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Are you eating arsenic by mistake?
4th November 2005
Last night my friend Al pushed his plate of food away, uneaten.
Now this is a rare occurrence for Al. He's a big man around 6ft and about 15 stone and he loves his food.
But after one bite, it seemed he'd had enough.
'Damn,' he said. 'I forgot.'
We all stared down at his plate of chicken. Even the waiter came over and joined in.
'Is everything all right sir?' he asked.
'Yes. I mean no. I mean... it's just that I ordered chicken. Sorry.'
The waiter squinted at Al. Then smiled politely. Then took the food away.
Al sighed and eyed up my lamb jealously.
'What was wrong with it?' his wife Jenny asked.
'It was chicken.'
We all stared at him.
'I'm not taking any chances. Not with this bird flu about.'
Could this be the end of chicken in a basket?
This was the ludicrous scene that faced me last night at our local restaurant.
And I'm sure it's going on up and down the country.
It's like the film Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. I expect the real Al is unconscious in a pod somewhere, while this new, alien, chickenfearing Al walks the earth in his place.
All because of panicked headlines in the red tops and even the socalled sensible press.
Chicken sales in supermarkets have plummeted since bird flu in Europe first hit the headlines.
And some restaurants are even taking chicken off the menu as a 'precaution'.
Which strikes me as ridiculous, when there are deeper health issues to worry about here...
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The real threat's in a bucket
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For years people have been putting themselves at real and immediate risk by eating fast-food chicken and cheap, intensively farmed chicken from supermarkets.
These birds are pumped with fat, sugar and salt, and are low in fibre and vitamins - all of which can lead to greater risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other diseases.
Plus, these birds live in terrible conditions. Yet there's barely a peep about that.
However, the story gets even worse...
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health and the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service in the US conducted tests on 5,000 chickens used in fast food outlets.
And, alarmingly, they found these birds contained high levels of arsenic contamination.
To put it in perspective, the amount of arsenic found in the chicken was 6 - 9 times the level allowed by the food authorities.
At this level, a 'bucket' of fried chicken could have up to almost fifty times the amount of arsenic allowed in a glass of water.
So, how on earth did arsenic get into the chickens?
Well, surprise surprise, it all comes down to profit again. The poultry industry feeds arsenic to their chickens to make them grow faster.
'Arsenic acted as a growth stimulant in chickens -- develops the meat faster -- and since then, the poultry industry has gone wild using this ingredient,' says Donald Herman, a Mississippi agricultural consultant and former Environmental Protection Agency researcher who has studied this use of arsenic for a decade. 'And they've tried everything to refrain it from becoming public knowledge.'
Of course the fast food industry denies it is doing anything wrong.
But I know who I believe.
So, my advice on eating chickens...?
Well, of course, it's down to you. If you're like my good friend Al and have concerns, then stop eating it if that makes you feel better.
But personally I think it's unnecessary. Just make sure you eat healthy, free range, organically reared chickens. It's the additives that big business put into the birds that's the real threat here, not bird flu.
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The weed that could fight cancer
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Remember when you were a kid, and you used to blow the heads of dandelions and watch the little fluffy spears float off into the air?
Back then the dandelion was a simple source of amusement.
Nowadays as grown ups, dandelions are more irritating than anything else, blighting our lawns and causing our backs to groan every time we have to pull them out (all right, causing MY back to groan).
But it seems the dandelion is much more than an irritant - it could be a lifesaver.
You see, scientists at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew believe it could hold the key to warding off cancer.
And you know how they've come to this conclusion...?
By turning back the clock and studying plants that were used as medicines before the advent of the NHS in 1945, when natural medicines made way for man made drugs!
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Another weird tasting tea that does you good
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In their studies, these scientists look at any plant or flower remedy that has been documented as a pre-1945 treatment, then break it down to see exactly which part of the plant contains the remedy.
Professor Monique Simmonds, head of the Sustainable Uses of Plants Group at Kew, said:
'It is often more than one compound that is involved - that is why plant extracts often have better beneficial properties than isolated single compounds.'
But there's a complication.
'Sometimes a plant only contains medicinal properties at certain times of year. For example, sometimes only young seeds contain the active ingredient and older ones might be useless.
We have to look at it very carefully, to make sure we aren't missing anything. We know for example, galium used in the treatment of wounds should be used in the spring, when they contain higher levels of the active compounds than in late summer.'
Professor Simmonds continued: 'We aren't looking for a miracle anti-cancer drug. We are looking at plants which can protect people against developing cancer in the first place.'
And it seems that the humble dandelion is leading the way.
Dandelion tea and dandelion root extracts are widely available from health stores, so on the strength of this research I'm going to give this a go.
Unless a Dandelion Flu Scare hits this shores, of course... |
Yours as ever
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter |
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