Christmas & Holiday Myths

• Myth #1: Your Christmas beef tenderloin is causing global warming.

PETA may never admit it, but it turns out that eating meat isn’t so eco-unfriendly after all—at least if it’s American meat. Back in October, the CCF took a closer look at that 2006 United Nations report everyone’s talking about, Livestock’s Long Shadow, and found that greenhouse gas sources directly related to livestock production in the U.S. only account for 2.58 percent—not 18 percent—of the total.

• Myth #2: Watch out! Those potato latkes are full of acrylamide!

Don’t believe the hype: According to the British Journal of Cancer, the link between acrylamide (a substance that forms when potatoes are fried) and cancer is actually an inverse trend. You could eat your weight in latkes or French fries every week for the rest of your life without ever incurring any real danger.

• Myth #3: Grandma’s tuna casserole will give you mercury poisoning.

Passing on the ocean-caught fish this month—or any other month—will probably cause more damage than eating the tiny traces of naturally occurring toxins that are in all fish. Just ask the Food and Drug Administration.

• Myth #4: Lay off the cheese balls and pecan pie unless you want to look like a fat Santa.

As the American Dietetic Association has said, food is not the enemy. Rather than fixate on one food or the other, try and focus on the big picture: your total diet and exercise regimen. Enjoy your holiday feast. Just walk it off.

• Myth #5: Your holiday turkey is laced with harmful antibiotics.

Despite the claims of environmental and animal-rights activists, medicines given to livestock are required to improve the health of farm animals, and pose no health risk to meat-eaters. Banning them would backfire, harming the health of people like you.