Consumer Alert:
Dihydrogen monoxide causes major risks! Accidental inhalation of it can be lethal. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting, and even severe burns in its gaseous state. It is a major component in acid rain, it contributes to soil erosion, and it decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes.
The dangers of dihydrogen monoxide—commonly known as water—are very real. But would we give up water? Of course not. Water is something all living things need; humans cannot survive more than five to seven days without it. We cannot expect zero risk with water, but we make a decision to enjoy its significant benefits while minimizing its risks. All substances—even those that are necessary and valuable—can produce adverse health effects, even within normal use, at some level or form of exposure or consumption. Whether we are driving a car, playing sports, or even eating and drinking, we weigh benefits and risks in all that we do.
While scientific evidence gives way to proclamations that a food is "as safe as" another food, what we want to hear is that it is "absolutely safe." Indeed, ensuring that food is safe and wholesome is a coordinated effort between regulatory agencies, the food industry, health professionals, and others along the food supply chain, as well as consumers. Even with these stringent safety measures in place, safety cannot be guaranteed. However, we do have the ability to understand the risks and uncertainties that we face, distinguish those that require concern, and take action to minimize factors that can have a real impact on our health.
Persistent Misperceptions...and New Things to Worry About
"There's no way to completely get rid of all the uncertainty we face," said Dr. George Gray, Executive Director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and co-author of RISK: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You. "We can never say there's absolutely no risk with anything we do. What's changed over the last 50 years is that we've started to identify and worry about things that are very small risks, things that we didn't even think about in the past."
These days, a myriad of issues cause consumers to worry. Negative headlines and reports—like the example of dihydrogen monoxide—fuel their concerns. Too often, though, alarming reports present only one side of the issue and may not put perceived risks into perspective.
For instance, foods produced through biotechnology continue to be controversial to some. Opponents say that they pose unacceptable risks to human health. Yet numerous food safety authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, American Medical Association, and Society of Toxicology, agree that the risks associated with eating biotech foods are speculative and that the evidence points to their safety.
"As far as human health, I don't think that people need to be concerned about genetically engineered foods," said Gray.
Indeed, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the National Academy of Sciences released reports in 2004 that indicated that no adverse health effects attributed to the consumption of biotech foods have been documented in the human population.
According to Mary Lee Chin, a registered dietitian, "The risks that we see in biotechnology are primarily potential risks. What we know for sure is that there are a lot of benefits that have been proven and I would hate to see the 'fear of the unknown' put a stop to the good that we know can happen."
Consumers also tend to misinterpret the risks from pesticide traces of residues, ranking the risk from pesticides as a much greater threat to human health than poor nutrition. In reality, there is no proof that traces of pesticide residues on foods are linked to illnesses or deaths.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Surgeon General, the American Cancer Society and numerous other health authorities agree that the health benefits of eating more produce far outweigh any possible pesticide residue risks.
"What we know from studies in public health is that the influence of the diet on your health is much stronger than any risk that comes from pesticide residues on your food," said Gray.
Taking Action...to Obtain Realistic Results
Scientific evidence now indicates that excess intake of some dietary fats, namely saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, can raise "bad" cholesterol levels, thereby increasing risk of heart disease. This information has led to news reports about trans fatty acids that have raised public concern about consuming foods that contain them. Trans fats are a component of partially hydrogenated oils, an ingredient in some varieties of packaged foods, and they are also naturally present in animal products.
Naturally, the consumer inclination may be to eliminate trans fats to ensure zero risk of heart disease. But "zero consumption" would be impractical and unnecessary. In addition, dietary fats, and specifically trans fat, are not the only factor in heart disease risk. A 2002 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a component of the National Academy of Sciences, offering recommendations for healthful eating stated that people should keep consumption of trans fats as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet. However, the IOM report did not propose an all-out ban of trans fats. Trans fats are in many types of foods, so consumers may not meet their other nutritional requirements if they completely remove all foods with trans fats from their diets.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that consumers minimize their trans fat intake to reduce any potential risks. The AHA also strongly advises an overall lifestyle approach, not a "magic bullet" or single nutrient approach, to reducing heart disease risk. Again, it is a reduction of risk, not an absolute elimination of risk.
Measures can also be taken to decrease, but not eliminate, the potential risks posed by foodborne illness. For example, the bacteria Campylobacter, Salmonella, and E.coli O157:H7, which can be found in foods, pose substantial risks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 76 million Americans get sick, 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from foodborne illnesses.
The good news is that the impact of these pathogens is decreasing. In April 2004, the CDC noted significant declines from 1996 to 2003 in illnesses caused by E. coli O157:H7 (42%), Salmonella (17%), and Campylobacter (28%).
Why the improvement? Government agencies and the food industry, from the farm to the retail store, employ extensive measures to ensure that the U.S. food supply is one of the safest in the world. Still, zero risk cannot be guaranteed because it is always possible that harmful bacteria will be present in food—whether the food is from a store, a restaurant, or your own kitchen.
"There are things that consumers can do at home to reduce their risks that will make a difference," said Dr. Gray. "Proper cooking, proper handling and proper storing are really important in reducing some of the food risks."
All along the food chain, various procedures and control mechanisms are implemented to ensure that food is safe for consumption, that the risks of contamination are minimized, so that consumers are healthier from the benefits of safe, quality food.
But it is important to understand that the best safety measures and control systems—and even the methods that we use at home—cannot ensure zero risk.
"We can't get 'no risk,' but we can make good choices," said Gray. "The important thing to remember with making decisions about your diet is that it's important to have variety, to get different sorts of foods and all the different nutrients you need. Those are the choices that are far more important than any choice you might make based on concerns about risks."
Health professionals and other food communicators can work to help consumers not only understand what risks that they face and the methods that they can use to reduce those risks, but also understand the absence of "zero." We understand a lot about the world and learn more every day, but uncertainty will always be there because there is no aspect of life that is not variable to some degree. We can understand that the risks we face in life determine our priorities for dealing with them, and take action to improve our health both today and in the future.
