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May
May
4 Ways the Food Industry Tricks You Into Eating CRAP !
Do you ever wonder how your food is made and where it comes from? Over the last century, our diet has undergone so many dramatic changes, to say the least! We now get about 70 percent of our calories from processed foods. Gone are the days where our food contained natural occurring minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Today our food is loaded up with sodium, sugar, artificial sweeteners, strange additives and toxic chemicals. We’ve turned to the food industry for the sake of convenience and because we have been fooled into trusting them. But, the harsh truth is that the food industry is just like any other Multi-Billion Dollar business- it must make profits!
In order to meet demand and make profits, the food industry has learned how to cut corners, reduce costs and mass produce. Here’s how…
1. Hyper Fast Production- in business, time is money. The food industry wants everything from fruits and vegetables to eggs and beef to be manufactured extremely quickly. Thanks to antibiotics, growth hormones, corn and GMO’s, they are.
In the past, our cows grew to age four or five before they were slaughtered for food. Now, we’ve got the science down to 14 to 11 months. How? By fattening up the cows with GMO corn and growth hormones. To learn more check out this interview with Michal Pollen from Food Inc.
2. Cheap Ingredients- to make more profit, food manufacturers continually find ways to cut their costs. They cleverly do so by adding binders and fillers for volume and swap out real ingredients for cheap and imitation ones like High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cellulose and Potassium Bromate.
These gross additives are found in most processed foods, breads, candy, soda, flavored yogurt, cereals, dressing and even canned veggies. Potassium Bromate is used to increase volume in white flour, breads, and rolls. Cellulose is derived mainly from wood pulp and cotton. Yes, it is sometimes added to food.
It is added to shredded cheese to keep it from sticking together and also in your favorite ice cream!
These gross additives are found in most processed foods, breads, candy, soda, flavored yogurt, cereals, dressing and even canned veggies. Potassium Bromate is used to increase volume in white flour, breads, and rolls. Cellulose is derived mainly from wood pulp and cotton. Yes, it is sometimes added to food.
It is added to shredded cheese to keep it from sticking together and also in your favorite ice cream!
3. Magical Shelf Life- food spoils easily. Manufactured food has super powers. That crap does not spoil! If it does, that’s loss for the supermarket and the manufacturer. To prevent this, our food gets treated once more with chemicals. There are preservative and manufacturing aids in the food and also the packaging. Preservatives like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are added to cereals, chewing gum, chips and vegetable oils to keep them from changing color, flavor or becoming rancid!
4. Addicted Much?- how else did you think they would get you coming back for more? These manufactured food generally have some kind of addictive hook. Our food gets loaded with flavoring agents like sugar, sodium, trans fats, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) or casein. Naturally occurring casein in milk is fine. However, in fast food, it is transformed to a super refined and concentrated form. It is known as the “nicotine of the fast food” and thats why so many people are addicted.
Well, there you have it! I want to point out that this post wasn’t meant to scare you. Um…maybe just a little. It was also meant to bring some awareness to what’s really going on with our food industry. Despite the convenience, accessibility and allure of these processed foods, you can still choose to eat healthy. Your dollars have mega power. The less processed products you buy, the more the food industry will get the picture. Read your food labels carefully and choose which food brands/companies you feel comfortable supporting.
Look for items that have labels like: Organic, Hormone-Free, Gluten-Free, Humane Handling, Non-GMO, No MSG, Grass-Fed, Cage-Free, Responsibly Farmed, Farm to Table and Wild Caught.
Look for items that have labels like: Organic, Hormone-Free, Gluten-Free, Humane Handling, Non-GMO, No MSG, Grass-Fed, Cage-Free, Responsibly Farmed, Farm to Table and Wild Caught.
Weight In: What are your thoughts about our food supply? Do you pay attention to any of these things when food shopping?
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I love the picture for this! It is totally accurate and concise. I like the information you have here; it’s great to read another woman’s passionate blog about food, travel, and the reality of our food chain supply issues. I’m just starting out here and this is really motivating. Thanks!