10 Things the Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

I think some manufactured foods are okay. Although, it's a leap of faith. Your question even relates to organic. Is it really organic?

This weekend I was talking to a health freak friend who told me that all peanuts are crap, genetically modified, even if it says organic etc. My opinion about that is, well, maybe they are but I'm still going to eat them. The health freak friend, in my opinion has too many issues around food, so much so she can't enjoy any of it-- and that's a shame.

So I say, yeah, those Brazil nuts say organic, so I'm going to get them, even though I think they're not. Nonetheless, Brazil nuts are tooo delish to pass by.

Oh man do I have some opinions on this....

busy right now, I'll be back.

Why do you say milk has to be pasteurized? By law in most states, perhaps. But fresh milk, straight from ol' Bossie, collected in a hygeinic way is not only safe; it's delicious. Another thing about milk, where the dairy industry has certainly spent millions to hoodwink virtually everybody: milk is notthe perfect food. There are a helluva lot of things a growing body needs that milk doesn't provide. Take iron, for one.

I like to read labels when I buy food - the less ingredents usually the better - especially those ingredents you don't what the h*ll it is. I like to buy stuff that I has stuff in it, I can read and have actually heard of.

As far as luncheables (I destest those things) - however, the kids love them (more likely the advertising) so once a month they get them - but I always include fruit! - Fresh fruit (which only has one ingredent in it).

i wish i could make all my own food, i do not trust anyone whos best way to make profit is to make lower quality products. period.

there is this store called fresh and easy, i sort of like it.
and this other western organic market place i forgett he name, buffalo bills or someshit...


this day and age, most people cant trust their parents, let alone a corporation.

I won't say I sometimes buy that crap - but with two kids and hubby and me working full time - we do to save time - then I just end up spending extra time at the grocery store reading all them labels.

Well, given the dirt on farms (I'll spare you all, but there are reasons why mad cow, e coli and salmonella have spread, and some of them have to do with factory farm conditions. Pasteurization at least gets rid of all of that) ... Plus, that also assumes access. Is it possible to go to a farm, here in Mass. (let's even assume I'll travel 2 hours each way for the privilege, so that includes New Hampshire and Rhode Island, etc.) and milk your own? And then what? You still need to store it. And for that kind of a trip -- and the gasoline you waste -- you'd better be getting it in some quantity. I like drinking milk but I do have other things to eat and drink. But even if RP and I drank it 24/7 I doubt we'd be able to make a dent in enough milk to make such a field trip viable.

And that's true of most farm products. You can pick apples around here and there are some locally grown items available even in Star Market. But a lot of this stuff is just too remote, so it'll have to be purchased somehow, and made palatable, safe and something that will hopefully store for longer than an hour.

I think being able to recognize the ingredients is a good step, probably the key first step. And some things that may sound terrible probably aren't that awful (carageenan is a type of seaweed, for example).

Perhaps the real question is: where/when/how (and should we) can we fight for our food rights?

I try to eat the way I was fed as a child I lived on a ranch. Food was fresh resh and cooked from scratch. But it is difficult. The one thing I have changed is the amount of meat I eat. I find it difficult to obtain quality organic fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy. And the cost of organic is sometimes just to much.

Pasteurization doesn't get rid of BSE/mad cow, Jespah. I'm not a scientist but I don't think that there's anything that "kills" it.

We eat pretty fresh but I have been known to indulge the kids in a lunchable now and again. The key for me is that it can't account for more than a very small percentage of what they are eating. For instance, I buy the ones that are basically just meat, cheese, and crackers and keep them around for after school snacks. The ingredients are not great but they don't eat it every day -- just the days when we are super busy. We don't eat much frozen or canned food. When I do the shopping, I more or less take the big loop around the store, stopping in the aisles to pick up cereal and crackers and the like. You mentioned Gatorade -- I let the kids have it if they are playing sports but not otherwise.

So I guess the point is that while some stuff is just so processed it's gross (Chef Boyardee) and we'd never buy it or allow the kids to eat it, some stuff we know is junk but we figure it's ok as long as we don't make a habit of it. I think that the more good food you eat the less that stuff tastes like food anyway.

I don't think it's propagated through milk products anyway. Don't you have to consume infected neural tissue?

I stand corrected re mad cow. But, really, pasteurization is intended to kill a lot of nasty stuff, and unfortunately factory farms these days are breeding grounds for seven thousand different kinds of ick.

I agree, FreeDuck, I think occasional indulgences are essentially harmless (the key word there being occasional) and the more of the good stuff you eat, the less you crave of the bad. Plus I know, with kids, it can be tough. It's not fashion but it's close, e. g. the kind of image you end up projecting with your buds if you get a certain kind of food versus another.

I think there's also something to be said about allowing some things in order to demystify them. Deny all forms of candy and what ends up being desired the most? Pity that doesn't seem to work too well with Brussels sprouts, but hope springs eternal.

Thanks to everyone for all sorts of thoughtful contributions. Keep 'em coming.

I really don't know for sure about milk, DD. Again, no scientist here but it seems that misshapen proteins should be able to get to anyplace and from there to any other place.

I buy very little junk food, yet we do eat sweets, mostly the kind with few ingredients only (European chocolates). I read the labels a lot and found that imported goods have mostly just the basics, and that's what I want.

I found some Italian jam that has just the fruit, pectin and sugar in it, and with $ 2.49 a jar it's even cheaper than most american jams - tastes better too! I buy potato bread for the kid as I found it to be good and it doesn't mildew within a few days like others do.

We occasionally indulge in hamburgers (in-n-out is devine), but no more than once a month. We also eat lots of fruits and fresh produce.

Honestly?

None of those 10 things are anything that anyone with 1 gram of sense didn't already know.

I suppose I am what some people might classify as a health nut, but seriously, I'm not.

Just because someone can figure out that boiling a pot of water and cooking some pasta and add a little olive oil and cheese is healthier than opening a can of chef boy-ar-dee doesn't make them a health nut. One isn't even any more convenient than the other.

I wouldn't advocate everyone growing their own food in their back yard. That makes as much sense as everyone trying to make their own car. I'm not talking about having some tomato plants and/or green bean/lettuce/spinanch plants etc. But raising all your own food would obviously leave time for little else.

From the time agricultural societies developed, there have been divisions of work; farmers, tanners, bakers, etc. It produces a better quality, and is more efficient that way.

Re perservatives, none of of can avoid them completely, but I'm convinced it's not that hard to cut most of them out, without sacrificing our precious need for convenience.

I truly don't understand some peoples concept of "don't have time to make a decent meal"

People will stop on their way to work, sit or stand for least 5 minutes in a line, to pay for some oversalted, overfried, imitation of a breakfast, complete with lard in the biscuts, preservatives in the cheese, nitrates in the ham or bacon, all wrapped up in paper, put inside another piece of larger paper, which will end up in a landfill.
It wouldn't have taken any longer, and would have been half the price, and would have been immeasurably healthier to toss an english muffin in the toaster, and while it was toasting scramble up a couple of eggs with a little fresh cheddar cheese on top, and pour a to go cup of juice. Throw the eggs on the muffin, wrap it in a napkin, and in the car you go.

It's not rocket science people.

What it is, we're addicted to these preservative, and have lost the ability to know what food is supposed to taste like.

Lunchables? I've never had the pleasure, but I'm sure I wouldn't think they tasted anything like food.

Admitedly, my diet is very simple....and I think that's great, I least I know what my food tastes like.

McDonalds is the Anti-christ.

Oh my - I love In and Out Burger - every time I am in CA, I always make a stop!

We have always tried to grow as much of our own food as we possibly could. In California, before the lot we gardened was developed, we had year 'round produce - thanks to the citrus trees and root vegetables that were best in winter. We would try to can at least 30 quarts of tomatoes - so we'd always have them on hand for a ragu or whatever. We also froze them whole - skins on - just run them under warm water to peel and toss in the pot. Perfect.

I love to hunt but it's hardly for sustenance. This is my third year deer hunting and second bow hunting. Bow hunting is extremely difficult. I have missed four shots on deer in the last two years (all does). Two years ago during firearms I didn't see any deer until after the season closed - they scared the crap out of me as I walked home in the dark. Last year I saw no antlered deer at all during firearms. They tend to go nocturnal once the shooting starts.

We don't buy a lot of junk food but we buy some because if we didn't the kids would just be buying it without our knowledge. By having some around, we can keep track of how much they are eating and encourage portion control.

Where do I draw the line? Somewhere between diet Sprite and Mountain Dew.

Agree, agree, agree. But you have to admit, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is just what the doctor ordered for the morning after the night before.

Eliminating preservatives is like eliminating bacteria from your food. You're just gonna get it, but being more cognitive of it means you can reduce the amount you ingest. It's like you can't help what you're breathing. Storebought bread has preservatives in it. So do your English Muffins. Their shelf life is way longer than the homemade variety. It isn't great but a little is not going to kill you.

Quarter Pounder with Cheese for a hangover?


I don't think so. That'd put me in the hospital.

Yeah, you're going to get preservatives in your diet, I don't deny that.

But....it's really not that hard to not get the bulk of them.

Bakery bread isn't more expensive that good store bought. Keep it in the fridge.

Some bacteria are good for you, and meant to be there. Preservatives aren't.

Thinking on what I've eaten so far today....nothing had preservatives in it, and I didn't eat anything weird, anything that would label me as health nut. I think the only thing that was processed in any way beside my cooking it was some cheese...and it's the nature of cheese to be created from milk.

Mainly it's just choosing simple things.

It'd be interesting to figure out how many steps something you (the plural you) ate went through before it got to your mouth, and I'm not including transporting it. I mean how much stuff was Done to it.

Oh God, you know what TV show really grosses me out?

"Unwrapped". That food show that's about how all these different snacks are produced. I've actually gotten queasy watching it.