contain an illegal fungicide last week, the issue of the safety of the U.S. food supply is now being questioned.
The illegal fungicide in the contaminated orange juice has been linked to liver cancer. The Food and Drug Administration Press Officer Siobhan Delancey said the FDA was not aware of the illegal substances being used in the orange juice, which was imported from Brazil.
FDA Officer Doug Karas said that regulating imports requires a lot of resources to ensure that the food is meeting the same health standards as domestic food.
“As imports continue to grow, we’ll have to have more resources to continue to meet that standard,” Karas said.
Today, nearly all produce is artificially ripened and grown with pesticides, which build up in our fat. Dairy products, meat and most snacks are treated with preservatives to keep them on the shelf longer. Some of these preservatives have been linked to cancer, allergies and other adverse health effects by independent research firms.
AP Biology teacher Scott Hinsley said while they are used a lot, preservatives and pesticides serve a good purpose in keeping food fresh. Many studies that say they are dangerous, he said, have not been substantiated.
“I know you hear that additives and dyes are bad, but I think there has been pretty extensive testing,” Hinsley said. “Overall it’s not something I worry about.”
The FDA is the government agency in charge of monitoring food safety. Of about 24 million shipments of food each year into the U.S., the FDA only inspects 2 percent of those imports, according to MSNBC.
“I guess I’m an idealist, but I think that the FDA does a good job with what they’re supposed to do, but I guess that’s just what I tell myself before I eat my food,” Hinsley said.
The FDA requires that any food a business wants to market needs to provide their own research proving it is safe for consumers. Delancey said research must be conducted by an independent research firm.
“We have huge responsibilities in a very limited budget so it’s not practical for us to generate all the research to bring all products to market,” Delancey said.
If the FDA does not think the company’s research is sufficient, they can request more.
Though the pesticide found in orange juice is illegal, there have been other research studies linking food additives and chemicals to bad or questionable health effects. During the 1970s, researchers became wary of the potential dangers of artificial preservatives. It was then that sodium nitrite, a chemical still used to add flavor and coloring to meat particularly fried bacon, was linked to cancer. Several food dyes have been linked to tumors in rats. The sugar substitute aspartame has been linked in the 1970s, and again in 2007 to breast cancer and leukemia.
“A single study may not really prompt an immediate change in the law, the regulation or food additive,” Karas said. “You can publish a study, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s right…Safety is an ongoing process.”
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The knowledge that everyday fruits and vegetables and meat are chemically altered with dyes, preservatives and hormones has pushed some consumers towards organic. Junior Kevin Blessing’s dad, Kevin Blessing Sr., has been the Director of Food Service at Central Market for eight years. Central Market is a chain of grocery stores in Texas that provide an array of organic, locally-grown food.
“I think that local, organic and natural is the way that all people should go,” Blessing said. “You don’t need preservatives to make something fresh. You should make it fresh and eat it.”
Organic is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as food that is not grown with synthetic pesticides, free from chemical additives and is not genetically modified. Chemistry teacher Jan Hutley said that while eating organic is beneficial to one’s health, the labeling is sometimes misleading.
“The use of the words organic and natural on products aren’t necessarily as regulated as we think they are,” Hutley said. “I think before we have products that we can really have a lot of confidence in, we’re going to have to get the government to step in and say ‘We want to have a really tight restriction on the use.’”
Though he tries to avoid canned foods, Hinsley said he doesn’t make a big effort to eat organic because he isn’t convinced of its superiority.
“I’m not convinced that just because something says it’s organic, it makes it that much different than something that is non-organic,” Hinsley said. “I raise tomatoes, and my in-laws raise cows so we eat beef from them. It tastes a lot better, but a lot of people don’t have that resource available to them.”
Typically, eating all organic would cost an average of $65 more than its regular equivalent for a week’s worth of groceries. FDA Officer Doug Karas said that for this reason, preservatives are needed.
“Without preservatives themselves, what would that do to the food supply?” Karas said. “You would like to never have to have them, but given the size of our society and certain things about the way we live our life… not everybody has the opportunity to go to the farmer’s market and shop every two or three days.”
But Blessing disagrees. He said organic food from the farmer’s market lasts longer and remains fresher in the fridge.
“Most produce when you buy it from like Kroger or Target or Wal-Mart, those products are full of chemicals and pesticides,” Blessing said. “Quite frankly, normally after about three days in your refrigerator, they spoil. A great product from a Central Market or a farmer’s market will last a week and a half in your fridge, and it’s because they’re all fresh.”
There is no evidence to say that simply eating all organic will make one any healthier. Hinsley said that if one person were to eat all organic and another were to not, one would not necessarily be healthier than the other. However, Blessing said he believed overall, eating locally grown or organic foods is the best option for a person’s body.
“It is better for you because of the nutrients in the natural raising of that product,” Blessing said. “They don’t speed the process through pesticides.”
Senior Alexis Millum made the switch to some organic food four months ago to get in shape, though she said it is hard to eat organic all the time. Regardless, she said organic food makes her feel healthier.
“It makes me feel better,” Millum said. “You can just tell that when you eat it. You can taste the difference. It gives you more energy.”
Though Blessing said he doesn’t believe there will be a substantial shift in consumers to organic food despite the negative researches that are continually being released. But through these, consumers have been made aware of potential risks of not eating organic.
“I don’t know if the benefits outweigh the costs,” Hinsley said. “But there are lots of chemicals that I’m sure I’m not aware of that I don’t really want to be consuming at all.”
