism I've read in a long time.

"We asked the President of the Don't Eat Corn Fed Beef Society what people should avoid. He said corn fed beef"

"Then we asked the Chairwoman of the Association Against Milk With Hormones what people should avoid. She said milk with hormones."

"We also asked the Director of People For The Consumption of Everything But Farm Raised Salmon the same question. In a surprising development, she said people should avoid farm raised salmon."

Yup, I'm with Kenny. It's interesting how many of these items start with "nature didn't intend..." While I tend to prefer more naturally-produced foods because they are often of better quality, I find this argument silly. Nature didn't intend for trees to be cut down and made into Prevention Magazine, for that matter.

One interesting point: I've always wondered about the incidence of cancers or other health issues in farm workers - it seems to me that they would be the canary in the mine for farm chemicals. The article asserts (without documentation) that this is the case; I'd never heard this connection made before; I wish it offered supporting evidence.

Holy cow, that's quite a list. I agree, the level of journalism is very thin; I expected they would be talking about seven foods that there was a consensus to avoid.

I did some work this past summer with a group that was working to get milk with rGBH out of schools, and I know there is a pretty broad basis for this. Some of the others seemed a little thinner. I have heard that pesticides are a serious problem for farmworkers; I don't know if there is a study documenting problems, but I imagine there is.

I am most alarmed by the canned tomatoes, since I thought we were doing a great thing to have canned tomatoes as a major part of our diet...

Overall my reaction is, you can only do what you can do; it would be a full-time job to avoid everything that someone thinks is bad for you.

We had a family friend who was into Prevention magazine and organic food in the 1950s and earlier. Some of the things she believed were clearly absurd, while others have surprisingly turned out to be correct. (She gave me a negative ion generator in about 1984, and I thought it was the silliest thing ever, but only about a decade later, there appeared to be science actually supporting the concept.) She lived to be 98...

you can have my canned San Marzanos when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

Judy H wrote:Overall my reaction is, you can only do what you can do; it would be a full-time job to avoid everything that someone thinks is bad for you.

Very well said.

Milk that's full of hormones has been something I've avoided for quite some time now (not that I drink milk...but I do occasionally use it in stuff).

I can't really argue with the microwave popcorn argument, but I figure when you're eating microwave popcorn you kinda have to assume you're about to enjoy a wholesome & natural snack.

The apple argument I can buy, but the potato one is new to me...I swear we used to make potatoes sprout in science class for one reason or another every year from grade 3 to 7, and I know for a fact we didn't go out of our way to buy organic potatoes for those projects (we didn't know what "organic" was back then).

The salmon & beef stuff definitely strikes me as self-serving b.s. I especially love the blatant assertions that farm-raising salmon automatically means it's tainted with DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and "brominated flame retardants", and corn-fed cows are all raised on chicken manure.

The one that raised questions for me was the first one, about canned tomatoes. Do can linings always contain BPA, or only some? Have can linings always contained BPA? If so, with all the hubbub over BPA in Nalgene bottles and Sigg bottle linings, why haven't BPA-contaminated cans been all over the news?

Mhays wrote:One interesting point: I've always wondered about the incidence of cancers or other health issues in farm workers - it seems to me that they would be the canary in the mine for farm chemicals. The article asserts (without documentation) that this is the case; I'd never heard this connection made before; I wish it offered supporting evidence.

Can't deny there's an interesting correlation here. However, many farm workers are also impoverished and lacking in health care access that could prevent cancers unrelated to their occupation. As for potatoes not sprouting, tell that to the tentacular things I found in the back of my cupboard last month! If they weren't sprouted potatoes, I've discovered new alien life.

This would've been a more interesting article if it provided counterpoints. It's funny; I don't firmly disagree with anything they wrote - alright; the grassfed beef bit is a stretch - but the journalism quality is so poor I distrust it anyway.

Judy H wrote:Holy cow, that's quite a list. I agree, the level of journalism is very thin; I expected they would be talking about seven foods that there was a consensus to avoid.

"Thin," you are very polite!

That said, the one item on the list that will never pass my lips* is microwave popcorn. Its not so much the taste/texture, which is abysmal, but the odor of cheap gag reflex inducing shortening as the popcorn heats up in the microwave.

Enjoy,
Gary

*If microwave popcorn is placed in front of me late night in a tavern I might indulge, but I'd have to be pretty far in to dipsoland to consider a single piece.

Khaopaat wrote: The one that raised questions for me was the first one, about canned tomatoes. Do can linings always contain BPA, or only some? Have can linings always contained BPA? If so, with all the hubbub over BPA in Nalgene bottles and Sigg bottle linings, why haven't BPA-contaminated cans been all over the news?

Actually, BPA and tomatoes came up on LTH not long ago. I've seen it around the internet when I was googling baking in a can: apparently the white-lined cans are at issue. I am not certain what to think about BPA.

Mincy, I agree completely - it's difficult to judge the quality of information if there's nothing in the article but an assertion; if they're going to make one, I'd like to see it backed up with a study one can review.

an interesting read, thanks for posting it khaopaat,

looking at the "experts" cited, I am really sure none of them have a personal agenda to push.

Ill file it with the other lists of what I am supposed to eat & not eat.

Mhays wrote:Nature didn't intend for trees to be cut down and made into Prevention Magazine, for that matter.

lol

WARNING
Swallowing human saliva causes cancer...

but only if swallowed in small amounts over a long period of time.

Life is a terminal disease... no one gets out alive.

That said, the one item on the list that will never pass my lips* is microwave popcorn.

I would go further: Lips that touch microwave popcorn shall never touch mine!

stewed coot wrote:

That said, the one item on the list that will never pass my lips* is microwave popcorn.

I would go further: Lips that touch microwave popcorn shall never touch mine!

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tortminder wrote:WARNING
Life is a terminal disease... no one gets out alive.

Speak for yourself!

Santander,
Not ALL non-popcorn eaters are welcome! Otherwise I'll take the microwave popcorn served unpopped in a rusty tomato can topped with farm raised salmon guts. No offense to anyone...

Khaopaat wrote:

Judy H wrote:Overall my reaction is, you can only do what you can do; it would be a full-time job to avoid everything that someone thinks is bad for you.

The salmon & beef stuff definitely strikes me as self-serving b.s. I especially love the blatant assertions that farm-raising salmon automatically means it's tainted with DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and "brominated flame retardants", and corn-fed cows are all raised on chicken manure.

DDT isn't very dangerous to humans. Is for some birds, tho. Makes them have thin shells.

AngrySarah wrote:DDT isn't very dangerous to humans. Is for some birds, tho. Makes them have thin shells.

Au contraire:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT#Effects_on_human_health

However, I still think it's ridiculous of the article's author/source to imply that all farm-raised salmon is packed to the gills (rimshot) with the stuff.

Well, and can't and don't they test fish for that stuff? After all, isn't that where all the fish advisories for wild-caught fish in our own Lake Michigan come from - testing of sample fish? Again, it seems that they've made an assertion without evidence, in this case one where evidence should be readily available.

stewed coot wrote:

That said, the one item on the list that will never pass my lips* is microwave popcorn.

I would go further: Lips that touch microwave popcorn shall never touch mine!

I hear Samantha Fox loves microwave popcorn!