Umm...ok?
I don't believe they answered the question, unless they are implying that any and all vitamins made in a lab (which are chemically identical to those found in "natural whole food sources") are bad for you. This sort of mentality drives me crazy. People, science is not out t
o kill you. Science makes our world a better place (when appropriately applied). If you want to go all granola and not give your kids vaccines because you think it'll give them autism, if you want to eat "organic" (another thing that drives me crazy, all food is organic, last time I checked it's all carbon-based, except maybe Twinkies...who knows what are in those things?) food because you're afraid you'll be poisoned by pesticides, if you want to only take "natural" vitamins, then by all means, go ahead. Go ahead and die of polio or hepatitis or the bacteria in your preservative-free food.What do you guys think? Does this restaurant quiz have a point? Are laboratory-made vitamins harmful? Or is this another case of consumer science paranoia?
I agree with you about the vitamins Katie. I think the problem is a lack of public chemical education. We need to start a campaign or something promoting awareness that chemically identical substances are just that, identical.
ReplyDeleteThe only point is that if the lab producing the vitamins are sloppy and don't monitor the goods they sell. Ideally, lab produced vitamins are the same as the natural ones. I synthesize natural products with the intent of future application as medicines. Each final product I make, I compare with the isolated natural product-the NMR, the mass spec, and any other identifying information about the natural product. If it's not the same, the lab medicine isn't going to market until that issue is resolved. So, if the lab producing the vitamins don't run any characterization tests to check the final product, yes there is cause for concern but I can't imagine any company doing that. One other thing to watch out for is additives, vitamins and supplements are not regulated at all by the FDA, so the company could be adding extra "goodies" to the vitamins. But the extras should be printed on the label, and any vague label shouldn't be trusted. I do think there is a consumer paranoia in this area; the average consumer wouldn't necessarily know about characterization testing or additives.
ReplyDeleteDr. Nielson told a story of her father, who I think was a chemist as well. Back before the super strict airline regulations, whenever he would fly, the airport security would ask him "are you carrying any chemicals with you?" To which he would reply "of course I am!" They would then search him, and, unable to find anything they recognized as a chemical, say "I thought you said you were carrying chemicals." He would then reply, "Yes! Everything's a chemical!"
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it really bothers me that so many people associate "natural" with "healthy" or "safe." After all, arsenic (apple seeds) and cyanide (Lima beans) are "all natural" as well. Frankly, I think we need a lot less "natural" in our lives and a whole lot more science. But I may be biased just a little bit . . .
There is one point on which I disagree, though. I think that your criticism of labeling foods as "organic" is unwarranted. As scientists, we have a unique vocabulary, and often we use words differently than the rest of the world. Take the physicist's definition of "acceleration." We often joke that people don't really know what "acceleration" really means, and only we know that you can accelerate to a stop or around a corner. However, the root of the word accelerate is the Latin "accelerare," meaning to speed up. It is in fact we (the scientists) who have appropriated the word accelerate and given it a new meaning. Likewise, the root of the word organic is "organicus" meaning "of or pertaining to an organ." It then came to mean "pertaining to organized life," and only because of a misconception (namely, that carbon-based compounds were unique to living organisms) that organic chemistry came to be named what it is.
Good point Sam. I'm probably just bitter about organic food because of the debate my fifth grade class had over genetically modified foods in which a good 80% of the class believed they were evil and would lead to people getting really big and the world running out of wood to make beds big enough for these big people.
ReplyDeleteEver since, I can't stand organic food. I just think of crazies wearing evil corn costumes in anti genetically modified food rallies (photo courtesy of the Time for Kids article we based our debate on.)
In view of my bias...I rescind my critique. :)
There was a store in the San Francisco Bay area that specialized in "Chemical-Free meat". I was never sure what that was, but I was pretty sure that it was over-priced whatever it was.
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