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Food processing peril

Pamela Allardice
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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Food processing peril
Why do people who don’t smoke get lung cancer?

According to research from Seoul National University, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, it’s because they eat a diet high in inorganic phosphates, chemicals which are used in many processed foods, including meats, cheese, and baked goods.

“Our results clearly demonstrated that a diet higher in inorganic phosphates caused an increase in tumour size and stimulated tumour growth,” said lead researcher Dr Cho.

Your Say: Do you eat a lot of processed foods? Are you worried about an increase in the risk of lung cancer? Tell us below...


User comments
This article should also make people start to question the so called "conventional wisdom" that we are fed through the fearful antismoking campaign. Less than 1-7th of the Australian population smokes and, of that number, only 1-200th are said to die from "smoking related illnesses". Firm numbers of smoking deaths are unavailable. ie, they are all estimates.(That is why they vary from 15,000 to 21,000 per annum.Which is right ? who knows ) It is claimed that '9 out of 10 lung cancers are caused by smoking' - yet both Quit Australia and the AMA will not give out data on how many nonsmokers die from the various cancers that kill some smokers. (3.27million smokers seem to survive every year.) Quit Australia and the AMA also do not print what the average age of deceased smokers is, nor do they print what the average age of deceased nonsmokers is in comparison. ps - I stopped smoking months ago.
Are food companies now going to be demonised and persecuted as much as tobacco companies ? I hope so. Either that, or we just let people take responsibility for their own actions, make their own choices, and let companies go down the gurgler while [ for example ] people find out how unhealthy certain Cola drinks are - which have caffeine added so that kids get hooked on it. Show me a tobacco company that does that !
Yes I agree we (not me) eat too much junk and processed foods. Also in the older population - we have all been exposed to cigarette smoke. There was no getting away from it - public transport - every building you went into there were people smoking. My first two jobs after leaving school were smoke filled - I have never smoked or been exposed to smoke at home Here's hoping for my lungs. My daughter's mother-in-law was buried yesterday dying from lung cancer and she had never smoked. Her husband did not smoke, but she worked in factories most of her life - how much smoke did they contain. She did not have a good diet and so both of these probably contributed to her demise. Concerned grandmother - for the younger popoulation
After 15 years of being a non smoker I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I immediatley changed my diet, I was never one to eat a lot of processed foods, now I don't eat any and I try to avoid all foods that have been subject to superphosphates and sprays. From a 5% survival rate to being completly clear of the illness for 2 and half years, and my Drs are amazed at my recovery. (other factors also helped).
So what are they going to do now partly appologise to smokers because it's not totally their fault. Then turn round and ban eating in public places. Sorta painted themselves into a corner this time.
What a load of rubbish! My mother-inlaw died of lung cancer, she never smoked and being of the "old school" NEVER ate any processed food, only the foods that she made herself. We will never really understand why and what gives us cancer, researchers should rather spend more time on finding natural cures for this dreadful disease.
Honestly now can anyone tell me what does not give you cancer in some form or another these days. for example most fishing gear purchased from california has warning labels that stating "the state of california has found that ingredients in this product can cause cancer" so are the fish safe to eat if caught on this gear???? "the three most addictive drugs known to man (naturally occuring) are the three most commonly available and cheapest drugs on the market" (alcahol, tobacco and caffiene) as long as someone makes money then who cares certainly not any goverments!!!!
I think it's about time the government got involved in the regulation of food processing. Clearly there are way too many chemicals and additives in our food these days, even healthy foods such as vegies. Cancer is rampant and it is directly linked to the chemicals and additives we are eating every day. Somebody needs to do something.
Australian farmers are still permitted to burn stubble on their farms, despite this being outlawed in western Europe about 60 years ago. Millions of dollars worth of noxious chemicals are hosed over the land, and every year I (and many others) get sick in our rural community. We get very ill later on when the stubble is burned and ash rains down all over town. Not suprisingly, locals (with grim humour) refer to this place as "the cancer capital of Australia" due to the high cancer rate. The place gets drenched in pesticides. Smoking is the least of our worries, folks ! The next time you laugh at smokers and defend the penalisation of these people for surgery,just remember the cancers that are caused by even moderate alchohol intake and processed food, and shudder. Would you like to be penailsed for needed surgery because you ingested something that was legal to do so, that you enjoyed doing or had no choice over ?

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