Staff of life
From Mrs Joyce Mew
Sir: Mr Dixon's truculent attitude (July 15) rather takes away from the high scientific tone.. However, truculence is one thing, misrepresentation quite another. His article is as slanted as the, shibboleths and slogans he de plores. bran rejected in the course of modern milling is more than "indigestible fibre." A lack of bran is a contributory factor to the now prevalent diverticulitis and the assumed necessity for removing it is merely to accommodate digestive systems debilitated by a lifetime of eating white bread.
The idea of removing the germ because its oil is likely to go rancid and shorten the storage life of the flour has a touch of the macabre. It is also likely to shorten the life of the customer. A lack of vitamin E, which occurs in wheat germ, is associated with heart trouble. The figures for coronaries in this mainly whitebread-eating country give no cause for complacency.
"Milling certainly removes some nutrients." It does indeed. The two vitamins retained do not make up for the loss of the other seven which are extracted and which provide handsome profits for the pharmaceutical and animal feedina stuffs trade.
What was so remarkable about the agene story was the fact that it was in use for over twenty-five years before it was discovered to be dangerous. No wonder, then, that a certain amount of emotive force is generated in remembering its use. Incidentally, the phytic acid bogey was disposed of as long ago as 1959.
Although additives must be closely scrutinised, it is the loss of the seven important vitamins (plus a number of equally important minerals) which is a cause for real concern. Some of those influence the nervous system and so, to a certain extent, character. Lassitude
and irritability (not to say truculence) may be the result of policies which have allowed other interests to stand in the way of the nation's health. As the BMJ said, thirty years ago, " It is a punishable offence to water milk and dilute the solids in it. Why should it be thought praiseworthy to remove from the wheat berry the valuable minerals and vitamins it contains? "
Joyce Mew Broomhill Cottage, Southborouan. Tunbridge Wells
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