Angel's OPEN LETTER

angel.lopez1@live.lagcc.cuny.edu

Mayor Bloomberg
253 Broadway #9
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

I am a part time student majoring in Liberal Arts at LaGuardia Community College. I originally wrote this letter for the FDA but after seeing the movie Food Inc. I just can’t expect them to take it seriously. Though I am addressing this to you Mr. Mayor I just would like for you to know that I’m pointing my finger at them. Please read this letter with an understanding that they should hear it from you and then they’ll listen. I don’t know everything but as far as I know I believe in what I have discovered from my cited sources. Please forward the letter below to the FDA if you feel that it is sound.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them?” If what we’re unaware of won’t hurt us couldn’t that be based on the placebo effect, where when you tell someone that a water pill actually contains acetaminophen and two out of three people, believing it’s real, will feel better. This placebo effect is what I see to be the logic behind the fact that foods that are dosed with flavors are not labeled with even a website that explains the effects of these extracted flavors. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) is the technique flavor chemists will apply as they produce food flavors; aromas to be more precise. In Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation he states that “”The invention of chromatographs and mass spectrometers-machines capable of detecting volatile gases at low levels- vastly increases the number of flavors that could be synthesized.”(128) Describing the chromatography of aroma compounds Schlosser states that “With almond flavor (Benz-aldehyde) is derived from natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison.”(130) Benz-aldehyde lethal dosage is 890 mg/kg (oral dose for rats) wolframalpha.com The reason for all the risk involved in the chromatography of aroma compounds is because taste is associated with smell so that if one can’t smell the food it lacks flavor. You can compare this to some type of sophisticated parlor trick.Scientific reductionism is used to speed things up for profit. I’ll give you two examples. The first issue is regarding what I call “soil in a hurry”. Sir Albert Howard’s findings of the three major components of soil are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; and so farmers use these elements to make corn crops grow faster. Michael Pollan, in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, points out that “plants grown in synthetically fertilized soils are less nourishing than one grown in composted soils; such plants are more vulnerable to diseases and insect pests; polycultures are more productiveare more productive and less prone to disease than monocultures; and that in fact the health of the soil, plant animal, human, and even nation are, as Howard claimed, connected along lines we can now begin to draw with empirical confidence. We may not be prepared to act on this knowledge, but we know that civilizations that abuse their soil eventually collapse.” (150). My reason for this quote is to demonstrate the negative outcomes wrought from the hurrying of nature. Because we are in such a hurry this has had an effect on how we make bread. Potassium bromate is used to bake bread faster but it is a suspected carcinogen. Before the Delaney clause of 1958 banned carcinogenic substances from food the FDA authorized potassium bromate yet after the Delaney clause it still is used in our bread or rather in the bread of those of us who would gladly take the chances of whether or not it might cause cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer says it possibly is a carcinogen. Let us all eat it as part of our diets and find out. The European Union and China can’t afford to take those chances. I don’t assume you and the folks at the FDA knew potassium bromate was a carcinogen all this time or rather that it’s a suspected carcinogen. I don’t believe you would allow potassium bromate would be used to bake bread faster if you weren’t sure about this. I refuse to believe that you would practice a philosophy that states “let’s wait and see” when it involves millions of sandwich lovers across our great nation developing cancer because of profits. If this is the case than as with cigarettes why aren’t warning labels placed on the boxes and wrappers of fast food sandwiches? Now that you are made aware of this I hope you let your loved ones know. Do they affect your conscience? Do you know that excitotoxins can cause insomnia? Can you sleep at night knowing that?

Taken from naturalnews.com in a four part article by Laura Weldon she states and I’m echoing that “Butylated hydroxyanisole is used by food processors to preserve meat products, baked goods cereals, snack foods, nuts, dehydrated foods and mixes, flavorings, desserts, beer, beverages, chewing gum and more. The National Toxicology Program (funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) says BHA is ‘reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.’ Their report also states that ‘a potential for consumer exposure to BHA by ingestion and dermal contact is widespread.’” Other mentionable food additives are trans fats because they raise LDL cholesterol, Acesulfame-K an artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar and it’s not possible to break it down during digestion since it was “found in the same concentrations in untreated and treated water…..” also according to
organic farmer and writer Laura Weldon in her four part article in naturalnews.com titled Common Additives in Your Food Contain Shocking Dangers. High fructose corn syrup inhibits white blood cell activity. In the second part of Weldon’s report she states that “Aspartame is known to cause mental retardation in one out of 15,000 babies who are unable to metabolize phenylalanine, one of the two amino acids found in aspartame.” I see it fit to quote Dr. Russell Blaylock from his book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills (1996) and he states that “It needs to be emphasized that all excitotoxins–glutamate, aspartate, and L-cysteine–stimulate large amounts of free radicals within exposed neurons. In fact, in a recent paper, Catherine Bergeron stated that the best theory for excitotoxity in ALS was that it initiated oxidative stress and the arachidonic cascade (by phospholipase A2), thereby generating enormous and overwhelming concentrations of free radicals in the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord. [24] This, in time, results in the progressive death of these motor neurons “(Kindle Locations 4480-4485) Added flavors are called excitotoxins by neurologists for their effects. When we indulge our taste buds we experience bliss and then we crash. To shed light on what exactly happens inside our brains when we ingest flavor enhanced food I must quote from Dr. Russell Blaylock in his book titled Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills (1996) regarding the neurological effects in acute doses and in milder doses of MSG and he explains the two separate effects when he states that “Within fifteen to thirty minutes after being exposed to high doses of MSG, neurons suspended in tissue culture are seen to swell like balloons. (FIG 3-3) Under the microscope you can see degeneration of the small structures within the cell, called organelles, and also clumping of the chromatin of the nucleus. Within three hours these neurons are not only dead, but the body’s defense mechanisms begin to haul away the debris. Under experimental conditions using animals, this degenerative reaction is seen when MSG is either ingested in the diet, injected into the abdominal cavity, or applied directly to the neurons in tissue culture or into the brain by way of cannula or tube. But when lower doses of MSG were used, scientists discovered something very strange and different. Most of the neurons after thirty minutes appeared to be not only unharmed, but perfectly normal in every way. Then, suddenly, two hours following the exposure, long after the MSG had been removed, the neurons began to die. It was as if a clock had been set so that the neurons would all commit suicide at the same time. Within eighteen to twenty four hours after exposure to MSG, all of the neurons were dead. But during that initial two hour period the cells appeared to be perfectly healthy.” When Dr. Russell mentions FIG 3-3 he’s referring to a three step set of diagrams where a gelatinous MSG chain of molecules latches onto the neuron which then shrivels and disintegrates. The detritus is removed from the body. MSG causes the brain’s neurons to disintegrate. If disintegrating our neurons was not big business we’d have clear enough minds to study and understand its harmful effects. MSG remains hidden if it’s not close to 100%. If it’s below 90% it doesn’t end up on the label. Despite the fact that the molecules are so tiny and seem irrelevant in terms of mass they are most effective regarding their effects on taste buds and due to their brain damaging effects they merit a warning label.

I propose that every supermarket provides Food Science Aisles where they can scan the item and it will get a grade based on health concerns. Accredited healthy findings on every ingredient could be available on a touch screen and there should be an animation to demonstrate the effects of the unfamiliar ingredients. Posters running through the aisle should be in steps illustrating the receptors of the brain and they should explain how brain receptors react to the foods and the possible long term effects of these foods. Free internet is not the same thing as this. What I’m proposing is educational and the acceptable alternative would be a free food science educational website in bold letters on the front of every food containing the following ingredients: Potassium bromate, Aspartame, Butyla Monosodium, Acesulfame-K, Trans fats, MSG-even if it’s as low as 1% though it’s usually above 90% in Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Hydrolyzed Protein, Hydrolyzed Plant Protein, Plant Protein Extract,Sodium caseinate, Calcium caseinate, Yeast Extract, Textured Protein, Autolyzed Yeast, Hydrolyzed Oat Flour, Malt extract, Malt Flavoring, Bouillon Broth, Stock Flavoring, Natural Flavoring, Natural Beef or Chicken Flavoring, Seasoning Spices, Carrageenan, Enzymes, Soy Protein Concentrate, Soy Protein Isolate, and Whey Protein Concentrate.

There should be penalties for not including ingredients on food labels. Just because those ingredients were used in a miniscule amount, even by microscopic standards, they should be on the food label. If they’re sprayed on for a millisecond, just to preserve the food, we should know. If it’s not worth mentioning then don’t do it. If it’s a secret formula; that’s one thing but please it’s sinister to keep the side effects a secret. The side effects are not undetermined. I’ve given you suggestions. I hope they seem feasible or at least they’ll inspire you to invent something that fixes these problems.

Sincerely,
Angel J. Lopez




Citations:
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001)
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (2006)
Chromatography of Aroma Compounds and Fragrances by Tibor Cserhati
Blaylock, Russell L. (1996). Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, Health Press NA Inc. Kindle Edition.