How do you make an educated food purchase that will protect you and your family from harmful yet common food contaminants?
You must be privy to the
subtleties. Many people today accept ‘all natural’ as a stamp of integrity
for their food. FDA regulations, however, make the guidelines for authenticity
rather lenient, and capitalize on the unawareness of the average buyer with
strong advertising.
The average person on a
base level acknowledges that there are dangerous additives like MSG and high fructose corn
syrup in many products. As a result, they generally attempt to
avoid these, and will instead often pick a product with an ‘all natural’
label in an effort to do so. Products that are labeled as such, however,
oftentimes don’t contain many ‘natural’ ingredients.
Under federal regulations, it’s entirely acceptable to include additives that are not even deemed as ‘natural’, or use unnatural preparation methods like frying, genetic modification, or pasteurization.
The product only has to
be part ‘natural’.
But what does natural
really mean?
The definition of a
‘natural’ product has no defined parameters in law or regulation, so
essentially these products can be ~ and are easily ~ as contaminated as what
the consumer may have originally tried to avoid.
In a cunning way, company
advertisers have adapted to the fact that consumers are aware of the issues
with their food products, but have performed a proverbial hijack by marketing
their products within what the consumer believes to be the alternative to
chemical-laden food. These products pose as the real deal, but are often
just as unhealthy as their formers.
Generally, consumers
think they want ‘all natural’ products, but really are looking for certified
organic foods. Certified organic products are generally of higher quality
and maintain greater nutritional value than conventional foods and the
‘natural’ alternatives.
Despite even this,
organic labeling requires only 70% of the product to be organic in order for it
to be certified. This means that similar to how the ‘natural’ foods are
manipulated, the product can be organic, yet still be subject to unnatural
preparation methods. In addition, the product may contain certain quantities of
non-organic substance.
BEYOND ALL NATURAL |
SHOPPING SMART
What people are really
looking for are the most unprocessed, purest organic foods they can buy or
grow. These are the highest in nutritional value, and are completely free of
any form of manipulation. If they are self grown (to get started check out
our starting guide on organic gardening), then
they are subject solely to the individual’s care, and are completely free of
processing or outside manipulation. Despite this, many do not grow their
own foods, and there are good products to be found out there.
SO WHAT DOES THE SMART CONSUMER LOOK FOR?
Organic products will contain a percentage of organic content as indicated on label. Look for the highest possible percentage rates.GMO-free foods. Among health concerns, genetically modified food is arguably the highest priority to avoid. Most foods that contain GMOs are not labeled. GMO-free products make a note that they are such, often with a verified GMO-free label.Pay attention to certain food processing methods, like pasteurization, irradiation, or frying.Check sugar and salt content. Despite being organic, it’s still not healthy to consume huge amounts of sugar or sodium.Most oils used in products (canola, sunflower, vegetable) unless otherwise stated, may be GMO.Avoid soy as it is one of the most genetically modified crops used in food products today.
Note the number of
ingredients in a product in general. The less number of ingredients, the less
processed it is, and usually foregoes the majority of chemical additives.
are aware of their
presence in foods. Often when you can’t pronounce or recognize what it is, it
likely should not be a part of your diet.
EXPLORE
MORE:
- Report Finds ‘Natural’ Cereal Products Loaded with GMOs, Pesticides
- 7 Simple and Natural Fat Loss Habits of Truly Healthy People
- All Natural | What does it really mean?
- Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries Are Far From Natural
- Reading Food Labels | The First Step to Healthy Food Shopping
- Lawsuit Slams “All Natural” Snack Makers for Containing Harmful GMO Ingredients
and - beware -some "farmers" at the local "farmers' market" ain't real farmers
ReplyDeleteDoing the buy-support-local at a nearby farmers' market, 1 real (and honest) farmer apologetically explained that his produce was actually not his, but was hot-house grown. It was; "too early in the season for harvesting any crops", but to supplement his income he was doing what all the other "farmers" at this market were doing: buying bulk from an international vegetable wholesaler and bringing it to the local "farmers' market" for re-sale.
He then pointed out that many of the other "farmers" had the exact same produce for sale "see, same as I have. No difference, all comes from the same place. It's too early in the season for anyone to be harvesting anything around here".
Hmm...
He added; "Those people over there and there buy from the same place as I do. Look at the boxes - exact same as the ones I bought".
Then the real dirt;
"In fact they're not even farmers. They're just people pretending to be farmers, who go buy at the wholesaler and set up a stand here for re-sale."
So beware not only of the food but those local "farmers" selling it.
corvus