I love to cook. I started seriously cooking when I was a sophomore and now I'm a graduate student. I bought into eating organic, buying local and keeping meals simple. I've flip-flopped on GMOs as the science develops and I've given up on corn-fed beef permanently.
I've read books about food (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and watched a few films (Food, Inc.). I'm no stranger to the explosion of public discourse surrounding what we eat, where it comes from and what's in it. Thus, when I saw an opinion piece recently about how Subway is feeding us an ingredient in Yoga mats, I felt compelled to respond. My response is in no way a personal attack on Mr. Beynon, but I feel that his piece, published in a public forum, only adds to the pseudo-scientific, sensationalist misunderstanding characteristic of the debate surrounding our food.
First, I want to acknowledge the importance of knowing just what it is that we're eating. Mr. Beynon was correct in his concern about the use of azodicarbonamide, based on his own research. I'm not familiar with it (outside of a Wikipedia search), but if it is connected to skin problems, and if it has been banned in other countries on public health grounds, perhaps we should be wary of it.
However, what I take issue with is the uncritical conflation of Subway sandwiches and Yoga mats. In the debate on food, armchair chemists abound. I'm one of them. However, what I know for certain is this: just because a molecular compound is found in an "unsavory" or "inorganic" everyday object (like a Yoga mat) doesn't mean it is necessarily unfit for human consumption.
Take Sodium Bicarbonate for example. This multi-syllabic compound is an effective household cleaner, paint remover and fabric softener. It's also known to cause serious eye irritation. Nevertheless, it's a principle ingredient in various types of breads, biscuits and cakes. It's also known as baking soda. I assume most of us are aware of this, and I don't mean to equate azodicarbonamide to baking soda, but I do wish to illustrate that "chemicals" and their long names are everywhere in our world.
Eating Subway bread does not mean we're "eating yoga mats" or that there is a "mystery plastic" in our sandwiches. Azodicarbonamide is used in the production of certain plastics, and evidently it's also used in the production of certain breads. But to equate bread and plastic on these grounds is sensationalist and misinformed.
I'd also like to interrogate Mr. Benyon's claim that, "We live in a country where anti-freeze and jet fuel are ingredients." In which foods can we find pure jet fuel and pure anti-freeze? Mr. Benyon does not elaborate. My guess is that we cannot find them in any foods. If there was anti-freeze in our food, we would all be dead. However, there exists the possibility that anti-freeze or jet fuel share certain compounds with certain common foods. This again is a false equivalency that promotes the exciting fictions of sensationalism over the comparably banal reality of the physical sciences.
I agree with Mr. Benyon in general; he's smart to question what he's eating. That's why I feel compelled to clear the air. As consumers, we should demand to know what is in our food, and we should shop within our means to fulfill our ethical principles. However, we should also make an effort to avoid sensationalism. Food, its production and its short and long-term effects on the human body are highly complex areas of study, and an ever-shifting omnibus of research doesn't make things easier on us. By engaging critically and skeptically with sources (especially ones that appear sensational), we can try to drive public debate towards rationality and comprehensive consumer education. We should do our research, then we should fact check that research. Finally, we can begin to undermine the unsavory elements of the food industry by changing our dietary habits and exercising the free market advocacy of buying what we trust, and passing up on what we don't.
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