Introducing the Basic Elimination Concept 51have been researched and advanced to the point where there is no long-
term advantage in using chemicals.
Should I eat organic?
Unfortunately, organic eating remains expensive and ethical products are
not always easy to obtain. The picture is now complicated by persistent
lobbying by unethical food producers, who have succeeded in getting the
laws changed to redefine “organic” as something fake, which suits their
wily purposes. Fortunately, I have got the majority of my patients well
eating normal commercial supplies of foodstuffs. It is unquestionably more
convenient.
To be really safe is a very complex issue and I find that it becomes
somewhat overwhelming for the average individual. Did you know for
example, that ethylene (a toxic chemical gas used in blowtorches) is used
to force the ripening of apples, bananas and tomatoes? The gas of course
contaminates the crop, but would never be listed as an ingredient or a
contaminant. The rules simple don’t require it. Most people know that
wax is sprayed onto the skin of apples and other fruit to make them more
attractive. But did you know many foods are treated with sulfites before
being cooked? Again this is not an “ingredient” as such and so you, the
consumer, are not going to be warned.
Then there is the whole problem surrounding the safety of
genetically-modified foods. Unfortunately, that is beyond the scope of this
book.
But there are other concerns too, like mercury contamination of
fish stocks, which is now, frankly, quite worrying.
These issues spill over into politics and go beyond personal health
imperatives. Be alert to the spin and lies from fake watchdogs like Consumer
Alert, which claims to be a consumer advocacy group but is really an industry
lobby group that campaigns against consumer rights – such as the right to
have GM food labeled. It opposes organic farming, DDT regulation and
the Kyoto treaty. (It is funded by the tobacco industry and other socially-
irresponsible corporations.)
Food additives
The real long-term health concern is deliberate additives to processed and
manufactured foods. When I first started writing about diet issues in the