44 THE CHINA STUDY- Aminotriazole (herbicide used on cranberry crops, causing the
"cranberry scare'" of 1959) - DDT (widely known after Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring)
- Nitrites (a meat preservative and color and flavor enhancer used in
hot dogs and bacon) - Red Dye Number 2
- Artificial sweeteners (including cyclamates and saccharin)
- Dioxin (a contaminant of industrial processes and of Agent Or-
ange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam War) - Aflatoxin (a fungal toxin found on moldy peanuts and corn)
I know these unsavory chemicals quite well. I was a member of the
National Academy of Sciences Expert Panel on Saccharin and Food
Safety Policy (1978-79), which was charged with evaluating the poten-
tial danger of saccharin at a time when the public was up in arms after
the FDA proposed banning the artificial sweetener. I was one of the first
scientists to isolate dioxin; I have firsthand knowledge of the MIT lab
that did the key work on nitrites, and I spent many years researching
and publishing on aflatoxin, one of the most carcinogenic chemicals
ever discovered-at least for rats.
But while these chemicals are Significantly different in their proper-
ties, they all have a similar story with regard to cancer. In each and ev-
ery case, research has demonstrated that these chemicals may increase
cancer rates in experimental animals. The case of nitrites serves as an
excellent example.
THE HOT DOG MISSILE
If you hazard to call yourself "middle-aged" or older, when I say, "Ni-
trites, hot dogs and cancer," you might rock back in your chair, nod
your head, and say, "Oh yeah, I remember something about that." For
the younger folks-well, listen up, because history has a funny way of
repeating itself.
The time: the early 1970s. The scene: the Vietnam War was begin-
ning to wind down, Richard Nixon was about to be forever linked to
Watergate, the energy crisis was about to create lines at gas stations and
nitrite was becoming a headline word.
Sodium Nitrite: A meat preservative used since the 1920s.^6 It kills
bacteria and adds a happy pink color and desirable taste to hot
dogs, bacon and canned meat.