Phillip Morris continues to deny that secondhand smoke is dangerous to human health, but if the Lancet report is to be believed, its own research contradicts that conclusion. What's interesting about all this is not only that a leading company of Big Tobacco has been caught concealing evidence of the health risks associated with its products, but also that Philip Morris is the parent company of Kraft Foods. And Kraft Foods, of course, is the company that manufactures some of the most popular food products -- such as Oreo cookies and Velveeta cheese food -- that, like cigarettes, are manufactured with ingredients now well known to be associated with various health problems in humans.
For example, Oreo cookies are made with hydrogenated oils. These hydrogenated oils contained trans fatty acids that are now well known to contribute to cardiovascular disease. Other Kraft Foods products are made with refined white flour, added sugars, chemical flavor enhancers such as monosodium glutamate, and carcinogenic preservatives such as sodium nitrite, artificial colors, and other ingredients that nutritionists and authors generally agree contribute to diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Just like its parent Philip Morris, Kraft Foods strongly denies any link between its food ingredients and chronic disease. It also seems to be taking the same political strategy of denial by saying that any food can be part of a healthy diet. This makes about as much sense as saying that any cigarette can be part of healthy breathing. In fact every cigarette a person smokes takes them one step further away from health. In a similar way, every processed food product a person consumes that's made with ingredients like white flour, added sugars, hydrogenated oils, or chemical additives takes them one step further away from human health. There is no processed food made with these dangerous ingredients (called "metabolic disruptors") that is compatible with healthy nutritional habits and that can support optimum human health.
What will be interesting to learn is whether, down the road, evidence will surface showing that Kraft Foods became aware of the devastating health consequences of its own food products and then made a concerted effort to conceal the relevant facts from government regulators and the public. Today, I'm not aware of any such evidence, but knowing the history of its parent company, I would not be at all surprised to see such evidence surface in the years ahead.
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