Page 14 - Spring2008

Caustic Commentary

director of Autoimmunity Research, Inc. Waterhouse does DISTILLER GRAIN FOR CATTLE
not say whether supplementation is with vitamin D or D , or Back in the 1800s, most milk in urban areas came from the
3
2
whether it is given concurrently with vitamin A, needed to so-called swill dairies, inner city confi nement dairies where

prevent vitamin D-induced deficiency of this fat-soluble, im- the cows lived in unimaginable filth and consumed the spent

mune-enhancing nutrient. Another recent report blames brain swill from nearby breweries. The death rate among inner city
lesions on vitamin D—again without specifying what kind of children consuming this milk approached 50 percent, not only
vitamin D the subjects were taking and whether the vitamin because the milk was dirty but also because it lacked nutri-
D intake was balanced with vitamin A (http://bacteriality. ents, so thin, in fact, that powdered chalk was often added to
com/2007/10/24/brain_lesions/print/). With statins under make the milk white. Fortunately, the distillery dairies are
fi re and consumers looking for more natural alternatives to a thing of the past. . . or are they? A common practice today
prevent heart disease, we predict more confusing news reports is to feed cattle—both dairy cattle and beef cattle—what’s
on vitamin D in the future. called “distiller’s grains,” a byproduct of the ethanol distilling
process. Even more ominous is the fact cattle fed distiller’s
FORMULA RECALL grain have an increased prevalence of the virulent E. coli
You won’t read about these things in the newspapers, but there O157:H7 in their hindgut (http://www.biologynews.net/ar-
have been many recalls of infant formula, such as the 2002 chives/2007/12/04/kstate_researchers_fi ndings_on_e_coli.
FDA recall of 1.5 million cans of powdered infant formula. html). The pathogen ends up on the meat, in the milk and in
The formula, manufactured by Wyeth and sold under many the runoff water from the farms. Such milk should of course
different brand names, was found contaminated with En- be pasteurized and the meat well cooked—or just avoided en-
terobacter sakazakii, which in rare cases can cause bacterial tirely by buying from pasture-feeding farmers. But the runoff
infection in the blood, meningitis, or necrotizing enterocolitis, water ends up on fruits and vegetables and even, perhaps, in
a severe intestinal infection (http://www.fda.gov/bbs/top- the water used in pasteurizing plants.
ics/NEWS/2002/NEW00849.html). No illnesses associated
with this recall were reported but they have occurred in the ASPARTAME AND THE BRAIN
past. The dirty secret of the formula industry is that powdered A review paper from South Africa paints a frightening picture
formula is never sterile. Liquid formula is less likely to contain of what the artifi cial sweetener aspartame can do to the brain.
pathogenic organisms because it is effectively sterilized in The breakdown products of aspartame are phenylalanine,
the jar, but the downside is that it contains carrageenan as an aspartate, diketopiperazine and methanol. Methanol further

emulsifier, which can cause severe digestive problems. breaks down into formate, which is cytotoxic and can cause
symptoms ranging from fibromyalgia to depression to blind-

VERY SPECIFIC FOOD PYRAMID RECOMMENDS TWO TO THREE SHRIMP SCAMPI SERVINGS PER YEAR
Satire from The Onion, January 16, 2008

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled an updated, extremely detailed food pyramid Monday,
which may redefine the way Americans plan their yearly intake of such food groups as shrimp scampi, garlic bread, and
steak tartare with a side of mini grilled corn on the cob.
“Two servings of shrimp scampi per year is absolutely essential, and it is preferable that one be a microwaveable meal
from the Contessa frozen-foods line, and the other be eaten at a fancy restaurant, like the Lobster Tail off Route 22, on
a nice summer evening with the woman you love,” acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner said. “All healthy adults
should also incorporate four bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal, 223 to 228 salted pretzel rods, one plate of Hamburger Helper
cheeseburger macaroni, six to eight Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies, and no more than two Fla-Vor-Ice-brand ice pops into
their yearly diet.” The nutrition guide highly recommends taking two bites from an undercooked hot dog on July 12 every
year and then throwing the rest away.
14 Wise Traditions SPRING 2008