Re: Re: ItXXXs Organic, but Does That Mean ItXXXs Safer?

[Guest guest]

The other point long made by the legendary genius Bruce Ames (as in the

Ames mutagenicity test) is that organic products, necessarily, have many

more highly potent endotoxins than " normal " produce because,

being stressed by environmental attackers, they secrete usually

not-well-identified toxins to protect their own integrity.

So when we choose an " organic " diet, we are thrusting ourselves

into the unprobed regions of toxicity because most of these natural

endotoxins--a few of which have been shown to be potently poisonous or

highly mutagenic--are mostly uncharted, ununderstood, and not worthy

anyone's time or money to fully characterize.

I'll stick with washed-off pesticides that _have_ been

well-characterized, personally.

Maco

At 12:47 PM 03/05/2009, you wrote:

Hi Tony,

" Organic " in Canada means that fresh manure cannot be put

directly on the fields but must be composted for a certain length of time

- at least 6 months, I believe. We are always taking chances with

contamination when we buy processed food, organic or not.

Pesticides and herbicides kill beneficial, insects, plants, birds and

life in the soil. Never mind what they do to us, they ruin the

soil.

Lowther

--- On Thu, 3/5/09, citpeks <citpeks@...>

wrote:

From: citpeks <citpeks@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: It’s Organic, but Does That Mean

It’s Safer?

Received: Thursday, March 5, 2009, 1:35 PM

The label " organic " was invented to assure customers that a

product had no unnatural substances (pesticides, hormones, additives).

Something that has always concerned me, specially about produce, has been

sanitation. When I see organic lettuce, I think " Was it fertilized

with manure? " Why would anyone worry about bird droppings if a cow

is much bigger?

I suppose people have different triggers for the " yuck "

factor. I normally buy conventional produce and wash it well.

Tony

>

>

> March 4, 2009

> It's Organic, but Does That Mean It's Safer?

>

> By KIM SEVERSON and ANDREW MARTIN

>

> MOST of the chicken, fruit and vegetables in Ellen

Devlin-Sample' s

> kitchen are organic. She thinks those foods taste better than

their

> conventional counterparts. And she hopes they are healthier for

her

> children.

>

> Lately, though, she is not so sure.

>

> The national outbreak of salmonella in products with peanuts has

been

> particularly unsettling for shoppers like her who think organic

food

> is safer.

>

> The plants in Texas and Georgia that were sending out

contaminated

> peanut butter and ground peanut products had something else

besides

> rodent infestation, mold and bird droppings. They also had

federal

> organic certification.

>

> " Why is organic peanut butter better than Jif? " said

Ms. Devlin-

> Sample, a nurse practitioner from Pelham, N.Y. " I have no

idea. If

> we're getting salmonella from peanut butter, all bets are

off. "

>

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