Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet -- a leading medical journal -- has published yet more revealing evidence that could have a tremendous impact on public health. In research published this month, it was revealed that Philip Morris used a German research facility to study the health effects of cigarette smoke decades ago. Even though the research showed that both smoking and secondhand smoke are harmful to human health, Philip Morris reportedly concealed the evidence and took significant steps to make sure it would never become public.
Phillip Morris continues to deny that secondhand smoke is dangerous to human health, but if the Lancet report is to be believed, its own research contradicts that conclusion. What's interesting about all this is not only that a leading company of Big Tobacco has been caught concealing evidence of the health risks associated with its products, but also that Philip Morris is the parent company of Kraft Foods. And Kraft Foods, of course, is the company that manufactures some of the most popular food products -- such as Oreo cookies and Velveeta cheese food -- that, like cigarettes, are manufactured with ingredients now well known to be associated with various health problems in humans.
For example, Oreo cookies are made with hydrogenated oils. These hydrogenated oils contained trans fatty acids that are now well known to contribute to cardiovascular disease. Other Kraft Foods products are made with refined white flour, added sugars, chemical flavor enhancers such as monosodium glutamate, and carcinogenic preservatives such as sodium nitrite, artificial colors, and other ingredients that nutritionists and authors generally agree contribute to diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Just like its parent Philip Morris, Kraft Foods strongly denies any link between its food ingredients and chronic disease. It also seems to be taking the same political strategy of denial by saying that any food can be part of a healthy diet. This makes about as much sense as saying that any cigarette can be part of healthy breathing. In fact every cigarette a person smokes takes them one step further away from health. In a similar way, every processed food product a person consumes that's made with ingredients like white flour, added sugars, hydrogenated oils, or chemical additives takes them one step further away from human health. There is no processed food made with these dangerous ingredients (called "metabolic disruptors") that is compatible with healthy nutritional habits and that can support optimum human health.
What will be interesting to learn is whether, down the road, evidence will surface showing that Kraft Foods became aware of the devastating health consequences of its own food products and then made a concerted effort to conceal the relevant facts from government regulators and the public. Today, I'm not aware of any such evidence, but knowing the history of its parent company, I would not be at all surprised to see such evidence surface in the years ahead.
About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds.
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Saturday, November 13, 2004
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