This is something that has been bothering me for a long time and it should bother you, too: What the hell are they putting in your food?

I’m sure you are asking “What are you talking about, Murph?” Well, the food industry is adding things to your food that are not food, but are classified by the government as “Generally Recognized as Safe.” You may have heard of this with the “pink slime” issue with the Boston Public Schools and the “beef product” they are serving the students. No, it’s not beef, its beef product. You can look this up if you want to, it’s on Fox25 news. The school department has stated that they will only be buying actual ground beef from now on. What genius figured this out? Uh-oh, I feel an off-topic rant about to happen, let me reel myself in.

Back to food additives: the food industry adds things to what you eat to add bulk, adjust taste and consistency, and increase profit. A few of the most harmful and most profitable ones are:

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)

HFCS is in just about everything, especially drinks. You know the “healthy” juice boxes you give the kids? Not healthy. There is nothing good about HFCS. Some experts have proposed that our bodies metabolize HFCS in such a way as to predispose us to obesity and type 2 diabetes more than natural sugar does.

There are other experts (on the payroll of the corn aggregates, I’m sure) that say it is simply sugar. My stance: don’t consume it regularly if at all.

Aspartame

Aspartame is sodium benzoate. For my official position on this, read last moth Nutrition Corner article on artificial sweeteners.

Sodium nitrite

Sodium nitrite is an additive used in curing meats. I am not a huge fan of processed foods in general, but some nice pepperoni or salami now and then won’t kill you or will it?

A study just came out that says men that eat just one piece of processed meat a day are much more likely to develop cancer.

While some experts say it is bad, and some say it is nothing to worry about (whose payroll are they on?), I say: avoid it.

Trans fat

Do I really need to go into trans fat? There is so much evidence about how bad it is, I am going to be blown away if you have not heard it yet. I have been screaming about trans fat for about 10 years now in my seminars and a book or two.

Whenever you see "partially hydrogenated oils" on the label, run away from the food. It is so bad that almost all of the experts say to avoid it.

Cellulose

Here is a new one for you. The food industry and maybe the wood industry need to have higher profit margins and they need to find ways to make money without killing you. Cellulose is now one way to make more money and not kill you.

Cellulose can be added to anything, even foods labeled “organic.” It is used to add fiber and bulk to foods ranging from the nice, “healthy” Dole fruit cups you feed the kids (which also contain HFCS) to ice cream to McDonald’s.

Cellulose is basically wood pulp. Do you really want to eat wood pulp? I know a few guys who wear masks while working in their carpentry shops when they are sanding because getting wood pulp in your system is BAD for you.

Here is a very interesting discourse on cellulose that was forwarded to me by a client.

These are just a few of the ways the food industry is making huge profits off of you and even hoodwinking you. They are adding all sorts of chemicals to foods that the general public will consider healthy, even foods labeled “organic.” I don’t know about you, but if I see organic on the label, I expect it to contain only food. Not wood pulp or some chemical I can’t pronounce the name of.

Get on the Google machine on the interweb and do a little research on your own, learn to read food labels and look out for the hidden poisons in your foods. The easiest way to avoid these things is to shop around the outside aisles of the store.

The outside aisles contain produce that was grown in the earth, meats that come from animals (not meats that have been processed into meat product), dairy, eggs, and other healthy foods. Avoid the aisles, that is, where the pre-packaged, processed, poisonous foods are. The only downside to this is that the food conglomerates will see a dive in their profits if you stop buying the crap in the boxes. The upside is that you and your family will be much better off.

More interesting link to food additive articles:

Delicious natural orange juice

MSG, more than just Chinese food

Beaver butts

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