There are some articles on food studies that I just gloss over to be honest as they are usually funded by parties with an invested interest. In recent years the sugar cartels have been very active as are the meat and grain consortiums.
However, one area that I am definitely interested in is industrialised food. I avoid the term processed food because some of our natural products will go through some form of processing to reach our tables.. dairy products for example.
However, industrially produced food is a very different beast and that is because it is usually more man-made than naturally sourced. Over the years governments have forced food manufacturers to add more and more to the labels until it has become a farce. Apart from needing a visit to an optician for bottle top glasses to read the print, you need a degree in chemistry to identify the ingredients.
Those of you who visit the blog regularly already know that I advocate a cook from scratch approach to food that not only eliminates most of the chemical additives but also provides nutrients in a form the body understands and can process.
An estimated 75% of diseases that kill us prematurely are lifestyle related. It is not just about eating too much and not taking enough exercise. It is about the nature of the food we consume.
If that food contains anti-freeze and you eat on a regular basis then you are compromising your liver. If your liver is working inefficiently then toxins will build up in the body. If toxins overwhelm your major organs and your bloodstream you will develop disease.
I am not the food police, but it seems crazy to me that we are willing to put our lives and the lives of our children at risk for the sake of convenience and cost.
I have done the sums and cooking from scratch, and in bulk takes less time, costs less and is much healthier.
I will leave you to read the article and whilst some of the claims may only refer to certain brands that are available it is worth thinking first before buying something that looks too good to be true… it probably is!
Do you know what you are eating? Ingredients from human hair and beavers’ scent sacs used in popular foods like bread and ice cream
‘Study lifts the lid on bizarre ingredients used by food and drink industry
An ingredient derived from human hair prolongs the shelf life of bread
Vanilla flavouring in ice cream may derive from the castor sacs of beavers
Some chicken nuggets contain a chemical found in breast implants
Sweepings from the floors of barber shops in China and a secretion from a very intimate part of a beaver are ending up on the nation’s tables, it is claimed.
A study has lifted the lid on some of the bizarre ingredients used by the food industry, beauty giants and others.
Researchers have revealed that some supermarket bread contains an ingredient derived from human hair’
Some of the other secret ingredients that were discovered during the study are equally interesting..
Ready made cake mix – Anti-freeze ingredient propylene glycol is used to stop fat clumping together
Marshmallows – Made using Gelatine which is made from boiled animal bones
Chicken nuggets – Some chicken nuggets contain dimethylpolysiloxane which is used to make silicone breast implants
Read the rest of the article here….http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3813617/Do-know-eating-Ingredients-human-hair-beavers-scent-sacs-used-popular-foods-like-bread-ice-cream.html
As always your feedback is gratefully received. Sally
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What part of the chicken is the nugget, I ask myself? Thank goodness I never eat them!
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Reconstituted chicken is a horrible expression and unless stated is what most frozen and even allegedly fresh chicken in breadcrumbs is made from. thanks for sharing in your round up Stevie.
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Very scary Sally.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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It is David but I don’t think those that need to read it actually see it.. hugs xx
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“Marshmallows – Made using Gelatine which is made from boiled animal bones.” I don’t know about interesting, Sally. Sickening more like! Thank goodness I always cook from scratch – always have… always will..Jx
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And as for reheating them on sticks around the campfire….ughhhhh.. hugs
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Reblogged this on Matthews' Blog and commented:
Issues on health make interesting read always, Sally hence the reblogging here.
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Thanks Matthew.
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We can all become more conscientious consumers. Thanks, Sally
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Thanks for sharing Annette… not a pleasant read.. xxx
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You have barely scratched the surface, truth be told
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I know.. xx
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
I cannot NOT share this information with everyone Sally – it’s obscene what ‘Food Manufacturers’ are adding to real food 😱
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Thanks for spreading the word Chris.. It is appalling what they get away with.. Their huge tax donations have nothing to do with it of course! xx
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Of course not Sally 😈😘😘😘
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Thank you for sharing this Sally, it is so important knowledge 🙂
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Thank you Irene.. hugs
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What would make a person think of using a beaver’s scent sac in place of vanilla? I mean what sort of mental processes makes that kind of leap?
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One that is money motivated…As Sue said some of these ingredients have been used for hundred’s of years and are in essence ‘natural’ that does not mean that some of them should be anyhwere near the modern food chain. Industrially produced food is really still in its infancy and the already we are seeing the knock on effects in childhood obesity, heart disease and cancers. There is a reason for the increase and eating natural food prepared from scratch is not to blame. x
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Some of these ingredients are technically ‘natural’ and have been in use for centuries. Using the cochineal beetle for colouring or boiling bones for gelatine is no worse than eating some of the things we take for granted and consider healthy. I draw the line at replacing vanilla with beavers though.) I object strongly, however, to people not being given a choice through correct labelling…especially those who have chosen to become vegan or vegetarian through a choice of conscience and who are unaware that their ‘vegetarian’ products are not.
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I agree Sue and my main beef (sorry) is that when you buy a bag of marshmallows for toasting you don’t know what exactly is in them. Also whilst some of the ingredients may be termed as natural they may be one of the few natural elements in the food. There is an estimated 3000 food additives over our prepared food range and that is a billion dollar industry. One is removed and two more pop up.. Labels will never be big enough.
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One of my big issues is the lack of food education in schools these days… the too-many children who think fish fingers come from chickens, pasta from animals and that cheese comes from vegetables…
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I know and it used to be that kids never saw a lion except in the zoo.. now many do not even know what a cow looks like.. I like the idea of a food based alphabet.. why not A for Apple.. B for Banana C for Chocolate…xx
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Sally! You reactionary, you! 😀
Seriously… isn’t that exactly how we were taught? And that early? Plus, helping Mum or Granny in the kitchen, cooking from scratch every day, you learned properly about food.
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So scary Sal. Perhaps if we spread it around enough people may be interested in knowing what they eat. I’m very happy to be called the pickiest eater by anyone who knows me. I do the bulk of my shopping at the health food store and don’t cook anything from a package, so I think I’m doing better than most. Also many people think that because they’re on the run they must grab something, anything, quick for sustenance. If I’m out with no sensible eating choices, I don’t eat. It helps to keep a protein bar on our persons for those incidents. 🙂 xo
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Sometimes I feel like I am preaching to the choir Debby.. most people who pop in here like you are very aware of what they are eating.. food education is the only way there is going to be a big enough swing to combat the diseases of the future… but if we don’t start soon……xx
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So true. And if the choir chooses not to be selective, they’ll be being the piper 😦 xo
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Ick. I have a couple books about processed food which, not only I could not finish reading but which put me off food for ages. I’m with you Sally on cooking from scratch. Even so, we still need to be careful. The almighty dollar is what it’s all about.
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Thanks Tess. and yes unfortunatly some of the ‘fresh’ food that is available is not always from sources that take animal welfare seriously or have forced the vegetables in artificial surroundings. That is the price we pay for importing food from all around the world. hugs XX
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It’s becoming a scarier world by the year. Sigh.
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Reblogged this on TINA FRISCO and commented:
Do you REALLY know what’s in your food? Did you ever consider that it might contain anti-freeze, human hair, or beavers’ scent sacs, just to name a few of the horrendous ingredients in industrialized food? The corporate food industry is literally allowed to get away with murder, because consistently eating these foods leads to a multitude of diseases that eventually kill us. Sally Cronin has a very enlightening post on her blog today, and it would behoove all of us to take note. “An estimated 75% of diseases that kill us prematurely are lifestyle related . . . It is about the nature of the food we consume.”
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Thank you for spreading the word Tina.. if it at least gets people to think first and before opting for food that is industrialised. hugs
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It truly is sad how the majority of the population seems to turn their head at information like this. The convenience and what they call good tasting “food” is like a drug. What gets me fired up is seeing kids being fed this stuff every day. Nutrition is so important for everyone, but when little ones are using what they eat to build their growing bodies, they need quality i.e. real food!
Thanks for the great post, I too believe in and follow a cook from scratch approach all day every day and my family feels great! One note though, gelatin from boiling bones is actually quite healthy assuming it’s from healthy animals. Some communities would even share the bones using them to boil for nutrient rich bone broth and then passing them to their neighbors. Of course, marshmallows are not healthy and I’d suggest better uses for gelatin. 🙂
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Thanks for the feedback.. I too use boiled bones to make broth and also for the gelatine but I know where and how those bones are sourced. I understand the gelatine used in marshmallows is usually made from hooves, ears and connective tissues of cows and pigs, broken down by acid to release the collagen. You are absolutely right about the younger generation and those you are just reaching their 20s are the first to have really been exposed to industrial food in such quantities. I saw yesterday another article which may or may not have been accurate, that said students admit to eating portions of fast food a day instead of cooking! In the same day our Minister of Health.. Jeremy Hunt is going to be reviewing dessert sizes served in restaurants to try and combat obesity! I sometime think I followed Alice down the rabbit hole!
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In Australia food manufacturers use food dyes that are so poisonous they were banned from the printing industry because of the dangers of workers touching them. Our worker’s Health & safety legislation is so much stronger than Food safety. When they were banned as printing inks and banned in many other countries they actually became more prevalent in our food because the price was reduced because the customer base is shrinking.
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It is really unbelievable but not really unexpected. When one money stream dries up they will forge another somewhere… there are a few years left before the reality will hit home when all health services are overwhelmed with nutritional deficiency and toxicity illnesses.
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