Can We Trust Our Food System?
- janlindquist
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I'm here to tell you, absolutely no! Big Food exploits every loophole available to bury all the bad news allowing ultra-processed products masquerading as healthy while we are kept in the dark.
Let's Look at Soda - 12 oz. = 10 Teaspoons!
Soda is really a sugar delivery system built from brilliant marketing.
Some of us know that to figure out what's inside, we need to look at the ingredient list.
Unfortunately, that list is designed to be hard to understand.
Sugar is the primary ingredient in soda, but because the industry is able to list the amount of sugar in grams instead of teaspoons, we're confused. Just imagine if this changed, Big Food would fear the almost immediate decrease in soda consumption. So today, labels remain in grams, where this confusion works in their favor.
We shouldn't need a nutrition degree to buy our food, take yogurt for example, we are confronted with a myriad of ingredients full of "mono- and diglycerides", carrageenan, maltodextrin, soy lecithin, gums, and stabilizers. These ingredients carry gut-disrupting, inflammation raising ingredients that contribute to metabolic dysfunction.
If you can't pronounce it, or you can't cook with them in your home, be wary about eating it.
How to Read a Food Label.
The real information in not on the front of the package, we must turn the package over. This is not by accident, it's designed to make it hard to find answers because, the list of ingredients are on the back of packages.
The print is tiny, so we give up because it's so hard to read.
The design is in all caps, tight lines, and low contrast. This is all designed to make this important information hard to read.
Many companies don't want you to see what's actually in their products, so they make the information as inacessible as possible - Jerold Mande [former FDA, USDA comittee member who helped make this information as inaccessible as possible.]
Sugar Splitting.
By law, ingredients must be listed by amount, if sugar is the main ingredient, it should appear first.
But Big Foods deceptive trick is to list sugar in various categories; cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, malt syrup, etc. in the ingredients list.
As each category of sugar appears in smaller amounts, it's pushed lower and lower on the list.
Visually this looks like sugar isn't very important, even if, combined, it's the single largest ingredient.
Genetically Modified Foods =Consumer Confusion.
Did you know that most Americans [over 90% reported wanting GMO labeling]. But with unlimited resources, Big Food has lobbied, created PR campaigns, funneled funds into groups to distract us from the main point.
This resulted in the DARK Act [Denying Americans the Right to Know] which has overturned state GMO labeling laws, replacing them with weaker Federal standards. This legislation has allowed companies to shelter GMO disclosures through 1-800 numbers, websites or QR codes. They have even been able to exempt refined GMO ingredients if they contain no detectable material.
Why is this a problem?
Shoppers generally don't scan QR codes while grocery shopping.
We are required to have a smartphone and a reliable internet service at the store.
Grassroot campaigns that allow major food manufacturers like Coke, Pepsi, Nestle, Kellogg's and General Mills to funnel funds through the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a fake campaign.
Using "farmer" adds to equate health and well-being with highly inflammatory foods like potato chips.
Misinformation and misdirection contiues to confuse the consumer.
This isn't a public relations situation, it's an assalt on transparency.
Big Food's Strategy - Obscure, Delay, Distract.
Pretend to support transparency.
Confuse by redefining transparency into something that continues the deception.
Master the technicalities, loopholes, and print tricks to hide the real information.
Shift responsibility to the consumer by reminding us that it was labeled, but you interpreted incorrectly.
Does this begin to feel like Big Tobacco and Big Oil, all over again?
"It should, because understanding the entire truth around Big Food's label manipulation, how they hide ingredients, manipulate sugar, bury additives while keeping us confused and distracted is the game plan". Mark Hyman;
Becoming a Wise Consumer Continues to Be a Challenge.
I believe...
We should be able to easily find healthy, nutritious foods in our local markets without requiring a science degree.
We should be able to see ingredients listed clearly, so that we can make choices that reflect our values.
We should have clear labeling that actually is truthful and helpful.
But until then, know what you're up against and become informed.
You can find so much more, plus solutions in Mark Hyman's latest book - Food Fix Uncensored.
I highly recommend you read it and begin walking those grocery store isles confidently.
Thanks for reading,
Jan
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