Kudos to Campbell Soup for GMO Labels, Pushing Big Food to Follow Example

Here's something I rarely embrace:  an international mega-corporation that manufactures canned, packaged, and frozen food products, and generates upward of $8 billion in annual revenues.

But let's give credit where courageous credit is due.  

Kudos to Campbell Soup Company, the 150-year-old American company still headquartered on U.S. shores, in New Jersey. A company with products sold in more than 120 countries. 

Last week, Campbell broke ranks with its Big Food industry corporate competitors by declaring that all its products will clearly disclose the presence of genetically modified ingredients.  Wrote Campbell in its January 7, 2016 press release:

"Campbell Soup Company today announced its support for the enactment of federal legislation to establish a single mandatory labeling standard for foods derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

"Campbell believes it is necessary for the federal government to provide a national standard for labeling requirements to better inform consumers about this issue...

"As a result... Campbell will withdraw from all efforts by coalitions and groups opposing such measures... Campbell is prepared to label all of its U.S. products for the presence of ingredients that were derived from GMOs...  With 92 percent of Americans supporting the labeling of GMO foods, Campbell believes now is the time for the federal government to act quickly to implement a federal solution."

Finally!  A Big Food company that respects basic consumer rights to know what's in their food. To let consumers decide for themselves whether or not to buy GMO foods to serve at home.

Campbell President Denise Morrison penned:

"We put the consumer at the center of everything we do.  That’s how we’ve built trust for nearly 150 years.  We have always believed that consumers have the right to know what’s in their food...

"In addition, we have declared our intention to set the standard for transparency in the food industry. We have been openly discussing our ingredients, including those derived from GMO crops, through our WhatsinmyFood.com website... We have announced the removal of artificial colors and flavors from our products."

Big Food Has Fiercely Fought the Right to Know

Twinkies and Skittles for Breakfast? The Cereals that Damage Kids, Adults

Eating most U.S. cereals for breakfast is akin to eating a heaping bowl of pure sugar. Or a pile of candy bars and Twinkies. 

Just as Big Food corporations planned, U.S. breakfast cereals are designed to hook you as customer-for-life via addiction to a super-sweet, sugary surge to start your day...

Americans now consume 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, on average, added to processed foods. Breakfast cereals are among the highest sources of added sugar in our daily diet.  

Sugar-saturated, carb-heavy, chemical-drenched breakfast cereals take a poisonous toll on personal health, especially that of children. 

Physical health and fitness, dental health, even mental health and focus in both children and adults are proven conclusively to be damaged by high daily doses of sugar.

Yet Big Food corporations aggressively market breakfast cereals, especially to to young children, in greedy hopes of hooking them, too.  Consider these facts: 

• 181 cereals are directly marketed in the U.S. to kids.
• Kids' cereals with cartoon characters are among the most highly sweetened of all
• On average, sugar is 34% of calories in cereals marketed to U.S. children
• Sugar is more than 50% of calories in many cereals aimed at kids. 
• More than 60 percent of children’s cereals contain a spoonful or more of sugar in every three spoonfuls of cereal. 
• (Source - "Children's Cereals: Sugar by the Pound," a research project by the Environmental Working Group) 

Anyone eating a typical serving of kids' cereals would consume more than 10 pounds of sugar just from their breakfast bowls each year.  Cereals marketed to kids have 85 percent more sugar, 65 percent less fiber and 60 percent more sodium than those aimed at adults. 

A box of Kellogg's Sugar Smacks is more than 56% sugar, by weight. Incredibly, a box of one store brand, Lieber's Cocoa Frosted Flakes, tested as 88% sugar.  

Don't depend on the FDA  to protect Americans with warning labels that ultra-sugary breakfast cereals are dangerous to your health.  In the 21st century, federal agencies fiercely protect Big Food corporations over public interest.  

Here's my question:  If you wouldn't eat a heap of Hostess snacks... Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Sno Balls, Zingers and Honeybuns... for breakfast, why would you eat a brimming bowl of sugary breakfast cereal?

If you wouldn't serve to your kids a mound of Butter Fingers, Skittles, Milky Ways, Hot Tamales and Sour Patch Kids for breakfast, why would you give them a generous helping of cereal loaded with sugar, carbs, fillers, chemicals, and artificial colors and flavors?

Can't your kids depend on you to guard their health and welfare by feeding them nutritiously, rather than carelessly? 

Stop eating and serving sugar for breakfast.  You'll feel better and likely live longer, and so will your kids.  

And as a bonus, you'll thwart Big Food corporations from targeting and harming you, your loved ones and all Americans for the sake of profits. 

Related Reading

Lucky Charms: Poster Child for Industrial Junk Food? Fat Profits, Fat Kids

"Salt Sugar Fat" - Stunning Big Food Tactics to Hook, Trick, Harm Americans

Target, Walmart Selling Fake Ginkgo, Garlic, Ginseng Thanks to Political Loophole

This week, the New York State Attorney General charged Walmart, Target, Walgreens and GNC with selling "mislabeled" and "adulterated" dietary supplements.  

No surprise, at least to Fake Food Watch readers.  (See below for my list of other dietary supplements that should also be investigated by authorities... ) 

Many health supplements are fakes. Most, actually. Frauds. Bogus, pricey bait for consumers.  Neither effective, nor worth the billions Americans waste annually in vain hopes of improving their health. 

That's because "These drugs are not subject to the F.D.A.’s approval because of a loophole in a 1994 federal law (spearheaded by Utah Sen Orrin G. Hatch who received funding from supplement makers), fraudulent products can easily reach consumers without accountability or oversight," per Salon.com.    

Republican Sen. Hatch berated 2012 proposed legislation created to force greater accountability in the lucrative dietary supplement industry. 

Sen. Hatch bitterly railed against an amendment that would ..."require facilities engaged in the manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding of dietary supplements to register with the FDA, provide a description with a list of all ingredients, as well as a copy of the labeling for each dietary supplement product.  Additionally, the facilities must also register with respect to new, reformulated, and discontinued dietary supplement products. 

While I appreciate my colleague’s commitment, his amendment is based on the misguided presumption that the current regulatory framework for dietary supplements is flawed..."  (Source - U.S. Senate website of Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah)

Findings of the New York State Attorney General?  Of 390 DNA barcoding tests performed on 78 samples of 24 generic products sold at the four retailers: 

• At Walmart, "4 percent actually contained the ingredients listed on the label."
• At Walgreens, 18 percent contained the listed ingredients.
• At GNC, 22 percent contained the listed ingredients.
• At Target, 44 percent contained the listed ingredients.
• (Source - Food Safety News)

Each sample was tested five times; samples were selected from all regions of New York state. The dietary supplements tested were garlic, ginseng, gingko biloba, St. John's wort, echinacea, valerian root, and saw palmetto.

Even I'm amazed at the incredible array of fake fillers found in these supplements in lieu of ingredients listed on the labels. "In many cases, the authorities said, the supplements contained little more than cheap fillers like rice and house plants, or substances that could be hazardous to people with food allergies," per the New York Times.

Specific ingredients found in supplements tested often included:

• Dracaena, a houseplant (right photo)
• Rice
• Wheat
• Spruce
• Pine
• Palm
• Wild carrot
• Grass
• Allium, from the garlic family
• Radish
• Daisy
• Mung bean

Friends, don't waste your hard-earned money on dietary supplements. The industry is barely regulated. And profiteers, of course, prey on this regulatory loophole to line their rich pockets at your expense and the expense of your health hopes.

Among other products I urge state and federal regulators to also investigate for misleading consumers about the health benefits and/or ingredients are:

Raspberry ketones - See "Raspberry Ketones: Another Industrial Food Quasi-Scam?"

Olive leaf extract - See "Olive Leaf Extract: Industrial Food Quasi-Scam with Clever Story"

Ensure - See "Ensure Drink: Sugary Fake Food Pseudo-Wonder Tonic by Vicodin Maker"

Coconut water  - See "The Coconut Water Fad: Hucksterism, Health Elixir or Quasi Fraud?"

Top 12 Worst Food Additives in American Meals

The first "Dirty Dozen List of Food Additives" was released last month by the Environmental Working Group. 

The new guide-list of  chemical-based food additives is based on extensive scientific studies and on  EWG's massive new database, Food Scores: Rate Your Plate, which catalogs "more than 80,000 foods and 5,000 ingredients from about 1,500 brands."  

Per EWG:

"The guide covers food additives associated with serious health concerns, ingredients banned or restricted in other countries, and other substances that shouldn't be in food. It turns the spotlight on some of the worst failures of the federal Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory process for additives...

" 'With thousands of ingredients lurking in food, EWG wanted to bring attention to additives that may have implications for human health, and we wanted to expose how the food regulatory system has failed us,' Johanna Congleton, Ph.D., EWG senior scientist, said."

Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives

"Food should be good for you. But some is not. More than 10,000 additives are allowed in food.  Some are direct additives that are deliberately formulated into processed food. Others are indirect additives that get into food during processing, storage and packaging... 

"The guide covers ingredients associated with serious health concerns, additives banned or restricted in other countries and other substances that shouldn’t be in food."

1. Nitrites and nitrates -  "Used as a color fixative in cured meats, bacon, bologna, frankfurters, deviled ham, meat spread, spiced ham, Vienna sausages, smoked-cured tuna fish products, and in smoke-cured shad and salmon."  (Source - "A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives", 2009) 

"In 2010, scientists at the World Health Organization... declared that ingested nitrites and nitrates are probable human carcinogens...  Studies have linked nitrites to stomach cancer. Some data also suggest an association with cancer of the esophagus; one study showed an increased risk in people who eat cured meats more often. There is also evidence that nitrites may be associated with brain and thyroid cancers... (Source - Environmental Working Group)

2. Potassium bromate - "This dough conditioner and bleaching agent, which was once widely used in bread baking, is considered... possibly carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.  In 1993, the World Health Organization recommended its removal from all food, and though it's banned in many countries, it's still permitted in the United States and Japan, where it continues to be used in buns at Burger King, Arby's, and Wendy's, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest...

"Very toxic when taken internally. Burns and skin irritation have been reported from its industrial use.  In toothpaste, it has been reported to have caused inflammation and bleeding of the gums.  

"The JECFA said in 1993 that new data about potassium bromate showed long-term toxicity and carcenogenicity including kidney tumors, tumors of the lining of the stomach, and thyroid tumors in rats..."  (Source - "A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives", 2009) 

3. Propyl paraben - "Parabens are... widely used as preservatives in foods, cosmetics, toiletries and pharmaceuticals... In a previous study, it was demonstrated... that exposure of post-weaning mammals to butyl paraben adversely affects the secretion of testosterone and the function of the male reproductive system. In the present study, it is shown that propyl paraben also adversely affects the hormonal secretion and the male reproductive functions." (Source - National Institutes of Health, 2002 study) 

"Of greatest concern is that parabens are known to disrupt hormone function, an effect that is linked to increased risk of breast cancer and reproductive toxicity... Parabens are also linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and skin irritation." (Source - The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics)

4. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) - "Here's a question for you: What food additive does the Food and Drug Administration deem 'generally recognized as safe,' while the National Institutes of Health, says it's 'reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen?'

"Here's a hint: It's a preservative, and you can find it in (drum roll, please): potato chips, lard, butter, cereal, instant mashed potatoes, preserved meat, beer, baked goods, dry beverage and dessert mixes, chewing gum, and other foods. Oh, also: rubber, petroleum products, and, of course, wax food packaging.  The molecule in question is butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)... "  (Source - LiveScience.com) 

"BHA is a petroleum-derived food additive that reduces the rate at which food spoils. It... is now used in a wide range of foods to prevent fat from going rancid. BHA is used in beverages, ice cream, snack foods, breakfast cereals, dehydrated foods and mixes, beer, chewing gum, candy, baked goods, instant mashed potatoes, and sausage.

"California’s Proposition 65 recognizes BHA as a carcinogen. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances lists BHA as a suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, neurotoxicant, and respiratory toxicant. The Japanese National Institute of Health Sciences’ World Wildlife Fund lists BHA as a suspected endocrine toxicant. The Relational Database of Hazardous Chemicals and Occupational Diseases lists BHA as a suspected immunotoxicant and skin or sense organ toxicant."  (Source - Nutrition411.com, "Where Health Care Professionals Go for Information") 

5. Butylated Hydroxtoluene (BHT) - "BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) is a lab-made chemical that is added to foods as a preservative. People also use it as medicine. BHT is used to treat genital herpes and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some people apply BHT directly to the skin for cold sores."  (Source - WedMD.com)

"Extensive research has shown high doses of this ingredient to cause significant damage to the lungs, liver and kidneys. Oral consumption of this ingredient has also been shown to have toxic effects on the body's blood coagulation system...

"Because there lies a significant amount of conflicting research regarding the carcinogenic effects of BHT, it remains a controversial ingredient around the world. The US has banned it from being used in baby food because of its potential association with hyperactivity in children. It's also banned from food in Japan." (Source - TruthInAging.com)

"The FDA says that the possibility that BHT may convert other ingested substances into toxic or cancer-causing additives should be investigated. BHT is prohibited as a food additives in the United Kingdom."  (Source - "A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives" by Ruth Winter, 2009)

6. Propyl Gallate - Propyl Gallate is "a preservative that is often used in conjunction with BHA and BHT. It is used as a food preservative in foods that contain oils and fats, to stop food from spoiling. Some foods that commonly contain Propyl Gallate include... vegetable oil, meat products, soup bases, cereals, chewing gum...

"Propyl Gallate can cause allergic reactions in the form of an asthma attack in some people. It can also cause stomach and skin irritation, liver damage, kidney damage and has the potential to increase your chances of having cancer." (Source - StopKillingMyKids.com)

"New research suggests the dog food preservative, propyl gallate, may be responsible for causing a potentially dangerous health issue for dogs. That’s because of the chemical’s unique ability to mimic the negative effects of the female hormone, estrogen.

"... recent studies have linked propyl gallate with a special group of hormone-like compounds known as xenoestrogens (which) have the potential to adversely affect reproductive health.3 In humans, they have the ability to transform a normal breast cell into a cancer cell. Propyl gallate can also affect a developing fetus as well as decrease the sperm count in males." (Source - DogFoodAdvisor.com)

7. Theobromine - "A study conducted in Utah between 1983 and 1986, and published in 1993, showed a possible association between theobromine and an increased risk of prostate cancer in older men.... Prenatal and infant exposure to theobromine appeared possibly associated with hypospadias and testicular cancer in one population study.

As with caffeine, theobromine can cause sleeplessness, tremors, restlessness, anxiety, as well as contribute to increased production of urine. Additional side effects include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and withdrawal headaches."  (Source - Wikipedia)

"...closely related to caffeine.  It (theobromine) is used as a diuretic, smooth muscle relaxant, heart stimulant, and blood vessel dilator. "   (Source - "A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives" by Ruth Winter, 2009)

Hundreds of American foods, most containing processed cocoa or chocolate, include theobromine. Click here for a list of the 189 Foods Highest in Theobromine. (Source - Nutrition Data at Self.com: Know What You Eat) 

Other Top 12 Worst Food Additives

8.  Secret flavor ingredients

9.  Artificial colors

10. Diacetyl - Diacetyl is a butter flavoring used in some food products like butter, butterscotch, butter flavored popcorn and some alcoholic beverages, especially beer and chardonnay wines.  

"The United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has suggested diacetyl, when used in artificial butter flavoring, may be hazardous when heated and inhaled over a long period. Workers in several factories that manufacture artificial butter flavoring have been diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and serious disease of the lungs. The cases found have been mainly in young, healthy, nonsmoking males.

"Two bills in the California Legislature seek to ban the use of diacetyl. A 2010 U.S. OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin and companion Worker Alert recommend employers use safety measures to avoid exposing employees to the potentially deadly effects of butter flavorings and other flavoring substances containing diacetyl or its substitutes."  (Source - Wikipedia)

11. Phosphate-based food additives - "Recently, a high-normal serum phosphate concentration has also been found to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in the general population. Therefore, phosphate additives in food are a matter of concern, and their potential impact on health may well have been underappreciated."  (Source - National Institutes of Health, 2012)

12. Aluminum-based food additives - "There are six aluminum salts that have been approved as food additives in the United States. The salts most commonly used are sodium aluminum phosphates. They are added to cake mixes, frozen dough, pancake mixes, self-rising flours, processed cheese and cheese foods and beer (in aluminum cans). Just one slice of individually wrapped processed cheese can contain up to 50 mg of aluminum. It is thought that the cheeseburger may contain one of the highest aluminum contents of any food...

"Dangers of Aluminum Toxicity -

• It is particularly poisonous to the nervous system with a range of symptoms that can include disturbed sleep, nervousness, emotional instability, memory loss, headaches, and impaired intellect.
• It can stop the body's ability to digest and make use of calcium, phosphorus and fluoride. This prevents bone growth and reduces bone density...
• Toxicity can also result in aching muscles, speech problems, anemia, digestive problems, lowered liver function, colic and impaired kidney function."                  (Source - Dr. Anita Pepi)

"Many... question the safety of these (aluminum-based) food additives, however. The group known as the Department of the Planet Earth petitioned the FDA in September 2005 to rescind the GRAS (acceptable) rating for these additives, citing studies linking aluminum food additive ingestion to Alzheimer’s disease." (Source - LiveStrong.com)

What Should You Do?

Study up!  Start by reading the Environmental Working Group's  "Dirty Dozen List of Food Additives."  

Lose processed and packaged foods from your food choices, and from that of your loved ones.  Now. Today. If not fully feasible, become an avid label reader. Make informed food choices.

Do it for your health. Please!

More from the Environmental Working Group

Top 15 Most Pesticide-Free Fruits, Vegetables

Pesticide-Ridden Produce: The 12 Most Infected Fruits, Vegetables

U.S. Food Supply Ranked Subpar to Other Major Nations

Attention Congress and USDA/FDA leadership: the U.S. tumbled embarrassingly into 21st place in OxFam's worldwide ranking of 125 nations' healthy, plentiful food supplies and policies. 

Iceland, Australia, most western European and all Scandinavian countries all scored well above the United States, which barely edged out Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary, Israel, and New Zealand.  

Oxfam's in-depth survey, taken from October through December 2013, tallied data on food reality worldwide using four categories. The U.S. ranked admirably in two categories, average in one, but fared shamefully low in one... 

Afford to Eat, or the price and price volatility of food - U.S. ranked 1st  overall in  food affordability, mainly because food prices nationally are extremely stable and relatively inexpensive.

Food Quality, or the availability of clean water and nutritious foods - U.S. ranked 4th overall in this category, despite ranking a painful  41st in access to clean drinking water. 

Enough to Eat, or hunger within the country - U.S. ranked 35th overall among 125 nations. Although few U.S. children were underweight due to lack of food, many are malnourished. 

Unhealthy Eating, or frequent consumption of non-nutritious foods - U.S. ranked 120th among 125 nations, indicating that U.S. eating habits are causing obesity and diabetes among Americans. 

These shocking results shout that most Americans have access to both healthy and unhealthy foods, and are choosing unhealthy foods for both adults and children.

The U.S. is ranked the fattest and most diabetic nation among all major countries. The U.S. populace ranks as healthier only than Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Mexico, Fiji, and Jordan. in obesity and diabetes, two lethal health conditions.

Critics firmly believe that American health has plunged radically in recent decades due to the extreme prevalence in the food supply of fast and casual foods larded heavily with salt, fat, and sugar, and of industrial-manufactured "fake foods" riddled with salt, fat, sugar, chemicals, additives, fillers, and artificial flavors and colors.  

(Click here for "Salt Sugar Fat" - Stunning Big Food Tactics to Hook, Trick, Harm Americans.)

Why do Americans have extremely easy access (and thus, temptation) to unhealthy foods, especially when compared to the other 124 nations? 

One main reason: lack of political will in Washington D.C. to stand-up to corporate political donors and lobbyists in order to bring  the U.S. food supply up to international standards by mandating...

• Manufacturers to offer a higher percentage of food products with more nutritious and better quality ingredients
• Restaurants and fast food purveyors to eliminate and/or minimize purposely addictive levels of salt, fat, and sugar 
• Markets across the country to prominently display and emphasize a plethora of fresh, healthy products, rather than continue to exclusively push industrial-made chips, cookies, candy, ice creams, cereals, crackers, hot dogs, baked goods, frozen fare, etc, etc etc.

Congress, are you listening?  USDA and FDA leaders, are you there?  Are you working for the health of our nation, or for mega-corporate interests and your donors and political patrons?

Before answering that query, remember the warning of famed British historian and Oxford professor Arnold J. Toynbee (1889 - 1975) who observed and believed that the health of a nation is only as good as the health of its diet, and that a downward spiral in the quality of a nation's diet foretold a nation's cultural and political death spiral.

If unchecked, this U.S. tumble in Oxfam's data-driven survey of healthy diets around the world will be more than an embarrassment. This terrible tumble could be warning of a permanent downward spiral of our nation. 

FDA Blackballs Top Food, Clean Water Activist Group

Consider Food & Water Watch as you ponder year-end giving to worthy organizations. Put Food & Water Watch at the top of your giving list for two main reasons:

First, FFW is perhaps the most effective and prolific organization in working "to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced" both in the U.S. and around the world.  

Second, the FDA is apparently blackballing FFW, in a strong-armed attempt to intimidate and silence this "non-profit organization that advocates for common sense policies that will result in healthy, safe food and access to safe and affordable drinking water."

Through info research  and dissemination, an authoritative website, events, media coverage, and protests, in addition to "tens of thousands" of petitions and comments filed with the FDA yearly, FFW is involved in dozens of vital issues, including...

• Food safety, including factory farming
• Food and water justice
• Groundwater protection, including fracking
• Water conservation
• Water privatization, including bottled water
• Federal budgeting
• Consumer food labels, including GMOs
• Congressional Farm Bill legislation
• Climate change

Seems the FDA chafes at watchdog FFW's vigilance  at protecting the public and public health. And FDA brass have apparently taken action to blunt FFW's influence and access... 

Reported FFW yesterday:

"Last week, a representative from the USDA’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Office informed Food & Water Watch staff that its invitation to participate in a USDA event featuring CFC registered organizations had been cancelled. The representative stated in an email on December 5, 'I regret to inform you that I’ve been notified your organization has not been approved for entrance into USDA to attend the USDA-CFC event on December 10, 2013.  I do not have specific information on the reason approval was not granted...'

"This email denial came two weeks after Food & Water Watch staff members were turned away from an earlier CFC event at the USDA on November 20, 2013 when an agency guard insisted the organization was not on the confirmed list for the event, contrary to an email confirmation Food & Water Watch received from the event organizer on November 12, 2013. 

Food & Water Watch staff has attended multiple CFC fairs over the past several years without incident. The CFC is the Federal Government’s workplace giving program that encourages federal employees’ charitable giving...  Despite inquiries, Food & Water Watch has yet to receive any further information from the USDA as to why the organization was refused entry to this charity-related event."

Is the FDA attempting to...

• Limit contributions given by federal employees to support FFW?
• Inhibit FFW access to FDA resources and decision-makers?
• Deter FFW investigations?
• Curtail FFW activism and advocacy?
• Suppress FFW's free speech rights?
• All of the above?

The terrific news is that Food & Water Watch is clearly putting strong pressure on the FDA to protect  public health over corporate profits... or the FDA wouldn't push back, or push so hard, against FFW. 

The FDA should know better: FFW is not going away. Far from it. 

"Clearly, we are a thorn in the USDA’s side. But to block us from entry to this event by denying our security clearance is not only bogus—it’s intimidation. But we won’t be intimidated,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director. “We’ll continue to force the USDA to do its job to protect consumers, not corporate profits.”

Show the FDA that you support the causes of safe food, clean water, and food and water fairness.   

 I ask that you consider Food & Water Watch as you ponder year-end giving to worthy organizations. Click HERE to donate to Food & Water Watch. 

About Waffles, Fried Chicken and Freedom of Food Choice

I ordered a fried chicken and waffle plate last weekend at a local cafe. The trendy entree was on the eatery's Fall Special Menu, and it was luscious... a smallish round waffle with warmed maple syrup, and a freshly fried chicken leg and thigh. 

Most of my meals these days are what friends would call healthy: Greek yogurt, whole-grain granola and seasonal fruit for breakfast; salads for lunch; and dinners filled with veggies, whole-wheat pastas, homemade soups.  Not much bread. Often an apple for dessert.  Coffee and water to drink. No soft drinks.  Vegetarian days are not unusual. 

I feel better when I eat this way... and frankly, feel lousy when I've eaten greasy, dense, sugary, or carb-heavy foods.  But oh boy, once in a while, an indulgent dish such as The Filling Station's fried chicken and waffle plate satisfies to a full, pleased smile.  

I tell you this to clarify the mission of my FakeFoodWatch.com blog: I don't directly eat for health. I eat to feel good, and to savor the experience of delicious food.  And I don't believe that scolding or nagging others ever leads to healthier eating habits. Ever. That's simply not human nature!  

FakeFoodWatch.com is not a health site. Nor is it an animal rights advocacy site.  

FakeFoodWatch.com is a food policy and investigation site.  I fervently believe that all people in free societies have a right to full facts about the foods they choose to ingest... origins, added ingredients, cleanliness, age, and processing, handling and storage protocols and realities.  

The goal of FakeFoodWatch.com is to inform and surprise you, the reader, with info about:

• food commonly consumed  in the U.S. and around the world;
• how today's food supply affects public health; 
• how government food policies affect or could affect your home;  
• how food you eat affects how you feel, and ultimately how it affects your and your loved ones' health and longevity.  

You see, I believe that we should have enough information to make well-informed choices about food.   The federal government and mega-corporations should NOT be making those choices for us, and should NOT be allowed to cleverly obscure or hide accurate, understandable, relevant info from consumers.  

Sadly, the FDA in the 21st century acts far more interested in protecting corporate profits (and political donors) than the health and welfare of Americans. And industrial food mega-corporations are interested in only one goal: profits. Period. Your health matters naught to most fake-food makers and purveyors.  

I believe that every American has the right to the real, old-fashioned food enjoyed by our grandparents and ancestors: food unadulterated by chemicals, additives, cheap fillers, artificial flavors, colors, and taste enhancers, or genetic engineering. 

And every American has the equal right to indulge in fast, fried, and highly processed foods, and anything and everything legal and non-poisonous.  

Indeed, everyone has the delightful right to feast on a fried chicken and waffle plate, at their whim.  

So please, don't mistake FakeFoodWatch.com for a health site. Think of this pet project of mine as a site that advocates for transparency in all things related to food. And respects your right to make your own choice.  

The FDA Deserves No Credit for Banning Trans Fats in 2013!

Count me out as congratulating the FDA for proposing a ban on trans fats.... a fake, chemically-made food additive... from U.S. foods. Finally... 

Famed New York University professor Marion Nestle, Food Politics author, applauded the FDA for "finally taking care of the trans-fat... loophole" and exulted, "The FDA is Back!"

Really? Not so much, in my view. Accolades in 1993, maybe. But in 2013? When studies conclusively proved 20 years ago that trans fats clearly exert a toxic impact on public health, especially heart disease?   When, as early as 1956, scientists suspected that trans fats caused a major jump in coronary artery disease?

Briefly, trans fats were created as part of the early 20th-century rise of industrial food manufacturing, to augment for shortages of butterfat to meet growing consumer demand for fried and baked foods.  Trans fats also are a cheap substitute for pricey, purer fats. 

"Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat which is uncommon in nature but can be created artificially. In food production, liquid... unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils are catalytically hydrogenated to produce partially or completely saturated fats that melt at a desirable temperature (30–40 °C).

"Trans fats are an artificial contaminant introduced... in partial hydrogenation. Although trans fats are edible, consumption of trans fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease..." (Source: Wikipedia)

NOTE - "Catalytic hydrogenation" is chemical treatment with gaseous hydrogen to change molecular structure.  The process is commonly used by the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and food product industries. 

Trans fats are commonly used in fried and baked foods and meat products found in U.S. grocery stores and some restaurants in 2013, including:

• Margarines and spreads
• Cake mixes and canned frosting
• Microwave popcorn
• Coffee creamers
• Ice cream
• Ground beef (as fatty filler)
• Packaged jerky and meat sticks
• Frozen pizzas and other entrees
• Fried chicken and fish
• Bakery goods... donuts, cookies, sweet rolls, biscuits, cakes

Clogged cardiovascular systems aren't the only health problems caused or exacerbated by trans fats in foods. Among health hazards tentatively associated with trans fats are Alzheimer's, certain cancers, liver dysfunction, female infertility, and depression. 

Why did the FDA delay banning trans fats from the food supply for 20 years, if the fake-fat is so lethal to public health?  

• Fear of upsetting fake-food corporate donors to political campaigns?
• Close ties between fake-food corporations and the FDA?
• Fear of hurting fast food and fake food sales, which would impact the economy?
• All of the above?

Who profited from the FDA postponing a ban on trans fats in U.S. foods? Mega-corporations, both fast food chains and fake food manufacturers, who spent billions and two decades to develop new, cheap chemical additives and fillers to substitute for trans fats.  "Some nutritionists worried that trans fats would simply be replaced by saturated fats," noted the New York Times.

"No trans fats," hawk McDonalds and other fast food chains, never mentioning that the substitute fat is equally harmful to health.  

Why, in 2013, did the FDA finally propose a ban on trans fats? After 20 years, it's an easy step to take, one already fixed by major corporations at their own snail's pace, using their vast resources to produce a result that won't hurt profits. No major political donors will be miffed. 

The FDA desperately needs a spate of good publicity in 2013, given that it's ignoring the tremendous harm done by Monsanto to the U.S. food supply, and calamitous nationwide controversy over genetically modified foods (GMOs).  

How many Americans died due to the FDA's long delay in banning trans fats, despite clear and damning scientific evidence that the fake-fat food additive was lethal to public health? 

"Banning them completely could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year, the F.D.A. said," reports the New York Times.  By FDA measure, then, at least 400,000 heart attacks would have been prevented and 140,000 lives saved had the FDA enacted this ban when it became scientifically known 20 years ago that trans fats are lethal to human health.

In 1993, the FDA should have been lauded and applauded for enacting this ban to protect Americans from the toxicity of trans fats.

In 2013, the FDA deserves no credit whatsoever for taking the no-brainer step of finally banning trans fats from the U.S. food supply.