Healing Our World
Weekly Commentary
By Jackie Giuliano Ph.D.

Vegetarians Beware
Big Business is Headed Your Way

We have forgotten who we are, we have lost our sense of wonder and connectedness, we have degraded the Earth and our fellow creatures, and we have nowhere else to go. -- Earth Charter

Today's vegetarian is now part of a huge consumer business that hit $334 million last year and is expected to hit $1 billion by 2001. What once was a marketplace occupied by small, ethical suppliers catering to a specialty market is now a viable market for the corporate giants. Issues have arisen about the quality of the meatless offerings that will require considerable scrutiny by those who have changed their eating habits because of ethical as well as health concerns.

The demand for vegetarian offerings is so large that producers can no longer rely upon small farms and suppliers to satisfy the need for raw materials. As with most goods in our corporate based culture, when demand increases, quality decreases in order to increase profit. Products not typically associated with large corporate greed and contamination such as soy, tofu and herb tea must now be scrutinized.

Concern is rising among organic farmers who fear that these mega corporations will try to drive down their prices with their purchasing power. Also, many of the larger corporations have been part of the lobbying efforts to change the standards for what is classified as organic food.

Risks of foodborne illness may be increasing for vegetarians as well. In 1998, 18,000 people were stricken with the Salmonella agona bacteria from eating contaminated Malt-O-Meal! At least one person died from the outbreak and many more probably became ill but did not report it. Fruits and vegetables - even organically produced ones - can be contaminated. In 1996, a large outbreak of cyclosporiasis from tainted raspberries from Guatemala occurred.

Children are particularly at risk from contaminated food. A typical one-year old child drinks 11 times more grape juice, 21 times more apple juice, and eats much more than the average adult. Also, their rapid growth rates make them more sensitive to pesticides and other contaminants.

As large business enter the marketplace to serve the demand for health foods, more and more ingredients are being added to foods. Here are some vital considerations for the vegetarian, vegan or any health-conscious consumer today.

SOY PRODUCTS

Aerial pesticide spraying of soybeans (Photo courtesy U.S. Agricultural Research Service) Tofu, soy milk, most meat substitutes and a host of other products contain soy. Soy has been used for many years and is mostly grown as feed for animals in factory farms. Unless you buy a product that states clearly it is organic, then dozens of carcinogenic pesticides will probably have been used. The Monsanto Company has produced a genetically engineered soybean called the "Roundup Ready Soybean." This soybean has been engineered to be able to withstand large applications of Monsanto's most popular product, Roundup Weed Killer, encouraging the farmer to use more of that product. NON-MEAT PRODUCTS

Although made without meat, these products may contain eggs, milk, cheese and even animal fats, seafood, fish and fowl. Read the labels carefully.

NON-DAIRY PRODUCTS

More and more people are avoiding dairy products, now believed to cause many diseases. But a product labeled as such may still contain milk or milk derivatives if they fall below the allowed percentages. Don't be fooled by imitation soy cheeses and the like. Most contain casein, a milk protein - the main ingredient in white glue! Many veggie burgers contain cheese.

KOSHER

Many vegetarians mistakenly use this label as an indicator of whether or not the food is vegan (totally without animal products) or if a meat product, that the animal has been slaughtered humanely. Both assumptions are false. Some non-meat kosher products contain milk and even some animals that may not be considered "meat."

The animal is slaughtered, without being stunned, with a razor sharp knife. The animal is confined and suspended in a specially made crate while, without anesthetic, its throat is cut and it bleeds to death. From an animal welfare standpoint, the major concern during ritual slaughter are the stressful and cruel methods of restraint that are used in some plants. Progressive slaughter plants use devices to hold the animal in a more comfortable, upright position, but some plants use methods of restraint such as hanging live animals upside down. Kosher slaughter methods are considered very cruel by some observers.

VITAMINS

Some vitamins contain bone meal - straight from the slaughterhouse. Where did you think it came from?

BETA CAROTENE, FATTY ACIDS, OR VITAMIN B12

Unless it says it's from a vegetable source, it could be from animal tissues.

LECITHIN

This is not a health food. Soy lecithin comes from soybeans - watch out for those pesticides, but all other forms come from the rendering plant from animal nerve tissues, blood or milk.

GELATIN

A protein obtained from boiling skin, tendons, ligaments or bones from cattle and hogs. Unless it says it is vegetable based, watch out.

CITRIC ACID

Sounds like the juice of a lemon. Unless it says vegetable based, it could come from animal tissues.

LACTIC ACID

You find this more and more in commercial foods as a flavoring and preserving agent. It is also used in animal feeds It is usually from the slaughterhouse. It is a byproduct of the fermenting process, but is also obtained from blood and muscle tissue. Unless it says it is from vegetable sources, it is not.

SUGAR

Surprise - most sugar is not vegetarian! Cane sugar is usually refined using a form of charcoal called boneblack, made by roasting animal bones in an airtight container. Liquid sugar is passed through charcoal filters made of this material to remove color. And the harvesting of sugar cane causes the horrible deaths of untold numbers of rats, snakes and other animals since the fields are burned to kill anything that moves before the workers harvest the crop. The cane - dead animals and all - is sent to the refining plants.

NATURAL FLAVOR

Can mean animal, vegetable or mineral sources. It is usually from animal sources. Avoid it.

In a compassionate and caring culture, the fact that a non-meat eating lifestyle is increasing would be greeted with open arms. Sadly, in our greed driven, profit-at-all-costs motivated system, the fact that large corporations are getting into the health food business must be greeted with caution and skepticism. Veggies and vegans everywhere, beware.

RESOURCES

1. Read about religious slaughter and animals welfare issues at http://www.newveg.av.org/animals/kosher.htm and http://www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher.slaugh.html

2. See a reference to the use of cow bones to refine sugar at http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story.mpl/content/special/summerfun/9900/imperial.html

3. Read the FDA's food labeling guidelines at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/label.html

4. Explore vegetarianism with EarthSave at http://www.earthsave.org/

5. Learn about healthy eating from Dr. John McDougall at http://www.drmcdougall.com/index.html

6. Learn about the issues. A great alternative bookstore is Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon at http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/associate?assoc_id=212 where you will find a wonderful alternative to the massive chain bookstores taking over the market.

Visit the Healing Our World Archive and check out the many resource links in past articles.      

This Healing Our World article appear courtesy of Jackie Giuliano (copyright 1999)
and is printed with the permission of the Environment News Service.

Jackie Giuliano, a writer and a Professor of Environmental Studies, can be found in Venice, scrutinizing labels and wondering what they don't say. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his web site at http://www.healingourworld.com