organic foods and health

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USDA Against Organic Foods

The USDA recently implemented their widely publicized organic standards, after massive public comment, and extensive revision and acceptance of some of the suggestions made by the public and the organic food industry. The original plans were shameful in their allowance of sewage sludge fertilizer, irradiated foods, and genetically engineered products. If a producer wants to adhere to stricter standards than the USDA’s, they will have no way of informing their customers because of restrictions in the new law.

With all of the hoopla that the USDA generated, and all the pats on the back they gave themselves, they are not really supporters of organic agriculture. Among other things, they do not allow any suggestions that organic foods are in any way better than conventional foods. On top of this, on October 24th, the head of food security of the USDA said that consumers should be wary of organically grown foods!

While all naturally occurring foods may have some associated risks, these risks are far less than those from the highly processed foods about which the USDA never sends warnings. Take hot dogs as an example, made from the scraps of the meat processing industry, including ears, tails, and other parts that cannot normally be sold as meat. The higher levels of pesticides and other farm chemicals in non-organic foods, especially in meat products, is a chronic and insidious danger, as they cannot usually be tasted or smelled. Choose organic, plant-based foods as the bulk of your diet.

While eating meat itself has known dangers even if it is not contaminated (and it often is), highly processed meats are even worse. They are high in salt, fat, artificial ingredients, and nitrites as a color preservative. These are known carcinogens, and the situation is even worse when the foods are cooked, and worse still when they are grilled, as they often are. In renouncing organic foods while they take credit for standardizing them, the USDA sounds like an agency that could have been conceived by Orwell in his book, 1984 (which now seems so long ago, but the USDA is trying to catch up).

My advice is to ignore the USDA, while still being careful to handle all your foods carefully and in a hygienic manner, washing vegetables before eating them, and making sure they are fresh. If you choose animal products, cook them properly and handle them in a way that does not contaminate your vegetable products. Make sure your cutting boards are clean, and use different ones for plant-based and animal products. Even without special handling, you are at low risk from organic foods.

The USDA is a protectionist organization, protecting the industrial food producers from the increasing demand for cleaner, safer, healthier food, including organic foods. This is the fastest growing segment of the food industry, and it is not reassuring that the USDA now regulates it.

Dr. Janson www.drjanson.com

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