Unfortunately, gross food has become the norm in most supermarkets, with packaged food ingredient lists reading more like chemistry homework than something you'd want your family to eat.
Flame retardant-laced soda
The toxic flame retardant chemical brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, was initially used to keep plastics from catching on fire. For decades, the food industry has been adding it to certain sodas, juices, and sports drinks, including Mountain Dew, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, and some Gatorade and Powerade flavors. BVO's purpose is to keep the artificial flavoring chemicals from separating from the rest of the liquids—but scientists have linked too much BVO to bromide poisoning symptoms like skin lesions, memory loss, and nerve disorders.
Paint chemical in salad dressing
Titanium dioxide is a component of the metallic element titanium, a mined substance that is sometimes contaminated with toxic lead. Commonly used in paints and sunscreens, big food corporations add it to lots of things we eat, too, including processed salad dressing, coffee creamers, and icing. The food industry adds it to hundreds of products to make dingy, overly processed items appear whiter. "White has long been the symbolic color of clean," explains food industry insider Bruce Bradley, who shares the tricks, traps, and ploys of big food manufacturers on his blog, BruceBradley.com.
Maggoty mushrooms
Photograph by IGOR CHESNOV/SHUTTERSTOCK
Maggots are fly larvae—tiny rice-shaped creatures that feast on rotting foods. The Food and Drug Administration legally allows 19 maggots and 74 mites in a 3.5-ounce can of mushrooms. While maggots do have their place in the medical world—they can help heal ulcers and other wounds—most people think it's pretty gross to eat them. If you need another reason to ditch canned goods, consider this: Most are lined with bisphenol A, or BPA—a plastic chemical that causes unnatural hormonal changes linked to heart attacks, obesity, and certain cancers.
Cloned cow's stomach
SMEREKA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Traditionally, cheese makers used rennet derived from the mucosa of a veal calf's fourth stomach to create the beloved, versatile dairy product. But Bradley notes that cost and the limited availability of calf stomachs have led to the development of several alternatives, including vegetable rennet, microbial rennet, and—the food industry's rennet of choice—a genetically modified version derived from a cloned calf gene. It's used to make the vast majority of cheese sold in the United States. Since GMO ingredients aren't listed on the label, it can be tough for consumers to avoid rennet from this source. "With all these rennet varieties often listed simply as "enzymes" on an ingredient panel, it can be very hard to know exactly what kind you're eating when you buy cheese," says Bradley, author of Fat Profits.
Flesh-eating bacteria
Photograph by LEIGH PRATHER/SHUTTERSTOCK
Grocery store meats are commonly infused with veterinary medicines, heavy metals, and staph bacteria, including the hard-to-kill, potentially lethal MRSA strain. Unfortunately, the problem is far from rare. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that half of grocery store meat tested harbored staph bacteria. Researchers ID the overuse of antibiotics in industrial agriculture as a major cause in the rise of superbugs in our grocery store food. MRSA kills about 19,000 people a year in America—that's more annual deaths than from AIDS in the U.S. Purchasing grass-fed meat and eggs from organic farmers is a more sustainable choice.
Herbicide-flavored food
Photograph by DEFOTOBERG/SHUTTERSTOCK
Glyphosate, the active chemical ingredient in the popular weed killer, Roundup, is a hormone-disrupting chemical now used primarily on corn and soy crops genetically engineered to withstand a heavy dousing of the chemical. Roundup is so heavily used around homes and in farm fields that it's now being detected in streams, the air, and even rain. Because it's a systemic herbicide, it's actually taken up inside the plant—meaning we eat it—and it's legally allowed in our food and in an amount that worries scientists. It's found in most nonorganic packaged foods because most contain corn- or soy-derived ingredients, the crops that are most often heavily doused with Roundup. Glyphosate exposure is linked to obesity, learning disabilities, birth defects, infertility, and potentially irreversible metabolic damage. To avoid pesticides in products, eat organic and avoided processed foods as much as possible. And use caution—"all natural" foods often are chockfull of pesticides and genetically engineered ingredients.
Beaver anal gland juice
It's a bitter, smelly, orange-brown substance known as castoreum, explains Bradley. "In nature, it's combined with the beaver's urine and used to mark its territory." It's used extensively in processed food and beverages, typically as vanilla or raspberry flavoring. This gross ingredient won't show up on the label—instead, companies using it in making processed food list it as natural flavoring. This poses a dilemma for vegans, vegetarians, and anyone who wants to avoid eating any creature's anal excretions.
11 Back-to-School Lunches That Nutritionists Give Their Kids
By Dana Leigh Smith
It’s back to school season, so a pop quiz is only fitting. What’s more challenging: Training for a marathon or packing a healthy lunch that your kid won’t trade for a Fruit Roll-Up?
Whipping up creative and nutritious meals that will please the picky little ones can be tough—especially when they see alluring vending machine treats and less-than-healthy snacks in other kids' lunchboxes. To help take the stress out of your back-to-school packing, we had diet experts fork over their creative lunchtime ideas. Read on to learn how to piece together exciting and healthy lunchbox meals for your little one all year long. And be sure to steer clear of packaged products that are hiding harmful additives, which we reveal in our report on the 13 Scary Ingredients in Your Kid’s Lunch Box, Exposed!
Fresh meat
With fresh meat you’re usually dealing with a 'sell by' date, which tells the store the last day it can keep that product out for sale. What does this mean for you? You either need to eat it or freeze it when you get home. 'The ‘sell by’ is telling the store when it should be the last day to have it on their shelf. They may even be discounting the food to try to get rid of it if it’s the last day they can have it on their shelves,' says Crandall. A lot of fresh raw meat is also contaminated with Salmonella, E. coli, or other bacteria. With that in mind, it’s very important to cook the meat at the proper temperatures as a greater defense against bacteria
Water with lemon
You Should Never Order When You Eat Out
Order the water—but you may want to hold the citrus. In a study published in the Journal of Environmental Health, researchers tested 76 lemons from 21 restaurants and found that 70% of them were contaminated with bacteria. Ick. The Family Health Team at the Cleveland Clinic recommends that unless you actually see the bartender prepare your lemon wedge safely—meaning, she’s wearing gloves and using tongs—stick to plain H2O. Save the lemon water trend for home, when you can be sure your lemons are properly washed
Health and Nutrition
With ~1.5 million people diagnosed with some type of cancer everyyear, it’s time to look before you buy-
1. Microwave Popcorn-Proved by Wikipedia, conventional microwave popcorn bags are lined with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA). This is a toxin you can find in Teflon also. According to a recent study at the University of California, PFOA is linked to infertility in women. Numerous studies in lab animals and humans show that exposure to PFOA significantly increases the risk of kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas and testicular cancers. You can read more about this substance and the above mentioned studies at cancer.org.
They used to contain diacetyl. Use of this chemical caused Conagra Foods to remove it from their brand of popcorn, ACT, because it was causing lung diseases in the workers at their factory.
2. Non-organic fruits
Non organic Fruits contain pesticides such as atrazine, thiodicarb, and organophosphates, as well as high nitrogen fertilizers.
Atrazine is banned in European countries but still used here. This is a weed killer that causes severe problems in humans, especially in our reproductive capabilities.
A 2009 study found that when pregnant women drank water contaminated with atrazine, their babies had reduced body weights.Conventional foods Apples oranges, strawberries, and grapes are probably the worst offenders with pesticides showing on more than 90 per cent positive pesticide residue.Washing fruit does not remove 100 per cent of the residue. Pesticides are toxic chemicals to insects as well as human beings.
3. Canned Tomatoes
The lining of almost all canned foods are made with a chemical called bisphenol-A, or BPA.
A study published in May of 2013 by the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences -BPA affects working of genes inside the brain of rats.Remember lax FDA is concerned! but not banned it.
4 Foam cups contain styrene 'human carcinogen'
'I think it's important to keep in mind that this is a hazard assessment,' Dr Jane Henney, who chaired the research council's committee of experts, told Newsday.
The declaration means there is 'scientific evidence suggesting that styrene causes cancer, but there may be alternative explanations, such as chance, bias or confounding factors', explained Dr Henney, who led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during the Clinton era.
Includes hot dogs, bacon, most lunch meats like bologna or pimento loaf. They contain sodium nitrite
which make them, look appealing and fresh but are carcinogens. Do not eat Smoking meats as it give you tar that from the smoking process.
6. Farmed Salmon-
60% These fish are fed unnatural diets and are contaminated with chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides, and other known carcinogens. They live in very crowded conditions which results in these fish having 30 times the number of sea lice than wild salmon.Also contains PCB’s, mercury, and cancer causing dioxins.
7 Potato Chips-
If potaotes are superheated, it contains acrylamide, a known carcinogen that is also found in cigarettes.Alternative- USED BAKED CHIPS.
8.SMOKED FOODS-
Foods that are cured by use of nitrates or nitrites act as preservatives as well as adding color to the meat. Although nitrates do not cause cancer in and of themselves, under certain conditions these chemicals change once they are inside the body into N-nitroso composites. It’s this N-nitroso that is associated with a greater increase the risk of developing cancers.Avoid- Meats such as bacon, sausage, bologna, and salami .
9.Processed Flour -
Are bleached by Chlorine so you really needs to avoid all breads .USE RICE.
10. GMO'S-
Study by Dr. Pusztai at the Rowett Institute in Scotland, where rats were fed GMO foods, especially potatoes. ALL rats showed damaged immune systems, pre-cancerous cell growths, along with smaller brains and livers, in just the first 10 days of the project.
The FDA has NO testing procedures for GMO foods. The only human study ever published showed that those foreign genes that are present in GM food transfer to the DNA in the bacteria in our digestive systems.Unfortunately, almost all grains, including soybeans, wheat, and corn, have been grown via GMO’s. USE RICE.
GMO’s do not have to be listed on food labels, so read carefully and look for labels that state the food is GMO free. 11. Artificial Sweatners
There are numerous studies that show people who consume artificial sweeteners on a regular basis, such as in sodas, or coffee sweeteners, actually gain weight and make you diabetic.There is mounting evidence that the chemicals that make up these sweeteners, especially aspartame, break down in the body into a deadly toxin called DKP. When your stomach processes this chemical, it in turn produces chemicals that can cause cancer, especially brain tumors. LINK
STOP ALL FOODS ATHT SAYS-DIET FOOD,artificial sugar.DO NOT USE LOW FAT dressing also. 12. Excessive alcohol- Alcohol use is the second leading cause of cancer, right behind tobacco use. While a moderate or low consumption of alcohol can be healthy and lead to a reduced risk of heart disease, excessive drinking is known to cause heart failure, stroke, and sudden death. In 2007, experts working for the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer found evidence to state that excessive alcohol use is the main cause of mouth, esophagus, liver, colon, mouth, rectum, and female breast cancers.
13 Red Meat-
In a study done over a 10 year period, eating red meat every day, even a small amount, such as that quarter pound hamburger you like to enjoy at lunch, increased a man’s risk of dying from cancer by 22 percent and a woman’s chance by 20 percent. A separate research study has shown that eating a lot of red meat increased the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer.
Red meat seems particularly dangerous when talking about colon cancer. A study done in the US followed almost 150,000 people between the ages of 50 and 74. This study showed that the long term consumption of red meat significantly increased the amount of colon cancer found in the subjects studied. On the other hand, the long term consumption of fish and poultry appeared to be protective in nature.
14.SODA/DIET SODA-
Sodas also contain artificial colorings and food chemicals like derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) LINK click here.
According to the American Heart Association, major sources of added
sugars in our diets are soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, pies, fruit drinks,
dairy desserts and milk products (such as ice cream and sweetened yogurt), and
cereals. Most sweetened beverages and fruit drinks contain so much added sugar,
in fact, that they have been referred to as “liquid sugar” by some experts.
Another major source of added sugar that has recently come under fire is soft
drinks. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
average 12-ounce can of cola contains over 8 teaspoons of sugar! So, by drinking
just one small soft drink, a woman would have already far exceeded her
recommended daily sugar maximum (of 6 teaspoons), and a man would have nearly
reached his (of 9 teaspoons).
A recent study showed that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas
was associated with shorter telomeres (which are a marker of aging–longer
telomeres, simply speaking, are a marker of youth, while telomere shortening is
an indication of aging). This in turn was associated with higher risk
for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The study investigators concluded that “regular consumption of
sugar-sweetened sodas might influence metabolic disease development through
accelerated cell aging.” In other words, in one more twist to the added-sugar
saga, drinking sodas could age your cells–and, therefore, you.
• कोल्डड्रिंक में फास्फोरिक एसिड पीते समय झरझराहट महसूस करने के लिए मिलाया जाताहै। इससे दांतों की कमजोरी, हड्डियों की गंभीर बीमारी ऑस्टियोपोरोसिस हो जाती है।
• नेत्र रोग विशेषज्ञ डॉ.राजेश गौतम के मुताबिक ठंडे पेय पदार्थो में चार खतरनाक कीटनाशक पाए गए हैं। a. पहला लिंडेन यानी गैमेक्सीन जिसका असर आंखों पर पड़ता है। b. दूसरा डीडीटी इससे स्नायुतंत्र की कमजोरी, लीवर सिरोसिस, कैंसर और हार्मोनल परविर्तन होते हैं। c. तीसरा मैलाथियान, इससे गुर्दे जवाब दे जाते हैं और चर्म रोग हो जाते हैं। d. चौथा है क्लोरोपाइरीफास जो हड्डियों को कमजोर कर देता है।
• कोल्ड ड्रिंक में मिलाई जाने वाली चीनी फ्रुकटोज याददाश्त को कमजोर कर देती है। इससे दिमाग की क्षमता घटने लगती है। यही चीनी डायबिटीज जैसी बीमारी में जानलेवा साबित होती है।
• शोधकर्ताओं ने ढाई लाख से ज्याजदा लोगों पर अध्यकयन करने के बाद कोल्डस ड्रिंक के सेवन से अवसाद बढ़ने का दावा किया है।
• अध्ययन में पता चला कि सॉफ्ट ड्रिंक्स का सेवन करने वाले पुरुषों में प्रोस्टेट कैंसर होने की आशंका बढ़ जाती है
• दिल्ली के सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एन्वायरनमेंट ने भी अपनी वैज्ञानिक रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित कर यह बताया था कि कोला आदि ठंडे पेय पदार्थो के ब्रांडों में कीटनाशक मौजूद हैं।
• लोग हमेशा चिल्ड कोल्डड्रिंक मांगते हैं। इथाइलीन ग्लाइकाल इसलिए मिलाया जाता है ताकि पानी के जमने के तापमान से नीचे पेयों को ठंडा कर दिया जाए, फिर भी वे जमे नहीं। इससे कैंसर होता है।
• कैफीन एक नशीला पदार्थ है। भारत में इसे कोल्डड्रिंक में मिलाने की छूट कंपनियों को है।
• कड़वे रसायनों का असर दबाने को रिफाइंड चीनी मिलाई जाती है। इस चीनी से मोटापा और डायबिटीज के खतरे बढ़ रहे हैं। कोल्डड्रिंक असल में काबरेनेटेड पानी होता है, जिसमें सेहत पर दुष्प्रभाव डालने वाली कार्बन डाइ ऑक्साइड गैस मिली होती है।
• सोडियम बेंजोइट मिथाइल बेंजोइट नाम के प्रिजरवेटवि इसलिए मिलाए जाते हैं ताकि कोल्ड ड्रिंक में फंफूदी न पडे। इन रसायनों से बेंजीन अलग हो जाते हैं और कैंसर की आशंका गहरा जाती है। ये मनुष्य के डीएनए को भी बदल सकता है।
A study out of Arizona State University that was published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition determined that Aspartame causes brain damage by leaving traces of Methanol in the blood(1). Another study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine determined that long term consumption of Aspartame leads to an imbalance in the antioxidant/pro-oxidant status in the brain(2). A study published by Washington University Medical School outlines a possible connection between aspartame and brain tumors(3)
The brain isn’t the only thing in question when it comes to aspartame. A recent study linked aspartame to Lymphoma and Leukemia(4)(5). The study was published at the beginning of December in 2012, conducted by the Department of Medicine at Bringham Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. The study was a follow up after a 22 year period of data collection including frequent dietary and health check ups of the study group and was published in the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
A study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology determined that sugar sweetened soda increases the odds for kidney function decline(6). 3,318 women participated in the study for a number of years as they consumed diet soda that contained artificial sweeteners, most notably aspartame. Two or more diet drinks a day led to a double risk in fast-paced kidney decline. The study was conducted by scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Aspartame clearly has the potential to be harmful to human health and after examining multiple studies, it seems safe to say that aspartame is indeed hazardous to human health. Do you ever wonder how aspartame became illegal?
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are finally working to remove a controversial ingredient called called brominated vegetable oil from all their drinks, including Mountain Dew, Fanta and Powerade. This ois power of social media-This was a step after a petitions on Change.org by a Mississippi teenager who wanted it out .This ingredient has been patented as a flame retardant and isn't approved for use in Japan and the European Union
PepsiCo also uses BVO in its Mountain Dew and Amp energy drinks. The company, based in Purchase, New York, didn't provide a timeline for when it expects the removal to be complete. Coca-Cola had also said that it's removing the ingredient from all its drinks to be consistent in the ingredients it uses around the world. In addition to Powerade, Coca-Cola uses BVO in some flavors of Fanta, Fresca and several citrus-flavored fountain drinks.
The Centre for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group, notes that the Food and Drug Administration permitted the use of BVO on an interim basis in 1970 pending additional study. Decades later, the group notes that BVO is still on the interim list. DO NOT TRUST FDA AS IT IS WITH MULTINATIONALS.DO YOUR RESEARCH.
