This is a guest post from Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe) and New York Times Best Selling author. You can read more about her take on the food industry in her second book, Feeding You Lies!
Thoughts of outrage, unfairness, disbelief, and ultimately grief consumed me while I was doing this investigation. A list of ingredients that are banned across the globe but still allowed for use here in the American food supply recently made news.
While I have written about some of those ingredients before, this list inspired me to look a little deeper and find out how pervasive this issue is for us. Could these banned ingredients be contributing to the higher mortality and disease rates here in the U.S.?
The health of Americans is downright grim according to a report just released by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. It declares "Americans are sicker and die younger than other people in wealthy nations." The United States spends 2.5 times more on health care than any other nation, however, when compared with 16 other nations we come in dead last in terms of health and life expectancy for men and near the bottom for women.
Here is the breakdown for you:
- More than two thirds of United States citizens are overweight – 33% being obese.
- 32% of children are either obese or overweight.
- 43% of Americans are projected to be obese in 10 years.
- After smoking, obesity is America’s biggest cause of premature death and is linked to 70% of heart disease and 80% of diabetes cases.
- And 41% of Americans are projected to get cancer in their lifetime!
These reports and statistics scream the word HELP!
Recently, I spent some time down in Mississippi volunteering in the most obese county in the nation. I found that while social and economic factors do play a part in this epidemic, the main culprit was the lack of nutrition education.
The victims of obesity are likely the same victims of systematic brainwashing from Big Food marketers, relying on diet soda or low fat products or looking only at calories on product labels. Basically, they are doing what the food industry has been teaching them about losing weight versus finding out the truth about real food.
And that's the problem - the food industry is the one leading our conversation in this country about food and nutrition, educating the mass public about what to eat and what not to eat. Coca-Cola recently even went as far as creating a special campaign to combat obesity - yes you read that right - a sugar filled soda company trying to stop obesity. (You can read my reaction to that here).
Unfortunately, the doctors in this country are not exactly leading the discussion either, since nutrition is not currently a focus in medical school. And the government has their hands tied by big food industry and chemical company lobbyists that basically control what the FDA approves, deems safe for human consumption, and our overall food policy.
So who is going to finally tell us the truth about our food?
The food industry does not want us to pay attention to the ingredients nor do they care about the negative effects from eating them. They certainly don't care about the astronomical medical bills that are a direct result of us eating the inferior food they are creating.
The HELP we need starts here. We as a collective nation must stop this trajectory of sickness and rising health care costs, by understanding the ingredients we are putting into our bodies. We must challenge the U.S. food industry to discontinue the use of banned ingredients that are not allowed elsewhere in the world. We deserve to have the same quality food without potential toxins.
Food is medicine, and plain and simple, if our food is sick (filled with GMO’s, chemicals, additives, artificial ingredients, and/or carcinogens), collectively we as a country are going to continue to be sick.
Using banned ingredients that other countries have determined unsafe for human consumption has become a pandemic in this country. To prove this point, I found the best and easiest place to look for evidence was just across "the pond" in the United Kingdom, where they enjoy some of the same types of products we do - but with totally different ingredient lists.
It is appalling to witness the examples I am about to share with you. The U.S. food corporations are unnecessarily feeding us chemicals - while leaving out almost all questionable ingredients in our friends' products overseas. The point is the food industry has already formulated safer, better products, but they are voluntarily only selling inferior versions of these products here in America. The evidence of this runs the gamut from fast food places to boxed cake mix to cereal to candy and even oatmeal - you can't escape it.
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Some of the key American brands that are participating in this deception are McDonald's, Pringles (owned by Kellogg's), Pizza Hut and Quaker (owned by Pepsi), Betty Crocker (owned by General Mills), Starburst (owned by M&M/Mars), and Ritz Crackers (owned by Kraft). In the examples below, red text indicates potentially harmful ingredients and/or ingredients likely to contain GMOs.
Having a pre-made box of flour, baking soda and sugar all ready to go saves time for some people when it comes to making a cake, but does saving time have to come at the expense of chemically derived and potentially toxic ingredients?
The United States version of Betty Crocker Red Velvet cake not only has artificial colors linked to hyperactivity in children, food cravings, and obesity, but it also has partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fat). Trans fat has been shown to be deadly even in small amounts. “Previous trials have linked even a 40-calorie-per-day increase in trans fat intake to a 23% higher risk of heart disease.” This could easily be the amount of trans fat in one serving of Betty Crocker icing alone.
Sodium benzoate is an ingredient that Coca-Cola actually removed in their Diet Coke product overseas, but you'll still find it in their product Sprite, cake mixes and loads of other products across the USA. The Mayo Clinic reported that this preservative increases hyperactivity in children. Also, when sodium benzoate combines with ascorbic acid (vitamin C), it can form benzene, a carcinogen that damages DNA in cells and accelerates aging.
Fast Food giants like McDonald's and Pizza Hut are just as guilty as General Mills' Betty Crocker.
Look closely at the ingredients in McDonald's french fries above. Do you see how the french fries in the U.K. version are basically just potatoes, vegetable oil, a little sugar and salt? How can McDonald's make french fries with such an uncomplicated list of ingredients all over Europe, but not over here?
Why do McDonald's french fries in the U.S. have to have TBHQ, trans fat and "anti-foaming" agents? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked - I didn't think Americans liked foam with their fries either!
The anti-foaming agent - dimethylpolysiloxane - is a type of silicone used in caulks and sealants and as a filler for breast implants. It's also the key ingredient in silly putty.
Thanks FDA for allowing companies to put silly putty in our french fries. Seriously - this is out of control.
McDonalds Strawberry Sauce in the United States includes high fructose corn syrup, red #40 and sodium benzoate, while the citizens of the U.K. get off scot-free. Instead, they get 37% real strawberries in their product and no additional flavoring or harmful preservatives.
Pizza Hut does a huge disservice to us (and their workers) by using Azodicarbonamide in their garlic cheese bread. This ingredient is banned as a food additive in the U.K., Europe, and Australia, and if you get caught using it in Singapore you can get up to 15 years in prison and be fined $450,000.
The U.K. has recognized this ingredient as a potential cause of asthma if inhaled, and advises against its use in people who have sensitivity to food dye allergies and other common allergies in food, because azodicarbonamide can exacerbate the symptoms.
However, Pizza Hut and many other fast food chains like Subway and Starbucks use this ingredient in their U.S. bread products.
Natural and artificial flavors and hidden MSG (in the form of autolyzed yeast extract, in this case) are commonly found throughout products in America but not elsewhere. Junk food companies intentionally add this combination of ingredients to create sensory overload by exciting your brain cells to remember the food you are eating and make less nutritious ingredients taste better to you.
I'm not saying that the food industry has completely eliminated these same tricks abroad - but when you look at the U.K. version of garlic cheese bread, the ingredients look pretty basic. Many of the ingredients you could use at home to make garlic bread. I've never found TBHQ in the baking aisle at the grocery store, have you?
TBHQ, by the way, is a preservative derived from petroleum and used in perfumes, resins, varnishes and oil field chemicals. Laboratory studies have linked TBHQ to stomach tumors. This preservative is also used by Chick-Fil-A in their famous chicken sandwiches.
Reviewing the ingredients in Pringles really got me worked up....ever wonder why you can't stop eating chips after having just one? MSG is the culprit - and in the U.S. version of Pringles, it's added twice! Once in its known name and again in a hidden source, called "yeast extract."
This begs the question "Why are Americans so addicted to processed food?!" The food industry has designed it that way on purpose to line their pockets with profits, at the expense of our health.
The U.K. Ritz Crackers ingredient list resembles items that you'd find in every household around the country - but the United States version goes the extra mile to include trans fat, HFCS and natural flavor. Natural flavor can be also be a hidden form of MSG, which, again, is an additive that will likely make you eat more than you would otherwise.
In the United States, Quaker Oats has several different flavors of oatmeal that contain different fruit flavored, artificially dyed pieces of dehydrated apple but that don't actually contain any of the fruit shown on the package. But in the U.K. - they don't even attempt to sell that garbage. They instead have a product called "Oats so Simple" that actually has REAL strawberries in it - light years ahead of our version that includes trans fat, artificial food coloring, and artificial flavors.
There's only one difference in Rice Krispies between the U.S. and U.K. version - but it's a big difference. It's one ingredient that is banned virtually in every other country, except here in the United States. That ingredient is called BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) or BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and is a very common preservative used rampantly throughout packaged food in the U.S.
Test studies published by the IPCS (International Program for Chemical Safety) "show tissue inflammation, enlargement, and/or growths in 100%, and cancer in 35% of [animal] subjects" as reported in this article. How can the U.S. allow this chemical in our food - much less in cereal aimed and targeted at our kids?
And speaking of targeting our kids - food companies have found a way to naturally color candy all over Europe, but our candy here is still full of artificial substances made from petroleum and GMO sugar. Looking at the ingredients in Starburst Fruit Chews provides a great example of this disgrace.
I saved the most startling fact for last. One very cautionary set of ingredients that are included in almost all of the American products but not the U.K. products are GMO's, in the form of either corn or soy.
There have been no long term human studies on GMOs and preliminary studies on animals show horrific consequences. For instance, a study showed GMOs caused toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals.
Another study revealed that female rats fed GMO soy for 15 months showed significant health issues in their uterus and reproductive cycle, compared to rats fed organic soy or those raised without soy. A 2009 French Study concluded that Glyphosate (used on GMO soy) can kill the cells in the outer layer of the human placenta, the organ that connects the mother to her fetus, providing nutrients and oxygen and emptying waste products.
A Russian study conducted on hamsters that were fed GMO soy diets for two years over three generations found that by the third generation, most of the hamsters lost the ability to have babies, showed slower growth, and suffered a higher mortality rate.
In the U.K. food companies are required by law to list if a certain ingredient is derived from a genetically modified or genetically engineered material on the label. Out of all the products I researched, I couldn't find one product with this label. (See example from GMO-Compass and BBC above of what it would look like if I did.)
This was very telling considering that not only have food companies taken out all sorts of hazardous chemical ingredients abroad - but they also have willingly reformulated their products without GMOs.
Food corporations in the U.S. claim reformulating their products to remove harmful ingredients or changing labels would be too expensive - but they've already done just that in Europe and in many other countries. Their governments listened to the outrage of their people and took the safety of their citizens' health above everything else.
Is it too much to ask the same for us in the United States of America? How much do our sickness, obesity, and mortality rates have to worsen before they respond to us?
I will leave you with this note: Lisa and I are very disturbed about the shameful hypocrisy allowed to happen with our food supply here in the U.S. In fact we are feeling very compelled to do something about it. Stay tuned, because we are going to need every one of you to help when we are ready. In the meantime, I hope you'll come check me out at Food Babe and also share this article (you can use the green ShareThis button below).
March 5th Update: Lisa and I have started a petition - please sign and share it now. Together we can make a change.
Comments have been closed on this article, which was written by Vani Hari. If you have a question or comment you can reach her at http://FoodBabe.com.
Beth says
I do not understand how this is okay. Why would Americans not care about this? It's one thing to do something wrong and not know how to fix it, but it's another to do somethign wrong and not care. It is very confusing on what their motive is to feed Americans poisen.
Diana says
Thanks for a great article. I have been telling friends and family about other nations banning the same ingredients we douse our food supply with. They think I'm a little tapped but the very least an intelligent person should wonder why and seek an answer. You did a great job. I there anything you have on meat bans?
Jennifer says
While I do not know yet as I have not looked into this research (you should always check facts and not take everything at face value), what I do know is kids I have worked for them for 15 years. I have seen a little girl eat something with BHT and get a migraine within an hour. I have watched an intelligent little girl go to a quiz bowl match score hundreds of points drink a soda and then score 0 after that looking as if she is in a daze the rest of the day. I have watched identical twins at snack time one chooses 100% juice the other a Kool aid jammer, guess which twin was climbing on the tables and screaming 30 minutes later. Kids come in with McDonalds bags daily and then the parents are asking why their kid has trouble focusing why are they gaining so much weight? Make smart choices, take the time to know what you are eating and feeding your kids. Thanks for writing articles that atleast make people think and look at what they are eating.
Kimberly says
To Matt and Felix: Matt thank you for attempting to educate Felix. Felix, clearly you are an unhappy angry person, snap judgements and your anger will one day haunt you. I think the point here is that the "food" we have been told is fast easy etc is not even food. We eat too many chemicals that we weren't aware of until the past few years. Not everyone who is overweight is stupid and lazy, some people who aren't overweight are stupid and lazy. Again, Matt, thank you
John S. Cheney says
Greetings!
I very much enjoyed (Hmm... that's like hitting "like" on Facebook when a picture is about something horrible!) I very much APPRECIATE that you got this article published. I wish I could afford ink for my printer as I lose more in my computer than I do when it's on paper. I'd make every single person who walked in my door READ IT, word for word.
I've been posting and reposting every single petition I've been able to find, written both my Representatives (unfortunately, I'm represented (HA, HA!) by Republican Joe Heck, a NO REGULATIONS person)and my Senator (Reid)for almost three years. Just today I sent for the boycott list of companies that blocked Proposition 83(?) in California. I want control of what I'm putting on the table!
But all of this has to do with the bribery, Oops, Campaign Donations given out to Washington, and until we STOP that, it's near going to be impossible to get this under control.
Our ONLY options, besides letters is to boycott the companies doing this to us. But most people are either to lazy to pay attention, or uncomfortable with that OLD view of the ugliness of the term.
I'm taking my own activism to a higher level in the way of a .org Domain, web page and asundry on line products which I will maintain as long as I am financially able to.
Please feel free to email me about more details and to talk about our sites teaming up on needed issues!
Keep up the Good Fight!
John S. Cheney
Dave says
OK, you may think I'm an idiot for saying this, but consider this: We left the UK several hundred years ago in order to have freedom. To have freedom to eat whatever the heck we wanted to without the government (king) telling us what to eat. To grow whatever crops we wanted without government interference. To worship whatever gods we wanted to without a church persecuting us for our faith.
So, now you want us to re-enslave ourselves to the same UK that we forcibly and with great bloodshed left hundreds of years ago? I'm sorry, but the United States is a FREE country, and people are free to eat things that are not good for them, if that's what they want to do.
Fat people are just too stupid to read labels and educate themselves on what is healthy. They should be flushed out of the gene pool. We should not all be stifled by government deciding what is good for us and what isn't. They rarely EVER get anything right to begin with.
And I have a particular hatred for foreigners coming to the United States and then telling us Americans that we should re-enslave ourselves, especially to the UK standards. Witness Piers Morgan.
/Soapbox
Matt says
Ok. First fat people are not fat just because they can't read a label or they eat too much. There are a myriad of problems that lead to obesity. Lack of funds for quality food, genetic defects, insulin resistance, reduced leptin hormone sensitivity, increased grehlin production by the stomach telling you that you are hungry, Cushing's disease... The list could go on for reasons that people are obese, so don't make judgments like that.
Second it's not about what you can or cannot eat but it's about the Chemical properties that could be potentially harmful to your body, which are used to produce the food you eat. So we should be aware of what we eat and in some conditions the government should place bans on certain chemicals that are used in the production of our food.
Felix says
Matt, sounds like you are one of those fat people giving all of those excuses as to why people are fat. Fat people are fat because they are lazy, stupid and do not want to get out of their comfort zone. Drink some water, eat an apple (without the caramel) and go for a walk.
Try the Whole30 (no excuses, no cheat meals) and see what happens when you eat REAL food.
Matt says
Actually I am 25 year old caucasian male 145 pounds, a medical student, an avid runner, with two high school track records, and played four varsity sports in high school. With two valedictorian achievements I am not your average idiot. I am tired of uneducated people making presumptive judgements when they don't have a clue of what they are talking about.
Tiffany says
I think I will pur cookies with rat poison on the supermarket shelves. If someone eats them, it's their fault that they didn't read the label.
Michelle says
I agree with Matt and I don't care about immature and uneducated remarks -- so have at it.
Yes, Dave people should be able to eat what they want and not be told what to eat. Yet, food industries should also mandate the ingredients so that they are not unhealthy and possible life-threatening. We deserve better than chemically engineered food. The industry is cutting corners to be nothing more than cheap. To do this, they are introducing chemicals that a normal human body is not capable of processing. Something seems "off" when U.S. consumers are singled out to receive the unsafe ingredients. Take for instance the chemical called brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a patented flame retardant which is found in sports drinks and lemon-lime soft drinks. In order to make healthy, one shouldn't have to hold a degree in nutrition or a chemistry. Instead, I would prefer that the U.S. government just make sure dangerous chemicals were not in the food in the first place.
Michelle says
*In order to make healthy food choices*
Crystal says
The government is telling us what to eat and telling farmers what they can charge for their goods. This is not a free country don't fool yourself.
Matt says
Crystal I'm pretty certain that the government keeps track of what farmers produce and how much the produce and how much they charge to prevent prices from falling. Farmers can out produce demand because of the equipment we have. The U.S. is not a dictatorship, you should have learned some of these basic things in high school.
And carol, I,know you're Felix just under another name.
Trey says
I would like to try and clear this up a little bit. I don't think this article is about going back to the king and queen ruling the country and the food supply. This article is made to get people aware of what is in the American food supply. If the American government made companies label exactly what is in what you are eating, you can still choose if you want to eat it or not. Maybe if people were more aware of articles like this one, America could reduce its obesity rate... Just saying!
Diana says
This made my Day!!!You go Matt! I'm rooting for you.
janet says
Matt, when you eat corn, can you tell if it's natural or genetically manufactured by Mondanto, for example?
Carol says
Yeah! You are right! We do think you are an idiot.
Derf Nozzna says
The votes are in and its unanimous. DAVE IS AN IDIOT.
Penny says
Dave - If you think the United States is a free country you are obviously not living here. It was free at some point in history. Not anymore.
Jon Wrye says
FYI - the two links to the banned foods list (in the first paragraph) are broken. Do you have a working URL? I'd be interested in seeing that list.
Great post - thank for all the work you put into it.
Ty says
This is just another propaganda article by a health nut trying to put a scare into Americans. This person is putting the blame on what we eat rather than on the fact that most Americans have grown to lazy to get off their butts and exercise and cook home made meals rather than fast food and processed foods. We have known for years that processed and fast foods aren't good for us, but American's like their convience.
Causing a panic among the public is not the answer, and the way this information is presented, it was done to cause a panic. If you don't want your children or yourself eating any of this stuff, the answer is simple...by all the ingredients and prepare your own meals and stop buying processed and fast foods. If people want to lose weight? Simple, get off the couch and exercise, go outside and do something...stop blaming food for the problem.
MEF says
I didn't have time to read through all of this, and I totally agree on many of the points. But I did notice that on the McDonalds fries, you marked canola oil as harmful in the U.S., but not Rapeseed oil in the U.K.
Rapeseed and Canola oils are one and the same. Canola is the name used for the oil in North America.
Jeff says
Why do food companies make this crap food?!? Maybe because Americans can't seem to get enough of it. Calling obese people "victims" is absurd. No obese person (with the exception of the very, very few with legitimate glandular problems) is a victim of anything except their own laziness and ineptitude. Put down the triple cheeseburger, pick up a dumbbell, go outside and ride a bike, take responsibility for your health, stop making excuses, and quit blaming "evil corporations" and society's superficiality for your obesity. I live in the same country with the same food as you and somehow, just somehow, I manage to fit comfortably in an airline seat.
Scott says
It is amazing how the almighty dollar and unadulterated greed have caused our nation to become a nation of deadly foods products. I have a book from my childhood that shows how petroleum as a "super food" will save the world from starvation within a couple of decades (the book was written in the 1970s). It shows diagrams of how petroleum is used to make artificial flavors and colors in our foods. and promotes this wonderful scientific breakthrough. This is what my generation was taught in school, and brainwashed into believing. It was all lies, like the lie of cholesterol being bad for you, and when that blatant lie was exposed, to be further convuluted into "good" and "bad" cholesterol, to permit the drug companies to make BILLIONS of dollars by poisoning you and selling you worthless drugs to cure an imaginary "disease".
This nation is on a prescription of disease and death, manufactured and distributed with no regulation and continuous lies to the public. It is not an accident that such toxic chemicals as nutra-sweet and petroleum based food colors and flavors are being marketed...is is by intelligent decisions of those who own these companies. May we stop excusing them for their feigned "ignorance" and hold them accountable for the murders and disease they spread daily.
Matt says
I just want to say your comments about cholesterol are concerning. There are mainly two types of cholesterol HDL and LDL, each are metabolized by the liver differently. HDL is better in a couple ways, but it mainly is capable of removing cholesterol from peripheral tissue. High levels of LDL can lead to deposits in the endothelial tissues of blood vessels in which they become modified LDL. The body sees these "stagnant" or modified LDLs in the blood vessel walls as a foreign substance and will recruit macrophages and other immune response cells to get rid of the Modified LDL. However these macrophages don't stop picking up the modified LDLs due to a scavenger receptor and can become very large. Therefore these macrophages become what is called a "foam" cell, which are involved in the production of plaques in your blood vessels. These vessels become inflamed and can burst generally causing a thrombotic event, and this can happen many times without any symptoms. However, just one of these thrombotic events can cause like a scab on the inside of your blood vessel. This will then stop blood flow most likely to one's heart and will kill you. So it is best to keep your HDL high while keeping your LDL low.
Chris says
I rarely comment but the intellectual dishonesty in this article is frightening. Do some real research and think for yourself. Sorry to be so direct but misleading and misdirecting information needs to be reduced in our society not increased. Delete this, for the sake of humanity.
Jorey says
Chris, give us some idea of what you are disputing. You state the information is "misleading and misdirecting" but do not state what information to which you are referring. Give some evidence otherwise or refrain from criticism.
Erin says
Fabulous article! I'm sure IC (interstitial cystitis) is caused in large part by this sort of food. I had NO idea I was being so unhealthy! I watched calories and kept myself thin...but at 22, my life is essentially over because of this disease. Thanks, coporate greed.
Scott says
I rarely add comments, but I am compelled to on this "article." While I don't necessarily disagree with the point the author is trying to make, the cherry-picking and sensationalizing takes away any credibility. Do yourself a favor and research what the true differences are before acting on emotion. We use corn starch, cornmeal, soybean oil and soy lecithin because we grow a lot of corn and soybeans. So what. The UK uses palm oil which is the leading cause of rainforest deforestation in many equatorial countries. Many US companies don't use it for that reason. Our food problem (and I agree that it does exist) is complicated. Get educated, not brainwashed.
JG says
I say it is better to be education and safe, than uneducated, ignorant, and sorry!
Peggy Luhrs says
Good article but your facts and stats scream fat phobic. You could have said we are 47th in healthcare, have lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality but you are so focused on fat. It may not be good but it may not be the worst part of our heath problems either.And citing that over the above mentioned facts weakened the peice for me.
SJH says
I'm just wondering what is glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup or vegetable oil and fat. Glucose syrup could be corn syrup. Just pointing out a discrepancy in the transparency of some of the British versions (and or a terminology difference). I welcome the project.
HeatherB says
has anyone else noticed when you disagree with Food "babe" she deletes your posts?
Nate says
Does any one know if Canada is similar to the US in this deal over banned ingredients, food, etc? I don't want opinions. Facts would be very helpful. Thank you.
veggieGirl says
I find your tone defensive
You expect us to take this as "research" but them get defensive and says "it's not a research paper"?!
Maybe should try a research paper next time. Ya know with more *facts* that are properly notated
Twenty13 says
I agree with you there are many items that should not be in our foods... well except the bugs LOL! I don't agree with the way the article points out the differences. For instance, United States ingredients “high-fructose†is highlighted its not good for you. But if you look at ingredients for the UK, the words “Glucose, Glucose-fructose or Glucose fructose syrup†are not highlighted and High-fructose corn syrup is a mixture of glucose and fructose as monosaccharides. So it's just as bad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose
Jamie says
She said she also highlighted ingredients that would most likely be genetically modified. That's why on the us ingredients fructose,ect, are highlighted. 90% of our corn produced in the United States is genetically modified.
Twenty13 says
The Red Velvet cake mix from the United Kingdom is made with an ingredient called, “Carmineâ€, also known as Cochineal and Carminic Acid. These ingredients are crushed carcasses of insects which gives the cake the red color. The United States uses Red 40 which is bug free and is derived from coal.
http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/bugjuice.asp
sls1365 says
Actually, cochineal was once made out of crushed beetles, but isn't any longer and hasn't been for many years.
Save Big, Live Better! says
This is shameful! Why is it ok for one group of people and some items are even OUTLAWED in other areas?!
Just awful!
Thanks so much for the eye opening article!
Pam Bohan says
I know that there is bad stuff in pre-packaged food. That is why I try not to use them. People know its bad for them, but since they are busy working and caring for family, its hard to come home and spend a hour or more prepping for dinner. I'm a home school mom so I can usually put the time in. One thing i've noticed is that women don't know kitchen basics. (making a rue and white sauce) Home Ec. is out of favor,because homemaking is out of favor.It would help to educate kids on kitchen basics, and introduce tasty ways to create healthy meals.This knowledge has helped me create good food on a small budget or when the money runs out.
Jenifer says
Pam... I agree with most of your post... except when you say "People know its bad for them." For most of the people I talk to who are not part of the "foodie" culture (most Americans are NOT foodies) absolutely don't realize how bad for them processed, boxed food is. They think that opening a box of Hamburger Helper & adding lean ground beef to it is a healthy, home-cooked meal. They believe that by drinking diet soda or eating low-fat, high-fiber instant oatmeal they are keeping their fiber up, their calories down, and they are, therefore, eating healthy. I even had a friend mention the other day she was so excited that McDonald's is serving fish nuggets now so she has a more healthy option when they go there!?! People honestly BELIEVE this stuff.
Face it.... many, many Americans don't think....they take advertisements at face value and don't consider the marketing behind it. I used to be one of those people myself. :o)
Sally says
You are so right. Most people don't have a clue.
marisa says
I had a work friend make a similar comment about trying to get her child to switch from chicken nuggets to fish mcbites, she has no qualms about feeding her child 5+ happy meals a week because "its white meat chicken, milk, and fruit". I don't know how to go about re-educating people about what food is actually supposed to be.
jerry guthson says
ANYTHING FOR MONEY!!! Lobbyists and governors thank you very much!!!
My US peers in their early 20s look more like in 30s. INCLUDING GREY HAIR!!! Freaky!!!
Chuck U. says
Yeah 100 days of no thanks. I know whats in the food. Its on the wall at Mcds. Run vegans run!
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents says
My name is Stacy and I blog at Stacy Makes Cents - and when you are ready, I will be ready to help you.
Let's DO THIS!
Lisa Nancy says
You mention we should stand up to our govt. Do YOU propose to try to be Erin Brockovich- and take on BIG PHARMA, BIG GOVT aaannndd BIG CORPORATE??? I am sorry, but unless and until we have our US senators (who prob wont even want to do this either) be OUR voice, we will NOT get ANYwhere. If you notice, people dont die of AIDS anymore. Big Pharma keeps them alive to mk $$. Also, i believe the govt (who OBTW- created the toxic food pyramid - using " (gmo) grains as being "their sugg" of what we need to eat the most svngs of- wants to kill us, keep us sick, and mk us sterile in the process- partly b/c we havent had a good population thinner in awhile- like say, pandemic or war. Chew on THAT. Be smart, look at the food pyramid prior to 1950. Coconut oil (big amts of "healthy"saturated fats) were widely used on our popcorn in the movie theatres of yesteryear. Those "medium chain tryglicerides" were healthful; plus people ate LESS of it- so they consumed MORE. They didnt care about making people consume MORE (hence, MSG! would). WAKE UP. READ B/T the lines. Keeping people alive AND SICK makes more $$$ for everyone in BIG CORP../ GOVT! Its YOUR responsibility to do the homework and BE HEALTHY. If you have a small sow (baby pig) and want it to get reallllyyy fat- dont YOU feed it CORN? GRAIN? etc... and the same for ALL THE MEAT being processed. ALL those animals (just prior to slaughter) are eating last yrs Halloween CaNDY IN THE WRAPPERS- to do a quick fattening up prior to $$slaughter. YOU SHOULD NEVER be more than 2degrees of seperation from WHATEVER you put in your mouth; b/c in the last 10yrs the ENTIRE industry has changed. Pesticides also are highly estrogenic and this is why kids are having fertility issues. I could go on and on- but if you eat the best quality you can afford- along with doing what everyone else does in the rest of the free world (inc POOR countries!) SIMPLY GET OFF THE SMARTPHONE AND TAKE SOME TIME TO make a healthy meal, lunch , soup. C'mon. Get involved with a co-op to get the produce if you cant afford it. Ask friends, etc for connections. OR make your OWN co-op circle and buy things at bulk and $$SAVE. Its reallllly easy! ANd doing some physical labor just might extend you and your kids lives.
Lisa Nancy says
CORRECTION to above comment...Meant to say that people "ate less popcorn and DIDNT CONSUME MORE"
Maria says
I agree. People ate less in general because the food was more nutritious. Even the fodd in the grocery store that most people would consisder "healthy", such as fruits and veggies, do no contain the same nutrition value as the identical type of produce from yesteryear. That is why Americansconsume so mush food, and end up obese (well partially)..they are nutritionally starved so are consuming more to gain less nutition.
Suzy Sims says
Europe is even more stringent on food additives ...GMO, MSG, nitrates, Hydrogenated oils, Splenda, and all the other synthetic sweeteners are all banned over most of the world ...except here
Jaime says
Folks, they have found horse meat in fast food burgers, frozen lasagna, etc all over Europe and the UK, and I'm pretty sure that wasn't on their ingredient list. Don't forget, Mad Cow disease started in the UK because they fed their cows animal parts. I don't know if I would trust their ingredient lists to use as a comparison.
marisa says
It actually started in the UK with ground beef and cattle imported from Canada, whose regulatory agencies for food and livestock are as deplorable as our own.
Maria says
The fact of the matter is, the US government does not care abou tour health. In fact, they are making money on the poor health of Americans. The more junk they can put into the "food" in the US the better. The sad reality is most people ae living in a matrix of sort. It's time we open our eyes to what is going on. America has not been truly "free" for a long time, we are at the mercy of the dictators who control our government and igore the rights that our forefathers fought to preserve. The food is just the tip of the icberg. We all need to wake up and start learning to provide for ourselves and our family. Stay away from the big company propaganda.
Lisa Nancy says
MARIA< I AM WITH YOU ON YOUR EDUCATED COMMENT. AMEN! read my comment as it is similiar.
Brandi Wren says
Fantastic article!! I will definitely be sharing this with many people!! Thank you!
I do want to point out, however, that consumers should be aware of other ingredients that may be considered healthy to eat but not healthy for our ecosystems. The example that sticks out in this article (as observed from the photos of the ingredients labels)is palm oil.
The palm oil industry in general is NOT sustainable, and relies on the destruction of important habitat for endangered wildlife. As a researcher who studies primates in the wild, I urge you to please make an attempt to reduce the amount of palm oil in your diet, eliminate it, or purchase products made with palm oil sourced from sustainable sources.
Here are some relevant websites where you can find more information:
http://www.cmzoo.org/conservation/palmOilCrisis/
http://www.clemetzoo.com/palmoil/
http://www.grasp.org.au/index.cfm?p=2350
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/palm_oil/
Olga says
The easiest way to combat this is to stop eating foods like this. If you don't support these companies, they will go away. Go to the market, and buy local vegetables, local meats, ones you know where they come from, and make time to cook at home. Stop feeding your children McDonald's, and Coca Cola.
Mike Mzungu says
The requirements in the US for reporting ingredients are more stringent. For example, with Pringles in England, it is sufficient to list "Vegetable Oil" as an ingredient while in the US we require the manufacturer to list the types of oil. I guarantee that the UK has very similar amounts of highly manufactured to the US.
Michelle says
This isn't the most shocking news on the planet but very sad nonetheless. Americans as a whole have only themselves to blame unfortunately. We are a society plagued by food addiction, so until we can lower the demand for rich and cheap/processed foods, it's sadly not going to change. My family and I make it ourselves if we can and minimize ingredients completely and to those we know to avoid these things, but they'll likely always be out there--other dangerous things to consume such as cigarettes are still out there en mass after all.
I suspect the government won't help with this cause, but the lack of willingness to label GMOs is appalling. I foresee this changing (hopefully!), but until then, [smart] companies are taking the opportunity to promote non-GMO foods, which is definitely helping the conscientious consumer. Thanks for the article, Food Babe!
Lacey @ KV Organics says
Hi Vani! I'm new to this blog - a friend of mine just forwarded this to me. Thank you so much for your great investigative work and write up here. I will definitely be sharing this with folks. My niche is doing this same type of work with personal care and cosmetic products, where there are so many misleading "natural" and even "organic" claims, so I greatly appreciate this type of in depth research into ingredient labels. Cheers!
kris4christ2 says
It's funny how the Pizza Hut Garlic Bread here just has some Dehydrated Garlic, while the UK version has Pureed/Chopped Garlic, Garlic Powder, AND Garlic Oil.
Billy says
Well, first it was trans fat in our food and then we were told it had been removed, guess not! Then it was 'pink slime' in our hamburger meat and everyone except the consumer, those of us eating the mess that went public. Now we find that our food really is full of poisons but just us, not Europe! I am not surprised about the poison in our food supply but I am surprised that it is not in the European food supply. What do you expect with our congressmen and president bought by the highest bidder? The FDA and the USDA are just another waste of taxpayer funds. I can only say that 'we the people' are reaching a breaking point and we will not be given our government back, we'll have to take it back, and we will.
Twenty13 says
The United States ingredients highlighted "high-fructose" to indicate its not good for you. But if you look at the ingredients for the United Kingdom you'll see the words "Glucose, Glucose-fructose, Glucose fructose syrup". High-fructose corn syrup is a mixture of glucose and fructose as monosaccharides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose
Twenty13 says
The Red Velvet cake mix from the United Kingdom is made with an ingredient called, "Carmine", also known as Cochineal and Carminic Acid. These ingredients are crushed carcasses of insects which gives the cake the red color. The United States uses Red 40 which is bug free and is derived from coal.
http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/bugjuice.asp
Billy says
Well, I am not fond of eating insects but I find consuming coal even less appealing. I think I would rather have my red velvet cake whatever color it is without adding any coloring, insects, coal, red slime or anything else.
I wonder how did they make Red Velvet cake before crushing bugs or squeezing coal? Surly something simple like flower petals, strawberries or something natural, right?
Christy says
The red color originally came from beetroot, in addition to cranberries, raspberries, or strawberries. But mostly the beetroot.