Bakers furious at 'mass medication' of NZ's bread

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
We put iodine in almost all of our salt...

Are we "mass medicating" our salt?

No, we just need iodine. So they put it in salt.

Kind of the same thing.

EDIT- I think everyone here uses iodized salt...

[edit on 5/16/2009 by ravenshadow13]

I try not to use iodized salt. I use sea salt and never buy the regular stuff. The only time I use iodized salt is when I'm at a restaurant or someone else's house and don't want to ask for sea salt.

Just vitamins ?

I thought someone said Medicated ?
Damn I was looking forward to something with a little punch like '___' etc.

Some people are just looking for something to protest or complain against.

I wouldn't mind betting that critics of this folic acid fortification wouldn't think twice about abusing their bodies with marijuana or alcohol, but want to lecture everyone else about Vitamin B

In addition to the concerns raised by others already, I think that this step is symptomatic of a general problem in westernized health care that can have serious political and personal repercussions.

That is the belief that there is a responsibility on the part of several government agencies to take people's health into their own hands because there are some segments of the population who are not receiving adequate health care or nutrition.

In other words, instead of distributing folic acid supplements to women at risk of deficiencies during pregnancy and allowing those women who are already supplementing their intake either through very careful meal planning or through prenatal vitamins, they choose to supplement everyone's folic acid, man, woman, and child, by adding it to flour.

The justification is that this ensures that even those babies most at risk for complications due to maternal malnutrition or nutritive deficiencies will have enough folic acid to prevent the very serious complications such deficiencies are associated with. And perhaps in the case of folic acid in flour this isn't such a big deal; much as there are few really serious downsides to the introduction of iodine in table salt.

But it is just one instance of an attitude about people's ability to make their own choices in health care that can lead to more serious decisions.

For instance: it is standard practice in the U.S. to give every newborn a vaccination for Hepatitis B in case their mother has the virus. The question of course is, why not test the mother instead, and postpone the vaccination until a later doctor's visit since a newborn has virtually no other chance of contracting HepB (a sexually transmitted virus) other than through exposure during the birth process.

But since at-risk mothers are most likely to either not have been tested during pregnancy or to have contracted the disease since their test, and studies show that babies who do not get the vaccine on the day of their birth have lower rates of vaccination later, they choose to make it standard.

This is not just a slippery-slope argument; it is a call to look at our assumptions about our own responsibility in our health care choices, and our responsibility to make it easier for those who have more significant challenges in making those choices and getting access to needed care to do so. That would help remove the need to mass-supplement all of our food for the benefit of the few.

reply to post by sy.gunson


Nope, not at all. No alcohol or drugs here.. and that is all my choice. Here, we New Zealanders get No Choice, despite 87% of us being dead-set against it.

I know of some local bakers whom are going to refuse to comply with this law, and I know plenty of people who are worried about this, and seeking out organic suppliers even if it does work out a bit more expensive.

I am sick of tired of foods being 'medicated' supposedly for our own good. From the fluoride in the water, to iodised salt, to melamine and aspartame to canola and sucrose, these additives are killing us. We are all getting cancer, becoming diabetic, generally unhealthier as a human race. Monsanto have an iron grip over the world food supply and Codex Alimentarius is only going to make matters worse. Those of you who are adamant there is nothing to be worried about should at least watch the documentary 'Monsanto - Controlling Our Food' and at least be aware of the nefarious machinations at work here-

Google Video Link

The good news is that the New Zealand government is actually considering dumping the scheme ...let's hope that common sense and concern for the common good prevails in the end.

[edit on 18-5-2009 by RiotComing]

Originally posted by star in a jar
reply to post by Flighty
Interesting, thanks for the info, I didn't know it was only good for around 4 months from the time of conception.

Unfortuantely, a lot of pregnancies aren't planned and a lot of women don't know they are pregnant until sometimes the 2nd or 3rd month, which is the period of time when Folic Acid is the most beneficial.

According to the following site, it says that FA is also beneficial in the prevention of heart problems in babies as well. This is new to me as I thought it was mainly to prevent Spina Bifida.

The cost of heart surgery in infants born with heart defects is apparently the driving force for the Canada scheme.
And yet, it seems that Obesity and the mother being older also play a huge part in increasing the odds for heart abnormalities.

It also states that excess Folic Acid causes Anemia in the elderly.
Who knows what health effects an excess of FA could cause in Men?
It's all a bit hit and miss to me.

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
We put iodine in almost all of our salt...

Are we "mass medicating" our salt?

No, we just need iodine. So they put it in salt.

Kind of the same thing.

EDIT- I think everyone here uses iodized salt...

You're wrong. I personally have to avoid iodised salt for medical reasons which is nearly impossible to do.

Too much iodine can cause an over active thyroid which can cause thyroid storm which is where your metabolism is sped up so much you can drop dead from a heart attack. The reason iodine is added to salt is to prevent birth defects in pregnancy. It only really helps everyone else if they are deficient in iodine which is unlikely with western diets.

health.msn.com...
What happens if you don't get enough?

Due to the widespread use of iodized salt, deficiency is rare in the United States. However, iodine deficiency affects millions of people worldwide and is identified as the most common cause of preventable brain damage in the world. Major international efforts are currently under way to reverse and prevent this problem. Iodine deficiency disease (IDD) results in a range of symptoms from mild to severe including goiter (an enlarged thyroid gland and usually the earliest sign), mental retardation, hypothyroidism (too little thyroid hormone), and varying degrees of growth and development abnormalities.

What happens if you get too much?

Individuals can tolerate a wide range of iodine intakes because the thyroid gland regulates the body's level of this mineral. Acute intakes—those ingested over a short time period—can cause burning of the mouth, throat and stomach; fever; gastrointestinal illness, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea; a weak pulse; and coma. In iodine-sufficient populations, chronic intakes at levels above the tolerable upper intake level (UL) have the following adverse effects: goiter (an enlarged thyroid gland), hypothyroidism (too little thyroid hormone), hyperthyroidism (too much thyroid hormone) and thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland).

As for synthetic folic acid.. I do not know if it can be toxic is high amounts.. but iodine can be so there's no reason to assume it's harmless without question. I do not like the idea of bakers being forced to add any synthetic vitamins to bread. They should have a choice and so should consumers.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by riley]

The sad thing is this will (if its actually harmful) affect the poorest people the most again.The government will probably argue that this is to help the poor.
But as we all know poor families nearly live on bread as its a great filler with all meals and of course they buy the cheapest bread which will have the folic acid added to it, where as the more well off can afford to buy organic or make our own thus avoiding any potential risks.

Whilst I understand Folic acid is good for you , the troublesome part of the story is the 'ARTIFICIAL' folic acid. Anything Artiificial is bad for you.
Like the fluoride issue, we get fluoride naturally in a load of foodstuffs but TPTB think it's in our best interests to innundate everything it these artificial products.

Wow, I bought a bag of regular Robin Hood flower to bake cookies a couple of weeks ago - That ain't flower, I'll use it for cratfs - for glue!

Seriously folks, Nutricide and Ecoside, crimes our Governments should dearly pay for, what a bunch of twits. Removing all nutrients and replacing them with synthetic materials to keep us sick and pathetic, I am not a machine.

reply to post by beautyfrompain


Use your Wikipedia if you must but try looking deeper.

It doesn't take but a few extra seconds to research beyond into [color=gold]Harvard and see what some experts think.

There are probably more sources of adverse effects of government mandated food additives if you are interested. If a whole crew of bakers gets angry there's probably a reason. If a herd of retards were upset I don't believe anyone but the ACLU would notice.

Bakers RoCK!


[edit on 5·19·09 by DrMattMaddix]