Clipping Board » Illness Enters through Mouth ─ The information that has been made public is often just the tip of the iceberg...
2011-05-27 China Times [Li Kuanrong]
Recently, the scandal of plastic powder being mixed into food has erupted, reminding us that the melamine-tainted milk incident was not long ago. In truth, not just in Taiwan, but worldwide, ethical practices in the food industry are rare—almost extinct. Having taught biochemistry for nearly thirty years, I consider myself an expert in this field. I can assure you that what the public currently sees and hears is merely the tip of the iceberg—perhaps just "one-tenth" of it.
Generally, identifying a single chemical component involves processes like separation, extraction, and purification, which are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Unless you already know what the substance is, you rely on standard analytical techniques such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Mass Spectrometry (Mass), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and Elemental Analysis (EA). These instruments are expensive and require complex maintenance. Moreover, skilled experts are needed to operate them, analyze the data, and interpret results—it’s never that simple. We should really examine how much manpower, resources, and funding past governments have invested in safeguarding public health, as this should serve as a reference for evaluating their performance and voting decisions. Most politicians pay little attention to these low-profile, non-headline-grabbing regulatory agencies, neither caring about nor nurturing them.
For example, many advertisements highlight that foods and health products contain vitamin C. But do you know that vitamin C exists in both reduced and oxidized forms? Are you aware that vitamin C is highly unstable in aqueous solutions and oxidizes quickly? Oxidized vitamin C not only loses its antioxidant properties but also becomes water-insoluble, posing potential risks to the liver and kidneys. Another example is the expensive Q-10, which also has reduced and oxidized forms. Do you know if anyone in the world sells reduced Q-10? Don’t blindly follow trends, spending a fortune on something that could harm your body (or even be toxic?). Any commercial health or immunity-boosting products must provide solid evidence. Personally, I think accidentally eating a cockroach or gecko might also increase white blood cell counts.
Next, have you ever wondered why Western pastries smell so fragrant and feel so soft, while steamed buns made from the same flour lack such aroma? Why do these enticing smells exist? Why do foods that shouldn’t be chewy become so? Why do foods that shouldn’t be so white turn unnaturally white? These are all questions worth pondering.
Furthermore, do you know the percentage of aflatoxin contamination in Taiwan’s grains? I doubt the Food and Drug Administration would willingly disclose the answer.
Also, skincare products and fresh milk contain X types of substances they shouldn’t—relevant authorities should make this public. What is X? Just flip through any page of inspection records, and you’ll know.
My conclusion: Everyone should just go home and eat what Mom cooks. I know too many unspeakable secrets, and exposing them would cut off someone’s profits—endangering my life. But now, public sentiment is on our side. For the sake of national health, FDA, hurry up and buy more HPLC, Mass spectrometers, and related equipment!
(The author is a professor at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Tsing Hua University.)
Source: http:/ / news. chinatimes. com/ f……0108810/ 112011052700411. html
Better Eat Mom's Cooking!
Recently, the scandal of plastic powder being mixed into food has erupted, reminding us that the melamine-tainted milk incident was not long ago. In truth, not just in Taiwan, but worldwide, ethical practices in the food industry are rare—almost extinct. Having taught biochemistry for nearly thirty years, I consider myself an expert in this field. I can assure you that what the public currently sees and hears is merely the tip of the iceberg—perhaps just "one-tenth" of it.
Generally, identifying a single chemical component involves processes like separation, extraction, and purification, which are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Unless you already know what the substance is, you rely on standard analytical techniques such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Mass Spectrometry (Mass), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and Elemental Analysis (EA). These instruments are expensive and require complex maintenance. Moreover, skilled experts are needed to operate them, analyze the data, and interpret results—it’s never that simple. We should really examine how much manpower, resources, and funding past governments have invested in safeguarding public health, as this should serve as a reference for evaluating their performance and voting decisions. Most politicians pay little attention to these low-profile, non-headline-grabbing regulatory agencies, neither caring about nor nurturing them.
For example, many advertisements highlight that foods and health products contain vitamin C. But do you know that vitamin C exists in both reduced and oxidized forms? Are you aware that vitamin C is highly unstable in aqueous solutions and oxidizes quickly? Oxidized vitamin C not only loses its antioxidant properties but also becomes water-insoluble, posing potential risks to the liver and kidneys. Another example is the expensive Q-10, which also has reduced and oxidized forms. Do you know if anyone in the world sells reduced Q-10? Don’t blindly follow trends, spending a fortune on something that could harm your body (or even be toxic?). Any commercial health or immunity-boosting products must provide solid evidence. Personally, I think accidentally eating a cockroach or gecko might also increase white blood cell counts.
Next, have you ever wondered why Western pastries smell so fragrant and feel so soft, while steamed buns made from the same flour lack such aroma? Why do these enticing smells exist? Why do foods that shouldn’t be chewy become so? Why do foods that shouldn’t be so white turn unnaturally white? These are all questions worth pondering.
Furthermore, do you know the percentage of aflatoxin contamination in Taiwan’s grains? I doubt the Food and Drug Administration would willingly disclose the answer.
Also, skincare products and fresh milk contain X types of substances they shouldn’t—relevant authorities should make this public. What is X? Just flip through any page of inspection records, and you’ll know.
My conclusion: Everyone should just go home and eat what Mom cooks. I know too many unspeakable secrets, and exposing them would cut off someone’s profits—endangering my life. But now, public sentiment is on our side. For the sake of national health, FDA, hurry up and buy more HPLC, Mass spectrometers, and related equipment!
(The author is a professor at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Tsing Hua University.)
Source: http:/ / news. chinatimes. com/ f……0108810/ 112011052700411. html