Veg-Edu: Robert Cohen calls "Soymilk in Schools: A Bad Idea"

[Maynard S. Clark]

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Maynard

Robert Cohen <notmilk at earthlink.net> wrote:
To: notmilk at yahoogroups.com
From: "Robert Cohen" 
Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 12:42:08 -0000
Subject: NOTMILK - Soymilk in Schools: A Bad Idea

In March of 2004, America's House of Representatives passed the Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act (HR 3873) which allows schoolchildren (written parental permission required) to drink soy milk as an alternative to cow's milk.

The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM.org) called that decision "good news for American schoolchildren" but criticized USDA's decision to continue to reimbuse schools for cow's milk while neglecting to do the same for soymilk.

PCRM has missed the mark on this one. Schools should not be reimbursed for soy or cow's milk. Schools should be serving nature's perfect drink to kids, water. PCRM should encourage a "Drink Water, Not Milk" program. By insisting on commercially prepared soymilk as an alternative to cow's milk, PCRM is dispensing poor medical advice.

Commercially prepared soymilk could be almost as dangerous to consumers as cow's milk. Why? The presense of artificial emulsifiers in leading soymilk brands compromises a child's health. In seeking to produce a smooth and creamy product, soymilk manufacturers add carrageenan to their beverage.

Carrageenan is a commonly used food additive that is extracted from red seaweed by using powerful alkali solvents. These solvents would remove the tissues and skin from your hands as readily as would any acid.  Carrageenan is the same substance used to de-ice airplane wings as they sit on tarmacs during winter snowstorms.

Make your own soymilk and add vaseline petroleum jelly and blend well, and you reproduce the emulsifying effects of commercially prepared soy beverages. Many people experience indigestion after ingesting soymilk and incorrectly blame their negative reactions on soy. It's the carrageenan. In the case of schoolchildren, such discomfort can reduce their ability to learn. This is the last thing that minority children living in heavily subsidized, impoverished  neighborhoods need. Carrageenan does not do their bodies any good.

Should kids drink cow's milk in school?

Frank Oski, MD, Chief of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Medical School wrote:

"At least 50% of all children in the United States are allergic to milk, many undiagnosed. Dairy products are the leading cause of food allergy, often revealed by constipation, diarrhea, and fatigue. Many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and even eliminated by cutting out dairy."

In May of 1998, the European Journal of Medical Pharmacology reported:

"Allergic asthma and rhinitis, atopic dermatitis (AD) urticaria and gastrointestinal allergy, are common diseases of infants and children. Cow's milk appears to be the most common offending food both in gastrointestinal and in cutaneous manifestations of atopic disease. It was recently estimated that 14% of children suffer from AD and about 25% from adverse reactions to cow's milk."

Carrageenan is a thickening agent. It's the vegetarian equivalent of casein, the same protein that is isolated from milk and used to thicken foods. Casein is also used to produce paints and is the glue used to hold a label to a bottle of beer. In reality, carrageenan is worse than casein. The molecular structure of carrageenan is galactose, a milk sugar. Lactose is comnprised of two sugars, glucose and galactose. Dr. David Gordon considers galactose to be a key factor in the development of America's number one killer, heart disease. For more on the negatives of consuming galactose, see:

http://notmilk.com/deb/090599.html

After reading the above link, I am certain that you will carefully read labels, and forever eliminate galactose and carrageenan from your diet. Please urge PCRM to begin a "Drink Water, Not Milk" school campaign.

Contact: Howard White
hwhite at pcrm.org 
202-686-2210, ext. 339 

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
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