CNN s Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviewed David Jack, an editor from Men s Health about five foods one should supposedly never eat. And the ridiculous claims made by Jack were soaked right up by Gupta. James Cooper sums up the poor science behind each claim made by nutrition expert Jack in an on-point editorial in the Examiner entitled Sanjay Gupta bats 1 in 5 on foods you should never eat. The five foods were strawberries, white chocolate, sprouts, canned tomatoes and swordfish. Only one of those five, sprouts, actually pose a health threat. Raw sprouts have a higher likelihood of being contaminated by salmonella or E-coli, according to the FDA and EFSA, than other pre-packaged leafy veggies. Here s a kicker though - organic sprouts are just as likely to be contaminated as non-organic sprouts.
Some highlights include the fact that you shouldn t eat strawberries because of the levels of pesticides found on the skin. However, those levels come nowhere near the minimum reference dose, and Cooper also points out that for all those touting organic produce, remember, organic crops are still sprayed and organic pesticides are still pesticides.
And here s a good commentary. Jack s problem with canned tomatoes While there must be something bad about cans, but Jack has no idea what it is, He refers to cans containing some sort of resin that can be dangerous. As ACSH has said before, and as many experts agree, BPA, that resin he was referring to, is excreted in humans and not detectable.
ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom ponders some alternatives to killer cans. He wonders, So, exactly what should you package tomatoes in? He admits that his suggestions, which include empty artillery shells, Pez dispensers, and refurbished carburetors may be suboptimal choices, but this is serious stuff. If I eat a can of tomatoes and then grow antlers I m gonna be pretty unhappy.
BPA was also in the news recently, as a study released by NYU supposedly claimed that BPA was linked to obesity due to its effect on insulin secretion. However, even researchers admitted that their study can t prove a causal link.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross pointed out that BPA has been studied to death by a host of scientific groups including ACSH and found not to be a health risk for anyone.
Besides the well-known fact that BPA is rapidly excreted well-known to everyone except Drs. Gupta and Trasande, apparently one must wonder how BPA became an obesigen only during the recent obesity crisis, while it has been widely used for over 50 years?
And apparently, according to Jack, you can t enjoy a food that doesn t have specific health benefits. White chocolate is candy and it shouldn t not be consumed just because there s no cocoa. Cooper s line you don t seriously suggest that you should be getting your nutrients from candy bars do you? really helps to highlight the lack of evidence behind the claims made by Jack.