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.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
open letter
395 Fountain Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11208
June 1, 2011
Donnie Smith
President and Chief Executive Officer
2545 E OZARK AVE
GASTONIA, NC 28054-1423
Dear CEO Donnie Smith,
Hey there, I’m a 19 year old teen born and raised New York but also grew up on a farm as a kid in Honduras a little country in Central America. I am writing to you because I recently discovered how all your meat products are made and packaged and I was complete repulsed by the idea. I personally believe that the way your company has run for all these years is completely appalling with all the drugs that your workers put into the animals its inhuman and cruelty towards animals and the mistreatment of the farmers that are used in order for your companies process to work. I grew up on a farm raising chickens, cows, pigs, with my family and it was a smooth process on a 30 by 300 feet farm. All organized and treated are animals right growing them naturally until they were a good size to be eaten by everyone. No injections or antibiotics or anything else that they say is put into your company’s meat. Everyone would work on a specific animal for the day and they would always be treated with respect just like everyone else who worked on the farm. ““They are bred and drugged to grow so large so quickly that their legs and organs can’t keep up, making heart attacks, organ failure, and crippling leg deformities common. Many become crippled under their own weight and eventually die because they can’t reach the water nozzles.” If this were to happen to a dog or a cat people would be outraged about this statement, but since it’s just a chicken some people don’t care about what happens to them. The bottom line is, despite what animal it is, this is a form of animal cruelty”. (Brittney Pulce 1) In an article by Brittany Pulce she herself talks about the idea of animal cruelty and even though your company says they do not drug their animals it is everywhere that your company still does in order to rapid the growth of the animals but also due to all of those animals death at the same time it’s also doing a very large amount of damage to the environment and yet the company refuses to step up and take responsibility for their company’s main issues. Even if I grew up eating all of those processed meat sold by your company I still can’t get over the fact of it being drugs in the food and the cruelty done to your animals.
All the workers disserve to be like that animals and taken care of. But the way your farmers are treated and workers is complete cruelty, I believe it should stop and lot of changes should be made in the method used in your company. Your workers are over worked stressed and have no health insurance yet they suffer and mistreated worst then anything other job out there. Your company’s “employee’s” all disserve to be treated fairly and paid an equal rate instead of under minimum wage just because they are not citizens it still isn’t right on the pressure and amount of work put on one employee. They health issue is an even bigger problem because your works medical issues are mostly unreported and suffer serious illnesses, injuries even death and yet they aren’t even insured enough. No matter who it is that works for any company the health issues done to a human life is really serious that just proves the greed and insecurity a company lies on now a day. No one disserves that kind of cruelty in Kentucky OSHA Widens Tyson Probe. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigates Tyson’s Foods)(Brief Article) by Nash, James L, he talks about worker is and the horrors of the slaughter houses and what happens to an employee can easily be killed at work and yet the company doesn’t really do much to even help. It seriously sickens me to know that the life of another person can mean nothing to a large cooperation. Its seriously just not right for anyone even their family aren’t support at all even if the workers worked over 40 hours also its just insane in cruelty.
What also bothers me is that due to all the drugs injected to all the animals hasn’t started a large epidemic in society yet. Why does the company refuse to see or accept the fact that due to all the consumption of all your customers eating the meat with all those antibiotics can have a negative effect on everyone? “Crowding allows animals to easily share diseases, many of them able to spread to people. The factory owners use antibiotics to try to suppress the disease outbreaks in the facilities but many of the bacteria that cause the infections are able to adapt to these drugs forcing the animal industry to add ever more and different antibiotics to the feed of the cattle, pigs and chickens in these facilities. Some diseases like “mad cow disease” are spread by viruses, not bacteria and antibiotics do not affect viruses.” In an article in Great Health Connections they explain how the epidemic years ago started and how it spreads around. Yet I don’t see why doesn’t the company finally stand up and take charge and become responsible for all these problems which causes society to worry and not trust any food company for example like your Tyson’s.
I don’t like the idea on a company’s cruelty just because they have all their money and can. With all the money a company like Tyson makes they should be more responsible and change the methods used. All change doesn’t hurt anyone besides what would change if a company finally decided to get up and make a change their customers and everyone in society would believe that its finally time for a change and to know if a company as big as Tyson decided to change and help, What does the company have to lose anyways is what I’m asking you? I’m just being honest on my opinion and I know something needs to be done soon before something serious and epidemic start. Help all your workers yourself and do the country a favor and finally do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Fredy Alvarez
Brooklyn, NY 11208
June 1, 2011
Donnie Smith
President and Chief Executive Officer
2545 E OZARK AVE
GASTONIA, NC 28054-1423
Dear CEO Donnie Smith,
Hey there, I’m a 19 year old teen born and raised New York but also grew up on a farm as a kid in Honduras a little country in Central America. I am writing to you because I recently discovered how all your meat products are made and packaged and I was complete repulsed by the idea. I personally believe that the way your company has run for all these years is completely appalling with all the drugs that your workers put into the animals its inhuman and cruelty towards animals and the mistreatment of the farmers that are used in order for your companies process to work. I grew up on a farm raising chickens, cows, pigs, with my family and it was a smooth process on a 30 by 300 feet farm. All organized and treated are animals right growing them naturally until they were a good size to be eaten by everyone. No injections or antibiotics or anything else that they say is put into your company’s meat. Everyone would work on a specific animal for the day and they would always be treated with respect just like everyone else who worked on the farm. ““They are bred and drugged to grow so large so quickly that their legs and organs can’t keep up, making heart attacks, organ failure, and crippling leg deformities common. Many become crippled under their own weight and eventually die because they can’t reach the water nozzles.” If this were to happen to a dog or a cat people would be outraged about this statement, but since it’s just a chicken some people don’t care about what happens to them. The bottom line is, despite what animal it is, this is a form of animal cruelty”. (Brittney Pulce 1) In an article by Brittany Pulce she herself talks about the idea of animal cruelty and even though your company says they do not drug their animals it is everywhere that your company still does in order to rapid the growth of the animals but also due to all of those animals death at the same time it’s also doing a very large amount of damage to the environment and yet the company refuses to step up and take responsibility for their company’s main issues. Even if I grew up eating all of those processed meat sold by your company I still can’t get over the fact of it being drugs in the food and the cruelty done to your animals.
All the workers disserve to be like that animals and taken care of. But the way your farmers are treated and workers is complete cruelty, I believe it should stop and lot of changes should be made in the method used in your company. Your workers are over worked stressed and have no health insurance yet they suffer and mistreated worst then anything other job out there. Your company’s “employee’s” all disserve to be treated fairly and paid an equal rate instead of under minimum wage just because they are not citizens it still isn’t right on the pressure and amount of work put on one employee. They health issue is an even bigger problem because your works medical issues are mostly unreported and suffer serious illnesses, injuries even death and yet they aren’t even insured enough. No matter who it is that works for any company the health issues done to a human life is really serious that just proves the greed and insecurity a company lies on now a day. No one disserves that kind of cruelty in Kentucky OSHA Widens Tyson Probe. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigates Tyson’s Foods)(Brief Article) by Nash, James L, he talks about worker is and the horrors of the slaughter houses and what happens to an employee can easily be killed at work and yet the company doesn’t really do much to even help. It seriously sickens me to know that the life of another person can mean nothing to a large cooperation. Its seriously just not right for anyone even their family aren’t support at all even if the workers worked over 40 hours also its just insane in cruelty.
What also bothers me is that due to all the drugs injected to all the animals hasn’t started a large epidemic in society yet. Why does the company refuse to see or accept the fact that due to all the consumption of all your customers eating the meat with all those antibiotics can have a negative effect on everyone? “Crowding allows animals to easily share diseases, many of them able to spread to people. The factory owners use antibiotics to try to suppress the disease outbreaks in the facilities but many of the bacteria that cause the infections are able to adapt to these drugs forcing the animal industry to add ever more and different antibiotics to the feed of the cattle, pigs and chickens in these facilities. Some diseases like “mad cow disease” are spread by viruses, not bacteria and antibiotics do not affect viruses.” In an article in Great Health Connections they explain how the epidemic years ago started and how it spreads around. Yet I don’t see why doesn’t the company finally stand up and take charge and become responsible for all these problems which causes society to worry and not trust any food company for example like your Tyson’s.
I don’t like the idea on a company’s cruelty just because they have all their money and can. With all the money a company like Tyson makes they should be more responsible and change the methods used. All change doesn’t hurt anyone besides what would change if a company finally decided to get up and make a change their customers and everyone in society would believe that its finally time for a change and to know if a company as big as Tyson decided to change and help, What does the company have to lose anyways is what I’m asking you? I’m just being honest on my opinion and I know something needs to be done soon before something serious and epidemic start. Help all your workers yourself and do the country a favor and finally do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Fredy Alvarez
MR. SMITH
3428 33rd Street
Astoria, NY 11106
24 May 2001
William C. Smith, Assistant Administrator
Office of Field Operations
Food Safety Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Whitten Building, Rm. 344E
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Mr. Smith:
I am writing this letter to you because I am very concern about the treatment of animals especially of that animal that are grown for our consumption. I am a twenty five year old man from the state of New York but I am a decedent from a third world country name El Salvador. I grew up spending a lot of time in El Salvador and I grew up to appreciate animals that are grown for consumption because my family owns many animals like chicken, cows, and pigs. Many people own animals in El Salvador. My family grows animals and slaughtered them in special occasion like birthdays and holidays like Christmas. I comprehend that the reason why people eat meat and I am not against it but what I am appose to is certain agricultural practices surrounding the production of meat in this country.
I was surfing the web for an assignment when I came across a website where PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) conducted an undercover investigation at a Heflin, Alabama, Tyson slaughterhouse, on nine separate day, Peta’s undercover investigator saw workers urinating in the live-hang area where the hangs are kept, including on the conveyor belt that moves birds to be slaughter they also break the chickens wigs and legs when handling them. One worker admitted that he broke a chicken's back by beating the bird against a rail, a back-up killer stabbed birds in the neck area with knives, and several birds were hung from shackles by their necks instead of by their legs. Do you believe that this is a right practice? What kind of respect are we showing this poor creature? This animal are for our consumption we owe them a lot more respect than that. These workers are not the only problem many meat suppliers they shove hundreds of chickens in to a huge waste-filled space where the chickens are cram with no space to move and are surrounded with their own feces. I wonder if you know this? Do you also know that they use drugs on the chicken? Drugs like growth hormones to make the chicken grow bigger breast. Do you think that using drugs on the food we consume is a good Idea? Do you know if the hormones use on poultry effect the consumer?
Cornell University program on breast cancer and environmental risk factor stated on their report two cases on with Early puberty in girls has been found to be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer. They also point out that steroid hormones in food were suspected to cause early puberty in girls. However, epidemiological studies have not been conducted to see whether or not growth hormone treated food are responsible for this but one laboratory found a chicken sample from a local market to have a higher than normal level of estrogen (estrogens is used to increase breast tissue growth) and residues of zeranol (Zeranol is approved for use as a growth promoter in livestock, including beef cattle, in the United States) were reported in the blood of some of the girls who had reached puberty early. In the other case it was suspected that school meals were responsible for breast enlargement in very young girls and boys but no samples were “available” for testing. It is mind boggling that these cases are still un answer to the public as consumer we need to be better inform and you Mr. Smith with the position of representing the well being of the public should think of yourself as a reformer. What side of history do you want to be part of the side of corporate America or the side of the people? I admire you Mr. Smith for your work and many achievements. You have played a critical role in the implementation of the Pathogen Reduction “Pathogen: a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.” and the HACCP “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.” Rule that led to the reduction of Salmonella and food borne illnesses associated with meat and poultry products. I am sure that you understand my concerns.
To conclude Mr. Smith it is very important that you take a good look at the monopoly system in the meat suppliers are heading to. There are few meat suppliers for a nation of over 310 million people. To start solving our problems we should encourage more farmers to raise livestock’s with regulations that should be followed. Farmers like Smithfield Hog Processing Plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina who were shown on a documentary FOOD INC. seeing how they slaughter their chickens is very different then how Tyson slaughterhouse dose it because u can notice that the chickens have energy to fight back in the contrary of Tyson Slaughterhouse where the chickens are too weak to even move. Put your support on farmers like the Smithfield it will be a small step to a better future for this great nation.
Sincerely
Hector Melendez
Astoria, NY 11106
24 May 2001
William C. Smith, Assistant Administrator
Office of Field Operations
Food Safety Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Whitten Building, Rm. 344E
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Mr. Smith:
I am writing this letter to you because I am very concern about the treatment of animals especially of that animal that are grown for our consumption. I am a twenty five year old man from the state of New York but I am a decedent from a third world country name El Salvador. I grew up spending a lot of time in El Salvador and I grew up to appreciate animals that are grown for consumption because my family owns many animals like chicken, cows, and pigs. Many people own animals in El Salvador. My family grows animals and slaughtered them in special occasion like birthdays and holidays like Christmas. I comprehend that the reason why people eat meat and I am not against it but what I am appose to is certain agricultural practices surrounding the production of meat in this country.
I was surfing the web for an assignment when I came across a website where PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) conducted an undercover investigation at a Heflin, Alabama, Tyson slaughterhouse, on nine separate day, Peta’s undercover investigator saw workers urinating in the live-hang area where the hangs are kept, including on the conveyor belt that moves birds to be slaughter they also break the chickens wigs and legs when handling them. One worker admitted that he broke a chicken's back by beating the bird against a rail, a back-up killer stabbed birds in the neck area with knives, and several birds were hung from shackles by their necks instead of by their legs. Do you believe that this is a right practice? What kind of respect are we showing this poor creature? This animal are for our consumption we owe them a lot more respect than that. These workers are not the only problem many meat suppliers they shove hundreds of chickens in to a huge waste-filled space where the chickens are cram with no space to move and are surrounded with their own feces. I wonder if you know this? Do you also know that they use drugs on the chicken? Drugs like growth hormones to make the chicken grow bigger breast. Do you think that using drugs on the food we consume is a good Idea? Do you know if the hormones use on poultry effect the consumer?
Cornell University program on breast cancer and environmental risk factor stated on their report two cases on with Early puberty in girls has been found to be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer. They also point out that steroid hormones in food were suspected to cause early puberty in girls. However, epidemiological studies have not been conducted to see whether or not growth hormone treated food are responsible for this but one laboratory found a chicken sample from a local market to have a higher than normal level of estrogen (estrogens is used to increase breast tissue growth) and residues of zeranol (Zeranol is approved for use as a growth promoter in livestock, including beef cattle, in the United States) were reported in the blood of some of the girls who had reached puberty early. In the other case it was suspected that school meals were responsible for breast enlargement in very young girls and boys but no samples were “available” for testing. It is mind boggling that these cases are still un answer to the public as consumer we need to be better inform and you Mr. Smith with the position of representing the well being of the public should think of yourself as a reformer. What side of history do you want to be part of the side of corporate America or the side of the people? I admire you Mr. Smith for your work and many achievements. You have played a critical role in the implementation of the Pathogen Reduction “Pathogen: a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.” and the HACCP “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.” Rule that led to the reduction of Salmonella and food borne illnesses associated with meat and poultry products. I am sure that you understand my concerns.
To conclude Mr. Smith it is very important that you take a good look at the monopoly system in the meat suppliers are heading to. There are few meat suppliers for a nation of over 310 million people. To start solving our problems we should encourage more farmers to raise livestock’s with regulations that should be followed. Farmers like Smithfield Hog Processing Plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina who were shown on a documentary FOOD INC. seeing how they slaughter their chickens is very different then how Tyson slaughterhouse dose it because u can notice that the chickens have energy to fight back in the contrary of Tyson Slaughterhouse where the chickens are too weak to even move. Put your support on farmers like the Smithfield it will be a small step to a better future for this great nation.
Sincerely
Hector Melendez
Xiao Chen's First Draft Open Letter
144-46 38 Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
May 24, 2011
Margaret A. Hamburg, MD
Commissioner
Food and Drug Administration
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20903
Dear Commissioner Hamburg:
I am a twenty-year-old college student in New York City, and I have lived in this city for five years. I am writing this letter to you because of the hormone injections into caw and cattle have become to the cause of many serious disorders on Americans. We are all eating the foods that contain the overdoses of hormones that can cause water, salt, sugar, protein and fat metabolism disorders; even though the off-season fruits and milks from the cows that we always see in the supermarket are foods that contain the growing hormone. I am a girl who grew up in a small village in China. My grandmother used to raise chickens and ducks in the backyard of our house. I understood how long it is to raise chickens from little chicks; it usually takes half-year started from the egg. I recently have been reading Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation, it is telling me that the baby chicks can become full-grown in just one week, and is ready for slaughter! This information has amazed my mind by how fast is it for a cattle industry takes to make the chicks become full-grown; at the same time, I feel so scared that how many hormones I had injected in past five years. However, it seems like no one knows the serious behind those growing hormones because all of the Americans are feeding themselves the products within excessive amount of hormones, and growing to have diabetes, hypokalemia, edema, and hypertension. In case of children, the excessive amount of hormones that they intake from milks or meats can become the cause of sexual precocity. I thank you for your concerns on every American’s health, and your belief in the public health protection is important. Your firmly speeches is encouraging me at writing this important letter to you.
As a resident in New York City, I think it is my responsible to present to you my research on the price of foods from two different food supermarkets. In the organic food supermarket, the foods they sell are hormone and antibiotic free, which is priced higher than the foods in another supermarket that sells variety of inorganic foods. For example, the non-organic broccoli costs about $1.99 per pound and the organic one costs about $2.49 per pound which is priced 20% higher than the non-organic broccolis. For organic meats, the price is even higher than those vegetables and fruits; organic meats usually cost over a hundred dollars for no more than five pounds. Due to the abundance of the non-organic foods that provide by cattle and agricultural industries, the organic foods have become a rarity and expensive to buy and produce. This is another issue that relates to the hormone injections. Because of the growing hormone is working to increase the production by shortening the period of growth, the cost of these foods can be lower, and their outputs have met the need of many suppliers. Since the comparison is created, Americans are force to buy unhealthy food that contains higher amount of hormones, and become unhealthy as the result of eating these foods.
I have been living in this country for five years, i feel full of stressed every time I go to the supermarket. There is variety of foods that I need for daily, but also make me gain weights inexpertly. I still remember my first month of life in the United State; I eat in the same way as I did in my home country but gained ten pounds by eating the way I was. This reminds me that I had injected myself the growing hormones by eating daily foods. I want to know, how big I would become if I had continue eating the way I was? In my point of views, warning the harms of the excessive hormones through education is important for all Americans, and I think you are the only person can help to prove the harms of the excessive hormones. However, it is more important to give a limitation on the content of hormones, which says the percentage of hormones for inorganic foods should be lower than 30 percent.
I invite you to take a closer look at these issues. I hope to see more organic foods with lower price that everyone else can afford; also the decreased of hormones in our foods especially the meats and milks that closely relate to everyone’s health. Thank you for your time and patients.
Sincerely,
Xiao Chen
Open Letter
23 Division Ave. Westbury, NY 11590
26 May 2011
Dr. Mehmet Oz New York-Presbyterian Hospital Milstein Hospital Bldg Room 7 GN 435 177 Fort Washington Ave. New York, NY 10032
Dear Dr. Mehmet Oz,
Hello. I am a 23 year old woman from Long Island. I am writing you because of an issue that has caught my attention. People could be killing themselves slowly and not even know it because of MSG a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, used to intensify taste in processed foods. In 2005 the House of Representatives passed the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act” to protect the food and beverage industry from civil lawsuits: Under the measure, known as the “Cheeseburger Bill” people who buy food or drinks couldn’t sue the companies that made them if they got fat from eating the food. But who’s protecting the people? The FDA and DPA both have also been working with the Corporation with Ajinomoto Company Incorporated to prevent full and clear disclosure of MSG in processed foods. They also hire scientist to turn up research to demonstrate MSG as safe and public relations firms are hired to fabricate stories about the safety of MSG. Since no one in the government wants to take responsibility for the effects of MSG in our food. I would like to know if you could do a show on it to make the public more aware of MSG and its side effects.
Many Americans have been eating foods with MSG and don’t even know it. I didn’t either before I did this research. But there have been so many studies done to show how bad it is for humans and all the aliments it causes, for instance a study was done on mice who were given MSG threw a feeding tube these mice compare to the others became blind and obese. MSG is a neurotoxin substance that causes a wide range of health reactions from a temporary headache to permanent brain damage. There has been a huge increase in Alzheimer’s, brain cancer, seizers, multiple sclerosis and diseases of the nervous system since MSG was added to processed food fifty years ago. Ninety-five percent of processed foods contain MSG and if MSG passes thru the blood brain barrier the nerve cells disintegrate or shrivel up which causes the health problems.
MSG is found in many different kinds of foods like dehydrated soup mixes, sauce mixes, TV dinners, low-fat milk, imitation garlic and onions and condiments with a meaty base. Most vegetarian foods are loaded with MSG because they need the flavoring of food to tasty meaty for example vegetarian hamburgers, hotdogs, and bacon. I was shocked when I went into the kitchen and started looking in the cabinets and refrigerator. MSG is in everything. Campbell’s soup, Doritos, Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Lean Cuisines, low-fat milk, salad dressing especially the low fat ones. The items that didn’t have MSG had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just another name for Monosodium Glumate. It’s shocking to see how many foods we eat contain MSG but we could not have all these processed foods without the fake flavoring and the fast food industry couldn’t exist without MSG and artificial meat flavors to make secret sauces and spices. We are all getting tricked into believed we’re getting something nutritious when we’re getting nothing at all except very toxic substances. MSG is one of the most toxic additives in our food supply and anything you buy that says spices or natural flavoring contains MSG. The FDA get around putting it in the labels if there’s less than fifty percent of it in your food. If they weren’t hiding anything they wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble to hide the truth. The FDA also deemed MSG safe at one time but there after it was not found to be safe and was added to the generally regarded as safe list.
I would be so grateful if you could do a show on MSG just to educate the public on what their eating, how dangerous it is and how this toxic additive could also be causing them to become obese. It’s a huge concern to me because the average American has no idea that there is this toxic additive in their food that could be killing them slowly. And I believe if you do a show on MSG it will open the eyes of many Americans who have no idea that the food processing industry adds toxic chemicals to their processed foods to add flavoring and give the food its edible appeal.
Concerned Citizen,
Maria Montero
Work Sited
Fallon, Sally, MA. “Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry.” Consumer Health. Volume 24 Issue 8. August 2001. Web. 19 May 2011.
“Your Government in Action: the system that promotes the unregulated use of MSG.” TruthinLabeling.org. The politics of MSG. updated 14 May 2011. Web. 25 May 2011.
Erb, John. “MSG Causes Most Obesity but Congress Grants Immunity o Food Producers.” Chris Gupta Share the Wealth. 13 May 2005. Web. 25 May 2011.
26 May 2011
Dr. Mehmet Oz New York-Presbyterian Hospital Milstein Hospital Bldg Room 7 GN 435 177 Fort Washington Ave. New York, NY 10032
Dear Dr. Mehmet Oz,
Hello. I am a 23 year old woman from Long Island. I am writing you because of an issue that has caught my attention. People could be killing themselves slowly and not even know it because of MSG a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, used to intensify taste in processed foods. In 2005 the House of Representatives passed the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act” to protect the food and beverage industry from civil lawsuits: Under the measure, known as the “Cheeseburger Bill” people who buy food or drinks couldn’t sue the companies that made them if they got fat from eating the food. But who’s protecting the people? The FDA and DPA both have also been working with the Corporation with Ajinomoto Company Incorporated to prevent full and clear disclosure of MSG in processed foods. They also hire scientist to turn up research to demonstrate MSG as safe and public relations firms are hired to fabricate stories about the safety of MSG. Since no one in the government wants to take responsibility for the effects of MSG in our food. I would like to know if you could do a show on it to make the public more aware of MSG and its side effects.
Many Americans have been eating foods with MSG and don’t even know it. I didn’t either before I did this research. But there have been so many studies done to show how bad it is for humans and all the aliments it causes, for instance a study was done on mice who were given MSG threw a feeding tube these mice compare to the others became blind and obese. MSG is a neurotoxin substance that causes a wide range of health reactions from a temporary headache to permanent brain damage. There has been a huge increase in Alzheimer’s, brain cancer, seizers, multiple sclerosis and diseases of the nervous system since MSG was added to processed food fifty years ago. Ninety-five percent of processed foods contain MSG and if MSG passes thru the blood brain barrier the nerve cells disintegrate or shrivel up which causes the health problems.
MSG is found in many different kinds of foods like dehydrated soup mixes, sauce mixes, TV dinners, low-fat milk, imitation garlic and onions and condiments with a meaty base. Most vegetarian foods are loaded with MSG because they need the flavoring of food to tasty meaty for example vegetarian hamburgers, hotdogs, and bacon. I was shocked when I went into the kitchen and started looking in the cabinets and refrigerator. MSG is in everything. Campbell’s soup, Doritos, Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Lean Cuisines, low-fat milk, salad dressing especially the low fat ones. The items that didn’t have MSG had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just another name for Monosodium Glumate. It’s shocking to see how many foods we eat contain MSG but we could not have all these processed foods without the fake flavoring and the fast food industry couldn’t exist without MSG and artificial meat flavors to make secret sauces and spices. We are all getting tricked into believed we’re getting something nutritious when we’re getting nothing at all except very toxic substances. MSG is one of the most toxic additives in our food supply and anything you buy that says spices or natural flavoring contains MSG. The FDA get around putting it in the labels if there’s less than fifty percent of it in your food. If they weren’t hiding anything they wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble to hide the truth. The FDA also deemed MSG safe at one time but there after it was not found to be safe and was added to the generally regarded as safe list.
I would be so grateful if you could do a show on MSG just to educate the public on what their eating, how dangerous it is and how this toxic additive could also be causing them to become obese. It’s a huge concern to me because the average American has no idea that there is this toxic additive in their food that could be killing them slowly. And I believe if you do a show on MSG it will open the eyes of many Americans who have no idea that the food processing industry adds toxic chemicals to their processed foods to add flavoring and give the food its edible appeal.
Concerned Citizen,
Maria Montero
Work Sited
Fallon, Sally, MA. “Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry.” Consumer Health. Volume 24 Issue 8. August 2001. Web. 19 May 2011.
“Your Government in Action: the system that promotes the unregulated use of MSG.” TruthinLabeling.org. The politics of MSG. updated 14 May 2011. Web. 25 May 2011.
Erb, John. “MSG Causes Most Obesity but Congress Grants Immunity o Food Producers.” Chris Gupta Share the Wealth. 13 May 2005. Web. 25 May 2011.
Andrew Quijano's First draft open letter
5-24-11
54-29 69th Lane
Maspeth NY 11378
Food Safety and Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington D.C. 20250-3700
Dear Thomas J. Vilsac secretary of the USDA,
I write this letter to address the issue of animal cruelty in factory farms all across the United States. I am currently an aspiring Veterinarian Technician at LaGuardia Community College and an old dog owner. Animals are living breathing creatures just like us and that means they deserve to have some respect because they are living beings. Our current agriculture has lost that integrity, the connection we humans had with nature. Since the days of the Native Americans, they revered how buffalo should be free and knew buffalo was also needed for meat along other purposes. The natives went through a lot of measures to kill only the buffalo needed and not to waste even a hair of the buffalo sacrificed for their needs. As humans, we are chosen to be the rulers of this planet with our intelligence and animals being meant serve us. But because animals are here for mankind is why we should cherish them because we need them as much as cows, pigs, dogs, cats, etc. need us to survive. We are entitled to protect animals so they can still be around for our needs such as meat, pets, services or resources.
At current times animals are raised in terrible conditions as most of them don’t see daylight. Aside from living in the dark, most farm animals are forced to live in their own waste and forced to eat food they are not by evolution supposed to eat. Cows are forced to eat corn among other scraps such as dead animals. Most cows and other farm animals are also in cramped area which is unsanitary because if one gets sick from let’s say E. Coli it is likely it will spread to every creature stuck in the animal factory. (Fast Food Nation 194) On top of all the unsanitary conditions farm animals are forced to take growth hormones to make them bigger so they can have more meat when slaughtered. Some chickens and other farm animals die since their body can’t handle their overgrowing bodies. It’s unnatural to see a chicken grow in a month instead of 3 months without growth hormones. Plus it is possible that some of the cleaning agents and growth hormones on the meat we eat pass on to children which might cause some health problems to the consumers of this factory made meat. With this industrial system food borne illnesses are far more likely because of the pollution in the animal factories and the food and water they drink is unsafe for them much less humans. With so much antibiotics and chemicals on the farm animals their waste can’t be absorbed fast enough by the soil and there is also unnaturally toxic to the air, soil and water ways.
Not only animals suffer from this system but workers who have to slaughter and butcher the animal meat also suffer. Who are we to use not only animals but our fellow human brethren who are also treated like garbage and make their only purpose for working and profit? 4 Meat companies such as Tyson control more than 80% of the meat market and to keep their outrageously high profits, they hire mostly illegal immigrant workers who will accept terrible working conditions and low pay. The slaughter house is now the most dangerous factory job in America (qtd.).
Business is mostly to blame for this system along with fast foods hording billions of dollars to keep their food at lowest prices and stop anyone from challenging their system. It is still possible to have a food economy that not only is profitable but also environmentally friendly and allow farm animals to live healthier thereby, healthier meat. An example of such a convergence of business and nature happens in Poly Face farms in Virginia (This farm was referenced in Food INC. a documentary behind the food industry). This farm has their farm animals live life in a open field. Most importantly this farm is all natural cycle of life, starting with cows eating grass, fertilizing the grass then chickens eating the animal and vegetable wastes are used for compost to repeat the cycle. Not only is it natural but Poly Face farms claims to be just as efficient as industrial farms without any of the nasty side effects of the industrial food chain.
I thank you for reading this letter and I appreciate your concern for not only the animal kingdom but also the people who work on the fields and work to feed our country. I promise you my continued support for a healthier cleaner farm and slaughter houses for all Americans to enjoy.
Sincerely,
Andrew Quijano
54-29 69th Lane
Maspeth NY 11378
Food Safety and Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington D.C. 20250-3700
Dear Thomas J. Vilsac secretary of the USDA,
I write this letter to address the issue of animal cruelty in factory farms all across the United States. I am currently an aspiring Veterinarian Technician at LaGuardia Community College and an old dog owner. Animals are living breathing creatures just like us and that means they deserve to have some respect because they are living beings. Our current agriculture has lost that integrity, the connection we humans had with nature. Since the days of the Native Americans, they revered how buffalo should be free and knew buffalo was also needed for meat along other purposes. The natives went through a lot of measures to kill only the buffalo needed and not to waste even a hair of the buffalo sacrificed for their needs. As humans, we are chosen to be the rulers of this planet with our intelligence and animals being meant serve us. But because animals are here for mankind is why we should cherish them because we need them as much as cows, pigs, dogs, cats, etc. need us to survive. We are entitled to protect animals so they can still be around for our needs such as meat, pets, services or resources.
At current times animals are raised in terrible conditions as most of them don’t see daylight. Aside from living in the dark, most farm animals are forced to live in their own waste and forced to eat food they are not by evolution supposed to eat. Cows are forced to eat corn among other scraps such as dead animals. Most cows and other farm animals are also in cramped area which is unsanitary because if one gets sick from let’s say E. Coli it is likely it will spread to every creature stuck in the animal factory. (Fast Food Nation 194) On top of all the unsanitary conditions farm animals are forced to take growth hormones to make them bigger so they can have more meat when slaughtered. Some chickens and other farm animals die since their body can’t handle their overgrowing bodies. It’s unnatural to see a chicken grow in a month instead of 3 months without growth hormones. Plus it is possible that some of the cleaning agents and growth hormones on the meat we eat pass on to children which might cause some health problems to the consumers of this factory made meat. With this industrial system food borne illnesses are far more likely because of the pollution in the animal factories and the food and water they drink is unsafe for them much less humans. With so much antibiotics and chemicals on the farm animals their waste can’t be absorbed fast enough by the soil and there is also unnaturally toxic to the air, soil and water ways.
Not only animals suffer from this system but workers who have to slaughter and butcher the animal meat also suffer. Who are we to use not only animals but our fellow human brethren who are also treated like garbage and make their only purpose for working and profit? 4 Meat companies such as Tyson control more than 80% of the meat market and to keep their outrageously high profits, they hire mostly illegal immigrant workers who will accept terrible working conditions and low pay. The slaughter house is now the most dangerous factory job in America (qtd.).
Business is mostly to blame for this system along with fast foods hording billions of dollars to keep their food at lowest prices and stop anyone from challenging their system. It is still possible to have a food economy that not only is profitable but also environmentally friendly and allow farm animals to live healthier thereby, healthier meat. An example of such a convergence of business and nature happens in Poly Face farms in Virginia (This farm was referenced in Food INC. a documentary behind the food industry). This farm has their farm animals live life in a open field. Most importantly this farm is all natural cycle of life, starting with cows eating grass, fertilizing the grass then chickens eating the animal and vegetable wastes are used for compost to repeat the cycle. Not only is it natural but Poly Face farms claims to be just as efficient as industrial farms without any of the nasty side effects of the industrial food chain.
I thank you for reading this letter and I appreciate your concern for not only the animal kingdom but also the people who work on the fields and work to feed our country. I promise you my continued support for a healthier cleaner farm and slaughter houses for all Americans to enjoy.
Sincerely,
Andrew Quijano
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)