Murder by Injection - Eustace Mullins |
The National Academy of Sciences recently estimated that 15% of the American people are presently afflicted with allergies to one or more chemical products. The study pointed out that we are exposed to more toxic chemicals while inside our homes than when we go out. The chemicals which are found in every home include benzene, which causes leukemia; the common moth spray and mothballs containing para-dichlo-robenzene, whose use forms an invisibly but damaging gas in some thirty million American homes; lindane, a common pesticide; chlordane, used for termite control (chlordane has been much in the news lately because of some families who became deathly ill after their homes has been treated by professional termite exterminators; one couple had to move out and totally abandon their home, after inspectors informed them there was no way it could be sufficiently cleansed of the chlordane residues to be habitable). Chloroform compounds are much more common in homes than is popularly realized. The EPA has found that chloroform levels inside of homes was five times greater than outside. Persons taking hot shower baths inside a closed shower curtain are unaware that they are inhaling substantial amounts of chloroform from the steam. Heating the water releases the chlorine in the heavily chlorinated water, which then emerges as a gas while the hot water comes from the nozzle. A daily shower is guaranteed to give you a chloroform high. Formaldehyde is also present in many homes in a number of commonly used compounds.
The daily ingestion of minute portions of any or all of these household chemicals contributes to the development of cancers, as they are sufficiently toxic to become carcinogenic in daily contact. However, Dr. A. Samuel Epstein, a noted cancer authority from the University of Illinois, states that "Food is the single most important route of exposure for humans to synthetic chemicals." Jim Sibbinson estimated that the average American ingests some nine pounds of chemicals in foodstuffs each year, meaning chemicals so toxic that a fraction of an ounce can cause serious illness or death. These chemicals are put into our food chain as additives, preservatives, dyes, bleaches, emulsifiers, antioxidants, flavors, buffers, noxious sprays, acidifiers, alkalizers, deodorants, moisteners, anti-caking and anti-foaming agents, conditioners, curers, hydrolizers, hydrogenators, drying agents, gases, extenders, thickeners, sweeteners, maturers fortifiers, and other agents.
Most Americans are not aware that of the more than five thousand chemical additives in the foods which they eat every day, about one-third are known to be harmless, another third are described by the Food and Drug Administration as "gras," an acronym for "generally recognized as safe," and the other third, almost 2,000 chemicals, are being used in large amounts, even though they have never been adequately tested for possible harmful results. An effort was made to control the use of these chemicals by Rep. James J. Delaney of New York, in 1958. He introduced the Delaney clause, which was enacted into law. It stated that if any food additive is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal, it is to be designated unsafe and cannot be used.
The Delaney Committee, which conducted Hearings from 1950 to 1952, listed 704 chemical additives, of which only 428 were known to be safe. The other 276, which continued to be used without any proof that they were safe, meant that the food processors were playing Russian roulette with the American consumer. Even so, it was another six years before the Delaney Amendment became law, requiring testing of these additives. In the ensuing years, some of these chemicals have been dropped in favor of other substances, while others continue to be used without any positive tests to indicate whether they are safe or unsafe. For more than fifty years, food colorings had been made from such poisonous substances as lead, chromium, and arsenic. In any case, the crux of the Delaney Amendment called for the testing of food additives to find whether they caused cancer in man or animal. The catch is that most additives are only tested for toxicity, not for their propensity to cause cancer.
Coumarin, which was a key ingredient of imitation vanilla flavoring, had been in continuous use for seventy-five years before it was found to produce serious liver damage in laboratory animals. An artificial sweetening agent, dulcin, was used as a sugar substitute for fifty years before it was found to produce cancers in test animals. Butter yellow was found to cause cancer of the liver, that is, AB and OB Yellow. Mineral oil, the famous Rockefeller cancer cure of the mid- 1800s, which was now used in many salad dressings, was found to prevent the absorption by the body of vitamins and other nutritional needs.
The 1938 Food and Drug Cosmetics Act certified nineteen dyes for use in foods. Since then, three have been decertified, leaving sixteen for use in foods. The label "certified" simply means that it is pure—it offers no clue as to its possible effects on the human system. Dr. Arthur A. Nelson reported that FDA tests in 1957 reported that ten of the thirteen certified dyes then in use had produced cancers when injected under the skin of rats. Science writer, Earl Ubell, estimated that humans would get twice as much of these dyes by mouth as the rats had injected under their skin. The oil-soluble colors were so poisonous that the rats died before the scientist could see whether any cancer had developed. Nine of the dyes commonly used in foods in the United States are as follows:
Yellow AB and Yellow OB, which are known cancer hazards, have been widely used to color margarine and butter. They are made from a dangerous chemical called beta-napth-ylamine. It is notable because it has low toxicity, that is, it is not poisonous in its effect, but it is one of the most carcinogenic substances known. Orange No. 2, O-tylazo-2-naphthol, which had been used heavily in United States, the food industry using thousands of pounds of Orange No. 2 annually, was finally discontinued in 1956 when it was found to induce intestinal polyps and cancer in test animals.
White bread, which had long been known to cause brain seizures in dogs, because of the loss of critical nutritional ingredients in processing the beautiful white flour, has in recent years been enriched with a wide variety of vitamins and nutrients. However, a shot of synthetic vitamins, another shot of emulsifier to keep it soft, and the addition of other ingredients, suggests that it might well be produced from a test tube instead of a bakery.
Emanuel Kaplan and Ferdinand A. Dorff, researchers with the Health Department in Baltimore, presented a report, "Exotic Chemicals in Food," which was presented at a meeting of FDA officials. We quote,
"Let us quickly consider the chemical treatment of the various ingredients used in bakery practice. The flour is derived from seeds probably treated for plant disease protection with organic mercurials or similar agents, and the seeds are planted on soil influenced by fertilizers. Selenium (an extremely poisonous mineral substance) may be extracted from the soil. In milling, flour is treated with improvers, oxidizing agents such as persulfate, bromate, iodate and nitrogen tricholoride, which affect protease activity and gluten properties.
"Bleaching agents such as oxides of nitrogen, chlorine and benzoyl peroxide convert the yellow carotenoid pigment to colorless compounds because of alleged consumer desire for white bread. Vitamins and minerals are added in compulsory 'enrichment.' Mineral salts may be added to stabilize gas-retaining properties of flour gluten. Cynanide or chlorinated organic compounds may be employed in fumigation of the resulting flour in storage.
"The water used may be chemically purified by means of alum, soda ash, copper sulfate and chlorine . . . Ammonium salts and other chemicals are employed as yeast nutrients. Chemical leaveners may contain sodium bicarbonate, alum, tartrates, phosphates, starch, and cream of tartar. Fluorine is a possible natural contaminant of the phosphate . . . Oleomargarine, if used, may have added color, vitamin A, neutralizes, interface modifiers and preservatives; or the margarine may be packed in a preservative-treated wrapper. Mineral oil is frequently used as a dough trough or pan lubricant . . . Milk or milk products may contain neutralizer and antioxidants . . . Artificial coal tar color may be used . . . Stabilizers and thickeners such as gums and treated starches may be employed as fillers. Synthetic flavors used contain glycerine, alcohol or substitute chemicals as solvents for a variety of alcohols, esters, acids, and ketones, and may contain saccharine. (Ed. Note: This would probably be replaced today by aspartame, an artificial sweetener widely used, which is said to cause brain seizures.) Spices may be natural spices subjected to fumigants or solvent-extracted spice essences. Mold inhibitors such as calcium propionate may be employed and the final product may be contaminated on the store shelf with insecticidal powders such as sodium fluoride."
Since this report was delivered in the 1950s, many new chemicals have come onto the market, whose properties may be either more or less dangerous than those listed by Kaplan and Dorff. The increasing use of hydrogenated oils, and their linkage to heart disease, offers an additional area for concern. More than a billion pounds of hydrogenated oils are now used annually.
It is estimated that almost half of the American population, more than 100 million citizens, now suffer from some form of chronic illness, of which 25 million are allergic disorders. These allergies are increasingly found to be caused by exposure to or ingestion of some chemical substance. 20 million Americans have nervous disorders; 10 million have stomach ulcers; 700,000 suffer from cancer, and lesser numbers suffer from such diseases as lupus and muscular dystrophy.
In 1917-18, of the draftees for World War I, 21.3% were rejected and 9.9% placed in "limited service" because of various handicaps. In the Korean War period, after World War II, from 1947-1955, 52% of the draftees were rejected for physical and mental defects, a 21% increase since World War I, despite the great "advances" which the United States had supposedly made in nutrition, medical care, meals for school children, and other marks of progress. These figures also do not take into account that standards for World War I draftees were much higher than in World War II. In 1955, 25% of all draftees from New York City, aged from 21 to 26, were turned down for heart ailments. Of some 200 Americans killed in Korea, and autopsied, 80% were found to have advanced stages of heart disease. Dr. Jolliffe reported to Congress in 1955 that, "Whereas coronary heart disease was a rarity prior to 1920, it has now become the No. One cause of death in the 45 to 64 year old age group as well as after 65."
How much of this was due to the increase in the use of chlorinated water supplies after World War I, Dr. Jolliffe does not say. Although specialists know that the ingestion of chlorine is a primary factor in the formation of arteriosclerotic plaques on the walls of arteries, no studies have been commissioned to determine the use of chlorine as a factor in the increase of deaths from heart failure. Dr. Mendelsohn has noted, fluoridation of water is one of the Four Holy Waters of the Church of Modern Medicine. Scientists dare not tamper with what is essentially a religious and emotional conviction.
Dr. Mendelsohn also points out the possible contradictions in the American Medical Association's frequent admonitions to get your daily supply of the Big Four for adequate nutrition, that is, vegetables and fruits, grains, meats and dairy products. Dr. Mendelsohn points out that many groups cannot tolerate cow's milk because of enzymatic deficiencies. Some studies show that 75% of the world's peoples are lactose intolerant, and cannot digest cow's milk.
One of the post World War II epidemics was the worldwide reaction to the extensive use of DDT, even though DDT had come into being as the supposed guardian against epidemics during the war. Its use had been advertised as the miracle pesticide which would prevent outbreaks of various diseases in the war-ravaged nations of the world. However, DDT was eventually found to be a cumulative poison in the human system, much like sodium fluoride. Not only were considerable concentrations of DDT being accumulated in man's fatty tissues, but he also was consuming additional amounts in every forkful of food that he ate. Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg heralded the dangers of DDT when he warned that any poison which interferes with the respiration of the cells causes irreparable damage and produces degenerative diseases such as cancer. Despite such warnings, from 1947 to 1956, the annual production of DDT quadrupled to an annual total of more than five hundred million pounds. The Public Health Service analyzed food in a Federal prison for DDT content, finding stewed fruit with 69 ppm content, bread with 100 ppm DDT content, while lard used in the preparation of food was estimated to have 2500 ppm DDT. Tests also showed that it took many years to lower the amount of DDT stored in body fat. DDT is even more persistent in soil; seven years after DDT was applied to test plots 80% of it remained. Orchards and farms which used DDT in annual spraying built up enormous amounts in the soil. DDT has since been banned, but the residues remain.
Even after the ban, Monsanto continued to make huge profits from the sale of DDT by exporting it to other countries. Another commonly used pesticide, chloridane, was found to be four times as toxic as DDT. Another substance which was later banned was aramite, an acknowledged carcinogen used as a pesticide. Produced by the chemical conglomerate, U.S. Rubber, in 1951, aramite came under a barrage of criticism. Despite the widespread publication of FDA tests proving its dangers, it remained in use until the spring of 1958, when it was finally withdrawn.
Some substances containing arsenic are still found in foodstuffs as pesticide residue and as a food additive for poultry and livestock. Selocide, a pesticide based on selenium, was found to produce cirrhosis of the liver in persons ingesting food which had been treated with this chemical. After two hundred children became ill from eating dyed popcorn at a Christmas party, the FDA announced decertification of the three dyes involved, Red No. 32, Orange 1 and Orange 2. A government report stated that,
"When FD & C Red No. 32 was fed to rats at a level of 2.0 per cent of the diet, all the rats died within a week. At a 1.0 percent level, death occurred within 12 days. At 0.5 percent, most of the rats died within 26 days. At 0.25 percent approximately half of the rats died within 3 months. All of the rats showed marked growth retardation and anemia. Autopsy revealed moderate to marked liver damage. Similar but less severe results were obtained with rats on a diet containing 0.1 percent of FD & C Red No. 32 . . . Dogs taking 100 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day showed moderate weight loss . . . A single dose gave diarrhea in the majority of the dogs tested."
Tests of Orange No. 1 gave similar results as FD & C Red No. 32. More than half of the Florida orange crop was run through these dyes to give them a beautiful orange color, instead of the pale green which was their normal color at the time of picking. Canned and frozen orange juice often contained larger amounts of these dyes, because packers bought "packing house reject," which were deemed unsuitable for grocery store marketing.
Although the Christmas Party which highlighted the perils of these dyes took place in December 1955, manufacturers were told they could legally use up stocks of these colors. The ban went into effect February 15, 1956, but it had been in the making since December 19, 1953, two years before the near fatal party.
One of the more common food processes today is the hydrogenation process which destroys all nutritional value. The process consists of saturating the fatty acids with hydrogen under pressure, with temperatures up to 410 F. with a metal catalyst, either nickel, platinum or copper, for as long as eight hours; after this treatment, it becomes an inert or dead substance. Hydrogenated oils in margarine used for cooking break down into dangerous toxins when heated, although butter can be heated for long periods of time without forming toxins.
Despite the well-publicized dangers of chemical food additives and other nutritional problems, the principal charitable health foundations have for years strongly opposed any linkage of diet, nutrition and health. This program was originally laid down for them many years ago by the famous quack, Morris Fishbein, and the American Medical Association. They have religiously followed these precepts, as coming from the original prophet, in the ensuing decades. AMA officials testified before a Senate Committee that there is no proof that diet is related to disease, adding the warning that changing American eating habits might lead to "economic dislocation."
The Arthritis Foundation assures its place in the sun by regular reiterations of its claims that arthritis is incurable, although this has never prevented the foundation from annual fund-raising drives to collect money for a "cure." This foundation denounces any food supplements or health detoxification programs to cleanse the system, leaving this to the province of individualistic health care practitioners in California. The foundation also opposes the following of rotary diets which could uncover food allergies in arthritis patients. In 1985, the Arthritis Foundation collected $36.2 million, as one of a small group of "monopoly-disease" groups which have established their claim to a particular disease, a feature which is very attractive to the Medical Monopoly which approves their positions. Its sister foundations, National Multiple Sclerosis, United Cerebral Palsy, and the Lupus Foundation are equally protective towards their stakes in the "Monopoly diseases," which the Super Rich have staked out as well-defined and unchallengeable claims. Reports of cures of arthritis by abstaining from such acid-producing foods as beef, chocolate and milk, while routine, are totally denied by the Arthritis Foundation. One San Francisco doctor published his findings after curing the most advanced cases or rheumatoid arthritis by banning all fruits, meats, wheat and dairy products, a rigorous regimen which those patients willing to abide by it found to produce total relief.
The American Cancer Society also routinely branded all metabolic-nutritional approaches to cancer treatment as "anecdotal links to cancer prevention" which constitute "quackery," the famous designation for non-approved medical treatment which was publicized for years by America's two most famous quacks,
Simmons and Fishbein. However, in 1887, just after the founding of the New York Cancer hospital, an Albany, New York physician published a book, "Diet in Cancer," by Dr. Ephraim Cutter, Kellogg Books, pp. 19-26, in which he wrote, "Cancer is a disease of nutrition." In 1984, faced by a growing tide of publicity about the efficacy of diet and nutrition in many cancer cases, the American Cancer Society did a reluctant flip-flop, offering the cautious assertion that diet and vitamins might offer some slight benefit. ACS continued to ignore the facts showing that the record of increase in the use of food additives paralleled the annual increase in the cancer toll. From 1940 to 1977, the American intake of food colorings and additives increased tenfold, while the per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables declined. Later studies have shown an inverse association between the daily intake of green or yellow vegetables and the mortality rates from cancer. Studies of victims of prostate cancer, now epidemic among American men, showed a high intake of fats, milk, meats and coffee. It was recommended that baked goods should be avoided, whether because of additives or the danger of aluminum compounds was not stated.
There has also been a fivefold increase in the intake of fried food in the United States, most of which has come through the "fast food" outlets. The use of fats in these outlets, with little supervision and inadequately trained personnel, means that deep frying fats are reused over long periods of time. These reused fats have been proved to be mutagenic in laboratory tests, and are listed as potentially carcinogenic by researchers.
The Washington Post, January 23, 1988, noted that of 60,000 chemicals now in general use, only two percent have been tested for toxicity. Many Americans can testify about the drastic effects of many chemicals, especially pesticides. Colman McCarthy recently complained in his Washington Post column that "The environmental war against bugs escalates as a war against people." The widespread use of such chemicals as sevin, malathion, and surban on private lawns, golf courses and public parks has resulted in a number of deaths, with an unknown number whose cause was never recorded. One man in a Washington suburb walked across a recently sprayed golf course; he went home and died. He had absorbed a lethal amount of pesticide through his low-cut ankle socks. A cardiovascular surgeon who has treated 17,000 patients in the last twelve years at his Environmental Health Center in Dallas estimates that between ten and twenty percent of the American population is being seriously harmed by chemicals. Thousands of school children sit in classrooms for six hours a day breathing in residues of asbestos, formaldehyde and other chemicals, which the school officials have no idea are present.
One physician graphically recorded her illness in the New Yorker, January 4, 1988; she was suffering from a tightness in the chest, wheezing, gastro-intestinal problems, anorexia, nausea, vomiting and cramps, as well as weight loss, fatigue and general twitching. She sought aid from another physician, who was puzzled by these symptoms; she finally looked in a medical book, and found all of her symptoms listed together as the result of exposure to organophosphates pesticide. She had a weekend cottage in which her exterminator had used organophosphates to kill an invasion of small ants. On subsequent weekends, she had been sitting in the fumigation chamber whenever she went into her cottage; the exterminator had used Durshan, an organophosphate, and Ficam, a methyl carbonate. After finding out what her problem was, she was able to counter them with the recommended treatment, oral atropine, but she found that her system had now become sensitized to these pesticides. If she went into any area where they had been used, all of her symptoms returned.
This physician wryly pointed out that it is routine for physicians to diagnose her symptoms as psychosomatic, or even as mental illness; because she was a physician herself, the doctor she had consulted had not turned her away with this standard response, which is given with a prescription of liberal amounts of Valium or Librium. The list of poisons encountered in every day life is a long one. For years, people died suddenly from inhaling the fumes of a common cleaning agent, carbon tetrachloride, but it took years before it was finally withdrawn from general sale. Recent reports found that 35% of all chickens in grocery store meat boxes contain significant amounts of salmonella, a notorious cause of gastric illness and death.
Twelve million pounds of cyclamates a year are now used in foodstuffs; this is mostly produced by Abbott Laboratories. A University of Wisconsin study in 1966 recommended that cyclamates be removed from all foodstuffs. It was found that the ingestion of cyclamates affected the eye's reaction to light. Cyclamates were also found to cause excess loss of potassium if a person was using one of the very common thiazide drugs for high blood pressure, as millions of Americans do. It was also found that cyclamates interfered with the action of diabetic drugs, although the purpose of the widespread use was advertised to be a solution to the problems of diabetics, who would thereby consume less sugar. It also shows indications of causing bladder cancer.
In Midland, Michigan, DOW Chemical had to shut down its 2,4,5T plant because the workers were suffering from Chloracne, a skin disease for which there is no known method of treatment. For years, oranges had been gussied up for public sale by coating them with biphenyl, the chemical which is used in the embalming process in mortuaries. One of the world's most widely consumed foodstuffs is pasta, the Italian word for paste. In fact, pasta, or spaghetti, is ground wheat which is mixed with water to form a paste. In libraries, it is known as library paste. Millions of people eat this congealed paste every day. Macaroni, another common food, is dehydrated concentrated starch. Milk is the most mucous-forming part of the average American diet; drinking milk causes the system to become clogged, resulting in colds, which often develop into flu, asthma or pneumonia. Some 75% of the world's population is unable to digest cow's milk, a fact which has never discouraged a single dairy company from advertising on television that "Milk Is Good For You."
Soft drinks contain large amounts of the chemical citric acid, which acts to increase the acidity level of the entire body. The results are frequently manifested as mouth cankers and duodenal ulcers. Caramel, also widely used, is prepared from ammonia; its ingestion causes mental disorders in children. Cola drinks, from a derivative of cocaine, increase heart action, cause irritability of the nerves and resultant insomnia, and can cause paralysis of the heart. Beer contains gypsum, which is better known as plaster of paris. Hops in beer cause a hypnotic effect and can cause delirium tremens. (The only case of delirium tremens ever observed by the present writer occurred in a soldier who drank nothing stronger than beer. This puzzled me at the time, because I had always heard that delirium tremens was found only in those who ingested large quantities of hard liquor.)
Widely used food additives, colors and seasonings include cochineal, used to produce a bright red color; it is made from the bodies of dried lice. Food colors have been the subjects of warnings for many years; Arthur Kallet in 1933 published findings that the widely used colors Violet 1 and Citrus Red 2 (used for coloring oranges) were definitely carcinogenic. A few years ago, a number of health cure products featuring hexochlorophene, a highly recommended antiseptic substance, were hastily withdrawn from the market. It was found that phisohex, a product then used daily in every hospital in the United States, had caused death when rubbed on the skin of babies. Phisohex was also featured in feminine hygiene sprays, Dial soap, shampoos, toothpaste, and many feminine cosmetics; all of these products contained dangerous concentrations of hexachlorophene. Not only was it manufactured from the same chemical as DOW's deadly weedkillers, 2,4,5T and 2,4D; it is also closely related to the deadly dioxin, which has been much in the news. It was only after many years of health care use that products containing hexachlorophene were found to produce dangerous reactions in babies washed or rubbed with any products containing it, although the relationship with the deadly dioxin was only made public much later. Even with this revelation, it required a ten year struggle to get the highly profitable hexachlorophene products off the market.
The commonly used food colors amaranth (red); bordeaux (brown); orange (yellow); procean (scarlet) all are derived from compounding nitrogen and benzene (a distillate of coal), which is also a commonly used motor fuel. Manufacturers dye their beverages with napthol (yellow), guinea green, which is derived from the reaction of chloroform or benzene and aluminum chloride to produce a dark green; tartrazene (yellow) is manufactured by producing a reaction of acetophene on diazomethane to produce a poisonous chemical which is then used in coloring food.
Dr. Samuel West explains the death from shock, which often occurs just after an accident or an operation, results from trapped blood proteins, which attract excess sodium and cause the death of the body, beginning at the cell level.
Recommendations for better nutrition include eating starches with fats or green vegetables; eating fruits alone; and seasoning with herbs. The effect of herbs is that they work electrically on the system, meaning that they work quickly, and that they cause "miraculous" changes. The admonitions to drink cow's milk forbear from explaining that cow's milk is a substance far removed in nature from human mother's milk. It contains 300% more casein, because it is designed by nature for a calf which can increase its gross weight from one to two thousand pounds in six to eight weeks; no human grows at such a fast rate.
Alfalfa is a highly recommended substance by many nutritionists because of its structure; its chlorophyll molecule is a web of carbon and hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms grouped around a single atom of magnesium; this is similar to the structure of hemoglobin, the red corpuscle, except that the atoms are grouped around a single atom of iron instead of magnesium.
A recommended treatment for kidney stones is lemon juice in a glass of water, or a combination of carrot and beet juice. The present writer has obtained quick relief and shrinking of a kidney stone in the ureter by drinking quantities of cranberry juice. These juices apparently begin to dissolve the stone, which then passes without effort. The stone is usually an oxide, an accumulation of minerals or oxides which forms a hard stone.
Although canning of food became very popular during the nineteenth century, as an ideal method of preserving large quantities of food which would otherwise be thrown away, the canning process heats the food until it destroys the enzymes. Heating food over 130 degrees eliminates the enzymes, which are the keystone to growth in the system. Enzymes take on minerals and use them for growth.
The surplus of elements left over from the manufacture of atomic bombs now threatens us with another "magical" process, the process of preserving food by irradiating it. Cobalt 60, one of these atomic bomb leftovers, is now being offered to food irradiators for $100,000 per kilo. Should the food irradiation program fall through, this byproduct of atomic bombs will have to be disposed of by the manufacturer at great expense. It is a repetition of the dilemmas which brought us such public "boons" as chlorination of water after World War I and nitrate fertilizers after World War II.
The first commercial use of food irradiation took place in occupied West Germany in 1957, where it was used experimentally to sterilize spices used in the manufacture of sausages. The results were so disturbing that the West German government was forced to ban it in 1958. At the same time, the Soviet Union had begun to use irradiation to inhibit the sprouting of potatoes in storage; in 1959, the Soviets used it for the disinfestation of grain. Canada, which is heavily influenced by pro-Soviet representatives in its government, began to use irradiation on potatoes in 1960. The U.S. Food and Drug Cosmetic Act of 1958 took up the use of irradiation, defining it as an "additive," which brought it under their control. In 1963, the FDA gave permission for the use of irradiation to sterilize canned bacon; this permission was rescinded in 1968.
In 1968, the Rockefeller Monopoly moved to back the food irradiation process on a national level. The Coalition for Food Irradiation was formed by some of the nation's biggest food companies; AFPO, Beatrice, Campbell Soup, Del Monte, Gaines Foods, General Foods, Hormel, Heinz, Hershey, Gerber, MARS, Stouffer and Welch. Joining them in the coalition were the chemical companies, W. R. Grace, DuPont and Rockwell International. The Coalition began the tried and true technique of staging well-planned and expensive "conferences" at prominent universities, at which only the advocates for their plan would be heard. One of these conferences backfired. The planned irradiation conference at Johns Hopkins University Center for Radiation Education and Research was scheduled in August 1987. Prospective attendees were disturbed to find that the list of scheduled speakers was heavily stacked in favor of food irradiation.
Of the twenty listed speakers, nineteen were known proponents of irradiation. The sole critic of food irradiation, Rep. Douglas Bosco, of California, pulled out when he realized that he was being set up. It would be publicized that although critics of food irradiation had been given a place at the conference, the conclusions would be totally in favor of irradiation. The scheduled advocates of food irradiation included Dr. Ari Brynjolfsson of MIT; Dr. Ronald E. Engel, deputy administrator of the U.S. Dept, of Agriculture, which had approved the irradiation of pork; George Giddings, director of Isomedix, the nation's largest irradiation firm; Dennis Heldman, executive vice-president of National Food Processors, which planned a cesium irradiator with the Dept, of Agriculture in California; Dr. James H. Moy, a professor at the University of Hawaii, who proposed a cesium irradiator jointly with the Dept, of Agriculture in Hawaii. Johns Hopkins University was a willing participant in this staged conference because in 1986, it had received three hundred and seventeen million dollars in defense funds; Johns Hopkins University is the second largest defense contractor after MIT. Dr. Brynjolfsson of MIT was one of the earliest advocates of food irradiation.
The United States Army has spent some $50 million on food irradiation since the 1950s; most of the results have been flawed. Maine has outlawed the sale of irradiated food. Milwaukee forbade the building of an irradiation plant, and public opposition also forced Radiation Technology to abandon a plant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In 1987, the European Parliament voted against irradiation in the European Community "on precautionary grounds." The Canadian parliament then decided against using irradiation for wheat. Meanwhile, Abbott Laboratories and Baxter Travenol, leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, have licensed Gamma Irradiation Facilities to DOW Corning, General Electric, General Foods, IBM, IRT Corporation, Merck, RCA and Rockwell International.
After the Canadian Parliament recommended against using irradiation for wheat, Hon. Jake Epp, Canadian Minister of Health and Welfare, announced that irradiation of the food supply would be permitted. This announcement, which Epp made on September 10, 1987, astounded many Canadians. It came after the recommendation against it of the Canadian Parliament, as well as after the condemnation of food irradiation by London's Food Commission in England. Here again, the desperation of the Chemical Trust leads it to imperil the health of a nation. There are many available records of tests indicating the dangers of irradiated foods. Consumption of irradiated rice has been linked with the development of pituitary, thyroid, heart and lung disturbances, and with the development of tumors. Children and test animals fed irradiated wheat developed increased polyphoidy (an abnormality of the chromosomes). In East/West magazine, Feb. 1988, a quote from an unclassified document from the Department of State on food irradiation, published in a congressional hearing on the pesticide Ethylene DiBromide, used on fruits and grains, is as follows:
"The Administration and Congress are interested in promoting the use of U.S. exclusive technology using cesium 137 isotope for the benefit of man. U.S. nuclear waste processing currently is producing the cesium isotope which Dept, of Energy would like to be used for beneficial purposes. Promulgation of cesium technology would benefit U.S. private sector activities and minimize U.S. nuclear waste disposal problems."