Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

natural

I ran across this article on a new site I have found and I love it they are very informative and trying to help educate people who are wanting to know how to read labels a,d what GMO’s are and what they are not! The food manufactures aka seed manufactures have been messing with our foods for sometime now. It is hard to say what we are actually putting into our bodies because the government will not make them put an accurate label on these products because anyone with any God given sense at all would not pollute their bodies with items that cause cancer or illness.

News about foods labeled as “natural” has been buzzing lately. From companies seeking out alternate terms like “simply” to attempts by Big Food to gain the ability to continue to label GMO products with the “natural” brand, we’ve all heard a whole lot about this word and all its variations found on U.S. food labels. We’ve also seen spoofs about the liberal application of the term by food marketing gurus all over.

At One Green Planet, we’ve covered what “natural” actually means when used on a  food label (for review: it means pretty much nothing at all, and it isn’t really regulated beyond some “guidance” by the FDA).

 Here’s the full FDA stance, if you’re wondering: “From a food science perspective, it is difficult to define a food product that is ‘natural’ because the food has probably been processed and is no longer the product of the earth. That said, FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.”

That stance is just a little passive, don’t you think?

Now, we’d like to give you a glimpse of just what your “natural” food product could actually contain in consideration of all of these aforementioned points. Without further ado, we present to you: if your “natural” food label told the truth about the product.

 For illustration purposes, let’s take a look at your bag of “all natural” Sun Chips. For many years, this Frito-Lays product has been touted as a healthier option to conventional potato chips, and Frito-Lays has milked the “natural” branding with campaigns and labels galore for Sun Chips.

 From the product’s inception, the company has made use of clever marketing, from compostable packaging methods to the very nature of the name of the “Sun” (who doesn’t think of nature when they think of the sun?) Chip to invoke feelings of a “natural” product. And many of its variations of packaging over the years bore a “Made with ALL NATURAL Ingredients” label.

 And so many of us were and are still fooled. While Sun Chips may be an “healthier” alternative to conventional potato chips, there’s really not much that’s too sunny or natural about the chips themselves at all. Let’s take a look at this “natural” product’s ingredients:

1.   Whole Corn

 Truth: Nearly 90 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Sun Chips corn is not organic, and not labelled as non-GMO, so it’s most likely made from GMOs. Is something that has been genetically altered in a truly natural state? No. Verdict? Not natural.

2. Sunflower and/or Canola Oil

 Truth: About 90 percent of canola oil is also GMO. My response? See ingredient #1. Verdict? Not natural (again).

3.  Whole Wheat

 Truth: Whole wheats are indeed better for you and less processed than other types. But here’s the thing about non-organic wheats: they often have a ton of pesticides applied to them. This study found that wheat flour can have up to 16 different types of pesticide residues – many of which are known or probably carcinogens. Does that kind of ingredient sound sunny and natural to you?

4.  Brown Rice Flour

 Truth: Non-organic brown rice is often home to very high levels of arsenic (even organic brown rice has been found to have arsenic traces, by the way), due to pesticides and fertilizers used in the growing process. Arsenic – yeah, not so natural.

5.  Whole Oat Flour.

 Truth: Conventional oats are often home to at least six different pesticides, typically.

6.  Sugar

 Truth: More than half of sugar in this country comes from sugar beets – and 90 percent of this crop is GMO. When you think natural sugar, do you envision scientists in lab coats modifying food genes in a lab? Didn’t think so. If Sun Chips aren’t touting this as non-GMO, it’s probably pretty likely this ingredient isn’t the natural-as-a-blue-sky one you’ve thought of.

7.  Salt

 Truth: If it isn’t specifically designated as sea salt from certain parts of the globe, this ingredient could be very similar to table salt, as Bee from Healing Naturally by Bee puts it: “Most common table salt is made up of chemicals that pollute your body and wreak havoc on your health. Your table salt is actually 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals such as moisture absorbents, and iodine. Dried at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, the excessive heat alters the natural chemical structure of the salt causing the potential for a myriad of health problems in your body.”

 Natural salt, to me, would be fetched from the ocean and sprinkled into my bag of chips. Not polluted with chemicals and heated to extremes.

8.  Natural Flavor

 Truth: The natural flavor ingredient prevalent in so many “natural” products is a mystery…which is, in short, not good news for you. In truth, it’s a scary industry secret that could be really anything at all.

 Bruce Bradley, a former Big Food executive and current real food advocate explains, “Natural Flavors are also closely guarded secrets of manufacturers and flavor houses. It’s most likely a list of complex chemical compounds that would double or triple the length of the ingredient panel.”

 Verdict? If it’s made by humans with chemicals it’s not natural in my book.

9.   Malodextrin (i.e. Made from Corn)

 Truth: Yeah, once again, GMO and not natural. According to Mike Adams from Natural News, “If you pick up a natural product and the ingredients list says ‘maltodextrin,’ chances are very high that the maltodextrin in the product is derived from Monsanto’s GM corn.Virtually all the maltodextrin used throughout the natural products industry is genetically modified. Products that are certified USDA organic, however, are not using GMO maltodextrin.”

 So there you have it. Not one ingredient in Frito Lay’s Sun Chips, the prior holy grail of natural selections, is likely to have not been touched by humans and their technologies, whether via genetic modification or the coating of pesticides or heating processes or other unknown chemical change-ups.

The point here? Not a damn thing about this product is natural. And, by buying into its “natural” claims, so many of us were and are duped by this product and so many others.

 This is just one example. Thousands of products are still labeled as natural. Please — don’t buy into the natural label without knowing the truth: companies can, will, and do use this word and all its variations as marketing and not as actual information about the product’s natural state. Plus, they will continue to do so at our health’s expense.

Until the FDA requires some actual parameters around the use of this term (or eliminates the use of it altogether for food companies), think beyond the label, Green Monsters, and decipher ingredients, their sources, their processes, and their true states. That’s the only way to make sure you’re keeping it natural for real.

Source: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/if-natural-food-labels-told-the-truth/
Follow us on Twitter @DeepSouthRemedy
Join Us On Facebook – DeepSouthRemedies
Pin With is on Pinterest