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Health See other Health Articles Title: Seven Secrets the Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know On April 8, 1999, 11 CEOs from the largest processed food corporations in the world met in a daunting skyscraper in downtown Minneapolis. On the agenda: How to confront their roles in America's ballooning obesity and diabetes epidemic. In a rare show of decency from a food industry CEO, the chairman of Pillsbury, James Behnke, was leading the call to arms for these 11 men to take responsibility for the role they've played in this country's health. Yet despite his best efforts and damning evidence of their part in this health crisis, the other 10 executives simply scoffed at him. They told Behnke that any efforts to make their foods healthy by removing the unhealthy ingredients would certainly make their Frankenstein food creations taste horrendous. You don't have to be a CEO to know that nothing spells a quicker decline in profits more than an unpalatable product, health be damned... This tale of the food industry’s dedication to profits over public health is well documented in Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, by New York Times reporter Michael Moss. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do so as soon as you can get your hands on the book. Moss writes of how the food industry has manipulated the physical and chemical properties salt, sugar, and fat, as well as created some of the most ingenious marketing efforts of all time — all to get you to eat more of their junk foods and increase these companies' bottom line. With that in mind, here's seven of the more interesting food industry revelations made by Moss that'll make you think twice about picking up that next tray of cookies... 1) Companies market their foods like cigarettes. Up until 2007, Phillip Morris, the largest cigarette company in the world, owned Kraft Foods, a heavy weight in the processed food industry. In the 1980s, Kraft took a marketing tip from their Big Tobacco owners: They used Phillip Morris's own tobacco data to develop store lists that would target stores that would help them corner the low-income market. Most of these stores were located in "food deserts" — areas that had little or no access to fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and nuts. The primary source of calories for many of the people in these neighborhoods is the junk food pedaled by the food industry. One of the results of their data-collection: Low-income areas have much higher rates of obesity than the rest of the country. The worst part is that many of these stores are frequented by children going to and coming from school, where the food industry abuses the advertising naivety of these kids to push their products upon them. Advertisement Chinese Monk Uncovers Secret Hair Growth Formula The bad news is that hair loss is a very complex problem. The good news it that it’s not mission impossible. You just need to know how to do it. Read on to find out exactly how... 2) Government subsidies make junk food possible. Oreos, American Cheese, Go-Gurt, Heinz Ketchup, Haagen-Dazs... If it's cheap and has milk or corn syrup in it, it's because the government made it all possible. The $7 billion+ corn subsidy is well known. The Fed has so generously set up a price floor which encourages farmers to over-produce, which means farmers get paid a certain price from the government — even if they flood the market with too much corn. Now, in a true free market, this action would drop the price of corn for the farmers and encourage them to produce less. But since the farmers are not subject to any of the consequences of over-producing, that's exactly what they do. With all those corn needing to be used before it goes bad, they government offloads it to food manufacturers at extremely low prices. These cheap prices encourage the food companies to use corn and corn derivatives their products. Take one look at any junk food label, and you'll pretty much be guaranteed to see corn in some form listed as the top ingredient. Less well known than the corn subsidies (though no less bad for your health) is the money Big Dairy receives from the government. The same principle operates here: The price floor set by the government for milk encourages overproduction on part of the dairy farmers. Chemicals, technology, and a corn-rich diet1 allows cows to produce six gallons of milk a day. The normal grass fed cow produces 1.5 gallons a day! This cheap milk (usually full of antibiotics, bovine growth hormone, and other nasty things) is then used by the processed food industry to make dairy abominations: American Cheese, skim milk2, Cheez Whiz, Cheez-Its, and string "cheese," to name a few. The milk in these products are so processed, there is very little if any beneficial dairy nutrients left in them. All that's left is lactose, the main sugar found in milk, and a bit of protein. 3) They are pros at marketing to children (and their working moms!). Speaking of sugar, food scientists have found that children generally like their foods with more sugar than adults do. So where do you find the sugary foods in the supermarket? At a child's eye level, of course. And the colorful and "cartoony" packaging is no accident... No advertising appeals to children more than the fun characters they see on a cereal box. They've also learned to emphasize convenience in marketing kids' food to the purchasers: parents. The busy mom (or dad) rarely has the time to prepare a home-cooked meal anymore, so the food industry is there to save the day with ready-to-eat meals. Problems getting the kids fed in the morning before school? Nothing's quicker than handing them a warm Pop-Tart as you send them running to catch the school bus. What they don't tell you is the inconvenience caused by all the doctors appointments you'll be scheduling for all the health ailments caused by their sugar-laden food... 4) The executives don't even consume the foods they sell to you! This should be a glaring fact to any consumer. Moss pointed out often in his book that many of the CEOs of the big food companies don't even consume the products their companies make — likely because they know what goes in it and what kind of damage it does to the body. 5) Lean processed meat is just as nasty as regular processed meat... maybe even more so! Call this one a casualty of the ridiculous war on fat. Moss found: "The industry has struggled with [...] leaner cuts of meat. Some suffer greatly from having less fat, with an inferior mouth feel and tough chewing." Two methods the industry has used to tenderize the tough lean cuts are soaking the meat in a brine solution and running the meat through rows of needles or blades. But a third method had the "unfortunate" experience of coming under public scrutiny... You may remember this image from the recent "pink slime" controversy that erupted a few years ago. The industry calls it "lean finely textured beef," and it works like this: The fattiest parts of the cow that are normally not eaten are tossed into a centrifuge which spins the fat off, leaving a lean mixture of beef that is just 10% fat. It's then boxed and "combined with other beef trimmings to make hamburger." The final step of the process, as Moss points out, is the most controversial: The meat is treated with ammonia gas (which is toxic to humans) to destroy any germs that may be present on the meat. Big Beef immediately defended the practice, but to little avail... Most of their buyers (including places like McDonald's and Wal-Mart) have stated they're discontinuing the use of this meat. It's also worthwhile to note that contamination is only really a problem in large factory farms where cows are more likely to be exposed to disease-causing bacteria. If you buy fresh grass-fed beef, you'll limit your exposure to these pathogens and avoid ammonia gas altogether. Advertisement Eat More, Weigh Less For years we'd been fed the idea that a low-fat diet is essential for weight loss and good health. This is WRONG! It's much easier than you think to eat large portions and still be healthy. Here is the 'missing link' you've been waiting for. Every day counts, so act now and start truly enjoying your life today. 6) Sugar is as potent an additive substance as narcotics. Food scientists have long known about humans' natural instinct for sugary things. In fact, this is one of the few food cravings that we're actually born with. Dr. Nora Volkow, a research scientist and psychiatrist, has found parallels in the way that sugar and narcotics affect the brain. Her work has led her to find for many people, stopping sugar intake can be as difficult as stopping an addition to illicit drugs. Other studies confirm that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine3. 7) Their newest target market: diabetics and the obese. This is a rather brash move by the food industry... After selling products that cause diabetes and obesity, these same companies are looking to create processed foods catered to both these groups!4 Nestle is even teaming up with Big Pharma giant Novartis to create a slew of processed drink products for people who just had lap-band surgery. (This procedure shrinks the stomach so patients, usually obese, don't consume as much food.) The problem is many people who undergo lap-band surgery continue to overeat, causing the lap-band to burst and serious internal injuries as a result. Nestle — the makers of Haagen-Dazs, Trix cereal, and Hot Pockets — realize there is a huge market in selling drinks that have all the nutrients you need, but that won't burst your lap-band... What they're not telling consumers is there's a much better way to lose weight than lap-band surgery: Don't eat their products in the first place! The bottom line here is that if you have any concern for your health, processed food should be avoided at all costs. And while the occasional bag of potato chips won't hurt you, the health costs of making this kind of food a regular part of your diet are astronomical. To learn more fascinating secrets of how the processed food industry has hijacked your taste buds, I suggest picking up a copy of Michael Moss' Salt Sugar Fat. Yours in health, Ken Swearengen for Health Wire P.S. Do you have any questions, comments, or criticisms about this article, or nutrition and fitness in general? Send them on by email to Ken.S@angelpub.com, via Twitter @HealthwireKen, or "Like" our Health Wire Facebook page and post your message on our wall. We look forward to hearing from you! Advertisement The Video Footage that has Drug Companies Terrified They won't announce it yet, but drug companies all over the world are shaking in their boots... That's because one tiny biotech firm just demonstrated a rare chemical that could help cure many of the diseases they sell drugs for. Before the first big ticket contract comes through — at least doubling the share price — click here to see exclusive footage. Notes: [1] Cows don't digest corn very well, which leads to all sorts of unhealthy consequences for the cows -- including weaker immune systems and an increase in body fat. This is passed along to you in the form of antibiotics (to counteract their weakened immune system) and an increase in the unhealthy fats in the cow's meat. [2] Studies show you're more likely to lose weight with whole milk than skim. Low fat dairy in general is ineffective at bringing about weight loss: ajcn.nutrition.org/content/84/6/1481.abstract [3] www.nydailynews.com/life-...disease-article-1.1054419 [4] This follows similar moves by tobacco companies that have created their own line of electronic cigarettes to help addicts quit regular cigarettes. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Viva La Women's Lib Another gift that keeps on giving.
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