Tyree Langston
English 120
12 Decemeber 2016
Industrialized food complex
How often do you look at the ingredients that are in your food? If you do, how often do you find yourself skimming over words that are too difficult to pronounce? They say you are what you eat but do you know what you are eating? The food industry is a complex machine that stretches from Capitol Hill to your grocery store Laws have been passed to protect the food industry from transparency on the origin and ingredients of our food. Due in large part to the fast food industry, the way our food is processed has changed dramatically, our food has become more about uniform presentation rather than integrity(Food). As more technology is being applied to our food, Americans have grown more ignorant and naïve to what we are ingesting, blindly putting our trust in federal agencies and the good will of big businesses. While food manufacturers fight to keep misleading consumers, according to OpenSecrets.Org, comapanies like Tyson Food and Pepsi Co, are spending millions of dollars on lobbyist to keep the people in the dark (Open). If our food is as healthy as portrayed, what are they hiding. Over decades consumers have been fooled into a matrix of altered, unnourishing and at times dangerous food though decisions made through suspect connections, the widespread use of GMO’s, and the misrepresentation of additives.
The Federal Government plays an essential role in how the food industry is allowed to operate, key court cases and connections in Washington D.C. have given the food industry unfair influence over consumers. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Monsanto lawyer, presided over the Supreme Court case of Bowman V. Monsanto. In which a precedent was set, making it illegal to replant saved seeds from modified crops, which is copyright infringement. Over time more key figures have crossed between the food industry and the Federal Government. Michael Taylor a former lawyer, advised Monsanto in their fight to prevent labeling which food ingredients had been genetically modified. Later, Taylor was employed by the FDA in the newly created position of Deputy Commissioner. During his tenure, the FDA approved the sale of milk from cows treated with the growth hormone Posilac, better known as rBST, a Monsanto product which increases milk output (GMO; FDA). Taylor passed through the USDA, and then was hired Monsanto as Adiministrator of Public Policy, fighting against honest labeling practices. Now, Taylor is presently the Deputy Administrator, another created position with his former employer the FDA. As their deputy, he continued favoring misleading labeling practices(GMO). Linda Fisher is another interesting case, after getting her start with the EPA, she also was hired by Monsanto as V.P. of Government affairs(Food). Fisher went back to the EPA for a short period, then going on to Dupont where she is now vice president, DuPont is also a major entity in the hybrid seed and genetically modified crop market (Linkedin; Time). Then you have people like Margret Miller, a former Monsanto lab supervisor, who has been the FDA’s Associate Director for Regulatory Activities chief sinve 1989. Miller was the lab supervisor during the development of the rGBH growth hormone and coincidentally the FDA’s Associate Director of Regulatory Activities a few years later, at the time Monsanto decided to release rGBH (Food). It is unlikely this is all be coincidence because the list goes on and on.
In 1980, the Supreme court case of Diamond v. Charabarty, making it legal to patent man-made organisms, has been the foundation of the industrial food revolution. General Electric first modified bacteria in order to ddevour crude oil spills (Diamond v. Charabarty). Crops have since been genetically modified for a variety of other reasons. Jeremy Seifert, food advocate, filmaker and star of GMO OMG, a documentrary about a concerned father who goes on a quest to avoid GMOs. Seifert describes our current use of GMOs as, “Pesticide producers and Herbicide Resisters . . . a gene from a naturally occurring bacteria is inserted into the DNA of corn. The modified corn releases a toxin that kills insects. Herbicide Resisters are immune to weed killer, like round up ready. The herbicide is inserted into the plant DNA to make it resistant to round up.” The scientific name for Round up is Glyphosphate. Other Genetically modified crops are engineered to be resistant to virus and browning (Time.com). GMO’s have been on the market for decades, with little privately funded research on health risks. Amissed point is the morality of feeding humans food with altered genes. In the Journal of Organic Systems research paper tittled “Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate and the deterioration of health in the United States of America”, it states that “animals, plants, bacteria, fungi, viruses all belong to different kingdoms, under certain circumstances some species within the same kingdom can interbreed but two organisms from different kingdoms cannot”. What could be the implications of mixing DNA from the bacteria kingdom with plant DNA from the plant kingdom, then feeding the resulting product to humans? Before addressing this question, the short term benefits of planting genetically modified seeds have caused the industry to dominate. As consumers become more aware of the possible dangers of the average diet, they may feel overwhelmed, even helpless, it has become seemly impossible to avoid genetically modified foods. For example, in 1996 genetically modified soybeans made up 2% of soybeans produced, but today GMO soybeans, with their twenty different varieties make up 90% of soybeans produced in the U.S. As of 2015, 90% of corn from thirty three different varieties, 88% of cotton from sixteen different varieties, 90% of canola from six different varieties and 90% of sugar beets from a single variety are all made from genetically modified seeds (GMO). With the global demand for food ever increasing, some may argue that GMOs could be beneficial in feeding the world, but the long-term data that has been studied is alarming. In the Journal of Organic Systems study, a direct correlation is shown between the increased use of Gylphosphate and genitically modified seeds. There is an increase of diseases such as diabetes, death by obesity, stroke and hypertension. On a scale of 0 to 1, with 1 being a 100% direct correlation. The least of these correlations between the use ofGMOs and Glyphosphate and increase ininstances of any disease being 92. The number for diabetes, obesity and stroke doubled from 1996-2010. An article on Time.com graphs the USDA Economic Research Service report that shows the growing list of genetically altered crops, from corn, apples and potatoes to sugar beets and papaya. Most people do not consume an ear of corn, a bean of soy or a beat of sugar frequently, but the precedents set on Capitol Hill assist food manufacturers in hiding how frequently we consume these modified products.
Food companies benefit from misleading labeling and consumer ignorance, to put questionable additives in our food. The FDA uses loose definitions of words like natural and artificle, and food companies manipulate ingridient list, to disguise what you are truly ingesting. Your vanilla cookies may not contain a single component of vanilla; even though, Natural Vanilla flavoring is an ingredient. Actually, in the case with imitation vanilla flavor, the natural vanilla flavor is not from vanilla but is made from Castoreum, an extract from anal scent glands of beavers, and also used for strawberry flavoring(Organics). Foods made with Castoreum include cookies, ice cream, and candies, and is considered all natural. In Organics.com article 11 Disgusting “Natural” Ingridients in Your Food” hasTartrazine better known as Yellow 5 as number one on their list. They state that Yellow 5 is produced from coal tar, then used as a dye in Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, M&Ms, Skittles, yogurt and even butter, in order to make food look “more appealing”. MSG or Monosodium Glutamate is a flavor enhancer, which was first extracted by a Japanese professor in the early twentienth century(FDA). Author and dietary coach Jon Gabrial claims, MSG or Free Glutamates “excites your brain, and makes bland food taste better”(Food). This might not be alarming, since MSG occurs naturally in certain foods, like tomatoes and cheese, but synthethic MSG is concentrated (FDA). In the concentrated form it is said to promote weight gain. As a fact, in studies to research the effects of obesity, it is standard protocol to feed rats MSG to accelerate weight gain. (Hungry) People have reported toxic allergic reactions to MSG, yet “MSG and free glutamates are used to enhance flavor in about 80% of all processed food” says Raymond Francis D.Sc. (Hungry) It’s expected for seasonings to contain a flavor enhancer, but after looking in my own cabinets, some of my favorite foods contains ingredients known to produce Free Glutamates in the bloodsystem. I found at least one MSG type ingredient in my Doritos, liquid creamer, powdered coffee creamer, BBQ sauce, trail mix and my frozen alfredo dinners. All seeming to been deliberately manipulated to make me crave them more, which might explain my coffee addiction.
As you walk down the aisle of your local grocery store and you see fat free or all natural, remember that fat free can be loaded with sugar, and that all natural can be a flavor concocted from another organism, and manipulated to look or taste like something it is not. Next time you roll your eyes as you take a bite of that rich and creamy Hershey Cream Pie, is it really more delectable or is it another form of MSG exciting your brain into believing bland food is delightful? We have to eat in order to live but in a world of capitalism, consumers are prey. Ignorance is bliss, not for consumers, but bliss for the billion dollar food industry and those who they bribe with millions of dollars and prestigious positions. we must educate ourselves so we can make the best decisions when wielding the one weapon that counts deepest, our wallets.
Works Cited
"Bovine Somatotropin (BST)." Animal and Veterinary/ Bovine Somatotropin (BST). U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 19 Oct. 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016. <http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ProductSafetyInformation/ucm055435.htm>.
Bowman Vs Monsanto. Https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-796_c07d.pdf. 13 May 2013. Print.
"CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21." Database. The FDA, 21 Sept. 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016. <http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=501.22>.
Diamond v. Charabarty. Https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Diamond_v_Chakrabarty.pdf. The Supreme Court. 06 June 1980. Print.
Fisher, Linda. Linkedin.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
Food, Inc. Prod. Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstine. Magnolia Pictures, 2008.
Hungry for Change. By Andrew Veitch. Prod. Dick Bower, Ben Summers, Richard Wilson, and Anya Sitaram. Dir. Ben Summers. SW Pictures Ltd, 2010.
Johnson, David, and Siobhan O'Connor. "All the GMOs Approved In the U.S." These Charts Show Every Genetically Modified Food People Already Eat in the U.S. Time, 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2016. <http://time.com/3840073/gmo-food-charts/>.
@organics. "11 Disgusting "Natural" Ingredients in Your Food - Organics.org." Organics.org. N.p., 02 Oct. 2015. Web. 04 Dec. 2016. <http://organics.org/11-disgusting-natural-ingredients-in-your-food/>.
"Questions and Answers on Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)." Food Additives and Ingridients. N.p., 22 July 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2016. <http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm328728.htm>.
Swanson, Nancy L., Andre Leu, Jon Abrahamson, and Bradley Wallet. "Genetically Engineered Crops, Glyphosate and the Deterioration of Health in the United States of America." Journal of Organic Systems. N.p., 02 Sept. 2014. Web. <http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/92/JOS_Volume-9_Number-2_Nov_2014-Swanson-et-al.
