Too Many Antibiotics in Our Food

Toronto biologist and physician Dr. Victor Fornasier warns about risks to our health

Food, our primary support, is not only a pleasure but also a danger and an everyday concern. It can trigger several illnesses and be less nourishing than before.
In recent weeks these concerns have focussed on salmon, both wild - increasingly scarce due to overfishing carried out by Americans along the Pacific coast - and harvest.
Harvest salmon has been recently accused of causing cancer; some researchers allege that it contains high concentrations of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs).
One of Canada's most prestigious researchers of Italian origin, University of Toronto Professor Victor Fornasier, biologist and laboratory physician, virologist at St. Michael's Hospital, maintains that farmed salmon bears no risk of cancer, but is not safe either, much like many other foods.
"According to analyses, toxicity levels are well below the guidelines given by Health Canada (Health Protection Branch)," said Fornasier. "Wild salmons also have a slight level of toxicity, while farmed ones have three times as much. But we're at very low levels, lower than the risk threshold. We need not worry about cancer."
A real problem, said Dr. Fornasier, is the toxic "bombardment" our organisms suffer from different sources, with salmon being just an example in a list of foods that also includes chicken, fruit, vegetables, and so on.
"Salmon is a very popular food," continued Fornasier. "Along the Pacific coast, Americans are fishing like there's no tomorrow, and the salmon population is fast diminishing. The industry, in order to cope with an ever-increasing demand, started harvesting salmon in controlled environments." But raising salmon in captivity creates numerous sanitary and financial problems, and that's where the danger for consumers comes from.
"In these fish farms," underscored Fornasier, "salmons live in close proximity to one another, and their growth is forced with special feed. Their growth cycle lasts one year instead of two, so by the time they're ready for the market they cost much less."
The fact is that the fish, living in such cramped spaces, can easily contract diseases. Moreover, they live in ponds with little water circulation, so their residues form a filthy mud on the bottom. The fish grow up in this filth and risk getting sick. Then men intervene by adding massive doses of antibiotics to counter this risk."
What do we eat, then? Salmon, antibiotics, or microbes?
"All three. This is what's wrong with our food. The fish must be cooked very well, in order to destroy the antibiotics."
What about the microbes? Does cooking destroy them?
"Some of them yes, others no. The mud houses toxic microbes that do not harm the fish but can harm humans. Unfortunately, many toxins are heat-resistant and reach our digestive tract when we eat the fish."
What happens once we ingest those toxins?
"Some toxins can trigger allergies; others can damage various organs like liver or kidneys; even our intestines can suffer."
Can these agents cause cancer?
"Unfortunately the answer is yes, in the organs I mentioned. We sometimes get patients with intestinal problems. We run every test and can find nothing amiss... sometimes they even have diarrhea with blood in the feces. Well, it can be caused by food."
Are we helpless or is there a way to protect us?
"At times, we are the ones looking for trouble. Take bleaching, for instance: consumers love beautifully white chicken drums, perfectly spotless fruit. The food industry complies by bleaching, and bleach is not good for our health. Where there is abuse, there is damage. It's better not to exaggerate, not to insist on perfect beauty. Fruit must be peeled, vegetables must be washed. It's also important to keep ourselves fit, because a fit body is more resistant to toxic agents. Walking and jogging are healthy habits."
Our food would appear to be less nutritious. How can this be?
"Fruit, vegetables, fish and meat are force-grown, and nutrients have no chance to form properly. Fruit is harvested unripe, and treated with harmful substances to withstand transport. This food is not natural any more, and as far as nutrition goes it is poorer. However, in some cases it can even be richer."
What do you mean?
"I mean that some plants, e.g. wheat, have been genetically selected to make them more resistant to parasites. In those cases, the plants do not need chemical treatments to protect them from parasites, and therefore aren't contaminated by those agents."
So, are our foods more genuine, without chemicals?
"Well, not exactly. The problem remains with chemical soil fertilizers. From the soil, fertilizers go into the plant, and from there to our body. Let's hope they aren't harmful, but who knows what will transpire in 10 years?"
Getting back to salmon, you were saying that they are full of antibiotics which we end up eating. What happens then?
"It happens that some strains of microbes develop resistance to antibiotics; so, the antibiotics we take when we are ill cannot fight those microbes as effectively."
Who's more at risk, adults or children?
"Children are more vulnerable, as usual."
With all we're fed, due also to our demand for picture-perfect foods, one might worry that mankind itself could undergo genetic mutations. Humans are thought to adapt in response to maladies. Do you think they might mutate instead?
"Cancers are caused by damages to our DNA; our cells can be damaged by some toxic chemicals we ingest."
Can you explain with an example?
"If someone takes a hammer blow to one's head, there might be three effects: a big headache, hemorrhage, or brain damage. The degree of damage would depend from the type of hammer used, i.e. whether it is flat and not penetrating or pointed and piercing. It would also depend from that individual's resistance."
How can DNA be attacked?
"DNA can be damaged by X-rays and toxic chemicals; also foreign DNA coming from a virus can penetrate the cell and wreak havoc."
Scientific research has progressed to the point where we can intervene and correct our DNA, can't we?
"We can manipulate DNA, but although we are developing our technique we still can't use it as a therapy. We can find the damage but not repair it yet."
Every day a new discovery is announced and new hope is found for many illnesses.
"We must be careful. We've decoded the human genome, and this disclosed new frontiers. But making a discovery does not automatically mean finding a cure. Contrary to popular opinion, research has longer timetables."

Publication Date: 2004-02-29
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3701