Sawdust

Dedicated to Bill and Jane for their inspirational endeavors to eat healthy and to live active lives! 

There should be no question as to what sawdust is, but purely for clarification and to assure you that there is no hidden meaning here, sawdust is the fine residue remaining after a piece of wood, for example, is sanded or cut by a saw or other implement / tool.  Why it's called sawdust, and not wood dust, is beyond the realm of this discussion but perhaps something to mull over in a future posting.  Wikipedia may have it right as it defines sawdust as "sawdust, or wood dust, is a by-product of cutting, grinding, drilling or otherwise pulverizing wood with a saw or other tool; it is composed of fine particles of wood." 

At least the "dust" part of  sawdust creates a perfect visual imagery because that "dust" seems to get into and onto everything that is even remotely located near the source.  One could wrap, seal, cover or create what appears to be an perfectly airtight environment but regardless of one's best efforts, sawdust still finds a way to permeate, like a virus, wherever air flows.  If only there were some financial value to this waste product called sawdust - then maybe there would be monetary incentive to recycle sawdust instead of just sweeping it into a trash can.

Well, again Tommy, someone beat you to the U.S. Patent Office because there are several commercial uses for sawdust, or wooden particles.  One of the most common usage is found in "particle board" from which a man-made wooden boards are constructed from bonding wood shaving, sawdust and glue.  A lot of furniture, cabinets and panel boards are now made from wood particles.  Another ordinary use is to toss sawdust on the garage floor, or driveway, to soak-up oil from leaks or spills.  Even some popular eating and drinking establishments throw sawdust on the floor to create an Western-style motif / atmosphere which may be their rationale to charge you higher prices for their food and drinks.  Finally, sawdust is added to compost piles or directly onto the ground to help retain moisture and to encourage plant growth. 

I am sure that there are many other useful applications for sawdust that you could add to the examples above, but would you ever conceive the thought that an ever-growing use of sawdust is for consumption, as in food consumption, and not for animals but for the you's and me's of this world?

Now, I've chewed my share of toothpicks over the years, and after reading the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I may have been encouraged to chomp on some tree twigs to get in touch with Mother Nature, but I never envisioned eating wood products as part of any of my daily meal's entree - as I am sure that you would agree with me.  However, before you chide in here, be forewarned that you most assuredly have also consumed your fair share of sawdust, even perhaps as part of your most recent meal or snack.

OK, before we go searching the list of ingredients on the food packages in your pantry, or in your refrigerator, we must first know how the food industry identifies sawdust as an ingredient (you know, break the code), because obviously they would not call it for what it is (sawdust) else we would never buy that particular product - right?  And in lieu of me just telling you what to look for on the packages, let's have some fun with this and play a game of scavenger hunt.  But instead of a long list of scavenger items to search for, here there will only be one item and I will provide you with clues to save some time and frustration.  You see, I am most certain that almost every household kitchen has either a container of grated (Parmesan) cheese or a package of shredded cheese.  Did you go get yours from the kitchen yet?  Go ahead and bring the items back here with you, I will wait for you.

Good, now as you peruse the list of the cheese ingredients look for "powdered cellulose" or "cellulose powder" or some facsimile thereof.  Yes, cellulose is the code word for sawdust and just to convince you further, if necessary, just Google the words "powdered cellulose in cheese" and see for yourself.  Go ahead, again I will wait for you.

Did you find that powdered cellulose is defined as "minuscule pieces of wood pulp or other plant fibers that coat the cheese and keep it from clumping by blocking out moisture..., and that "...cellulose products, gums and fibers, allow food manufactures to offer white bread with high dietary fiber content, low-fat ice cream that still feels creamy on the tongue, and allow cooks to sprinkle cheese over their dinner without taking time to shred."  Convinced yet?  If you keep looking you will find popular brand named foods openly state that wood fibers (sawdust) are used as additives to their food products!

So what is the big deal you may ask?  As far as eating sawdust goes, no real big deal there!  It appears that cellulose is nothing more than natural fiber and it's obviously been approved by the FDA as being safe for human consumption.  Some sources compare cellulose fiber to eating a stalk of celery.  I may agree in part but definitely not in principle, and I certainly do not accept the premise that FDA approval equates to being safe for human consumption as we shall discuss forthcoming.

Of course, if I am going to eat sawdust then I would want to know that I am consuming such before the fact, and I would prefer that the sawdust be certified organic!   And folks, this is precisely what the main point that this post addresses which is: We do not always know what's in our food and the food industry, in full cooperation with the FDA, prefers to keep it that way!  If it were any other way then why would Monsanto, for example, continue to resist identifying foods that are genetically modified and why does not the FDA require truth in labeling apply to genetically modified foods as they do in other food labeling laws?

Warning:  If you are not informed about genetically modified organisms (GMO) then you better get up to speed really fast!

I'll grant you that digesting sawdust my not be the best example to convince you to become proactive in researching what is in the food that you consume, so let's try another example.  This time instead of a scavenger hunt let's play a game of Kreskin where I will read your mind - are you ready?

You said "yes"!

What is the first name that comes to your mind when you hear "fast food"? 

You said "McDonalds"!

Beside french fries, what McDonald's entree do kid's (little or big) ask for the most? 

You said "McNuggets"!  Of course you did, I would not lie to you - ha!

Now the biggie question - what is in a Chicken McNugget? 

You said "chicken"! 

Well, you are only partially correct there!  Did you know that it's factory-farmed chicken, not free-range chicken, and it's the kind that's typically treated with vaccines and growth hormones while being fed conventional feed products medicated with pharmaceuticals and grown with pesticides.

Still not too big a deal, right, probably because the majority of chickens that American's consume are not labeled as "free-range" or "organically-fed" and fit the above description.  However, if you peruse McDonald's web site for nutritional information you will also find that their Chicken McNuggets also contain:

• hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ
• citric acid added to preserve freshness
• Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

Huh?  Precisely "huh?"

Unless you are a chemical engineer or a nutritional expert then you would probably not know that ...

"At least two of these ingredients are artificially synthesized industrial chemicals. TBHQ, a petroleum derivative, is used as a stabilizer in perfumes, resins, varnishes and oil field chemicals. Laboratory studies have linked it to stomach tumors. "At higher doses, it has negative health effects on lab animals, such as producing precursors to stomach tumors and damage to DNA. A number of studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high doses of TBHQ may be carcinogenic, especially for stomach tumors."

Dimethylpolysiloxane, a type of silicone, is used in caulks and sealants, as a filler for breast implants, and as key ingredient in Silly Putty. Says Wikipedia: "PDMS is also used as a component in silicone grease and other silicone based lubricants, as well as in defoaming agents, mold release agents, damping fluids, heat transfer fluids, polishes, cosmetics, hair conditioners and other applications. PDMS has also been used as a filler fluid in breast implants, although this practice has decreased somewhat, due to safety concerns. PDMS is used variously in the cosmetic and consumer product industry as well. For example, PDMS can be used in the treatment of head lice..."

Not that the other ingredients are any better. Because cotton is not regulated as a food crop, cottonseed oil may contain chemical pesticides that are banned in food production. It is also almost always genetically modified. Hydrogenated oils, of course, typically contain trans fats, the artificially produced fats that are unusable by the body and that studies have linked to a number of detrimental health problems. And autolyzed yeast extract is a chemical taste-enhancing ingredient containing free glutamate that manufacturers use as a friendlier-looking replacement for MSG."

In the spirit of full-disclosure the source quoted above is from "FoodMatters.TV"

In other words, McDonald's Chicken McNuggets barely contains anything edible and everything that should be avoided unless you are a building, a machine, or a chemical factory!  Thank you very much but I'll take the sawdust please!

Still not convinced that you should be more cognizant of what is in the food that you and your loved ones are eating.  If not, then I must deduct that you are a liberal that voted for Obama because you do not care about yourself, or others, as long as you are being fed and are given free cell phones! 

However, if you are concerned then there is one more issue that has grave consequences both upon your health and upon the world's food supply which is - Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)! 

Time for another quiz.  Can you name the most toxic chemical known to science? 

If you said Dioxin then you would be correct, or if you answered with the more recognizable application of dioxin know as "Agent Orange" then you would still be correct.  Many of us recall Agent Orange from its widespread use during the Viet Nam war where is was used to defoliate the forests in an effort to find where the "enemy" was hiding.  However, we have since learned that Agent Orange, or more specifically dioxin, (simply stated as "bad stuff"), should be avoided by every measure because it can kill you or make you wish that it had if you succumb to its poisoning effects. 

Even with this limited introduction to dioxin you would assume that the FDA would agressively seek to minimize American citizens' exposure to such a dangerous chemical - right?  Wrong!  Instead, the FDA recently approved the use of Agent Orange in genetically modify Florida oranges.  In fact, the majority of corn and soy harvested in the United States and Canada are GMO products and as much as 80% of all packaged foods contain GMOs and yet the FDA deems the effort not worthy to require labeling them as genetically modified plants!  Why?  To answer that I suggest that one start with Monsanto and follow the money!

You are probably eating genetically modified foods during every meal and you don’t even know it.  Don't you think that you have the right to know what you’re serving yourself or to your family?

Again, the main point of this post is not to expose the FDA or Monsanto but to hopefully get you motivated enough so you will want to learn what's in your food before you eat and not after you get sick from exposure to deadly caustic chemicals on, in, or genetically spliced into your food!

Are you convinced yet?

If you are at least a bit curious I'll leave you wth some simple strategies that should help minimize your exposure to dangerous, cancer causing foods.

1. Maximize your diet with certified organically grown foods;

2. Consume more food grown on a plant and less of food made in a plant;

3. Avoid all products that contain the word "artificial";

4. If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it;

5. Finally, eliminate all products that have chemicals listed in them.

 

Bon Appétit !

And God said, "See, I have given you every herb [that] yields seed which [is] on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.  Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.  (Gen 1:29,30)