Sacramento is called The Big Tomato because it's also the tomato capital of California. The problem to solve is how to keep adulterated processed tomatoes out of Sacramento markets. Talk about adulterated food: remember a few years ago when Sacramento news focused on rotten, moldy canned tomatoes? See the ABC news article, Feb. 26, 2010, Tomato Bribery Case: California Company Allegedly Paid Off Buyers. Also see, the article, Extraneous matter & filth analysis - tomato products.
When you go into any given Sacramento supermarket how confident are you now that the canned tomatoes you buy aren't moldy, adulterated, or rotten? And if one of the ingredients on any given can of tomatoes reads "calcium chloride," you should know that calcium chloride added to canned vegetables could significantly raise your blood pressure, if you're genetically susceptible. See the article, Hypertension, High Blood Pressure Control, Heart Palpitations. According to the article, "Calcium chloride can raise the systolic blood pressure by 20mm and the diastolic blood pressure by 15mm within a hour or two.
See,Blood Chloride Level | Livestrong.com. Also see, this medical article on how calcium chloride was used to raise a patient's blood pressure. But aside from canned tomatoes with or without calcium chloride added to preserve color, in some Sacramento food markets, when you reach for a package of prepared take-out salad, on the ingredients label sometimes you'll see one ingredient that you'd normally not be aware of on freshly cut vegetables. That's calcium chloride.
Is it the calcium chloride some people are sensitive to, or is it the combination? See the article, The Calcium Cholesterol Connection - Lower Your Cholesterol. But be careful, studies have come out saying calcium alone increases the risk of heart attack. Your body needs a balance of multiple minerals. So do your research. Each person may react individually. What most Sacramento shoppers want in nutrition are foods that have the least amount of chemicals added to preserve color or shelf life. That's why in Sacramento home-baked, organic, natural foods are 'in' as the latest nutritional trend here.
Are Local, Organic Tomatoes Easily Found in Sacramento Food Markets?
Most of the tomatoes grown in California and Davis regional areas get shipped all over the USA. What kind of tomatoes does that leave for locals, other than locally grown tomatoes at farmers' markets?
Outside the organic tomatoes that are difficult to find in various Sacramento supermarkets, but available in some of the local natural food stores, there's a warning from scientists about not eating canned tomatoes due to what may leak out of the linings of the can.
In the Sacramento and Davis regional areas, the University of California studies local tomatoes in depth. See the article, UC Davis News & Information: Tomato Study Points to Organic Pros and Cons on Four Farms.
Also when it comes to your health and eating tomatoes, see the article, "What you might not know about tomatoes." According to an article in Prevention magazine (online,) "Seven Foods that should never cross your lips," one of those seven foods mentioned is 'canned' tomatoes.
Fredrick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, gives reported to Prevention magazine that the problem is about "the resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a which contain a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity." What happens is that acid from tomatoes causes BPA to leach into your food, according to that article.
Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," reported vom Saal in the Prevention magazine article. Dr. Vom Saal, also explained in that Prevention magazine article, "I won't go near canned tomatoes."
Prevention magazine suggested that you might select tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like the brands found at Trader Joe's and Pomi. Another tip mentioned in that article noted that you can use low sodium bottled pasta sauce instead of canned tomatoes. Better yet, buy organic tomatoes (or grow your own in season) and make your own tomato sauce. That way you add only the ingredients you want to eat.
Where You Can Get Lycopene if Tomatoes Worsen Your Arthritis Pain
Health benefits of tomatoes include the lycopene. But people who need lycopene the most may, if susceptible genetically, feel arthritic-like pains from nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, and bell peppers.
But you need lycopene, and can get it from other vegetables and fruits. See the article, Orange Tomatoes - A Better Source of Lycopene. New research suggests that the human body absorbs lycopene better from orange-colored tomatoes than from the more popular red varieties. If you can't tolerate tomatoes at all because they worsen your arthritis pain, then try some orange fruits such as papaya.
Lycopene is an antioxidant commonly found in tomatoes and other red- or pink-colored foods, including watermelon, papaya, rosehips, and pink grapefruit or guava. Evidence suggests that lycopene reduces the risk of cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, and possibly even male infertility.
Pop Your Own Corn in a Skillet or Stainless Steel Stove Pot and Don't Use a Microwave for Popping Corn
When you read the Prevention magazine article, "Seven Foods that should never cross your lips," you'll also see one of those seven foods to avoid mentioned is microwaved popcorn. Just pop your own corn and don't add anything to it except your favorite spices that you put on the popcorn after it's popped, away from high heat. Here's the reason why avoiding microwaved popcorn is suggested.
According to the article, "Seven Foods that should never cross your lips," chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. See the articles, EPA Microwave Popcorn Emissions Study Finally Published, and Popcorn ingredient causes lung disease: U.S. study | Reuters.
The March 13, 2008 Reuters article explaining the study noted that tests on mice show that diacetyl, a component of artificial butter flavoring, can cause a condition known as lymphocytic bronchiolitis, said the team at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. The condition can lead to obliterative bronchiolitis -- or "popcorn lung" -- a rare and debilitating disease seen in workers at microwave popcorn packaging plants and at least one consumer.
At least two microwave popcorn makers -- ConAgra Foods Inc and Weaver Popcorn Co Inc -- have said in 2008 that they would stop using diacetyl. Laboratory mice made to inhale diacetyl vapors for three months developed lymphocytic bronchiolitis, the NIEHS team said.
The problem to solve here is that microwaving itself of popcorn, not only the butter added, also is a culprit. In animal testing, Prevention magazine in the article, "Seven Foods that should never cross your lips," reported that the chemicals from microwaving popcorn cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer.
It's microwaving popcorn by itself, not only with butter on the popcorn that's in question. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and migrate into your popcorn. "They stay in your body for years and accumulate there," the Prevention magazine article noted in that interview with an expert, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. According to the Prevention article, DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.
Adulterated Foods in History
Some of the most interesting cases of adulterated food in history was the 1969 case in Europe of a man who was charged with selling what was labeled as grated Parmesan cheese which turned out to be, upon analysis, to consist of grated Malacca umbrella handles. Another firm sold salami that really was made out of plastic, when analyzed.
There's so much to learn about how processed foods are manufactured. For example white bread flour has been bleached with chlorine dioxide, which is supposed to be harmless. If so, then how come the poem circulated so widely, "the whiter the bread, the quicker you're dead?"
People assumed the darker the bread meant that the bread contained sprouted whole grains or whole legumes or sweet potato flour or pea flour made with sour dough starter, not yeast, much like old fashioned home-made European or Amish bread.
Other adulterated foods in history included alum, a mineral-salt whitening agent put in bread, and cocoa powder containing large amounts of brick dust. Historically, Lancet began investigations in Europe. Even beer was doctored with green vitriol or sulphate of iron. But that all happened in the 1860s. In contrast, in the USA, you have Mr. Graham peddling his whole grain Graham cracker in the 19th century, which focused on whole foods. Also check out these Lancet journal studies and other articles, Food safety reform in the USA, Nourishing narratives, The Adulteration of Food, Adulteration of Foods | History and Occurrence, Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition, and Adverse events associated with dietary supplements: an observational study.
One unique case of food adulteration was in Austria, where somehow an anti-freeze component, diethylene glycol got into the wine. It was recalled in 1985. Then workers mixed all that recalled wine with road salt and poured it on icy roads. The ice melted on the highways. For more on this topic, check out the book, The Cook's Encyclopedia, T. Stobart, 1980, pb. 1982, p. 12, and The Times, (London) Dec. 22, 1986, or the book Food in History, by Reay Tannahill, pgs. 294-295.
Resources
The Complete Cook's Encyclopedia of Spices: An Illustrated Guide
The cook's encyclopedia of vegetarian cooking
The cooks encyclopedia of bread machine baking
Cook's Encyclopedia of Soup Meals, Soups & Stews
Amazon.com: The Cook's Encyclopedia of ....32 volumes so far
Amazon.com: The Cook's Encyclopedia of Vegetarian Cooking
Amazon.com: The Cook's Encyclopedia of Soup (Cook's Encyclopedias
The Cook's Encyclopedia of Chocolate, Cook's Encyclopedia Series
The Cooks Encyclopedia for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the
The Cook's Encyclopedia of Bread | Free eBooks Download -
The Cook's Encyclopedia by Gunter Beer & Patrik Jaros - Free
The Cook's Encyclopedia of Baking by Carole Clements - Reviews
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