FOOD TOXINS

 

We need to be able to rely on our food to be nutritive and life-supporting.  Unfortunately it is sometimes neither.  Because of lax government regulations, or failure to enforce regulations, many foods are not really food at all, not good for your health, or contain chemicals of varying degrees of toxicity.  Pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, hormones and other chemicals can be in many of the foods we put in our mouths or our childrens’.  Educate yourself about these and be a mindful shopper!  Sign our petition to make food safer!  Thanks to grass roots efforts such as ours, Chlorpyrifos, a dangerous pesticide has recently been put out of production.  Your voice matters!

 

NOTICE: SHOP LOCAL!!!  MOST LOCAL FOODS TEND TO BE LOWER IN PESTICIDES AND OTHER CONTAMINANTS THAN FOODS PRODUCED BY BIG AGRICULTURE.  THEY ARE ALSO FRESHER AND MORE NUTRITIVE.

 

FOODS TO BE WARY OF:

 

These foods tend to be high in toxins, and are best avoided or minimized, depending on the brand, according to Crinnion and Pizzorno  Clinical Environmental Medicine (2019).  Also, Food Forensics:  The Hidden Toxins in Your Food, by Mike Adams, and Rich Food, Poor Food, by Mira and Jayson Calton

 

POP’s (Persistent Organic Pollutants) exposure: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), Organochlorine pesticides (OCP’s) and Brominated flame retardants: Found in some meat, poultry, dairy, baked goods, non-organic fruit and vegetables.

 

POP’s are industrial toxins which don’t readily degrade, and include aldrin, chlordane, dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), dieldrin¹, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins(dioxins), polychlorinated dibenzofurans(furans)

 

High pesticide fruits and vegetables (from EWG): (may contain chlordane, DDE, DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptacholor, HCB and/or Toxaphene, nonpersistent pollutants)

non-organic strawberries, nectaries, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, imported grapes, celery, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, spinach, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, radish, summer squash

 

Carrots, Potatoes Spinach, Legumes (non-organic), grains: may contain DDT

Rice: may contain arsenic, especially brands grown in Mississippi River Delta

Cheese:  may contain DDE, Dieldrin, Heptachlor and HCB

Dairy in general: Dioxin

Milk: DDT

Eggs: DDT

 

Farmed salmon: may contain DDE, DDT, Dieldrin, Heptachlor and HCB, POP’s

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Fish in general: may contain DDT (Farmed cod, shrimp and tilapia are less contaminated with POP’s), arsenic, mercury (tilefish, swordfish, king mackerel, tuna, orange roughy, marlin, Spanish mackerel, grouper, Chilean sea bass, croaker, scorpion fish, halibut, snapper, lobster, canned tuna)

 

Sardines: farmed salmon, hamburger, Pork sausage, hot dogs, butter: may contain PCB’s, or Brominated flame retardants

Peanuts: may contain DDE, Dieldrin, Heptachlor and Toxaphene, Cadmium

Meat: may contain Dioxin

Poultry: may contain arsenic, POP’s

Canned food and Beverages: BPA (bisphenol A): canned soup, pasta, fruits and vegetables

Non-organic soybeans, wheat: may contain Roundup or glyphosate, cadmium

Sunflower seeds, spinach, beef liver, potato chips, peanuts/peanut butter, french fries, baked potato, shredded wheat, pasta, shrimp: may contain cadmium

DPOP: (diphenyl 2 ethylhexyl phosphate) found in plastic wrapped foods.

 

Styrene and styrofoam containers, and packaging materials.

 

Chemical Residues: Found in some flour tortillas, yellow cake, chocolate cake with icing, cornbread, muffins, coffeecake, onion rings, margarine, white sauce, fish sticks:

 

Plasticizers and phthalates: food wrap, fast food, food prepared with PVC gloves

 

Avoid or minimize: non-organic fruits and vegetables identified by EWG: strawberries, nectaries, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, imported grapes, celery, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, spinach, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, radish, summer squash also non-organic, potatoes, legumes, grains, peanuts and peanut butter, sunflower seeds, potato chips, french fries.  Large fish, including, tuna, swordfish, grouper, Chilean Sea Bass, Spanish Mackerel. Also, Sardines

 

Beware of most canned foods (not labelled BPA free, and some that are, which have BPS),

Baked goods found in supermarkets

 

PSEUDO-FOODS

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These foods or food additives usually have research-demonstrated toxicities or have not been adequately tested for safety:

 

GMO foods (corn, canola, soy,

Preservatives (BHA< BHT, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Benzoate)

Carageenan

Brominated vegetable oil

Hydrogenated vegetable oil

Caramel color

High fructose corn syrup

Citric acid

Guar gum

Potassium Bromate

Ammonium sulfate

Sulfites

Mono and diglycerides

MSG

Sodium Nitrite

“Natural” flavors

Artificial colors

Artificial Sweeteners: Citrus red#2, Blue #1, Blue #2, Rd #40, Yellow #5, Yeloow #6

Artifical Sweeteners: Aspartame, sucralose, neotame, saccharin, acesulfamate

 

 

 

SHOP LOCAL!!!  MOST LOCAL FOODS TEND TO BE LOWER IN PESTICIDES AND OTHER CONTAMINANTS THAN FOODS PRODUCED BY BIG AGRICULTURE

 

SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD TOXICITIES:

 

1.     Shop and eat wisely

2.     Emphasize organic whenever possible

3.     Sign petitions or call your representatives to ban toxins from foods.

4.     Join EWG and support their work eliminating food toxins.