You are what you eat...

I'm on a soapbox today, so bear with me. In 2009, President Obama appointed a man named Michael Taylor as food safety adviser to the FDA commissioner. Michael Taylor is the former vice president of public policy at Monsanto. Monsanto, in case you don't know, is a large corporation that's been around for a long time. In the past, they've created such exciting things as Agent Orange and pesticides. More recently, they've begun to diversify their interests, especially in the food industry where they've introduced genetically modified organisms (GMO) and growth hormones (re: steroids) into food of all kinds.

Taylor spent many of his Monsanto hours blocking testing of GMOs and lobbying against clearly defined labeling. Now this person is in a high position at the FDA...whaatttt? During his tenure so far, he's spent taxpayer money on prosecuting dairy farmers who are selling raw milk, claiming that raw milk carries dangerous food-borne illnesses. (According to the CDC, only .5% of reported food-borne illnesses can be traced to raw milk, but let's not let the facts stand in the way.) Additionally, the FDA under his watch has rung in the new year by making it easier than ever for livestock companies to inject all kinds of antibiotics into meat, including cephalosporins, which were banned before now. And you can't always trust labels that say otherwise, thanks to his belief that the public doesn't need to know everything. As a final note, the FDA approved the use of the sweetener neotame (derived from aspartame) for broad usage despite having undergone minimal testing on humans. This was done in 2002, by the way. Interestingly enough, neotame was created by Monsanto (surprise). Even more interesting? The FDA doesn't require companies to list it as an ingredient on packaging labels. Anyone who's consumed any processed food in the last DECADE has ingested this sweetener unknowingly.

We have to step up and demand better!


To sign a petition for the removal of Michael Taylor from the FDA:
http://signon.org/sign/tell-obama-to-cease-fda.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=2418028

For more information about neotame:
http://www.feingold.org/PF/neotame.html
http://www.neotame.com/

For more information about recent changes in antibiotic policy:
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/penicillin_0206121231.html

For more information about raw milk legislation:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/10791-states-consider-raw-milk-legislation

For articles/blogs related to Michael Taylor:
http://sundial.csun.edu/2012/02/former-monsanto-exec-taylor-not-fit-to-serve-in-obamas-fda/
http://americanvisionnews.com/1674/former-monsanto-lawyers-now-fda-czar-leads-raids-on-amish-organic-producers
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2012/01/michael_taylor_fda_petition.php
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/monsanto-petition-tells-obama-cease-fda-ties-to-monsanto/2012/01/30/gIQAA9dZcQ_blog.html