The holiday season is supposed to be a time of joy, giving, goodwill toward your fellow man. It's supposed to be a time where we put aside our differences and help out where we can. It's supposed to be a time where we look beyond ourselves and our wants, and help those in need.
Unless, of course, you're a pretentious git, and then you find a way to make the holidays more about how much fear you can muster up in your loyal followers (brainwashed minions?).
Yup, Vani Hari has managed to attack a program that hundreds of people rely on at this time of year. The holiday turkey, often given away to customers of supermarkets around the United States and Canada, as their way of thanking people for shopping in their store. Many people would not be able to afford turkeys, let alone groceries above the cost of a turkey, without this free gift from their local market.
There are people who will go shop at the store, take the free turkey, and then (gasp!) donate it to a women's or homeless shelter, so their clients can have turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
In 2014, there were 46.7 million people living in poverty in the United States. 48.1 million people lived in a state of food insecurity. 15.3 million of those were children.
In 2014, 61 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major federal food assistance programs –Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) -- in the prior month.(http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger/hunger-and-poverty/hunger-and-poverty-fact-sheet.html?referrer=https://www.google.ca/)
But when you're Vani Hari, and you can afford organic, free range, heirloom (hair loom?) turkey, why not vilify a program that hundreds - thousands - of people rely on annually, if not daily?
Food Babe claims that she's been to "numerous holiday parties where I had no control over the ingredients" (http://foodbabe.com/2014/11/06/this-drug-has-sickened-thousands-of-animals-will-it-be-at-your-holiday-feast/) and claims she was polite, but that now that she knows what's in food, she just can't sit down and shut up, which believe me, many people would like for her to do.
She's now gone and attacked the "free turkey" program at many grocery stores. You know the ones? Spend a certain amount of money at their store and they will gift you a free turkey for you to serve on your holiday table. Just think of the cost savings!! You need milk and eggs anyway, so go buy your groceries, plus your holiday trimmings and the store will give you your turkey FOR FREE*!! What could be better than that?
Well, if you're Vani Hari, you can certainly FIND something wrong with that, just to ensure her bank account continues to grow. Because there is nothing Vani Hari does better than pad her accounts and line her own pockets through often undeclared affiliate sales through her website.
So, what's her beef (or in this case, why is she crying 'fowl' on) with this program? Well, it would seem that the turkeys the store is going to give you aren't "free of antibiotics, and are raised on a diet of GMOs" (http://foodbabe.com/2014/11/06/this-drug-has-sickened-thousands-of-animals-will-it-be-at-your-holiday-feast/). She claims that turkeys are "pumped full of antibiotics" and blames the use for creating a "major human health issue". Sigh.
But that's not all! Oh no! If you act now, you could also be exposed to **Toxic levels of a drug called Topmax (also known as Ractopamine) (http://foodbabe.com/2014/11/06/this-drug-has-sickened-thousands-of-animals-will-it-be-at-your-holiday-feast/)
(Actually, it's called Ractopamine Hydrocholoride, but let's not confuse Ms. Hari with the big words - after all, she says if you can't pronounce it you shouldn't eat it!!) (http://www.drugs.com/pro/topmax.html)
According to the FDA, Ractopamine Hydrochloride is used as such:
Toms: For increased rate of weight gain and improved feed efficiency in finishing tom turkeys when fed for the last 14 days prior to slaughter.
Hens: For increased rate of weight gain and improved feed efficiency in finishing hen turkeys when fed for the last 7 to 14 days prior to slaughter (http://www.drugs.com/pro/topmax.html)
According to Ms. Hari, this "drug" (food additive for weight gain) is responsible for the deaths of animals and horrible health problems. But according to a study conducted by the FDA, there were no adverse health effects on the turkeys studied:
e. Results Summary No abnormal health concerns were identified. The treatment-related effects associated with muscle were: an increase in the number of animals with mononuclear cell infiltrate and myofiber degeneration (Tables 22 and 23) and an increase in the concentration of serum creatine kinase (Table 24). Additionally, feeding RAC at 13 or 130 ppm to Hybrid finishing hen turkeys was associated with an increase in the number of animals with microscopic muscle alterations. The muscle lesions were of the type reported in clinically normal populations of rapidly growing turkeys. They did not cause any apparent clinical signs (mobility or postural), the muscle was normal at gross examination, and the microscopic alterations were minimal in severity, affecting approximately less than 1% of muscle fibers within a given section
(http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/Products/ApprovedAnimalDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/ucm091516.pdf). The entire study can be read here
And a study done by Health Canada revealed this regarding the pharmacokinetics of the drug:
Ractopamine metabolises solely by conjugation and has relatively short half-life.The entire study can be read here
• Absorption is rapid from gastrointestinal tract, with a fraction of at least 45 % for cattle and more than 85% for swine.
• Tissue distribution of ractopamine is extensive and occurs rapidly
• Total residue reaches the steady-state level 4 days after initiation of feeding
• Non-extractable residues also reach the steady-state level after 4 days and represent 26-29% and 15-16% of total residue in liver and kidney
• Residues relatively persist in liver and kidney but deplete fast from muscle and fat
• Low lipophilicity ( very low level residue found in fat tissue)
• The metabolic rate of ractopamine HCl is similar in the target species (pigs and cattle), laboratory animals and humans
There are warnings on the label (as is highlighted on Ms. Hari's site) that this medication is not for human use, but does that mean because humans shouldn't ingest the drug, that it's unsafe once it's been metabolized in an animal? As a matter of fact, the highest amount of metabolized Ractopamine residue found in the Health Canada study was 0.222 ppm (parts per million) in turkeys. Health Canada's summary found Ractopamine, once metabolized by the animals, is safe for human consumption.
Once again, Ms. Hari is using her talents as a fearmongerer to sway gullible people away from what some people may rely on for the holidays. It must be nice to be able to afford an organic, GMO free, free-range heirloom (hair loom) turkey. After all, you can get one of those for a mere: $89.92 to $104.79 if you were smart enough to pre-order an 18-21 pound turkey from Diesel Turkey Ranch in California (http://diestelturkey.com/).
So, Vani Hari, or Food Babe, as you narcissistically prefer to be called, put your money where your mouth is. With so many people relying on food banks, food stamp programs and so many children living in homes with a high rate of food insecurity, why not donate 1,000 organic, free-range, GMO free turkeys to the less fortunate, so they can eat healthy this holiday too? Let's see you do something for the betterment of mankind, instead of your usual spouting off on topics you don't understand, or, if you do, find the scariest sounding thing to vilify in order to get people flocking to your online store, where you sell products with the same chemicals and additives you so vehemently speak out against.
I call on every reader of this post to send a message to Ms. Hari - if the free turkeys are so bad, why not donate some organic, free-range, GMO free turkeys!?
C'mon Vani - you know you can afford it. You claim to have people's health and well being in mind with your activism. It's the holiday season. Goodwill, kindness towards your fellow man. Let's see you donate at least 1,000 of Vani-approved turkeys to your local homeless or women's shelters.
As for me, I'll be getting my turkey from the grocery store.
*while supplies last
** emphasis is author's own, used in sarcasm
