What you need to know about processed foods

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

Just got this article about the health dangers in processed foods

(references are to US situations and legislation but I suppose the things

are similar in other countries. I've copied the text but visiting the

article on the site gives you extra sidebars, links to more detailed info

etc. - Piers

 

http://www.NewsTarget.com/019957.html

 

[start of article]

The giant food corporations have one mission: selling more food and

beverage products to consumers. Succeeding with that mission depends on

keeping consumers in the dark on certain issues such as the presence

cancer-causing chemicals found in popular food products.

Here are ten things the food corporations, whose products dominate grocery

store shelves across the United States and other countries, absolutely do

not want you to know.

 

1. The ingredients listed on the label aren't the only things in the food.

Cancer-causing chemicals such as acrylamides may be formed in the food

during high-heat processing, yet there's no requirement to list them on the

label. Residues of solvents, pesticides and other chemicals may also be

present, but also do not have to be listed. The National Uniformity for Food

Act, currently being debated in the U.S. Congress, would make it illegal

(yes, illegal) for states to require cancer warnings on foods that contain

cancer-causing chemicals (such as California's Proposition 65.)

 

2. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is added to thousands of food and

grocery products through a dozen different innocent-sounding ingredients,

imbalances endocrine system function, disabling normal appetite regulation

and causing consumers to keep eating more food. This chemical not only

contributes to nationwide obesity, it also helps food companies boost repeat

business.

 

3. MSG is routinely hidden in foods in these ingredients: yeast extract,

torula yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and autolyzed yeast. Thousands of

common grocery products contain one or more of these chemical taste

enhancers, including nearly all " vegetarian " foods such as veggie burgers

(read labels to check).

 

4. ADHD in children is caused almost entirely by the consumption of

processed food ingredients such as artificial colors and refined

carbohydrates. Eighty percent of so-called ADHD children who are taken off

processed foods are cured of ADHD in two weeks.

 

5. The chemical sweetener aspartame, when exposed to warm temperatures for

only a few hours, begins to break down into chemicals like formaldehyde and

formic acid. Formaldehyde is a potent nerve toxin and causes damage to the

eyes, brain and entire nervous system. Aspartame has been strongly linked to

migraines, seizures, blurred vision and many other nervous system problems.

 

6. Most food dips (like guacamole dip) are made with hydrogenated oils,

artificial colors and monosodium glutamate. Many guacamole dips don't even

contain avocados.

 

7. Plastic food packaging is a potent health hazard. Scientists now know

that plastics routinely seep the chemical bisphenol A into the food, where

it is eaten by consumers. Cooking in plastic containers multiplies the level

of exposure. Bisphenol is a hormone disruptor and can cause breast formation

in men and severe hormonal imbalances in women. It may also encourage

hormone-related cancers such as prostate cancer and breast cancer.

 

8. Milk produced in the United States comes from cows injected with

synthetic hormones that have been banned in every other advanced nation in

the world. These hormones help explain why unusually young teenage girls

develop breasts at such a young age, or why hormone-related cancers like

prostate cancer are being discovered in unprecedented numbers. In order to

protect Monsanto, the manufacturer of hormones used in the industry, the

USDA currently bans organic milk producers from claiming their milk comes

from cows that were not treated with synthetic hormones. Even organic milk

is now under fire as the Organic Consumers Association says Horizon milk

products are falsely labeled as organic. (The solution to all this? Drink

raw almond milk instead. Make it yourself with a Vitamix, water and a nut

milk bag.)

 

9. Most grocery products that make loud health claims on their packaging

are, in reality, nutritionally worthless (like meal replacement shakes,

instant chocolate milk, etc.). The most nutritious foods are actually those

the FDA does not allow to make any health claims whatsoever: fresh produce.

 

10. Food manufacturers actually " buy " shelf space and position at grocery

stores. That's why the most profitable foods (and hence, the ones with the

lowest quality ingredients) are the most visible on aisle end caps, checkout

lanes and eye-level shelves throughout the store. The effect of all this is

to provide in-store marketing and visibility to the very foods and beverages

that promote obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other degenerative

conditions now ravaging consumers around the world.

 

[end of article]

[Guest guest]

Processed food has alot of salt in it as a natural preservative and flavoring

and salt retains water in the body, so you are actually heavier because of it. I

love salt myself and processed food, so I am not one to talk!

 

 

 

Everyone is raving about the all-new Mail.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Yay for the good ol' U.S. of A.!!!!

 

Welcome to newbies!

 

Coleen

 

(Veggie for 1 year; vegan for approx. 1 mo. -- after reading Dr. McDougall's

and John Robbins' books)

 

 

 

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