By Ante Goreta

The food industry is a multi-billion dollar one, and for many reasons, especially fierce competition. Corporations do whatever is necessary to ensure a positive profit margin. The greed for profit is largely responsible for our current obesity problem. Grocery stores are stuffed with highly processed foods, which offer little if any nutritional benefits.

The Problem

Most people in this world eat too much food. Yet, despite excess consumption, these individuals are still undernourished.  Members of the food industry are not concerned with your health. They are only concerned with stuffing their pockets full of cash. These corporations thrive on the ignorant consumer. They don’t want you to question the ingredients and chemicals that really go into their products. Instead, they deceive you with catchy slogans such as “Low fat and tastes great!”

You must take your health into your own hands. It’s your body, the thing that supports you. The food industry does not care about our welfare. To increase profits, they must sell more food, make it aster, and prevent it from spoiling. Think about it, the food industry loses money if they create a product, package the product, ship it for sale, and then learn the product has spoiled and must be discarded. Food spoilage hurts business. Consequently, foods are treated with preservatives and chemicals to extend their shelf life. Long shelf lives give products more time to sell.

Thousands of chemicals and additives are added to the food supply. These additives are not natural for human consumption. Many of these additives have even been proved to cause cancer. Two common preservatives in the United States of America are BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated hydroxytoulene). BHA is often found in items such as cereal, butter, meats, and snack foods. It is also commonly seen in cosmetics, as well as many foods containing fats and oil. BHA and BHT have been associated with kidney and liver damage, weakened immune systems, birth defects, behavioral problems, and cancer.

BHT is banned for use in food in the United Kingdom , Japan, Romania, Sweden, and Australia. Even the United States does not allow BHT in infant foods.

If the substance has been banned by several large countries and is barred from use in infant foods, why is it allowed in the rest of food supply?

The answer to this question has nothing to do with the consumer. Large corporations use these substances to preserve and extend the shelf life of their products. Other chemicals are used to enhance the appereance and taste of these processed foods. As stated by author Mikhail Tomback, Ph.D.,

“Artificial and natural foods have as little in common as silk roses with real ones – they only look similar” (2005).

As unfortunate as it sounds, the fact that these substances can cause cancer and other diseases is simply the cost of doing business. Once again, these establishments thrive on the uneducated consumer. In their eyes, what you do not know will not hurt you. And that, is a sad reality.

Billions of dollars are invested on researching diseases such as cancer.  Unfortunately, more and more people are becoming ill. While society continues to search for the magic cure, no one wants to study the real cause of illness. The real cause is on the words of Crosto Doll.

“Birth defects, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, arthritis, ulcers, mental illness, osteoporosis, allergies, and chronic fatigue are only a small list in the litany of degenerative diseases and disorders linked to improper diet that are sapping the life-blood of our nation” – Crosto Doll, Ph.D. (2005).

A Wake Up Call

Fortunately, you do not need to understand rocket science to begin following a healthy, nutritional lifestyle.

First, it is important to understand some basic nutritional concepts. One of the most important aspects to proper nutrition is the consumption of natural foods that have not been altered by chemicals or other additives. Unfortunately, the consumption of natural foods can be somewhat misleading.

For example, suppose you were to consume a piece of fruits. Commonsense says that fruit is natural in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, unless it has been organically grown, there is a good chance the fruit as been treated with chemicals. Conventional farmers often treat crops with chemical fertilizers, synthetic insecticides, and chemical herbicides. The fruits and vegetables may also be treated with coloring agents to create a more attractive appearance. We, the consumer, often view bright fruits and vegetables as a sign of freshness. You might change your way of thinking if you knew that these bright colors were actually the result of chemical additives.

Unfortunately, fruits and vegetables are just two of many supposedly natural foods that can be far from natural. Consider the cow as another classic example. Cows service a large part of the food industry, supplying both milk and beef.

Deceiving images of cows grazing the open land are often seen in dairy and beef advertisements. Sadly, these living conditions could nto be further from the truth. Rather than grazing the land and eating the traditional diet of grass, many cattle are forced to eat processed grain. The grain is less expensive and can be quickly harvested. Unfortunately, the feed crops supplied to the cattle are also pumped full of herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizers.

In a report issued by the Farm Sanctuary, it was revealed that three of four dairy cows are never given the opportunity to graze in pasture. Many of these cows are not even granted access to the outdoors. Those cows that do make it outside are often confined to filthy dirt lots. For obvious reasons, the dairy industry does not mention this harsh environment in their advertising campaign.

These crammed, filthy living conditions, coupled with the unnatural diet of starchy feed, trigger disorders that must be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant bacteria eventually develop which can be passed on to humans by consuming the contaminated meat. To make matters worse, the animals are also injected with synthetic hormones to accelerate growth. A fatter, faster developed cow leads to more beef in less time. Contaminated milk and beef are then passed on to the naive consumer.

Clearly, the consumption of natural products such as beef and milk can be very misleading.

Cows are not alone when it comes to poor living conditions and contamination. Many chickens are also pumped full of chemicals and drugs. These animals live in filthy coops, which are ideal for breeding grounds for infectious disease. Due to the horrendous habitat, the chickens are fed antibiotics to prevent disease.

Chicken feed is one of the most chemically treated items in the food industry. Among the chemicals added to chicken feed, you may be surprised to learn that the poison arsenic is often used. It is actually common practice to feed arsenic to chickens through a drug known as Roxarsone. The drug is given to chickens to fend off infection, to aid in growth and pigmentation, and to increase egg production.

These toxic chemicals are often present in the chicken that we consume. The National Institues of Health and the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service recently identified disturbingly high levels of arsenic in the flesh of broiler chickens. In addition to several forms of cancer, arsenic exposure can cause neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and immune system defects (Gregor, 2005). Perhaps these adverse effects are the reason arsenic is banned from chicken feed in Europe. Unfortunately, it is still prevalent in the United States.

If chicken and cattle are contaminated, should I instead choose fish?

Unfortunately, fish are also prone to contamination by toxic pollutants from the environments. Common contaminants include dioxins, methyl mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These contaminants enter the environment through several means, such as coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, and other heavy industries. Fish absorb these toxins from the water as it passes over their gills (Kleffman, 2003).

What Do We Do?

After reading this, you may be considering life as a vegetarian. Fortunately, this is not necessary. My intent is not to scare you into vegetarianism. It should simply serve as a wake up call regarding the potential risks associated with many common foods. You can minimize your exposure to many toxins by arming yourself with the knowledge necessary for educated purchases.

For example, when buying fish, the U.S Enviromental Protection Agency recommends avoiding shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tile fish because they contain high levels of mercury. The George Mateljan Foundation for The World’s Healthiest Foods also recommend avoiding species such as Chilean sea bass, fresh tuna, halibut, bluefish, amberjack, cobia and redfish. It is also recommended that you trim the fat from fish before cooking. PCB’S and dioxins concentrate in fat. By trimming the fat, you can reduce exposure to many of these toxins. Lastly, stick with fresh (wild) fish, steering clear of farm-raised, frozen, canned, and packaged products.  By sticking with fresh fish, you will minimize man’s opportunity to handle and process your food.

As for safe fish selections, the list is small. We unfortunately live in a polluted world. Our waters are highly contaminated. If you enjoy fish, most experts agree on a short list of (somewhat) safe selections limited to summer flounder, wild Pacific salmon, croaker, sardines, haddock, and tilapia (Czapp, 2003).

It is important to note however that contamination varies by location. If you do not wish to consume fish, you can receive many of the benefits by taking a fish oil or cod liver oil supplement. These supplements are purified of contaminants, hence do not pose the same risk as wild fish.

What Do We REALLY Do Then?

Stick with organic, grass-fed food. If the food is grass-fed, it has probably not been treated with hormones and antibiotics. Many of the farmers have simply not sought after the full organic certification. Ideally, the best beef that you can buy is both grass-fed and organic. If this is not available, choose grass-fed beef that is also labeled free of hormones and antibiotics.

U.S. Wellness Meats is one of the best providers of beef. For moreinformation, you can browse their site at www.grasslandbeef.com. Please not that I have no affiliation with this company.

Read the labels in stores and support your local farmers.