Warning: campus food can kill you... and rats

By: Johnathan Skidmore
Copy Layout Editor

Many students complain about the quality of food served in the cafeteria at Monmouth College, but the food may be worse than you think. Associate professor James Bovinet from the department of political economy and commerce recently had his Principles of Marketing class of fall 2006 perform a study on the food in the cafeteria. The goal of the class was to create a presentation given to key Monmouth College faculty, including President Mauri Ditzler, regarding the quality of the food served at the college. What the students found in researching this project might be considered shocking to many students: many of the food items in the cafeteria contain hazardous chemical additives.

For a major portion of their study, the students collected ingredient labels from the food served in the college cafeteria. They then researched the ingredients, looking for hazardous food additives. They found the following chemicals: Carrageenan, Sodium Nitrate, Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT), Ferrous Sulfate, Ammonium, Calcium Sulfate and variants on Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

Carrageenan is a chemical taken from Irish moss, a plant similar to seaweed. Out of a random sampling of the cafeteria food during the study, the turkey breast and sour cream served in the cafeteria contain this chemical. According to an article in “Environmental Health Perspectives” journal, there is evidence from studies performed on rats, guinea pigs and monkeys which indicates that certain forms of Carrageenan may cause ulcerations in the gastro-intestinal tract, as well as gastro-intestinal cancer. Carrageenan is also the main ingredient in items such as fire extinguishers, shoe polish and personal lubricants.

Sodium Nitrate is a chemical compound which is one of the main ingredients in gunpowder and fertilizer, as well as commer cially-available stump remover, a product which accelerates the decomposition of tree stumps. According to the “Oxford Journal of Public Health,” side effects resulting from consumption of Sodium Nitrate may include increased risk of cancer if intake occurs alongside proteins, which would be the case when found in a turkey breast in the cafeteria.

BHT is a substance used in the refining of petroleum products, the production of jet fuels and is a main ingredient in creating embalming fluid. A controversy currently surrounds this chemical and whether it is too harmful for human consumption, but it is currently banned in Japan, Australia, Sweden and Romania. As another result of the research involving BHT, the McDonald’s corporation banned its use in 1986. BHT was found in many of the sausages in the cafeteria.

Perhaps the worst food item the Principles of Marketing class found was the meatballs served in the cafeteria. These individual items contained three of the hazardous food additives. Ferrous Sulfate, an iron compound used in the creation of certain inks, adding pigment to concrete and as a commercial strength moss killer, causes nausea and epigastric abdominal discomfort, or cramping, in a large percentage of individuals. Ammonium, similar to that in urine, is used to bleach colour from the meat. Calcium Sulfate, the main ingredient in plaster of Paris as well as blackboard chalk, causes similar stomach problems, such as cramping and constipation.

Another common ingredient found in the food is a variant of MSG, a chemical which stimulates certain portions of the tongue in order to bring out the taste of meats and other food items high in protein. Most restaurants, particularly those serving Asian foods, advertise the fact that they do not contain MSG. This is due to the fact that MSG has such a large amount of side effects in a large percent of the general population. According to a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, the side effects of MSG consumption are as follows:

• burning sensation in the back of the neck, forearms and chest
• numbness in the back of the neck, radiating to the arms and back
• tingling, warmth and weakness in the face, temples, upper back, neck and arms
• facial pressure or tightness
• chest pain
• headache
• nausea
• rapid heartbeat
• bronchospasm (diffi-culty breathing) in MSG-in-tolerant people with asthma
• drowsiness
• weakness

While the food does not contain the exact chemical compound known as MSG, it does contain many variants of artificially created Glutamates that cause similar side effects, according to the FDA.

The majority of the food served on campus is provided by the ARAMARK company, a premier source for commercial food products. According to FORTUNE magazine, ARAMARK has ranked in the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and industry analysts from 1998 until the latest survey in 2006.

The purpose of the project created by Bovinet’s class was to expose the chemical additives contained in the cafeteria food as it is received from ARAMARK. The class’ presentation proposes that the school buy more organic food containing no chemical additives. These organic foods would also be grown without the aid of chemical pesticides that damage the environment, or hormones that have been proven to cause many other health issues.

The food in the cafeteria was just the beginning of health concerns addressed in this presentation. Overall, the students at Monmouth College are not necessarily healthy. According to a study conducted by “Men’s Fitness” magazine in an October 2005 issue, Monmouth College is rated the fourth “fattest small college in the nation.” The original reception of the presentation was not as great as the class expected due to a very small turnout.

It is becoming a trend at colleges and universities to purchase food items from companies who supply only organic food. Colleges such as Illinois Wesleyan University, UC Santa Cruz, University of Wisconsin, UC Berkeley, University of Minnesota and Brown University have already made the change-over to organic foods as at least an alternative for meal choices.