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Toxic Food/Products

CDRM

Student
C
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
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Toxins in the food we eat and the goods we use. Are they good, bad, or a bit of both? I'm trying to find out where the scientific community stands on this issue but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for with google. Where can I find some credible sources on this? :confused:

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
 
What do you mean by toxins?
Are you talking about real toxins or "toxins" that many New-Age woo believers claim is in food?
 
I'm talking about chemicals in our food an products like pesticides, flame-reatrdent and stuff they put in GMOS.

I'm just confused about the whole thing. Maybe I am just a victim of this woo you speak of. Are there really any chemicals common in everyday goods that have been proven to cause health problems?

Sorry if I'm not making much sense:o
 
CDRM said:
I'm talking about chemicals in our food an products like pesticides, flame-reatrdent and stuff they put in GMOS.

I'm just confused about the whole thing. Maybe I am just a victim of this woo you speak of. Are there really any chemicals common in everyday goods that have been proven to cause health problems?

Sorry if I'm not making much sense:o
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The problem with your question is that you're not being specific enough. What food product do you think "they" put flame retardant in? What "stuff" do you think "they" put in "GMOS"?

What do you mean by chemical?

Maybe it might help you to narrow down your question a little and focus on a specific additive to a product that you're concerned about. Or maybe you could link to a website that is claiming there are harmful "chemicals" in food, so people here can address the claims on that site?
 
CDRM said:
I'm talking about chemicals in our food an products like pesticides, flame-reatrdent and stuff they put in GMOS.

I'm just confused about the whole thing. Maybe I am just a victim of this woo you speak of. Are there really any chemicals common in everyday goods that have been proven to cause health problems?

Sorry if I'm not making much sense:o
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You can always buy organic food where the farmers use natural pesticides like pyrethrum, a proven carcinogen but not to worry: its natural and organic.
 
SkeptiChick said:
The problem with your question is that you're not being specific enough. What food product do you think "they" put flame retardant in? What "stuff" do you think "they" put in "GMOS"?

What do you mean by chemical?

Maybe it might help you to narrow down your question a little and focus on a specific additive to a product that you're concerned about. Or maybe you could link to a website that is claiming there are harmful "chemicals" in food, so people here can address the claims on that site?
Click to expand...
I've gotta agree here. Please present some sort of specifics. Your questions is just way too broad to be answered.
 
All I can say is that 'they' keep putting stuff into our food, our water, and our tacky consumer goods, and 'WE' keep extending our average live span. Case closed.
 
The dose makes the poison.

Everything is toxic in high enough dose; everything is benign in low enough dose.
 
I like to cite selenium. Most compounds of selenium are actually more toxic than most compounds of mercury. But, at the same time, it's a staple in multivitamins.

In terms of toxicity, carcinogenicity, etc., it's really kind of a complex subject. People also tend to have blindspots in weird places. For example, gasoline contains several known carcinogens and many people are exposed to it on a weekly basis. How often do you see people worrying about it? People are more frightened by a few milligrams of mercury than by any quantity of gasoline.

You will find a lot of woo proponents who don't understand chemistry at all. If you run into something specific you have a question about, the members of this forum can answer it. The field is huge, and millions of compounds are in use, even excluding those which permeate plant and animal life.
 
Then there are food products that must be processed or used in such a way to avoid the toxins they contain. Foods like cashew nuts, tapioca, blue corn (though I believe the process with lime is to release the proteins), and some others.

Then there are the foods that parts are toxic and should be avoided like rhubarb leaves and the pits of many stone fruit.

Let us not forget that some people have been poisoned by consuming items they thought were safe but were not, like mushrooms and certain fish like fugu. Plus there have been cases of poisoning through herbal teas made of comfrey and foxglove.

Then don't forget the toxins of spoilage like ergot and botulism.

Of course the irony is that ergot, botulism toxin and foxglove have been used in the development of some pharmaceuticals.

If you want to here a scientist's take on things, listen to this Pumphandle lecture and look at these slides: http://www.johnsnowsociety.org/lectures/lecture2008.html

Joh Snow was the doctor who figured out which wells in London were spreading cholera. The lectures on the John Snow Society Pumphandle lectures focus on public health.
 
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Botulin toxin is particularily popular these days. It's strange to see some people with completely paralyzed foreheads, their eyebrows immobile.
 
CDRM said:
I'm talking about chemicals in our food an products like pesticides, flame-reatrdent and stuff they put in GMOS.

I'm just confused about the whole thing. Maybe I am just a victim of this woo you speak of. Are there really any chemicals common in everyday goods that have been proven to cause health problems?

Sorry if I'm not making much sense:o
Click to expand...
You are defiantly a victim of woo. Guess what is naturally found in your body? Formaldehyde.
 
Water is a chemical. It is also "toxic" and will kill you if you ingest too much without eliminating it.
 
casebro said:
All I can say is that 'they' keep putting stuff into our food, our water, and our tacky consumer goods, and 'WE' keep extending our average live span. Case closed.
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That's a poor argument. Healthcare is continually getting better and better. We are allowed to abuse ourselves more freely knowing that highly trained practitioners can patch us up. And ordinary things that used to kill us can now be treated.
 
If you would name the specific chemical, we can skim the tox literature and see whats what.
 
Whatever is present in our produce, it seems that consuming fresh fruits and vegetables is still good for you. GMOS meaning genetically modified organisms? So far none have been shown to be harmful. There are numerous toxins present in all food such as carrots contain carototoxin, myristicin, isoflavones and nitrate. Broccoli contains allyl isothiocyanate, glucosinolates, goitrin, and nitrate. These chemicals might be dangerous at higher levels but at the levels present in them they are safe.
 
The xenobiotic load in your food is controlled by regulatory bodies. Exposure endpoints are set by testing on animal models and then safety factors are used to make sure humans don't get within a country mile of the lowest dose that would affect a rat, mouse, or whatever. No worries, mate.
 
Hydrogen Cyanide said:
Then there are food products that must be processed or used in such a way to avoid the toxins they contain. Foods like cashew nuts, tapioca, blue corn (though I believe the process with lime is to release the proteins), and some others.
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Treating corn with lye or lime is for many reasons. It makes it easire to strip the shell off as well. It also makes it much easier to digest and makes the niacin avialable to people.
 
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