Four out of every ten people in the United States will eventually develop some type of cancer during his/her lifetime. Many will die from the disease. The prevalence of cancer would suggest that there surely must be common thread...a common cause...a source. But what is it?
Logic would suggest that any such common denominator must be an activity, a substance or a factor, which permeates the environment to such an extent, that the human race is inevitably exposed to it on a routine and continuous basis.
The air we all breathe, the water we drink and food we eat to be sure fall within these parameters. No doubt air and water pollution are environmental problems. Many researchers have identified several water and air contaminants as potential carcinogens. But we believe the major problem lies in our food supply...not in the fresh produce farmers bring from their fields, but in the adulterated, processed foods to which suppliers have added a myriad of chemicals.
By definition additives are substances other than basic ingredients, which are added to foods for a variety of reasons...they are used to retard spoilage, clarify, enhancer flavor, simplify preparations, to bind, lighten texture, bring about uniformity, retain moisture, prevent caking and crystallization, inhibit microbial growth, control acidity, cause gelling, enrich nutritive value, stabilize, emulsify, thicken, sweeten, prevent settling, season, cause rising, improve visual appeal, extend shelf life. On the flip side, additives may sometimes be used to disguise inferior foods with dangerous dyes and chemical so as to produce higher profits.
According to the FDA in order to be classified as an additives, a material must meet 3 requirements:
1. It must perform a useful function in the food.
2. In must be safe for human consumption even if used in excessive amounts.
3. It must not contribute to cancer in lab animals.
Unfortunately there are unintentional additives as well...contaminants such as detergents, solvents, fibers, animal wastes and parts, plastics, hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, all to often find their way into the food supply. We will limit our discussion here, however, to the intentional additives.
Have you ever read the labels on the processed foods you consume? On everything from frozen pizza to breakfast cereal to potato chips, you will find a long list of substances classified as additives, preservatives, dyes, leaveners, etc. These ingredients are identified by names that would perhaps have meaning only to a Ph.D in nutrition or biochemistry...polyoxythylene 20, sorbitan monostearate, sodium propionate, etc. But we should not be intimidated by esoteric terms, nor tempted into complacence by them. The are foreign substances and they are in the food we eat every day.
It is quite disturbing to realize that many of these materials, when fed to laboratory animals at high dose levels, have been shown to cause harmful effects or even lead to the development of cancerous tumors. Even so, the FDA has deemed them safe for human consumption. The rationale: in the average diet, human ingestion of these compounds never approaches the high levels consumed by animals during testing. That's what they say.
But it that really so? While it is true that for any single item, the doses of offending substances is usually very small, scientists, dieticians and nutritionists may be neglecting both the "multiplier" and the cumulative effect? The so-called multiplier effect results from ingesting a wide range foods all of which contain the same additives. For instance butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene are synthetic compounds used as preservatives in a wide variety of foods. Their purpose: to keep or to delay the fats, oils and fat-containing foods from becoming rancid. They, therefore, are likely to be found in foods such as breakfast cereals, potato chips, baked goods of all descriptions, and in vegetable oils themselves. It is quite probable that an unsuspecting individual might in the course of but one day, eat up to a dozen foods that might contain these two harmful ingredients. The cumulative effect comes about from the body's tendency to store many of these egregious compounds almost indefinitely. Thus the levels of harmful substances steadily rise as the person continues to unknowingly eat foods containing "safe" levels of the worrisome chemicals.
Their are dozens, perhaps even hundreds of chemicals used as food additives and preservatives which could logically fall into this kind of scenario...propyl gallate, iron salts, MSG, aspartame, just to name a few.
It is important for each individual to realize that ingesting an average diet of processed foods, straight off the grocery store shelves, can and does often deliver mega-doses of chemicals known to cause problems in laboratory animals tests. It is important to understand as well that these chemicals for the most part are not eliminated from the human body, but instead accumulate...their levels rising to dangerous proportions with each passing day.
We urge each person to evaluate his/her individual intake of these
dangerous food additives. By simply reading the labels, you can determine
if you might be a potential victim of the multiplier and cumulative effects
of food additives and preservatives. Become an informed consumer by reading
how each of these so-called innocuous ingredients can cause harm when ingested
in large doses from multiple sources over time.
The common thread responsible for millions of cancer cases each
year may be just right under our nose. We just have to know where
to look.
Here is a list of questionable food additives that for the most part only nutritionists and biochemists would be familiar with.
Acacia Gum (Gum Arabic) Agaroid, Alginic acid, Aluminum ammonium sulfate,
Aluminum chloride, Aluminum hydroxide, Aluminum oleate, Aluminum sodium
silicate, Aluminum sulfate, Ammonium alginate,
Ammonium bicarbonate, Ammonium carbonate, Ammonium carrageenan
Ammonium caseinate, Ammonium chloride, Ammonium citrate, Ammonium hydroxide,
Ammonium isovalerate, Ammonium phosphate, Ammonium sulfate, Ammonium sulfide,
Aspartame, Aspergillus oryzae, Autolyzed yeast extract, Azodicarbonamide,
Benzaldehyde, Benzoic acid, Benzyl alcohol/butyl acetate, BHA (Butylated
hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene), Blue # 1, Blue #2,
Bovine Somatotropin (BST), Brominated vegetable oil, Bromate, usually potassium
bromate, Caffeine, Calciferol, Calcium acetate, Calcium acid phosphate,
Calcium benzoate, Calcium carbonate, Calcium carrageenan, Calcium caseinate,
Calcium gluconate, Calcium hydroxide, Calcium iodate, Calcium lactate,
Calcium peroxide, Calcium pantothenate, Calcium phosphate, Calcium propionate,
Calcium stearoyl lactate, Caramel, Carob Bean, Carrageenan, Caseinate,
Cellulose derivatives, Citrus red #2, Cyclamate,
Daminozide, Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, Dextrans, EDTA (Ethylene
diamine tetraacetate), Ethyl methyl phenylglycidate, Ferric ammonium citrate,
Ferric orthophosphate, Ferric phosphate, Ferric Pyrophosphate, Ferric sodium
pyrophosphate, Ferrous fumarate, Ferrous gluconate, Ferrous lactate, Ferric
orthophosphate, Ferrous phosphate, Ferrous sulfate, Glutamic acid, gluten,
Glycerol, Green, No 3 dye, Guar gum, Gum kadaya/Gum Tragacanth, Heptyl
paraben, Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, Magnesium sulfate, Mannitol, Modified
Starch, Mono and diglycerides, Succinyl monoglyceride, Mono sodium glutamate
(MSG), Nutmeg, Olestra, Oxystearin, Phenylalanine, Phenylmethyl Cyclosiloxane,
Potassium bromate, Potassium chloride,
Potassium hydroxide, Potassium nitrate, potassium phosphate, Potassium
sulfate, Propyl gallate, Quinine, Quinine hydrochloride/Quinine sulfate,
Red dye # 3, Red # 40, Saccharin, Smoke Flavorings, Sodium bisulfite,Sodium
carbonate, Sodium carboxymethylcellulose, Sodium chloride, Sodium Nitrite.
Sorbitol, Starch (corn), Sulfur dioxide, bisulfite and sulfites.
Tannins, Tarragon, TBHQ (Tertiary butylhydroquinone), Vitamin B2
Vitamin C, Whey protein concentrate, Xylitol, Yellow # 5,Yellow # 6,
Zinc
The Nellie Carroll Memorial Foundation is currently in process of compiling information for a book listing dangerous and questionable food additives. The FDA has declared many of these substances safe when ingested in relatively low levels. The problem is, though, that these substances are found in a wide variety of foods, so many individuals may be consuming multi-doses of these substances without realizing it. The result: many consumers may be exceeding the dose levels considered unsafe even by the FDA. Our book cross-matches the products with their additives so that the consumer may to determine exactly how much of a particular chemical he/she is ingesting in the course of a week a month or year.
For a donation of $20 or more we will send you a copy of this publication. The book, along with the questionnaire, is an integral part of our overall research efforts. We emphasize that your completion of the questionnaire is critical to our being able to reach our goals...finding a common cause for cancer. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Go here for information
on the Nellie Carroll Memorial Reserach Foundation
Go here for
information on progrees in cancer research