Again, you don't know what you're talking about. If you understood the evolution of the fat debate you wouldn't make such a ridiculous claim. First, we were told that saturated fat was bad. So industry created hydrogenated oils as a healthier alternative. Back then, no one understood that there was good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. There was just cholesterol and it was all bad. Now the debate has come full circle and there is an emerging consensus that trans fats are worse for you than other fats but this is fairly recent. In response, industry is now working to develop a hydrogenated fat that processors can direct where the hydrogen will bond so it won't raise the level of bad cholesterol and will still provide consumers with better flavor and stability. Science learns as it progresses. Only people who possess no understanding of science treat it cynically and demand more from it than is possible.
Much like soy, the impact of trans fats on our health has been blown way out of proportion by the know nothings. Consider these facts: Over the last 20 years, while trans fat use has skyrocketed, heart disease in America has been in a steep decline -- while life expectancy has been up -- over that very same period. National health statistics show that in the era of fast food and obesity, death rates from heart disease has declined from 492.7 per 100,000 in 1970 to 321.8 by 1990, a 33% drop. The spread of transfat hasn't change that trend, with the death rate dropping nearly another 30%, to 232.2, by 2003. So, if trans fats are poison (LOL!!) they're doing a piss poor job of killing us.
The top three preventable causes of heart disease are cigarette smoking, high blood pressure (hypertension),and elevated blood cholesterol. Trans fats only affect the last cause. But to what degree? Dietary factors play a minor role in unhealthy cholesterol levels. Genetics play a much larger role than fats and require medication, more than diet, for control. Your out-of-proportion characterization of trans fat as a poison is absurd and ignores the fact that consuming these products in moderation will not cause any ill effects in healthy bodies.
I don't know how you can go through life not enjoying simple things like ice cream, french fries, milk shakes, Oreo cookies, salad dressing, a frozen margarita on a hot afternoon, a double double from In and Out Burger, Fanta orange soda, Utz BBQ potato chips, Montreal Steak Seasoning on a rib eye, a bowl of good chicken soup from a real deli (yes, they use soup base made with MSG), and on and on and on. Living on raw vegetables and wheat grass may sound good to you but for the life of me I can't imagine why.
You might live to be 90 by adhering your incredibly boring lifestyle and I may only live to be 80 following mine. Is this how you want to end up?
They "study to death" all sorts of pharmaceuticals, which they end up having to pull off the shelves after people die of heart attacks and other issues
Clueless people want miracle life saving drugs that are risk free. Sounds like something a democrat running for office would promise to some whiny leftists who would, in turn, actually believe him. The FDA is motivated by not making mistakes and covering their ass. They are driven by public opinion and politics. Not everything they do is right. I think they're too cautious and people suffering from diseases are forced to leave the country to find new alternatives for treatment. It can't be as bad as you make it out to be (there's that theme coming back again) since about 90% of all new drugs are discovered here in the U.S. With Vioxx, the industry haters had a field day. This was their proof that the drug makers and the FDA were really all about profits and didn't give a damn about the welfare of their fellow Americans. I find a great deal of justice in the fact that so many juries refuse to find Merck guilty.
so don't tell me to simply take the FDA's word that MSG
I wouldn't expect you to do anything so rational. Instead, I expect that you'll continue to believe the crap you read on internet websites hosted by charlatans you know nothing about. I am constantly amazed by what some people will believe. P.T. Barnum really understood people.
or anything artificial or chemically produced is safe.
If you had any knowledge of science or nutrition you might realize how loony that statement is. Everything you eat is chemicals. If you looked at what you eat on a daily basis, it would be filled with artificial ingredients -- however you choose to define that term -- and chemicals. Next time you take a drug that makes you feel better, stops pain, helps you sleep, kills an infection or reduces your fever, be thankful for artificial chemicals. Without them there's a good chance you wouldn't be alive today.