By: Ariel Brittain
Bleach, carcinogens, preservatives, cancer causing substances: all of these and more are found in the food you eat every day. From dyes such as Yellow #5 and Yellow #6 in Kraft’s Mac and Cheese, to rBGH and rBST (synthetic versions of a growth hormone called bovine, found in cows) in milk, these contaminants run wild. Most countries in Europe have banned such ingredients, yet America’s Food and Drug Association (FDA) allows them all.
Hormones rBGH & rBST are injected into cows so they can produce milk more quickly and in larger amounts. In those delicious cheesecakes, milkshakes and yogurts that are so popular, there are also powerful steroids. Steroids are well known muscle builders, and for some individuals this can be a good thing. However, excess amounts can lead to ruptured tendons, high blood pressure, possible heart attacks and sometimes fatal liver tumors.
Sadly, hormones aren’t the end of the food safety conversation. There has been a great deal of controversy over Mars’s M&M’s. These crunchy little chocolates contain harmful dyes such as Blue #1, Yellow #5 and #6 and Red #40. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) explains, “The three most widely used dyes, Red #40, Yellow #5 and Yellow #6, are contaminated with known carcinogens… Another dye, Red #3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.” This type of chemical coloring is often used on cranberries and when tested on experimental animals, was proven to cause cancerous tumors.
According to the CSPI’s website article, “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks,” people have a right to be worried. Red #40 can cause potentially deadly allergic reactions (as can any other artificial dye), contain p-cresidine (a carcinogen) and when tested on mice and rats, the dye caused growth of cancerous immune system tumors. Yellow #5 contains Benzidine and 4-amino-biphenyl (both carcinogens), and six out of eleven studies showed genotoxicity (rate of chemical agents and their mutations once in the human body, causes cancer) and hyperactivity in children. Yellow #6 has both benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl and can cause possible cancerous tumors in the adrenal and testicular areas.
The European Commission and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have strict regulations regarding GMOs and other additives. The European Commision promises to “protect human and animal health through stringent safety assessment of GMO food and feed before it can be sold; ensure common procedures for risk assessment and authorization are efficient, transparent and not take too long; ensure clear labeling that responds to the concerns of consumers (including farmers buying feed) and enable them to make informed choices.” The EFSA, however, is the one taking bigger leaps in the modified food banishment. They take “new” food, or foods normally not in the everyday food supply, and place them through strict tests and evaluations that are done scientifically in specially made labs. Such labs vary from businesses like Eurolab or Eurofins Scientific.
Thanks to science and experimentation, we’ve learned more about our foods and how to use them. But when those experiments arise in our food supply and when people begin to worry about their health, then we start to have some conflicts. If the rest of the world is afraid of GMOs and additives, then why aren’t we?
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