Beware Of The Marketers

[Robert M]

can't remember the source but a year of so ago I read the food pyramid issued by the FDA was during WWII without any true scientific studies to base it on. Turns out there have been no real double blind repeatable studies to show what the actual minimum and maximum nutrient requirements were for us mortals. I figure eat what you want as long as it is in moderation. never believe any study from someone who wants to sell you something.

[Robert M]

unless your source has an .edu on it then it is questionable for reference to science issues. I have found Huffington post to be questionable source for anything, but that is just my opinion.

[Robert M]

You can't state native plants that are immune to roundup was caused by GMO plants with out a lot of study. Hog weed has also developed an immunity, but that is nature at work. same with insecticides, no spraying kills 100% of the targeted pests and the survivors go on to develop an immunity over time. Are GMOs bad, not sure but my concern is more along the lines of what happens in some GMO plant goes rogue and we end up with super kudzu taking over the planet crowding out everything else.

[jbones]

My. 02 is this - I like this section of your book. Regardless of the semantics of "processed" the following probably holds true:

If I had a nickel for every debunked manufactured crisis that would result in me dying, the Earth freezing over, the Earth boiling over or cows methane triggering the apocalypse, I'd be able to buy out Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.

If Hollywood would just fall into the ocean we'd all be better off. Remember in Beverly Hills Cop how Billy was reading that the average American dies with 5 pounds of undigested red meat in their bowels? THAT BS became a mantra that suddenly had all of Hollywood and the media ranting on how bad red meat is for you.

I have my own unscientific study but I believe it is 100% true. The results show that life is the biggest cause of death. The former always ends in the latter.

Now, it's time to resume my Captain Crunch bender.

[Meathead]

Willy I think I understand you now. I chose the word because many people argue that hard to pronounce names in food are harmful.

[Willy]

Meathead : "...so harmless it is allowed in organic food" makes it sound like "conventional" practice recognizes that some things are harmful, yet they're allowed to be used anyway.

[Meathead]

THANKS!!!! I missed this!

[ComfortablyNumb]

And here it comes. Linked in the article Meathead posted is this. I can see that someday we'll have more labeling with the brightly coloured box with a number in it. Dr. Oz will be telling us which ones not to eat while Big Food lobbies for definition revisions.

[Meathead]

ComfortablyNumb GREAT Example! Question for all: Is this a processed food?

Here is the ingredient list from that ravioli. Organic Pasta (Organic Wheat Flour, Water, Organic Semolina Flour, Organic Wheat Gluten), Organic Tomato Puree, Ricotta Cheese, Filtered Water, Organic Onions, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Spices, Organic Grade AA Butter, Parmesan Cheese, Sea Salt, Organic Garlic, Honey.

Sounds pretty natural and unprocessed, right?

Pasta is made by harvesting wheat, drying it, grinding it, bleaching it. Tomato puree is made by harvesting tomatoes, blanching them to remove the skins, simmering them to concentrate it. Ricotta is made from whey from whole milk usually after other cheeses are made, then an acidulator is added and it is boiled. Onions are harvested, peeled, chopped or pureed. EVOO is made by harvesting olives and smashing and pressing them and usually filtering the oil. Butter is made by aggressively churning cream which is separated from milk mechanically. Parm is made from skim milk usually made by spinning it in a centrifuge to remove the fat, then rennet, removed from the stomach of calves slaughtered for veal, is added, then the curds and whey are separated, it is placed in a mold, pressed, and aged in a temp controlled room at least 2 years. Sea salt is an undefined term. All salt is from the sea. If it is made by evaporation it can contain undefined minerals and even fish poop. Garlic, same as onions. Honey, harvested from man made hives by smoking the bees to stun them then removing their honeycombs and centrifuging them to remove the honey. The wole thing is then assembled cooked and frozen in a big factory.

So, is this a processed food? And if it is, is there anything wrong with that?

[Meathead]

Jerod Broussard I think raw chicken is a natural unprocessed food. Let's encourage people to eat more of it!

[Meathead]

Willy that is what I wanted to say. Xanthan gum may sound scary, but it has never been shown to be harmful and it is allowed in organic food.

[Meathead]

rickgregory Oy. You say "If you don't really understand what nutritionists and others mean when they talk about processed food then you should do a hell of a lot more research."

Ask a nutritionist or anyone to give you a definition of processed food that makes sense. In fact here is one on NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifes...it-ncna1038921

She says in the first paragraph "Much of the food we eat today has been processed in some fashion. Technically speaking, the bag of pre-washed spinach greens that has permanent residency in my fridge is a processed food. Making life in the kitchen less stressful — not to mention healthy eating much easier — is the gift of modern food processing, but the system isn’t made up entirely of bagged lettuce and frozen fruit (another form of processing). Let’s take a closer look at processed food and how it might be harmful to your health." Please read on. She and I are in agreement.

This is not something that needs science. It is a matter of symantics. Consumers need to know what processing is helpful and what is harmful. Saying all processing is bad is wrong.

[Jerod Broussard]

What about basically raw food (non-processed) turned out on factory lines?

[Red Man]

Clearly not processed...it’s organic and non gmo 🤣.

[ComfortablyNumb]

rickgregory

Help me out here, I found this in the frozen food isle at the supermarket today. Is this "highly processed industrial food turned out on a factory line"?