Page 13 - Summer 2019 Journal

DEADLY FUNGUS
While shrill warnings about measles consume media at- tention, a toxic fungus called Candida auris is spreading unheralded through hospitals, wreaking havoc in intensive care units and premie wards. After taking root in India, Pakistan and South Africa, the fungus has entered the U.S., reaching hospitals in New York, New Jersey and Illinois. C. auris is impervious to antifungal medications; once it invades an institutional setting, it is very difficult to remove. At risk are those with immature
or compromised immune sys-
tems, such as a newborns, the
elderly, smokers, diabetics and
people with autoimmune disor-
ders who take steroids to suppress
the body’s defenses. The public
knows little about C. auris, even
though it is a threat much greater
than measles, but it is impossible
to find out which hospitals harbor
the fungus. Hospitals are reluctant
to disclose outbreaks for fear of
losing customers, and the Centers
for Disease Control, under its
agreement with states, is not al-
lowed to make public the location
or name of hospitals involved in
the outbreaks. As with antibiotics
in animal agriculture, antifungal
drugs called azoles are overused in
crop production—including potatoes, beans, wheat, tomatoes and onions—causing resistant strains to evolve (The New York Times, May 6, 2019). Of course, WAPF-ers know how to protect themselves from deadly organisms with a vitamin- A-rich diet and plenty of fermented foods.
SALAD FROSTING
Kraft has repackaged its best-selling product, Ranch Dress- ing, as “salad frosting,” in order to sell even more of the stuff—oops, according to Kraft, the purpose is “to get kids to eat more greens.” In a promotional campaign, Kraft is asking parents to submit examples of “little white lies” that
they tell their children, in order to get them to eat their salad (Washington Post, June 12, 2019). The campaign has drawn lots of criticism for encouraging parents to lie to their kids, but no one in the media is focusing on the truly horrible ingredients in Kraft Ranch Dressing: soybean oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, MSG, polysorbate 80 and artificial color. (Yes, ranch dressing does contain a small amount of egg yolk, shipped in huge tanker trucks—ever wonder why the indus- try keeps promoting egg white omelets?) The really huge lie
is that “salad frosting” is good for kids!
WHO BEGS TO DIFFER
In the Spring issue, we reported on the EAT-Lancet report, which calls for imposing a plant-based diet on the world’s population in order to save the planet from destruction. But not every- one is convinced. The World Health Organization (WHO) has rescinded its endorsement because of concerns about the impact of such a diet on peo- ple’s health and livelihood. The WHO withdrew its planned sponsorship after Gian Lorenze Cornado, Italy’s ambas- sador and permanent representative of Italy to the international organizations in Geneva, questioned the scientific basis for the diet. Cornado warned that a global move to such a diet could lead
to the loss of millions of jobs linked to animal husbandry and destroy the traditional diets that define the cultural heritage of the world’s population. He also noted that the EAT-Lancet “dietary regime” could be nutritionally deficient for human health. Unfortunately, this voice of reason has been largely ignored; a launch event on March 28 in Geneva, Switzerland, sponsored by the govern- ment of Norway (a country that never in its history consumed a plant-based diet) went ahead as planned (nutritioninsight.
com, April 16, 2019.
THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!
New rules in London ban ads for junk food in the city’s
Caustic Commentary
Sally Fallon Morell takes on the Diet Dictocrats
SUMMER2019 Wise Traditions 11