Page 13 - Spring2018

Caustic Commentary

Sally Fallon Morell takes on the Diet Dictocrats

WAR ON OBESITY their factories. One of the big dirty secrets in the food pro-
Like so many Latin American countries, the nation of Chile cessing industry is the fact that powdered milk (or powdered
is battling an obesity epidemic, which officials rightly blame anything) is never sterile.
on the onslaught of unhealthy processed foods, for sale at
kiosks and vending machines everywhere. New regulations MORE BAD NEWS ABOUT SOY
require explicit labeling and limit the marketing of sugary Researchers in Brazil fed soy milk to two groups of grow-
foods to children. The law prohibits the sale of junk food like ing rats. One group got soy milk plus glyphosate (the main
ice cream, chocolate and potato chips in Chilean schools and ingredient in Roundup) and the other group got soy milk
curtails advertising to young children. Sodas high in sugar without the added pesticide. Both groups exhibited endo-
are taxed at 18 percent, one of the highest such fees in the crine disruption in the form of decreased testosterone levels,
world. However, the linchpin of the initiative is a new labeling decrease in Sertoli cell numbers (Sertoli cells are involved
system that requires packaged food companies to prominently in the production of sperm) and an increase in the numbers
display black warning logos in the shape of a stop sign on of degenerated Sertoli and Leydig cells. Those animals that
items high in sugar, salt, also got glyphosate had
calories. . . or saturated additional abnormalities
fat (New York Times, Feb- (Food and Chemical Toxi-
ruary 7, 2018)! So the cology 2017;100:247-252).
baneful dietary guide- Yet a recent study pub-
lines, which by proscrib- lished in the Journal of
ing saturated fat make Food Science and Tech-
people crave processed nology touts soy milk as
food, are now enshrined the “best alternative to
in new labeling laws. If milk” (Jan 2018:55(1)10-
governments were really 20). Researchers looked
serious about protecting at the “nutritional profile”
the health of their citizens, of soy milk, rice milk,
they would promote and fund old-fashioned food carts, rather almond milk and coconut milk and concluded that soy milk
than eliminate them through onerous health laws, and would was best, largely because of a higher protein content. “Soy
embark on a campaign to teach their populations the value of milk has been a substitute for cow’s milk for four decades,”
traditional foods, including traditional saturated fats. said the researchers, “and had the most balanced nutritional
profile of the four milks included in the study.” As for the
RISKY FORMULA isoflavones in soy that keep boys from becoming men, “these
Public health officials often express shock that we would phytonutrients have anti-carcinogenic properties which can
recommend homemade formula based on raw milk; but help prevent or delay cancer.” The “study” was funded by
what they don’t tell parents is that powdered baby formula the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
can be very risky. Recently more than twelve million boxes Canada and widely reported in the press—a sign that the
of powdered baby milk formula were recalled in eighty- soybean industry is on the move again to counter years of
three countries in a salmonella scandal involving the French negative publicity about the tragic health effects of soy.
company Lactalis. Lawsuits filed by parents who say their
children became unwell after drinking the formula are ongo- TOO MUCH PROTEIN
ing—at least thirty-five cases so far in France and others in Use of protein-rich supplements and shakes is common
Spain and Greece. The company has stated that they believe among bodybuilders, a practice that we have consistently
the contamination was caused by renovation work at one of warned against. Too much protein can deplete vitamin A,

SPRING 2018 Wise Traditions 11