By Dean L. Jones, CPM

The USA is working hard to prevent Edward Snowden from gaining asylum in another country because he is wanted for allegedly violating the espionage act when gathering and leaking classified government documents.  Think about comparing this process of finding a place of safety for a person to permitting safe food ingredients, particularly how the USA federal government gives asylum to over a hundred scientifically proven poisonous ingredients that no other country prohibits to enter their respective food source.

For one, the USA is the only nation that permits brominated vegetable oil (BVO) to enter packaged food sources, commonly found in sports drinks and citrus-flavored sodas to act as an emulsifier.  This BVO ingredient battles with iodine for receptor sites in the human body, where elevated levels of the stuff can lead to thyroid issues, such as hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, and cancer. BVO’s main ingredient, bromine, is a poisonous chemical that is considered both corrosive and toxic, having direct links to cause major organ system damage, birth defects, growth problems, schizophrenia, and hearing loss.

Developed countries prohibit coloring agents blue 1, blue 2, yellow 5, and yellow 6, where the USA allows them in cakes, candies, macaroni and cheese mixes, medicines, sport drinks, sodas, and pet foods.  These dyes help packaged food from looking beige or bland to eat.  Before the mid-1950’s food coloring came from natural sources, such as saffron and turmeric, but now most artificial colors are made from coal tar, a substance more commonly used as a product sealant or coating, as for example to protect and preserve the shine of industrial floors, or to kill off small bugs as an active ingredient for head lice shampoos.

The caramel color that Coke and Pepsi adds to their sugar loaded sodas give it that brown hue that contains a chemical called 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), which a few years ago the State of California classified it as a carcinogen.  Subsequently, it was banned and the citizenry passed Proposition 65, a law requiring a cancer warning label on every soda sold in the State of California using 4-MEI.

The Center for Environmental Health completed a product test analysis and found that 10 of 10 Pepsi can samples sold nationwide during the month of June 2013 (in locations outside California) contained levels of 4-MEI that were about four to eight times higher than the safety thresholds set by California.  The Coke cans showed that 9 of the 10 of the samples purchased in locations outside California contained little or no trace of 4-MEI.

The 20^th Century reflects how ethically forward acting nations outlawed the use of arsenic in poultry feed.  Unlike, how the USA food delivery system still uses this deadly substance to expedite bird growth, accelerate hunger to eat more, and to make them look pinker, producing the illusion of freshness.

www.SugarAlert.com
Dean Jones, Ethics Advocate, Southland Partnership Corporation (a public benefit organization), contributes his view on health attributes of packaged foods & beverages.