Fluoride-NOT required on food labels
Most of us agree that fluoride does not contribute to good health and should be eliminated from our diets. However it’s usually impossible to find out what foods actually contain fluoride – since it is not required to be included on product labels.
Tea
It’s so sad that green and black teas are LOADED with fluoride. Granted, some brands of tea have more fluoride than others, though there’s no way of knowing which teas are low in fluoride and which are high – without expensive fluoride testing equipment and the knowledge of how to use it. Some people tell themselves that organic teas are low in fluoride but there is no research numbers that support that notion. And since fluoride content doesn’t have to be on the label, we have no idea what’s in the stuff.
Personally, I replaced green and black teas with yerba mate, herb teas, and yes, coffee – all of which have multiple research reports of having very low to no fluoride content.
Processed Meats
The fluoride content of processed meats is high because almost always it’s mechanically deboned. That means bone scrapings or bone dust ends up in the meat. Since fluoride is stored in bones, this raises the fluoride level of mechanically deboned meats – a LOT! And mechanically deboned meat includes tasty treats such as lunch meats, burgers, wieners, cooked sausages, chicken nuggets and pureed meat baby foods.
How much fluoride does mechanically deboned meat have? A single serving (71 g or 2.5 ounces) of mechanically separated pureed chicken baby food contains 0.6 mg fluoride.(6) Mechanically deboned beef and pork contains 4 – 19mg per pound of meat. (1)(2). That’s more than enough.
Fruit Juice and Wine
Grape juice AND wine are quite high in fluoride – because of the fluoride-based pesticide called cryolite that’s used in growing the grapes. We know, for example, that Gerber’s White Grape Juice comes complete with 6.8mg fluoride/liter; We also know that Welch’s white grape juice has nearly 2mg fluoride/liter(3). And topping off our juice tour, we find that California Wine has up to 5mg fluoride/liter. (4)
You might be wondering, “But maybe MY glass of grape juice or wine hasn’t been exposed to Cryolite!” Right. Maybe not. And maybe. Since again, it’s not required to be put on the label, we have NO way of knowing. There are no clues. We’re in the dark about what we’re consuming.
And if grape juice and wine are high in fluoride, of course raisins are too! (4)
Fruits, Vegetables, and all Edibles
Then of course there’s the sulfuryl fluoride fumigations that crank up the fluoride content of any and every food product present during warehouse fumigations with sulfuryl fluoride. Packaged foods and fresh fruits and vegetables are in warehouses that are fumigated every few months. These fumigations legally result in up to 70ppm (or about 32mg/pound) fluoride “in or on” food products.
And wheat can end up with up to 130ppm (or about 59mg/pound) from these fumigations. Sorry, that’s not on any label you’ll ever find either.
Sneaky Odds and Ends
• Processed cereals, for babies and big people, and canned fruits and vegetables tend to have higher fluoride content owing to the use of fluoridated water in processing them.
• Canned fish and shellfish, especially sardines, show up high in fluoride, especially those that contain fish bones. A three-ounce serving of canned sardines has about 0.3 milligrams of fluoride. (7)
• Fluoridated salt: Some countries intentionally fluoridate their salt – similar to other countries that fluoridate their water. The US and Canada do not fluoridate salt. Red and black salt and items containing red and black salt (especially rock) are high in fluoride.
• Teflon is a fluorine compound that, when overheated, releases some of the Teflon into the air. The fluorine compound also merges with the food in the pan.
• Prescription medications: The anesthetics enflurane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane contain fluorine as do many antidepressants, antipsychotics and other prescription medications.
As any fluoride-avoiding consumer will tell you, testing the fluoride content in ANYTHING is not popular.
The equipment for conducting your own testing is expensive and different types of items to be tested require differen
t types of equipment. Before you know it, you could spend your own inheritance PLUS your children’s and your neighbor’s – just on your own personal set of fluoride testing equipment.
But if I had the money, that’s what I’d do. I’d just LOVE to figure out the fluoride levels in our foods. I’m tired of wondering and guessing.
Arsenic is not allowed in foods. If arsenic were allowed in foods, it would most certainly have to be labeled accordingly. We need to have the fluoride content of consumables put on the label so that we know what we’re eating.
REFERENCES
1 Field RA, et al. J. Animal Science 43 ,755 (1976)
2 http://www.poisonfluoride.com/pfpc/html/f-_in_food.html
3 Stannard, J.G., et al. Fluoride Levels in Fruit Juices. The Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry. Volume 16. 1991.
4 Burgstahler, AW et al. Fluoride in California wines and raisins. Fluoride; 30: 142-146, 1997.
5 T oxicological Profile for Fluorides: Draft Profile for Public Comment. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Public Health Service.
6 Fein NJ, Cerklewski FL. Fluoride content of foods made with mechanically separated chicken. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Sep;49(9):4284-6.
7 Kendall, A. Facts about Fluoride. University of Florida, IFAS Extension. FCS 8798.
4 Responses to “Fluoride-NOT required on food labels”
Sometimes we forget that life is simple. We are born to die. Can’t get any simpler than that.
Until that time we try to live our life to the fullest. The first thing we do is purchase a rain barrel. If you live in a fluoridated community all the fresh vegetables are sprayed with fluoridated water. It makes those greens look real nice and delicious. Take those greens home and give them a bath in your rain water barrel. Rain water does not have fluoride but it does contain about ( 13 pmm of dissolved oxygen. More than you will get any where else. Every one needs more oxygen. The rain water will dilute the fluoride . How much rain water do you need ? It depends on how much you put in. Grams = ounces . I would have to say that any thing over five gallons will dilute a pound of vegetables. When fluoride is put in the water supply it is called pollution by dilution. Now you are using dilution to rid pollution.
There are two baby food companies. One uses fluoridated water. If my memory is correct Gerber’s is the bad guy. The other uses well water. That cute little baby now has a choice as to witch one to eat
The food you eat is poisoning you big time. Once fluoride is put in the water it is every where and in every thing. Packaged foods can be processed in fluoridated water and then dehydrated. A pork ham looks good but the brine was made using fluoridated water. The chicken on the spit looks good but the supplier puts the chicken in a solution made with fluoridated water that makes the breading stick to the chicken.
For the high rollers who drink alcohol and are not concerned about fluoride, hear is a wake up call. Brandy is made from grapes. Grapes in this country are loaded with fluoride. The grapes are mashed and the alcohol removed later the mash is put back in the alcohol for taste and then it is strained to remove the mash.
Whisky is made from grain and the grain has to be sprayed with a pesticide to kill bugs.
Prescription drugs and over the counter drugs contain fluoride.
Fluoride poisoning is every ones business
All of Pennsylvania Ohio Illinois Minnesota are fluoridated by act of the Governor. Those fresh green vegetable in the store are sprayed with water. Fluoridated water. Go home and wash the vegetables off ( With what ? Fluoridated water ? ) Just a small glimpse of reality.
Your last comment is important… Sodium Fluoride is what a pest control company would use when tenting a home for termite elimination yet they put it in everything…water, toothpaste, spray it on foods as a insect repellent, in our cook wear, etc….it is in so much that people ingest yet, this is what they use to kills termites. You don’t find this ludicrous? I do!!!!