'HUH'?
Dr. Mehmet Oz
Note to Dr. Oz: The FDA (& others) say APPLE JUICE IS SAFE TO DRINK
Dear Ones:
The land of 'Oz'...more specifically the land of liberal Muslim 'Dr. Oz'...is full of fanciful fabrications where facts are fungible, friable and fatuous.
In other words, with his recent 'independent' investigation into arsenic levels in good old apple juice, Columbia-graduated (Wharton, too!) cardiologist Mehmet Oz has launched his one-man Progressive fear-mongering campaign wrapped tightly in the trappings of what one ordinarily would call 'science'.
Well, 'The Biblical Biochemist' is here to tell you that Dr. Oz's means, methods, motives and marketing are as suspect as the little shrunken 'mermaid' P.T. Barnum was wont to 'pass off' to us--the gullible public--as a bona-fide 'Mermaid'.
Of the many things I love in life, two of them-my Christian faith and science-share the blessed adherence (or are supposed to) to truthfulness, straightforwardness and honesty.
As I say, ever the optimist, that the word of the Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand, so, too should legitimate scientific data be understandable to every human being, ideally.
But here are the facts in this Dr. Oz saga, which speak of something I'd hoped had 'died out' in the medical community in the Middle Ages:
Dr. Oz sent the Food And Drug Administration his 'arsenic levels in apple juice results' as determined by one laboratory known as EMSL Analytical, Inc.
The FDA patiently and courteously informed Dr. Oz that his data reflected TOTAL arsenic levels in apple juice and that, in fact, it would be necessary to perform a more detailed and elegant (and expensive) analysis of the form of arsenic (inorganic) which is the real threat to health.
They even went on to tell Dr. Oz this in their 'letter FIRST letter to Oz dated 9/9/11:
"The FDA believes that it would be irresponsible and misleading for The
Dr. Oz Show to suggest that apple juice contains unsafe amounts of
arsenic based solely on tests for total arsenic. Should The Dr. Oz Show
choose to suggest that apple juice is unsafe because of the amounts of
total arsenic found by EMSL Analytical, Inc.’s testing, the FDA will
post this letter on its website."
And the FDA did not stop there, but followed up with their own analyses of the apple juice in question:
"Since learning of the results for total arsenic in apple juice samples
that your show submitted to EMSL Analytical, Inc., investigators from
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went to Nestle/Gerber to
collect samples of apple juice for analysis. Our investigators collected
a sample from Nestle Infant Nutrition – Gerber Products, Co. of the
same lot number of apple juice (Lot # 1157515791) that EMSL Analytical,
Inc., reported to contain 36 ppb total arsenic. Our investigators also
collected samples from additional lots of Nestle/Gerber apple juice."
In addition, the apple juice manufacturer Nestle/Gerber performed THEIR OWN tests which corroborated FDA results:
"During its investigation, the FDA learned that Nestle/Gerber had
tested samples in their own laboratory, including a sample from Lot
#1157515791, and submitted those samples to two different food testing
laboratories for arsenic testing. The results of these tests for total
arsenic in Lot # 1157515791 are substantially in agreement with the
results of the tests performed by the FDA. We understand that
Nestle/Gerber has provided these results to you. Based on our
investigation and testing, we are concerned that some of the results
reported to you by EMSL Analytical, Inc., may be erroneously high. The
analysis of foods can pose a challenge to analytical laboratories and
seemingly minor variations in sample treatment and analysis can have a
significant effect on results."
And, so, once again, the FDA REITERATED it's admonition in a SECOND LETTER to Dr. Oz dated 9/13/11 to NOT suggest that apple juice is unsafe, for doing so would be both 'irresponsible' and 'misleading'.
The second letter to Oz from the FDA reads, in part:
"In short, the results of the tests
cited above do not indicate that apple juice contains unsafe amounts of
arsenic. The FDA reaffirms its belief, as stated in our September 9,
2011 letter, that it would be irresponsible and misleading for the Dr.
Oz Show to suggest that apple juice is unsafe based on tests for total
arsenic."
LINK: http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm271632.htm
So, did Dr. Oz listen?
NOPE!
On Wed. September 14, 2011, Dr. Oz went on air with his 'arsenic in apple juice' scare:
"Oz said on "The Dr. Oz. Show" Wednesday that testing by a New Jersey lab
has found what he implied are concerning levels of arsenic in many
juices."
LINK: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/15/dr-oz-under-fire-from-fda_n_964464.html
Dr. Oz has incurred the ire of the CDC, TOO!:
"Dr. Richard Besser, former acting head of the CDC, scolded Oz Thursday
on ABC's "Good Morning America" show for scaring consumers with what
Besser called an "extremely irresponsible" report, the Associated Press
reported."
LINK: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20106763-10391704.html
As to Dr. Oz's 'motive', one is first drawn to the obvious fact that this 'cardiologist' doesn't know 'squat' about chemistry. I mean this literally and have encountered it before in those who prove 'exquisitely' that a 'wee bit of knowledge is often a dangerous thing'.
I don't care WHAT motel Dr. Oz has been staying at, he ought NOT to pretend that he is an expert in a field outside his own areas of 'expertise'.
(Having taught both nursing & pre-med students, I can tell you that many a medical career has been derailed before it had a chance by a student's inability to master chemistry and organic chemistry in particular!)
But I will give Dr. Oz the benefit of the doubt that he is very intelligent and very educated and was an excellent chemistry student--both inorganic and organic--and so the only reasonable conclusion I can draw is that his motives for this apple scare are purely political.
Or maybe he just made a 'dumb mistake'.
Anyway, as the 'Biblical Biochemist-Where Science Meets the Cross', I find myself...for the very first time...utilizing my 'authority' as a woman of God to 'chastize' a fellow-scientist in matters of honesty, decency, truthfulness, full-disclosure and...motives, whatever they might be!
A FIRST! And it's CRAZY!
It behooves us all to examine exactly WHO is defending Dr. Oz and his 'junk chemistry' and 'junk medicine' (my opinions) in this arsenic in apple juice scare, a task easily accomplished by a cursory 'google search'. To wit:
"Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of The Dr. Oz Show, is Vice-Chair and
Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and directs the
Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York
Presbyterian Hospital. He is the author of five New York Times
Best Sellers (including “YOU: The Owner’s Manual,” “YOU: The Smart
Patient,” and “YOU: On a Diet”), hosts a daily talk show on Sirius XM
Radio’s “Oprah Radio,” pens a National Magazine Award-winning column in
Esquire Magazine, is a regular columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine, and performs over 200 heart operations annually. Among his many accolades, Dr. Oz has been honored as one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” (2008), Esquire’s 75 “Most Influential People of the 21st Century,” and a “Global Leader of Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum (1999-2004)."
link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/dr-mehmet-oz/4/
Dr. Oz is a busy guy, indeed!
To the man...to the woman...he is being lauded and defended by those who are Progressive Liberals fully-engaged in and funding and/or funded by 'the Green Movements'...those some affectionately call 'Greenies', and whom I choose to call the 'Greenists' in honor of my Ukrainian/Russian heritage.
I did not think I would see the day that SCIENCE would be polluted via CORRUPTED DATA by POLITICS to this extent...with the exception of Al Gore and his cadre of 'Greenists', perhaps.
Scientific fraud perpetuated upon us is becoming terrifyingly 'rift', as being brilliantly exemplified very recently by the abrupt resignation today of Nobel Laureate Dr. Ivar Giaever":
"Dr. Ivar Giaever, a former professor with Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and the 1973 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, abruptly
announced his resignation Tuesday, Sept. 13, from the premier physics
society in disgust over its officially stated policy that "global
warming is occurring."
It just so happens that RPI is my alma mater, undergrad. No, I didn't know Dr. Giaever personally, and no I wasn't crazy of his endorsement of President Obama.
But I admire the woman or man who has the depth and strength of character to change horses mid-stream...and who is flexible and intellectually honest enough to do a '180' when it is appropriate to do so.
I strive to be that way and I'm going to pray for Dr. Mehmet Oz that he choose to be that way and retract and redact all of his 'deadly levels of arsenic in apple juice' nonsense promptly.
Apples...and apple juice...are as 'American as apple pie'. Is there a coincidence there, Dr. Oz, I might also ask at this incredible time in America's history?
You can ruminate on this, dear Dr., while you eat your next mid-flight 'apple snack' (thereby ingesting various nominal and non-harmful amounts of both inorganic arsenic found naturally...and CYANIDE, too, OH YES!, also at harmless levels unless you crush and eat a bunch of apple seeds).
And as you contemplate this, Dr. Oz, also realize that at cruising level you will also be receiving a dose of radiation, as well.
Will you put on your nutritionist's, analytical chemist's, pilot's, and physicist's hats and do some specials for us on those things, also, sometime?
With prayers for a life and truth-affirming resolution to this situation-for Dr. Oz, but more importantly, for all who are disturbed and whose lives have been disrupted by what has transpired in this 'most unscientific sideshow',
May God Bless Us All
Rev. Barbara Sexton
"The Biblical Biochemist-Where Science Meets the Cross"
Biochemist
Alternative Healthcare Provider
Proud Tea Party Patriot
Member: Black Robe Regiment
Member: MRC
& 'Other'
THE FIJI MERMAID: This artifact in P.T. Barnum's museum was
advertised as a gorgeous topless siren, but was actually the mummified
corpse of an ape sewn to a fish.