Docket No. 2003N-0076
Gentlemen,
I am submitting comments from Salem, Oregon where our state legislature recently considered improving school lunch programs and banning junk food. Unfortunately that measure failed. I work in the Salem/Keizer school district. I am appalled at the number of students with acne and obesity problems. When doing lunch duty at one cafeteria, the selection I saw was abominable.
I began researching trans fats when I noticed labels on some Pepperidge Farm products offering the zero trans fat option. I had earlier determined that hydrogenated oils were bad for me. During a regular physical my doctor informed me that my LDL's were slightly elevated. I am fit, and eat healthy foods - or so I thought. I asked my wife if she knew what the problem was and she brought to my attention recent health studies with hydrogenated fats. It turned out that by eliminating one food source - crackers from my diet over a period of two years, my LDL's dropped by 20 points.
I remained unclear what the difference was between trans fats and hydrogenated fats. A chemical engineer at one high school explained the difference. In the cis position, the double bond carbons are accessible by metabolic enzymes, whereas in the trans position this is more of a problem. Hydrogenated fats are created by bubbling hydrogen into the oils eliminating double bond carbons, this thickens the oils making them more useful commercially. Hydrogenated fats increase joint inflammation and probably LDL's from my anecdotal experience.
Based partially upon the Harvard School of Public Health report cited in one study, I find it criminal if not unexpected that with this data out, there is not an immense public outcry. I realize that the current administration, despite its popular rhetoric, considers aiding business its primary function, and unless threatened with loss of votes, essentially ignores the problem. Well, boy howdy, when the parents of our students realize what is happening to their kids thanks to FDA oversight - do the math! Control of the media is only marginally effective with the Internet.
> Walter Willett, M.D. of the Harvard Medical School, who is widely acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on nutrition, estimates that 30,000 or more cases of coronary heart disease are caused each year in this country by trans fats. [Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide To Healthy Eating by Walter C. Willett, M.D, at p. 73.]
 fdadockets@oc.fda.gov Send an outcry to these folks. Use this docket number.
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Please continue your research into chemicals in our food, and start with a recent discovery named neuropeptides, which are the most potent stimulant for feeding ever found. I have been told by a clinical researcher at a veterinary pharm. company that there are dis-reputable pharms. that are labeling this illegal drug for (human consumption) an "organic supplement" to avoid FDA regulations.
NPY and Orexin (neuropeptides) have the ability to make animals obese before adulthood. And as with the steroids and hormones in the beef industry, these chemicals end up in the fat and skin of the animals......and eventually in us.
I find it very difficult to believe that the 3-fold increase in childhood obesity occuring at the same time as the discovery of neuropeptides is a coincidence.
If the beef industry had a genie in a bottle, their first wish would be neuropeptides.
Do a simple google search of NPY to find out how much research has been going on with these chemicals.