DOZENS OF FARM WORKERS EXPOSED TO TOXIC PESTICIDE CHLORPYRIFOS:

On Saturday, July 21, more than 75 workers were labouring at grape picking in California when an adjacent almond orchard was sprayed with the toxic chemical chlorpyrifos. Some workers were hospitalized soon after while the others were told to go home and "take a shower". They were later phoned and told to go to the hospital, but most farm workers can afford neither the medical costs nor the loss of wages (God bless the American medical system). When some of these workers attempted to return to work on M0nday, July 23rd, they fell ill again. This is the second serious major pesticide exposure incident in California this month. On July 10th over a dozen workers were exposed to chlorprifos while picking oranges. The United Farm Workers are calling on people to email the California Department of Pesticide Regulations and demand that they investigate these incidents to the full extent of the law. They are also calling for a ban on dangerous chemicals such as chlorpyrifos. To join this campaign go to http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/chlorpyrifos .

If you'd like more information on the chemistry and effects of chlorpyrifos go to the Wikipedia article on same. Or for much better information go to Pesticideinfo.org's page on same. The latter, by the way, is a great resource, its home page I mean. PesticideInfo.org is a project of the Pesticide Action Network North America. Molly went there expecting to find the usual cranks and nuts of the "my naturopath diagnosed me with multiple chemical sensitivity but then I took the homeopathic remedy prescribed, meditated, adjusted my chakras and read more of Deepass Chopra and I'm cured and will live forever or at least until I transcend the illusions of this state of being" ilk. I was very pleasantly surprised. Now I admit that I didn't go over the full site with an inquisitor's eye, but what I did see was actually based on reality rather than quackery, neurosis, new age conmanship and a crude substitute for better religions. I found no bullshit on what I examined, including those things that I know very well such as fleas. I even found a few unique suggestions for my life long project to kill every ant in the world- a crusade that I signed up to in childhood- without poisoning my cats. Ants, crows, gastrointestinal parasites, primitivists, fleas, etc....there are some life forms that have no useful function to anything else. Am I wrong in this in terms of the ants ? Anyways Molly was impressed, and she'll add panna to her links list soon.

HOLY WATER AND CLASS:

Molly recently had another tongue biting incident with a true believer in homeopathy. For those unaware of what this is it is branch of quack medicine formulated by an otherwise undistinguished German physician, Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755- 1843). The Wikipedia encyclopedia has an extensive article on this matter, and the item Homeowatch in our Scientific Links section does a full and thorough job of debunking the whole idea. For the mercifully ignorant "homeopathy" is the bizarre idea that curing (or preventing) disease can be done by application of what is actually nothing more than extremely diluted solutions of some substance that would cause similar symptoms of the disease. The dilutions are so extreme that rarely does ANY molecule of the supposed agent appear in the so-called medicine. The idea is that some mystical "potency" of the substance is enhanced by vigorous shaking with each dilution. Any resemblance to the convulsions of the sect known as "Shakers" are, of course, unknown to the believers. Also, why the thousands of other molecules contained in what is actually less than perfect distilled water are not also "potentated" is a question best not raised as the belief in such things is an emotional one, not a rational one.

All that being said, an idea fell on Molly's head as she went back to base. This often happens, and Molly has quite a few bumps on her head as a result. What is this stuff ? I know it is part and parcel of an "identity package" here in North America. It isn't that a person (outside of a few immigrants from Europe- most of them quite old) will believe in homeopathy and not believe in say herbalism, chiropractic, spiritual healing (as long as it's properly New Age and not Fundamentalist), and any number of other bizarre beliefs that have one thing in common- they are called "alternative" because there is no proof whatsoever that they work. More rational people may withhold judgement on say, acupuncture, but know that most of the other things are complete nonsense- and certainly not accept the traditional explanation for acupuncture as anything worth paying attention to. No, there are exceptions (such as where children inherit the beliefs of their parents), but almost all believers in things such as homeopathy here buy not just one belief but a whole belief package, one that comes with some rather bizarre "options" if looked at across cultures. Sorta like a non-functioning car with a myriad of doodads whose only function is to proclaim status.

Yup, status !!!! The whole idea is to proclaim some sort of "rebel stance" which supposedly says, "look how smart I am" without ever really having to take any risks (social risks at least) and without ever actually having to critically think. The latter can be a rather painful and laborious process, and a ready made identity that can be purchased as "the whole pig" is a much more convenient option for the slothful. In other parts of the world such as Europe and India homeopathy doesn't have this "rebel advertising slogan" attached to it, and believers there are more likely to be socially conservative than otherwise.

Not here, however. Here it is very much of a status symbol that is part of the visible badges of class identity in North America. It is, in fact, Holy Water, but the Holy Water of mainly one class and those who aspire to become part of it. Outside of the immigrants it is the Holy Water of that part of the ruling class whose product is social control rather than a real good or service, that part of the working class whose product is the same (and who hope one day to reach the level of the rulers-management) and that part of the "entertainment industry"(from musicians, through craftspeople to mindworms-"councillors") who produce material for such.

Not that this is the only type of Holy Water afoot in the world. Wikipedia has an interesting, if very much incomplete article on the subject. Some of its lacunae can be filled in from the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the same subject. Some of the gaps,such as the fact that many other religions other than Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox, Muslims and Sikhs have a version of holy water, have to be searched down elsewhere.

In North America where religious beliefs quite often follow class lines there is a whole industry of Holy Water for Sale in the Evangelical and Fundamentalist milieu. Any resemblance to the pre-Reformation sale of indulgences is as conveniently ignored as threatening facts are ignored by New Age devotees of homeopathy. In Europe, homeopathy is pretty much a regular upper class belief- as the Royal Family demonstrates, and, as I said, it isn't part of a commodity of a "false rebel identity". Because Catholicism(or Orthodoxy and Islam) has evolved as the common religion of whole cultures the belief in the magical properties of properly manipulated water crosses classes. In such religious cultures one may also discover far more sophisticated justifications for the belief than are available to either American Evangelicals or American believers in the "New Age". Not unexpected given the amount of human effort put in over the centuries in apologetics.

Not that the human tendency to "buy the whole pig instead of select cuts" isn't present in other areas of human life such as say politics. Molly has had decades of watching ridiculous and often wildly contradictory "fads" sweep through leftism, fads that are adopted more from trying to appear acceptable to ones confreres than from anything like the slightest particle of thought. The same thing occurs on the conservative side of the political spectrum. What North American New Ageism has over these and other examples (such as traditional religious belief and its communities) is the wildly "spectacular" (in the situationist sense) and commercial nature of its beliefs. The belief in say "healing crystals" and homeopathy is much more obviously purely commercial hucksterism than say "Cuba is a great country" (the left) or "immigrants are taking over the country" (the right). It also has a much more obvious hidden commodity- STATUS- than most political or religious beliefs.

But anyways, Molly has managed to escape falling completely into one of her obsessed trivia hunts over this matter. So I'll leave it at that except for the following gems I found while looking up trivia on this matter:

1)The first is a "found joke". It's been reported that the Vatican has plans to freeze Holy Water and market it- under the name brand of "Popesicles".

2)Another news item is from a satirical Northern Irish publication called 'The Portadown News'. One of their "news" items has the headline 'Vatican Sends Holy Water Cannon' from "our security correspondent, Roger Base", It reads:

"Security sources have welcomed the arrival of a Holy Water Cannon from the Vatican City. "Spraying holy Water on Orangemen is pretty much like spraying ordinary water on them, admitted RUC officer Bill Mason yesterday. "But it will really annoy them, and that's the main thing.""

3)From a truly bizarre site labelled Domestic-Church .Com comes the following instructions for constructing your own Holy Water Sprinkler for home use. They say,

"Every home should have a fount for Holy Water by the front door, so the family can bless themselves as they enter and leave the house....Holy Water can also be used at evening prayers to bless the children before they head off to bed. The father, in his priestly office as head of the family(as Christ is the Head of the Church), should bless his children every day....Holy water is also useful to bless your new house, your new car, the bedroom of the latest child having nightmares, your Advent wreath, Christmas tree, Easter feast and every other family celebration and devotion (also it removes stains better than Spin N' Span- Molly). Blessed Holy Water should be available at the back of your church....The item goes on to describe how to construct what looks like a S&M tool from any 6" stick. The relevant part of the instructions is as follows:

Any member of your family old enough to handle a pocket knife can make one. The most important thing to remember when using a knife is to cut away from yourself. Never point the blade towards your hand or body"

Molly really !!!! thinks that anyone with the desire to make such a thing needs more than a little more instruction on the handling of sharp pointy instruments. She actually really wonders if such people should be trusted with anything more dangerous than a spoon.

4)In the same vein, from an outfit called Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, comes the offer to purchase genuine Holy Water Founts. They range from $198.00 for the economy model to $720 for the deluxe version. Be the first kid on your block to own one. Sprinkle the Protestant neighbours and watch them burst into flame. This site is also bizarre, but it is useful because it connects to a cult of modern heresy hunters called Our Lady's Warriors. These frustrated Dominicans have gone to the trouble of preparing a "hit list" of who's who amongst the Catholic Left. They hate them, of course, and would gladly do them harm if they could, but its actually a great list for those interested in seeing what's what on the catholic left. If you appear here you obviously have at least something going for you.

5)Finally, another little New Agey quote from a site selling something called Kabbalah Water. Molly has heard rumours that Kabbalah is a new and trendy thing amongst the famous and mindless. Read the following. If you can't see that it is obvious gobbledygook then maybe you also believe in homeopathy;

"The Kabbalistic blessings and meditations that are used to create Kabbalah water, for example, bring about elegant and balanced crystalline structures in water, while negative consciousness has the opposite effect. This is hugely important. In a very literal way, Kabbalah Water is life's original blueprint information brought into the modern world.

Just as it did at the first moment of Creation, the growth of every living organism should follow the blueprint. All the metabolic and regulatory processes of life require information- and because of its unique crystalline structure and fractal design, Kabbalah Water is an excellent information transmitter. Positive, health-giving information is defined by symmetry and high energy while low energy and entropy-like static in TV or radio reception- characterize muddled information. Therefore the condition of the water we take into our bodies determines the quality of the information being transmitted to our immune system, digestive system and even to every atom of our bodies."

Cough, cough, cough says Molly. That water is pretty hard to swallow. molly would suggest a few more misunderstood buzzwords to make this snake oil even more appealing to the poorly educated gullible. The ever-present "holistic" is missing as is "holographic","channeling" "quantum" and "synergistic". In her role as ad consultant Molly advises that these words could be placed anywhere in the above, and the whole thing would say just about as little as it says now. But it would look even better as part of the status-package. The relation of this New Age effort bears about as little resemblance to traditional Jewish mysticism as any of the fashionable trash being marketed bears to any of the religious traditions from across the world being looted for profit. But the above was a particularly amusing effort.

Molly

WHAT MOLLY MEANS:

Molly is in the middle of another "hit blitz" vis-a-vis her posts on the Menu Foods recall issue. What Molly has tried to do in this matter is to be as objective as possible and give the most appropriate references for both the public and her veterinary colleagues. My objectivity doesn't detract from my "anarchist" views because I believe that "the truth" is an anarchist value, and that ANY political view has to be congruent with reality or it is of no value. Molly is critical of the centralization of the pet food industry, just as she is critical of any other centralization. She points out the problems of "globalization" in that the imports of gluten from across the world affects pets (and perhaps humans) here and across the world, and she points out the irrationalities of a market based system for commodities such as wheat that leads to such imports. She further points out the irrationality of some pseudo-oppositions such as health food cultism, which have fed into the present problem- and may be in the news in the near future.

All this is from a "scientific" point of view which is nothing more than amplified common sense. I take the "scientific" point of view because it says that one should test statements in terms of evidence and not because one likes the rhetoric behind it or because "the enemy" says something else. Everything should be viewed in the cold light of sobriety without the usual emotional buzzwords associated with politics. This is, of course, threatening to those who want to construct grand political theories such as the now almost dead Marxists wanted to. It is not , however, threatening to anarchists who recognize the "provisional" nature of knowledge and who, unlike post-modernists and other ideologues, are willing to accept reality as a test of their theories.

Molly accepts these tests. She refers people to government agencies even though she opposes government because they are the best sources of information in the here and now. Molly knows that pretty well all "anarchist" sites that discuss science are unreliable to the point of total lies, mostly because they oppose an abstract concept of "science" that is pretty well an imaginary construction of ageing Maoists in the academy - without any connection to science as it is actually done. Primitivism is nothing more than "consistent Maoism", and their "utopia" is the same utopia as that of the Kymer Rouge. This, of course, is not all of anarchism, and many younger people have come forward to oppose this ideological mindset. Whether it be the people who want to make anarchism congruent with real evolutionary biology or those who see the potential in the technology of communication, the struggle is the same. The struggle is to save the idea of freedom from those who would restrict it to a religious cultism demanding the sacrifice of "technique".

Molly's present "hit flurry" has the value of introducing people who are concerned about their pet foods to the ideas of anarchism, just as her last "hit flurry" about the lunar eclipse had the same function. But perhaps even more importantly this blog can act to introduce anarchists to the ideas- and more importantly the state of mind that lies behind modern science. Anarchists are often just not "scientifically illiterate" but actually predisposed by some people's propaganda to remain in a state of ignorance. This blog hopes to give its little contribution to correcting this problem, if in no other way than to show how "looking up" is a more emotionally satisfying state than seeing your low opinions confirmed in a cult. The sky is more attractive than your belly button.

Molly

PET FOOD RECALL:

The press, from highbrow to lowbrow to nobrow has been full of stories about the major pet food recall announced by Menu Foods some days ago. Molly has taken to carrying around the list of recalled foods with her at all times so that she can respond to the numerous phone calls from concerned pet owners and can snoop through the cupboards of clients whom she actually visits. people who are interested in accessing the complete list can visit the Menu Foods website listed above (at least until they have to declare bankruptcy). The basic story is that only canned and "packet" foods are affected. No dry pet foods are included, and canned foods that come in "solid slabs" rather than "chunks" are also not affected.

A class action suit has been launched from Ontario, and some Manitoba owners may participate. Molly doesn't have enough information to comment on the legalities of this case given that the cause is still basically unknown (how gluten relates to renal failure escapes me) and how the company responded to initial reports is also still unknown. Molly can remember the last such case which affected the Royal Canin line of prescription diets about a year ago. In that case the company responded with due diligence and discovered the cause rapidly. Molly has little doubt that Royal Canin has better quality control than an outfit such as Menu Foods.The problem was corrected, and all four of Molly's cats presently eat the Royal Canin S/O diet as part of their feeding. The cause was a formulation error (maybe one more reason to not depend on computers as if they were infallible) which added an excess of vitamin D to the foods. As Molly sometimes takes great pleasure in emphasizing to health food nuts natural products are not non-toxic. Some of them are the most toxic substances on Earth. When trying to make this point about vitamins Molly uses the following language (I'll try and transcribe the tone of voice and inflection):

"Vitamin A is the MOST POISONOUS vitamin. Vitamin D is the SECOND most poisonous vitamin"

Molly varies her inflection so as to try and bypass what amounts to a religious belief that "natural" (and hence vitamins) is "good" while "artificial" (usually subsumed under the very strange term of "chemical"- as if everything in the world wasn't a chemical) is "bad". I probably have about as much success in this as I would in arguing against the curative effects of Holy Water (let's not get into homeopathy now). The word "poisonous" is used to try and bypass this religious mindset rather than the word "toxic" that is more common when discussing these sort of problems "in-house".

What struck Molly most forcibly while this stuff was happening was the extent of the list. For years now I've joked about how the pet food industry gets its foods from the same plant, puts different labels on it and charges different prices depending upon nothing greater than the advertising budget. What I didn't realize was the extent of this practice. While looking over the 93 !!!!! items listed on the recall list I noticed that some foods that I had always recommended as "high quality", such as Eukanuba and Iams, were coming from the same plant as the "ground-up rubber tires" foods sold at Wal-Mart. Looks like I was fooled. I was really shocked to see a Science Diet item (Science Diet Feline Savoury Chunks) on the list, as I always assumed that Hills was big enough to be vertically integrated throughout its entire process. Welcome to the age of "outsourcing" Molly.

But some things are far from "new". Over 35 years ago when Molly was a chemist she had a friend who was another chemist- but from Jordan. When this guy first got his degree he originally tried to find a job in Algeria shortly after they had forced the French to withdraw from the country. Like all good "liberation ideologues" they had to "prove themselves" and produce whatever the colonial power had produced. He applied for a job in a "toothpaste factory" and was given a tour of the facilities. There was a main vat from which the whole production emanated. it came down the line and was divided by sluice gates into various streams. In each stream a dye was added to give colour or a flavour was added to give taste. As he told it, the guy looked at it, took the free lunch and taxi fare and thought..."Oh fuck, this is exactly what Algeria needs...25 "different" types of toothpaste that are really the same toothpaste. " I can see the new ruling class growing in Venezuela doing exactly the same thing in the near future, and my main disappointment is how far the process has advanced here in an industry that I thought I knew much more about than I obviously do know.

Anyways, for those who are interested in knowing a little bit more about pet foods I recommend the CVMA site and its Pet Food Certification program and for a broader overview of the whole matter- without cultism , an important point- an individual site called the Dog Food Project. This latter site is a wealth of information, including a layman's guide to reading and judging pet food labels. The author is a veterinary technician with a previous degree in nutrition, and her site is one of the best that I have seen on this matter.

Molly

FALSE CLAIMS ON NUTRICEUTICAL LABELS:

Molly has sold certain nutriceuticals, especially for her canine patients, for some time now. Aside from the omega-3 fatty acids the main item is a combination product containing glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate called 'Cosequin'. One of Molly's own cats is receiving daily supplements of same. It's not a big market for Molly as she often recommends that owners of large dogs purchase their supplements from a human pharmacy and "work down" on the dose given the weight of their dog. Now, Molly is not a devotee of the religion that could be described as "naturophilia" ie the superstitious belief that there is something "magical" about so-called "natural compounds" that makes them mysteriously better than totally synthetic compounds. Being half-Irish she cannot see the difference between "Protestant chemicals" and "Catholic chemicals" despite her ethnic background, and this is an exact metaphor for the belief that there is something magical about "natural". As with any religion there are also an incredible amount of predators who take advantage of such beliefs to empty the wallets of the believers. The best research in the human field has concluded that there is no benefit to sufferers of osteoarthritis, like Molly herself, from taking glucosamine alone, and the research in the veterinary field is ambiguous enough to draw the same conclusion vis-a-vis dogs. The jury is still out, however, regarding the benefit of glucosamine/chondroitin combinations, and so Molly still either sells or recommends them.

This is despite her knowledge of a much deeper level of dishonesty in the nutriceutical market which she hopes to bypass by her usual recommendation that owners never purchase such drugs from an health food store (they are the ultimate epitomy of crookedness in our society falling way below used car salesmen for shear dishonesty) but only from a pharmacy. This is because Molly is fully aware that health food quackery not only makes false claims for efficacy of certain chemicals but is connected to dishonest manufacturers who routinely misrepresent the actual levels of chemicals in the drugs that they sell, to the extent that there may be none of the chemical claimed on the label in the little funny capsules sold at inflated prices in such drug dens. About the only thing that Molly says is "safe" to buy at a health food store are yeast tablets. Yeast is industrial waste and is ultra-cheap and so there is little incentive to lie about it. Simply weigh it, put it in a capsule and charge a markup of 1000% for the marks.

I know in my heart of hearts that purchase from a pharmacy is no guarantee of honesty in labelling, but I still believe that the pharmacies are a few orders of magnitude above the systemic dishonesty of health food stores because lies are not their total business. Yet something I have recently read gives me pause in that it reinforces the need for vigilance on the part of veterinarians, and by implication pharmacists as well. I am only happy that this paper says that what I have been doing to date in terms of my own sales is OK. Anyways...

The item is a comparative analysis of the amounts of glucosamine and chondroitin present in 7 different nutriceutical products manufactured for the veterinary community and their correlation with label claims. The authors are Bertrand Lussier and Maxim Moreau of the Companion Animal Research Group, Faculte de mediceine veterinaire, University de Montreal (the French speaking veterinary college here in Canada). The research was sponsored by the generic drug manufacturer Novo-Pharm in their expectation that their product 'Novo-Flex' would measure up to various brand name formulations marketed to veterinarians here in Canada. It did more than measure up ! There were six other brand name formulations tested: Kirkland, Equate, Ubavet, Cosequin, Osteo 3, and Con-Glu. The results for glucosamine, the cheaper chemical, were not extraordinary. Only Ubavet and Osteo-3 fell significantly below the label claims, by -28.9% and -15.2% respectively. For the more expensive chemical, chondroitin, however, the variation from label claims was astounding: -98.7% for Equate (practically none available in their pills), -83.7% for Uba-Vet, and -19.9% for Osteo 3. Only the Kirkland product, Cosequin and the generic formulation Novo-flex measured up, all of them exceeding the label claims (which are typically expressed as "minimums").

It's food for thought. It says to me that I should stick with Cosequin for my own sales until further research verifies the Novo-Pharm claims. It also, however, says to me that I should be a little more cautious is recommending pharmacy purchases and should perhaps recommend a "house brand" first over other items on the shelf. I think that i can presume that pharmacy house brands have quality control that is superior to those of the other items on their shelf. Something to look up.

Once more, there is no firm proof that a glucosamine/chondroitin mixture does any good for osteoarthritis sufferers, but like much in medicine this is provisional. The authors of the paper from the Universite de Montreal conclude that federal legislation to enforce compliance with minimal standards of honesty in nutriceutical labels would be desirable. As an anarchist I'd like to avoid this conclusion, but it seems like a reasonable reform in the absence of popular education, particularly as so many anarchists-and other leftists- buy into the obvious lies of health food quackery. Those who attempt to educate the public are small in number as compared to those who attempt to steal from the public, and too many of the supposed friends of the public buy into the popular crooked lies for various ideological reasons.

Molly

• 
  A LITTLE ITEM FROM THE LOCAL PRESS:
  The Sunday Books supplement of the Winnipeg Free Press contained a review of 'Natural Causes' (author Dan Hurley) by local writer Don Marks. The book in question is an expose of the American vitamin and herbal supplement industry as its subtitle makes plain: 'Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry'. Essays in muckraking are long overdue in this field, and Hurley's attempt would make John Steinbeck proud, though it is a sad comment on the decline of "radicalism" (sic) in North America that books such as this inspire at least 100 times as may defenses of an $21 billion (one estimate) amongst "progressives" as it does agreements on the subject. The review of the book is pretty well fair, though Molly could spot some howlers. In general the reviewer agreed with the author that a simple common sense approach to diet and that sick managerial word "lifestyle" is a much more effective way to stay healthy than purchasing miracle cures. The reviewer, however, obviously lacks any general view of the "manipulation and commodification of belief" that would allow him to put the "natural hocus pocus" into some sort of context.
  This can be seen from small things such as the complaint that Hurley's book has an "almost total absence of any effective counter-arguments". Molly suggests that there may indeed be NO such things. But this obscures another and more significant matter of blindness on the reviewer's part. He undoubtedly visits bookstores, and as such the opportunity to count "shelf space" is always open to him. Should he visit even the "better book stores" he should notice that the amount of space devoted to only health quackery is at least 50 times greater than that devoted to all debunking books that deals not just with this matter but matters far afield such as psychic frauds, ufos, etc.,etc.,etc.. I challenge the reviewer to find the great and golden "balanced argument" in any ie just one of the titles that proliferate on the market. Debunking books, of course, are simply not stocked in the majority of bookstores.
  Perhaps the reviewer felt that he had to make some sort of "critical comment" about the book he reviewed, and, even if he agrees with the author's general thesis, he felt compelled to make an even greater howler in the following statement;
  "He acknowledges the powerful lobby that supports the massive pharmaceutical industry in the U.S.. But he also tries to convince the reader that manufacturers and marketers of alternative remedies wield almost as much power."
  Ack, cough, choke !!! There's a dirty little secret hidden here that a little probing can easily uncover, but those who buy into the ideological camouflage of the "new entrepreneurs" will consistently ignore it because of ideology. Nobody ever bothers to look up the market share of the vitamin and supplement market because they are under the magic influence of a mythology of evil corporate dragons versus pure and noble New Age Saints. Some ideology survives all bruising contact with reality ! The evil corporate dragons and the saintly purveyors of "natural cures" are very much exactly the same people. Look it up yourself, but here is a list of the major players in the "neutraceuticals market" in the USA circa 2005. It should be noted that almost all of the market for "functional foods" is monopolized by major international food and drink manufacturers, and that the market for vitamin, mineral and supplements is increasingly dominated by the "house brands" of major retailers. The list:
• Bayer Corporation
• GNC Corporation (formerly General Nutrition Companies Inc.)
• GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals
• Leiner Health Products Inc.
• NBTY Inc. (includes Rexall Sundown Inc.)
• Perrigo Company
• Pharmavite LLC (Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Group)
• Twinlab Corporation
• Weider Nutrition International Inc.
• Wyeth (formerly American Home Products Corporation)

Doesn't sound like a left wing conspiracy to me. Anyways, if you are curious about the effects of such fad diets you can look to such references as the Merck index or Current Medical Diagnosis where the sections of nutritionally based disease are pretty dependent on food fashion for a lot of their entries. There is an overwhelming amount of pro-food fad material on the market, a lot of it poorly disguised advertising. For the other side try the following references:

Quack Watch

Homeowatch (on homeopathy)

Naturowatch (on naturopathy)

National Council Against Health Fraud

Nutriwatch

The Skeptics Dictionary

Anti-Quackery Ring