Nanny, Nano, Boo, Boo Food?

I've been finding a lot of interesting developments with regard to food lately. So thought I'd share them with you...

Nano-food, nano-tech?

Something new is being added to our table and life called Nano-foods or nano-tech products. What in heavens name is Nano-food?

The internet is buzzing with a lot of stories. Reuters (2008, July 30) Nano-foods: The next consumer scare? In essence Nano-foods are produced by using nano-technology, which involves design and manipulation of the molecular level. Companies utilizing nanotechnology claim it can enhance flavor or nutritional effectiveness.

The Observer Welcome to the world of nano foods. Claims the food industry is developing a colorless, tasteless programmable nano-drink that you zap in a microwave which has been encoded with your eating preferences.

Sounds like sci-fi... Star Trek's Captain Picard ordering 'Tea, Earl Grey, hot' and it materializes in the replicater. That's an interesting concept. But I wonder about eating what appears to be synthetic food. What about the food's vitality?

Are there food products that currently contain nano-technology?

Out of the Labratory and onto our plate. (2008, March) A detailed report on Nano-tech products in agriculture and food funded by Friends of Earth. List of food products currently containing nano-products include: Canola Active Oil (Shemen), Nanotea (Shenzen Become Industry & Trading Co.), Fortified Fruit Juice (High Vive.com), Nanoceuticals Slim Shake (assorted flavors, RBC Lifesciences), NanoSlim beverage(NanoSlim), Oat Nutritional Drink (assorted flavors, Toddler Health), and 'Daily Vitamin Boost' fortified fruit juice (Jamba Juice Hawaii).

Do we know if there are risks consuming nano-foods or the potential toxic effects to the body? 

Science Daily ETH Zurich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (2008, July 22). Nano-modified Food: How Much Are Consumers Willing To Accept The Associated Risks?. Reports, "Nanoparticles, however, are considered as highly reactive and it is not yet clear whether under certain conditions they can get the better of protective mechanisms and have a toxic impact on the body." Consumer Reports (2007, July) Nanotechnology Untold promise, unknown risk. Reports, "A growing number of scientists say the unique properties of nanomaterials might pose substantial risks, which are largely unexplored, to both human health and the environment."

Besides food there are a lot of products containing Nano-tech over 600 and growing. NanoForum offers an interesting report called Nanotechnology in Consumer Products (2006, October 25) which contains a list of products. As well Madison's Nano Cafe is a great resource for news and articles about nanotechnology.

I like to make informed decisions about everything in my life. So I'm all for labels disclosing complete information.

Cloned animals for food?

Wired (2007, December 19) Senate Votes to Keep Cloned Meat Out of Your Burger, for Now. The Senate passed a Farm Bill measure intended to bar the FDA from approving meat and milk from cloned animals until further study was conducted. Center for Food Safety (2008, January 17) Press Release. EUROPEAN UNION GROUP ISSUES OPINION CALLING CLONING FOR FOODS ETHICALLY UNJUSTIFIED. Center for Food Safety Praises Opinion; Calls for Swift Passage of Farm Bill Mandating Examination of Economic Risks to US Agriculture.

Public Opinion Center for Food Safety Reports, "Recent opinion polls show the majority of Americans do not want milk or meat from cloned animals in their food. A national survey conducted this year by Consumers Union found that 89 percent of Americans want to see cloned foods labeled, while 69 percent said that they have concerns about cloned meat and dairy products in the food supply. A recent Gallup Poll reported that more than 60 percent of Americans believe that it is immoral to clone animals, while the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that a similar percentage say that, despite FDA approval, they won't buy milk from cloned animals."

CNN (2008, January 18) FDA OKs meat and milk from most cloned animals. When introduced there will be no labeling required. The FDA asserts that there is no material difference between cloned and conventionally grown animals.

What's up with the swift approval by the FDA? If cloned animal products ever hit the grocery shelves I'd sure like to know so I can make informed purchasing decisions.

rBGH and GMOs?

Called old news. The newest hot topic is nano-tech, but they haven't gone away. FDA tells us both are ok. Their endorsement means companies aren't required to put this info on packaging. Since around 1996 about 70% of our processed foods have contained GMOs. I'd like to know by reading the packaging instead of having to do an extensive online search. My body has an adverse reaction to both of these technologies so I cannot eat them.

Public Opinion A CBS/New York Times poll done recently found that 53 percent of Americans wouldn't buy genetically modified foods. 

If you're interested here's a list of products which contain GMOs. The photo above is an ad from Do You Know What You Eat?Greenpeace's advertising campaign against Genetically Modified Organisms. What a superbly done and wonderfully creative campaign. Kudos to BBDO Russia.

Organic vs. conventional food study underway some findings released. Green MSN (2007, November) and BBC News (2007, October) reported - a Newcastle University study shows organic foods have far more nutritional value. They found levels of antioxidants in milk from organic cattle were between 50% and 80% higher than normal milk. Organic wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce had between 20% and 40% more nutrients.

Is this just the beginning of lots of comparable studies? To my taste buds naturally grown food (buzz word organic) has a fuller, richer flavor... like homegrown tomatoes vs. store bought. Studies proving what my mouth distinguished at first bite. Exciting! Tastes better and fresh organic food is better for you too! Yahoo!!!

Now if we could only get those crazy prices down...

P.S. I've been eating locally grown and organic produce all summer and I started walking. Really strange. I haven't desired to walk in years. But now most mornings I walk to the Post Office and evenings around the neighborhood; about 2 miles total. I have more vitality and feel better too. Don't know for sure if it's related, but it's sure interesting.

Here are a couple of links you may enjoy:

Food Routes - A resource on locally grown foods. Why to buy and where to buy.

Organic Made Easy - A guide to understanding and buying organic produce on a budget.

The Practical Guide to Healthier Living - Lots of videos and articles about natural healthy living. Why to buy at Farmer's Markets, recipes and more.

Ichy Scratchy Sneezies

I've never been the sickly type. But for the last couple of years I've had Itchy Scratchy Sneezies. Once in a while I'm covered in bumps. My skin itches, eyes are itchy, red and watery, nose runny and I'm sneezing. I'm just generally miserable.

My artist friend came by for a visit, saw the state I was in and said, "Allergies." I reply, "Me! Can't be. Must be stress. Hives! Need antihistamine." My friend said, "I've got allergies and take Zyrtec and/or Benadryle. Just happen to have some you can try." "What are they?" I asked. "Powerful antihistamines" he replied. Tried one, then the other. Dried me out. Didn't touch the Itchy Scratchy Sneezies. And I felt weird too. The next door neighbor dropped by, he recommended Quercetin, a natural supplement. I thought "Natural smatural! If super Zyrtec or Benadryle had no effect... that sure won't work." He handed me a bottle and said, "A friend of mine had itchy eyes, it helped him. Give it a try."

Quercetin helped. Drastically. Told him so and thanked him profusely. Now a bottle lives on the kitchen counter. Temporary relief!

My gardener friend called said she's upset about something called terminator seeds, GMO's and cross pollination. What ever that is? Said she's concerned that crops downwind will damage her seeds forever. Yea Right! Like something downwind can do anything to your seed. Bunch of hooey. Grunted acknowledgement at her. She then started talking about GMO's, and never being able to trust seed producers again. I sighed. Get out the violins, let's have a pity party! Like seed producers would do that. Right! Bunch o' crap, that's what it is! Said she knew GM corn and soy beans were in the products we consume and she'd never knowingly buy them. Why not, geez!

Enter a new organic, veggie, earth friendly room mate sometime soon after that conversation. One morning I made breakfast for us. Opened a can of grapefruit sections. Scrambled some eggs and buttered some rye toast. When it's served up my roommate looks at the grapefruit, pushes it across the table and says, "You want mine?" I ask her, "Why? You don't like grapefruit?" She replies, "I do but that contains corn syrup. I don't eat that." I say, "Oh?" Here comes some cockamamie story. She says, "Corn syrup is made mostly from genetically modified corn (GMO). It's bad for us and the environment." How could food be bad for us or the environment?

I've heard that somewhere. Oh yea my gardener friend. So I Google it... GM or GMOs. First webpage said 75% of genetically modified (GM) crops worldwide are engineered to tolerate glyphosate, with Monsanto's Roundup brand holding the biggest market share. Went to monsanto.com read 8.25 million farmers – 90 percent of whom farm in developing countries – choose to plant biotech crops. Farmers have decreased pesticide applications by 172,000 metric tons. GM crops benefit the environment and conserve natural habitat for wildlife. Kept reading. It is glyphosate’s ability to translocate to the growing root and shoot tissues - where it shuts down growth - that makes it useful for killing not only annual weeds, but perennial weeds as well. Ability to translocate means it is a systemic so it goes everywhere throughout the plant. Ok. Continued reading. The Roundup Ready® seeds contain in-plant tolerance to Roundup® agricultural herbicides, allowing growers to spray Roundup agricultural herbicides to kill the weeds without harming the crop. Roundup Ready varieties provide unsurpassed weed control, proven crop safety and maximum yield potential. Many Roundup Ready products are stacked with other traits such as Bollgard and YieldGard to add insect protection. Good right? It means spraying less pesticides and herbicides. Which is good for the environment. Continued reading. Consumer benefits are advantages such as increased protein, healthier oils or carbohydrate enhancements. Product Stewardship Safety: The legal, ethical and moral obligations to ensure our products and technologies are safe and environmentally responsible. That's great. Healthier food that's better for us. Products that are safe. A company that is environmentally responsible. Sounds almost too good to be true.

Searched deeper. Another website. The study – carried out over the past three years at the University of Kansas in the US grain belt – has found that GM soya produces about 10 per cent less food than its conventional equivalent. If that's true it would lessen the available crop yields not increase them. Hunger would worsen. Hum! I continue to read. Last week the biggest study of its kind ever conducted – the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development – concluded that GM was not the answer to world hunger. Humm.

Another page says a team of scientists led by Gilles-Eric Séralini have produced a peer-reviewed scientific paper stating that their statistical analysis shows significant levels of liver and kidney damage in some rats fed with MON863.... MON863 is a GM crop. Another page says In the recent case of the GM forage maize, Chardon LL, the herbicide used was glufosinate, a neurotoxin and a teratogen (ie it damages embryos). What is particularly worrying is that there seems to be a 10 per cent reconversion rate of the degraded herbicide back to the original toxic form in the gut. Hum that means it gets more toxic after it enters the body. Not good.

Continued deeper In fact, while Roundup and similar products were originally used against weeds, 'they have become a food product, since they are used on GMOs, which can absorb them without dying,' maintains the biochemist Gilles-Eric Séralini. A member of the French Commission on Biomolecular Genetics (CBG). A herbicidal food product? Kept reading From the Centre for Agriculture and Environment. "Residues of the commonly-used herbicide glyphosate have been found in a variety of fruits and vegetables. Residues can be detected long after glyphosate treatments have been made. Lettuce, carrots and barley planted a year after glyphosate treatment contained residue at harvest" Yuck! That's a disgusting thought.

Searched further. "The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods" With input from more than 30 scientists over two years, presents 65 health risks of GM foods and why current safety assessments are not competent to protect us from most of them. Whoa. Why are they still grown? Read another page. The potential of genetically engineered foods to cause allergic reactions in humans is a big reason for opposition to such crops. Lights start flashing, things begin clicking... OMG. I'm having major allergic reactions which I've never had before could it be the GMOs I didn't even know I was eating? And another website exclaimed. GMO’s are present in approximately 70% of processed foods and have been consumed widely in the U.S. since 1996 (GEO-PIE, 2002). The list of products containing GM foods were staggering.

Frustrated, I start singing, "I can't get no... satisfaction. And I've got a... food reaction."

My roommate asks me why I'm sitting at my desk singing about no satisfaction. Told her what I discovered in my online search. Said, "I'm helpless. It's hopeless. The foods I eat are full of GMOs from ketchup and cookies to soup and even spaghetti sauce. There's nothing left to eat. What will I dooooo. May be allergic to GMs. I'm gonna die in itchy-scratchy agony. I just know it. Oh whoa is me!"

She said, "Stop silly. You can go all organic. You're halfway there already." I say "Organic is so expensive I can't afford to eat it. Bwahah!" She hands me a kleenex saying, "Here dry your eyes, stop crying. It's not hopeless, just a change in lifestyle. You can buy locally grown produce. And organic products don't cost THAT much more. Besides if eating organic food stops your itchies it'd be cheaper than a visit to the doctor or hospital." Dried my eyes, sniffed. Better than a poke in the eye. Ah huh! Replied, "Logical Ms. Spock." She counters, "Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a planet-full of illogical humans." We smile at each other and break into laughter.

EPIPHANY 1 - Quercetin = less itchy-scratchy sneezies
EPIPHANY 2 - Organic products = no itchy-scratchy sneezies

I'm happy, my body is happy, the planet is happier too. Makes sense. Back to basics the way it used to be. Still get itchy-scratchy sneezies once in a while 'cause I can't stop myself from an occasional sinful meal out.

Strummin' an air guitar singing...

Oh yeah, just call me Mrs. Organic
Just as healthy as I can be
But sometimes I'm a junk food junkie
Good lord have pity on me