Diet & Health
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1994:
Three new health studies rein-
force the arguments for vegetarianism
––especially for men who hope to remain
sexually active after the age of 40. A study
of Hawaiians of Japanese ancestry whose diet
consists mainly of tofu and rice, published in
the November edition of the British medical
journal The Lancet, suggested that tofu may
contain an ingredient that combats prostate
cancer. The study confirmed the findings of
an earlier study of U.S. Seventh Day
Adventists (more than half of whom are ethi-
cal vegetarians), which found that men who
eat a lot of legumes and fruits have a conspic-
uously low death rate from prostate cancer.
Prostate trouble is a leading cause of sexual
impotence––and the January 1994 issue of
The Journal of Urology includes the results of
the largest study of impotence ever. High
cholesterol consumption, heart disease, and
high blood pressure were confirmed as factors
frequently correlating with impotence; all are
closely associated with meat-eating.
Meanwhile, the December 8 edition of the
Journal of the American Medical Association
published a study confirming the correlation
between low fruit and vegetable consumption
and high risk of heart disease and stroke.
Burger King is expanding market
testing of Grillers, a meatless burger made
by Worthington Foods, from four restaurants
in upstate New York to 38 locations around
the U.S. The most widely distributed meat-
less burgers at present, Grillers are also sold
in supermarkets under the Morningstar Farms
label––where they’ll soon have competition
from a new meatless burger to be marketed by
the Green Giant division of Pillsbury.
Fairmont Foods is meanwhile expanding the
range of meatless vegetarian entrees available
in the upper midwest, as maker of a new line,
Linda McCartney’s Foods From the Heart.
McCartney entered the increasingly competi-
tive vegetarian marketplace with a cookbook
in 1989, then introduced a similar line of veg-
etarian entrees in England called Linda
McCartney’s Frozen Food Range.
More than a year after three chil-
dren died from E. coli bacterial infections
contracted by eating contaminated hamburg-
ers, while more than 600 people fell ill,
Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy is still strug-
gling to force the meat industry to add simple
safe cooking instructions to meat packaging.
His first attempt was overturned on October
14 by Federal Court judge James Nowlin, of
Austin, Texas, who ruled that unlabeled
meat is not a significant health threat and that
the E. coli outbreak was an isolated incident
unique to the Pacific Northwest. Less than a
week later, two three-year-old Texas boys
died of an E. coli outbreak. Revised cooking
instructions are now scheduled to be required
by April 15, but the meat industry is expect-
ed to fight them in court too.