Hydrogenated Oils

Hydrogenated oils. We’ve heard they aren’t great for our health but are they really that bad? Well, let’s talk about what hydrogenation entails. We know that many vegetable oils start out as unsaturated. A catalyst, usually nickel, is used to cause hydrogen molecules from a hydrogen gas to bond with the unsaturated bonds in the oil creating and increasing the fat’s saturation. The main benefit of this process is that the oil in question will have a higher melting temperature and will be more stable. The complete hydrogenation of oil used to be used to create candles and soap but now, partially hydrogenated oils are used in a variety of processed foods. 

This process has the added effect of creating trans fat. We’ve learned that it takes quite a bit of harm for the FDA to actually prohibit the use of something in the US but the FDA has actually recognized the harm that trans fat causes to the cardiovascular system and is phasing it out of production. Right now, a lot of products already claim to be “trans fats free.” However, you have to remember that nutritional percentages are still based on the serving size of a product. If there are less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, that product can be considered trans fat free according to the current labeling standards. 

So, the main issue with hydrogenated oils is trans fat. It’s important to note that this is a risk with partially hydrogenated oil and not fully hydrogenated oils. Unfortunately, it is often so difficult to distinguish which type of hydrogenated oil was used, they are both avoided. The risk of consuming trans fat is serious enough that it is worth the precaution. Trans fat not only raises the detrimental cholesterol in your body, it also lowers the beneficial cholesterol. This has the expected result of increasing a person’s risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. 

While some fats are very good for the health of your brain and the normal processing of your body, trans fat is not needed at all in the body and is actively detrimental to the processing of one’s body. Partially hydrogenated oils should therefore be minimized as much as possible. They are commonly found in fast food, from foods like TV dinners and pizzas, some ice cream and pudding, margarine and a lot of desserts. Donuts, cookies, pies, cakes and non-dairy creamers often all have partially hydrogenated oils and thus, trans fat. This is just one more reason to maximize the amount of fresh, unprocessed foods in your diet! The closer you can get to plucking your food from the earth, the better. 

The Fluoride Sweet Spot

If you are a human being with a set of teeth, you may have heard that fluoride is necessary for their upkeep and stability. In the early to mid 1900s, researchers found that the use of fluoride reduces dental caries or cavities by 40% or more. They decided that to help lower the amount of dental decay in the general population, including those without regular access to proper dental care, they would add fluoride to the general water source. This way most people would get it in some amount. While this blanket effect, where possible, was effective in closing the dental decay gap between medium and low income communities, there were and still are some concerns. As you might imagine, applying a blanket treatment to an entire population who may or may not already benefit from fluoride dental care products removes the ability for individual assessments and application. While someone who lacks any other kind of dental care may benefit from the fluoridation of their water supply, those who are already using fluoride products may end up with a double dose. 

Why is this concerning? Well, at the end of the day, fluoride is a neurotoxin. When you ingest fluoride, it is quickly absorbed in the digestive system, mostly through your stomach lining and the small intestine. While about two-thirds of that amount is still excreted in your urine, the rest is taken up into the bones. This is why for a small period of time, fluoride was considered as a possible treatment of osteoporosis. However, while it does make the bones more dense, research seems to suggest that the brittleness of the bones and ease of fractures might be increased by fluoride, not decreased. Besides dental care, there do not seem to be any negative ramifications to getting no or low amounts of fluoride in one’s diet. So, it doesn’t seem to be essential. Really, the main thing that fluoride has going for it is that it does reduce tooth decay. However, even in that area, too much fluoride can cause what is known as fluorosis. Fluorosis is most prevalent in developed countries and here in the US almost half of all adolescents between 12 and 15 suffered from fluorosis. Fluorosis presents as a whitish discoloration on the surface of the teeth and is a sign that someone is getting too much fluoride most likely from too many sources at the same time.

Besides water fluoridation, other common methods of fluoridation have included milk fluoridation and salt fluoridation. These are actually more prevalent that you might think. Milk was introduced as a mechanism to make sure that small children were getting enough fluoride in their diet. Fluoridated salt is very prevalent in places like Germany or Switzerland where more than 50% of domestic salt is fluoridated. So, we’ve really leaned into the idea that we need this in our diet but besides fluorosis, is there a downside? 

Probably. Whenever the scientific community uses terms like “trade-off” and carefully defined parameters on which to make selective recommendations, it’s safe to assume that, yes, there is a set of circumstances in which the subject being discussed could be harmful. For fluoride, it is difficult to pin down general recommendations because, as we mentioned, everyone’s ingestion of fluoride is different. It’s naturally occurring, it’s added to our water, it’s in the air(pollution), it’s in some of our food, particularly if you are a meat eater, and it’s in our dental products. No one is disputing that at the end of the day, fluoride is a toxic chemical. It’s been associated with immune system dysfunction and gastrointestinal issues as well as premature puberty, dementia, and sperm decline. There’s also a chance that it is linked to both cancer and impairing neurological development in kids. Specifically, there may be a link to lower IQ in children. We’ve already talked about how it may be responsible for making bones more brittle and prone to fractures. Being aware of the amount that you as an individual are consuming fluoride may be the only way to protect yourself and your family as assessments of the general population are not going to address individual needs. Resources, like the one included below will allow you to get an idea of how much fluoride you are getting from your water system. Reaching out to your specific company will give you the best estimation. According to the CDC, If that amount is over 0.7mg/L, you might want to take steps to limit the amount of fluoride you are getting from other sources. Check out our resources below for additional reading and information about the fluoride content in your county!

Resources: 

CDC - MWF - My Water's Fluoride Home 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/04/why-fluoride-water/606784/ 

What's Happening with Baby Formula?

As we prepare to enter an era of American life where Roe v. Wade, a cornerstone of women’s reproductive rights here in the U.S., is under fire and may shortly fall, we also experience a historic shortage in baby formula. The irony of this shortage, which is challenging the ability of current American parents to feed their young children, happening alongside all the discussions about the protection of the unborn is not lost on us as a population. Perhaps before we focus so precisely on the protection of those currently unborn and without awareness we should ensure that if they were to enter into this world, we would be able to feed and care for them. Independent of your political views, this seems like the most reasonable and responsible use of government resources similar to managing resources in any other area of life. Make sure that you have the ability to support what you’ve already taken on before you insist on taking on more. Regardless, let’s take a closer look at this current issue.

This issue begins quite a bit before the current bacterial contamination. Due to staffing shortages and challenges with the international supply chain, the U.S. was already rocking about a 10 percent baby formula shortage. This shortage has been an ongoing problem throughout the pandemic and baby formula is just one of many, many things we have all watched disappear from the shelves. However, unlike your brother’s favorite cereal or that gaming console you’ve been waiting for for over a year, baby formula is a much more urgent and essential staple. Of the greatest concern are those specialized formulas for baby’s with specific allergies or nutrition needs. While some parents may be able to switch brands, picking up whatever happens to be on the shelf, others are desperately looking for any information they can find about when their specific, special diet formula will be in stock. Some parents are driving 5 or even 10 hours to pick up formula from the next state over, but other mothers don’t have the resources to pursue that. The pressure is on as the government tries to solve this issue before there are even more serious repercussions for families with young children. There is also a hovering question of responsibility and culpability as urgency rises and quick solutions are lacking. The shortage leapt from 10 percent to 43 percent this month. What happened?

We’ve noticed in previous explorations into food safety that the system by which we discover contaminated food products is often reactive instead of proactive. This bacterial contamination was no different as a number of infants became ill before anyone knew anything and any action was taken. Upon investigation into the cause of a breakout of infant illness, Cronobacter sakazakii was found in a Michigan Abbott facility. This strain of bacteria can cause meningitis and sepsis and ultimately death. In response to the discovery, a recall was issued and the plant was closed. That closure has resulted in the 43% decrease in the amount of formula available. In some states, more than half of the formula supply is gone. The event has raised a number of questions regarding the speed at which bacterial contaminations are identified and the FDA is informed. The first documented case of infant sickness was in Sept of last year. Thus, the question has been raised: was there a way we could have known about the plant’s contamination faster and thus mitigated the issue of both the sickness and the resulting closure more quickly?

Combatting this shortage has gone straight to the top as the White House is taking action to mitigate this problem. Even so, parents will probably be dealing with empty formula shelves for several weeks, if not months, to come.

What's TBHQ?

It’s the most chocolate-coated holiday of the year and in honor of the “season of love” we are going to touch on one of the most common additives you might want to avoid in your rose-tinted plans. TBHQ, or Tertiary Butylhydroquinone, is a synthetic antioxidant used to preserve food. It’s pretty common in shelf stable snacks like microwave popcorn and crackers as well as fast food like French fries or fried chicken. The FDA and USDA have labeled this additive as generally safe but recent studies have pegged this chemical as a carcinogen. Still, the FDA hasn’t adjusted its stance and right now the suggested range for TBHQ is .7mg/kg a day. Even though individual foods are limited by the health department to 0.02 % of the total fat content, we’ve seen serving sizes adjusted before as a means of getting around this type of limitation. Your serving size contains more than the allowed amount? No problem. Just adjust the total fat content and maybe tweak that serving size and voilà! Consumers aren’t going to eat any less of your product but who cares? You’ve met the health department’s requirements.

This is pretty scary as this chemical can cause a wide range of serious health side effects and there is a strong argument for it not being allowed in our food at all! Testing showed an increased risk of convulsions, liver enlargement, tumors and neurological impacts similar to that of a neurotoxin. Not only that but TBHQ is said to negatively impact the proper functioning of your immune system and there is some evidence to suggest that TBHQ reduces the effectiveness of the flu vaccine. Additionally, there is an added risk to women as it has been recorded to mimic estrogen, causing an estrogen dominant state which can impact one’s risk of female reproductive system specific cancers, such as breast cancer. Even at a glance, we can see that it’s worth our time to limit if not eliminate TBHQ from our diet, particularly if you are a woman.

We mentioned chocolate because it is a very common category of food for this additive to hide in. Reece, Ghirardelli and Dove commonly contain this chemical but plant-based meats, frozen pizza, and nearly every flavor of cheez-its do too. Take your time and steer clean of the fast food this weekend as processed snacks seem to harbor this additive more than almost anything else. This Valentine’s Day, do a little research and make sure you aren’t giving your loved one a candy flavored health problem. 

Resources: 

TBHQ: Carcinogen, toxins, processed foods, & side effects - FactDr

This One Ingredient in 1,250 Snack Foods May Harm Your Immune System, New Study Says — Eat This Not That 

Complete Guide to The Ingredients In Chocolate | Dame Cacao 

IJERPH | Free Full-Text | Investigating Molecular Mechanisms of Immunotoxicity and the Utility of ToxCast for Immunotoxicity Screening of Chemicals Added to Food | HTML 

PROCESSED FOODS WITH THE PRESERVATIVE TBHQ

Identification of In Vitro Metabolites of Synthetic Phenolic Antioxidants BHT, BHA, and TBHQ by LC-HRMS/MS 

Food Recall: What Actually Happens?

We’ve touched on the FDA’s role in our food safety system but what actually happens when there is a food threat and a food recall? What do we need to do as the consumer and what basics should we know? 

A food recall is usually caused by one of three things. First, food is recalled when there is a physical contaminate like say Jeff accidentally fell into one of the canned soup machines and though we fished him out, his jacket and left shoes have been cooked down into several thousand cans of spaghettiOs.  Second, food might be recalled due to a pathogen like E. Coli. or Salmonella. The third common reason for recalls is mislabeling. For example, if a product goes out without noting that it contains Yellow 5 or some other allergen that requires listing. This last one can be particularly dangerous if, say, something with trace amounts of peanuts goes out unlabeled and someone with a serious allergy eats it believing it to be safe. 

How is something like this caught? Usually, the manufacturing company is checking inhouse and will be the first to notice that something is off. For example, say Jeff was working alone when he fell in and didn’t tell anyone about his mishap. However, Susan was inspecting the cans of soup from that run later and found teeny, tiny pieces of rubber in several cans. Susan or her superiors would call a halt and they’d be the ones to contact the FDA or FSIS and together they’d work to reclaim as many cans of the contaminated soup as they could. They’d also trace the soup back to its source (probably fire Jeff, sorry Jeff) and tag that whole batch of soup. 

Sometimes, the FDA or FSIS is the first to know about a contaminant through their own investigations. In that case, they would encourage the manufacturing company to do a recall voluntarily and put legal pressure on them to force a recall if they refused. Additionally, we as consumers can report an illness or contamination issue to our local health department or the FDA directly and start the process that way. 

Once food recall is deemed necessary, it is categorized into one of three classes. Class 1 includes the most dangerous types of food hazards that are pretty likely to cause health issues or even death. Class 2 has the potential for harm but it’s probability of that harm occurring is pretty remote. Class 3 is unlikely to cause harm even if the food is consumed. 

Over the last decade we’ve seen the number of food recalls go up dramatically. This increase is due in part to the improvements we’ve made in technology over that time period. In other words, we are better equipped to catch and deal with a food recall so the increase in frequency isn’t all bad. Better to know, right? 

As a consumer, when you find out about a food recall here’s what you do:

• Do not eat the food! Even if you feel like you’ll be fine and the food looks ok, why risk it?

• Don’t open the food! Especially if it is a pathogen contamination. You risk contaminating your kitchen and home with the same pathogen. Remember, this is a microorganism and can and will spread given the opportunity. 

• Don’t feed it to the neighbors (even if you don’t like them) or your dog. Again, pathogens can affect more than humans and your cat or dog may have some serious reactions to the contaminant as well. At the very least, they might develop diarrhea and no one wants to deal with that kind of mess. 

• Don’t freak out but be mindful of how you feel if you’ve already eaten the recalled product. Contact your doctor if you start to feel nauseous or develop any new signs of sickness.  

• Do follow the recommendations listed with the recall as they will vary based on the specific kind of recall you are experiencing. This might include returning the unopened product to the store where you bought it. Often, you will be refunded the cost of the item. 

• Do sanitize your space particularly if the food in question was a meat or animal by-product.