Industrial Food

Re: # 16

What can I say but heck, I am bored with the celebrities of the airwaves.

#21, scout(new) {``That`s a great idea. Who would have thought it could be as simple as that.... you should lobby this.``}

Scout(new),
But, have you considered the consequences of hosting a sex-starved, pimple-faced, scrawny kid like Gujja in your home? You may wish for the return of the mice and the spiders. :) LOL

``As for starvation in India and obesity in the US, may I suggest an exchange program where we send Indian kids to US and American kids to India?``

That`s a great idea. Who would have thought it could be as simple as that.... you should lobby this.

Scout(new) #18 {``The most prevalent cancer in the US is lung cancer which is mainly caused by smoking. Smoking also increases the risk of other cancers....Children in countries such as India are dying of starvation and kids here are dying of obesity``}

Scout(new),

Thank you for putting the issue of cancer in its proper perspective. I fully agree with your point concerning smoking and the pernicious effect it has on smokers and those forced to put up with their miserable addiction.

As for starvation in India and obesity in the US, may I suggest an exchange program where we send Indian kids to US and American kids to India? I thought that the H1B visa programs was meant to address half of this important issue.

aslam644 #15, {``i`ve been looking at statistics of average life expectancy in switzerland it`s 81 in us it`s 78 so there is a gap of 3 years, ``}

Aslam Bhai,
So what? The Swiss also climb high mountains, wear those funny shorts with the silly hats mit feathers in them and then yodel all day long at the top of their lungs - not to mention their cheese mit the holes in it.

The most prevalent cancer in the US is lung cancer which is mainly caused by smoking. Smoking also increases the risk of other cancers. I think it`s a bit naive on the part of the author to primarily link cancer with industrial food.

I do however agree that processed food are a main culprit in cardiovascular disease and obesity in children (which is at an alarmingly high level in the US). Children in countries such as India are dying of starvation and kids here are dying of obesity.

Wendys recently announced it`s withdrawal of trans fat oils, hopefully other fast food and major food companies will follow suit.

Saima,
...And one more thing. Thanks to you, now I feel guilty taking a sleeping pill for my insomnia that was caused by your alarmist article. :)

{``...In industrialized countries teenagers have bellies that rival the middle aged...It is truly appalling that despite the continued interrelationship between cancer and synthetic chemicals, instead of banning more chemicals, industry and government groups in North America are stressing on earlier cancer screenings, more drugs and more bio tech. Just when will we reckon with reality? ``}

Saima,
Thank you for a very well-written and thoroughly-researched article. I was really losing a lot of sleep over the questions raised by you concerning health, cancer, processed food, chemicals, and bloated bellies of teenagers. The last one can also be attributed to sexual promiscuity.

Come on, let`s get real. With all that is going on, how dare you occupy prime Chowk real estate with such ``chicken little`` nonsense? I mean with terrorism running rampant, UBL nowhere to be found, Dubya running amuck, little boys in danger on Capitol Hill, and Mullahs infesting FATA, do you really want to take up precious bandwidth for this trivial transgression of MNCs? Do I really need to know whether the bull that fornicated with the cow that gave birth to the calf that was part of my Veal Parmigiana was really on steroids? Please, let`s practice some safe journalism and restore a sense of proportionality on Chowk. Thanks.

Re: # 12
i`ve been looking at statistics of average life expectancy in switzerland it`s 81 in us it`s 78 so there is a gap of 3 years, we don`t know whether it`s due to cancer or other extraneous variables.

Re: # 4
A very good post. Urstruly - precise, and really brings to home the arguments for and against GMF foods.

Re: # 6

American Cancer Society statistics are as follows:

Based on cancer deaths during 1999-2001, the probability of people developing any kind of cancer during their lifetimes is:
Male: 45.59%(1 in 2)
Female:38.18%(1 in 3)

This data is from published stats on American Cancer Society, Surveillance Research and available on their pages.

Cancer is a political issue between the environmentalists, chemical/pharma industry. The American cancer association is funded by the chemical and pharma industries. Back in the 1970s when studies linking chemicals to cancer appeared (US makes 2000 to 3000 new chemicals in a year, and there are 75000 known chemicals -stats from Organic Housekeeping). In the US, chemicals are innocent until proven guilty.

Cancer rates are calculated in various ways and they too are a sensitive issue. The chances of someone getting cancer in a lifetime are for men 44%, and women 38%. Mortality rates are 1 out of 4 from cancer. These stats are from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society (funded by donations from ordinary people).

The American Cancer society approaches statistics in a different way (people say it is funded by the very agencies who churn out chemicals). The American cancer agency draws a strong case between obesity, lack of exercise, age and cancer, whereas the Canadian society does not. Obesity is a far smaller problem in Canada and Cancer research does not focus on obesity as a cause for cancer because cancer is still highly prevalent. Cancer rates in children is also rising. I personally find the links between excercise, weight and cancer spurious causes. The underlying problems include processed foods and chemicals in the environment.

Re: # 9

Saima,

Europe has set high standards for GM foods and require ``Labelling`` of all procesed foods prepared from GM crops, in the opposite camp US or the Americas have a much more liberal stance.

Scientific research to prove either theory is still inadequate, thus consumers beware strategy should work for the immediate future.

``Life expectancy has increased, but other super diseases are emerging. E.g., the over reliance on antibiotics is spawning a generation of super microbes, so this happy state of affairs cannot continue, in fact we see super diseases already. Cancer is a bigger threat every year--to think that perceptions of higher cancer prevelance are because of it being under-reported before is wrong, because cancer rates have been steadily increasing over the last few decades. ``

this is misleading...cancer diagnosis is up..doesn`t mean the disease is increasing. Take colon cancer for example. A highly prevalent cancer. the peolpe afffected with colon cancer has increased 10 fold in the last decade, not because the disease has become an epidemic but because it is caught earlier at stage 1 and II through better diagnostics. By the time colon cancer in in stage IV it has already metasisized and is spread ot other organs. Historically lack of diagnostics chalked deaths related to colon cancer to other diseases i.e. organ failure due to diabetes or pulmonary dissease etc.

antibiotics are mutations, so generation of super microbes will be dealt with the same way as their predecessors were. Immunotherapy is based on such a premise.

It is disingenuine to suggest that the food additives are the cause. No amount of scientific data supports that. Whatis clear is that american are living longer adn healthier than ever before. to not point that out is disingenuine as well.

Here is a useful link on Monsanto:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

GMO`s are not proven to be without consequences. It is irrational to start using them without due process of testing. GMO`s lead to resistant bugs and weeds and impact the environment wherever they are used.

I would argue that Greenies and Lefties should be happy with genetically engineered agricultural practices, since it reduces use of pesticides and herbicides which in turn reduces the green house gases. From agronomic points of view, the benefits far exceed the disadvantages. Food over the centuries has always been naturally genetically modified, only now it is done in the labs.