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Processed foods make up 70 percent of the U.S. diet
Author Melanie Warner discusses the complexities of the processed foods that line the shelves at the supermarket.
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Processed foods are, plus or minus, 70 percent of what most of us eat.
"Nobody set out to dominate the American diet, to make everything we're eating so highly processed and so highly technical -- it was a gradual revolution," said Melanie Warner, the author of the new book, 'Pandora's Lunchbox.' "It basically started 100 years ago."
Warner said that while scientists and even marketing executives at food companies do care about making their food healthier, and want to do so, it's not easy.
"It's really difficult for them to do because it's not what they're designed to do," she explained. "And a lot of times, when they try and make healthy food and they try to take out things like sugar and salt, the products just kind of fall apart. And oftentimes, people don't buy them."
Warner said that there's an estimated 5,000 different additives that are allowed to go into our food, but: "The FDA doesn't actually know how many additives are going into our food. This is in part because regulations are not only self-regulatory -- so the food industry is doing the testing -- but it's also voluntary," she said. "The ingredient companies don't actually have to tell the FDA about a new ingredient. If they choose to, they can simply just launch it into the market. The FDA doesn't know about them, and nobody else really knows about them."
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Hi I'm a scientist by day and a mavin of the natural foods industry with a job at a worker managed food co-op by night. After 20+ years at this, I've seen a few changes. Also I've learned to try not to judge someone's food purchases. When parents, coming from work with small children in tow, are shopping for dinner as we're closing at 8- who am I to judge how they get food on the table? Preparing from raw or whole grain basics would be difficult to manage. Prepared food from the freezer case or a can may be a necessary route. An easy to understand nutritional label allows a beginning in making positive choices. As for a simple ingredient list allowing better choices- you'd be surprised how many people don't know sodium chloride is salt (as from a shaker on most tables) True!! When we decide that we should dumb down the population by eliminating Home Economics, which Could be a true Economic's lesson, then we can expect the public not to know some basics OR that they should care to know.
I read those publications on food product design. It's no mean feat to take something tasty from your kitchen into production in a cost effective manner. This is no excuse to simply make sleight of hand substitutions. Nor should the public assume that every manufacturer is being forthright in 'front of package' claims about the nutritonal benefits of a product (when did item X ever contain glutin in the first place??). I've always thought that in just 1 generation we lose knowledge about most anything. So now that we have parents who don't know but from advertising, don't know where to easily acquire knowledge but from questionable websites, how can we expecty our children to begin to make wise choices?
A book I once was reading was annoying me. As I put it down, the last line did stay with me: stop feeding your mouth and start feeding your stomach. Looking forward to this one you presented in your report.
Blaming the consumer for the choices they make regarding their food without giving them meaningful information is akin to blaming the victim of a fraud scheme for buying a stock that was sold after misrepresenting its value or omitting its risks. We need to hold the sellers of food to a standard where lies, obfuscations and misrepresentations will not be tolerated. Let the consumer know how salty, how sugary, how many processed ingredients it contains or if contiains GMO ingredients. When the information is clear and easily understood, then you can discuss whether the consumer made a poor choice. But until that day, lighten up about blaming the obese for their condition or the diabetics or the children for behavioral issues whcih may be related to the ingestion of artificial colors, preservatives and flavor enhancers derived from petroleum products.
It is ironic that food companies fight labeling laws and then claim that the consumer chose to ingest their product so they should not be responsible for their condition. Food companies can't have it both ways. Either stop putting this stuff into our food or let us know what is in it.
Timely study about dietary refined salt and autoimmune disease:
http://www.trueactivist.com/scientists-officially-link-processed-foods-t...
When are we going to start holding ourselves accountable for the decisions we make? It's frustrating to hear folks blaming "Big Food" for our obesity problems. They certainly did not hold a knife to my neck and force me to eat that bag of Cheetos instead of a bag of carrots. I feel our energy should be focused on teaching our youth and yes, even some adults, on what eating healthy really means. As a nation we need to learn a little self-discipline and start taking the stairs.
Dwane73, overeating, i.e., becoming obese, may be preferable to malnutrition and starvation today or 100 yrs ago, but that doesn't make it good. Sticking with the U.S., refrigeration/freezing is generally available and transportation allows lots of fresh food options, then add simple canned food for even more options. Regardless of exact definition of processed or prepared food, isn't it like pornography - we know it when we see it (and see the label!)? What we should avoid is a bunch of additives: the basic ones of salt, sugar and fat; then all the chemicals we can't pronounce whether they are for preservation, taste, or poisons from a communist plot by russia or n korea to destroy our society!
And deckhand, whether your questions were facetious or not, obviously preparing o.j. or popcorn as described is no different than cutting, cooking, etc. other raw or fresh ingredients in your kitchen, not to mention freezing, canning, etc. The key issue is that you did it, so know what if anything was added
to the natural produce, meat, etc. To state the obvious, if you pickle herring or smoke salmon, it is "homemade" not prepared or processed.
What is processed food? Salted meats? Sour milk stored in a goat's stomach that resulted in cheese? While I'll agree that there are many chemicals in our food that are either natural or unnatural, I think most people are better off for them. Think about the amount of food spoilage before processed foods and refrigration became available. How many people survived WWII due to eating Spam? These process foods have enabled the world to over eat and if you go back 100 years that is not a bad problem to have.
Does orange juice qualify as processed? That would be my choice for favorite unless it doesn't, in which case I'll fall back on V-8, unless that doesn't qualify either.
How far from fresh-off-the-farm does one get before a food is considered processed?
I put popcorn, oil and a dash of salt into my corn popper but don't consider that "processed" food, just "prepared."
Regarding Kai's final comment on Twinkies (his flippant remark that old ones are still ok), given the common belief they do last forever, a legitimate reporter asked the question of a hostess exec last fall.
He said the shelf-life was quite limited - less than a mo if i remember correctly. So suggest you look at the expiry date on the package rather than listen to Kai. If i'm too late and you get sick, be sure to sue him; since he only is concerned with sounding cool rather than good journalism, a few yrs in prison should give him the opportunity to reflect on his life.
Are you kidding me? As an experiment, I have had a Twinkie open without a package for two years. It is soft and edible still. Does that not scare you? You would
ask the hostess executive about the purchase date and expiration dates? And you would expect a credible answer? Really? Twinkies don't have an expiration date, they have a half life! Hostess bakeries recently went bankrupt. Do you think we may be onto them?
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