http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/25/RV9N11VMPR.DTL
Gov. signs nation's first statewide ban on trans fats in restaurants
Samantha Sondag, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Friday, July 25, 2008
California became the first state in the nation to outlaw trans fats from restaurants and food facilities today, as Governor Schwarzenegger signed off on a bill banning the artery-clogging oils and shortenings.
"California is a leader in promoting health and nutrition, and I am pleased to continue that tradition," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "We are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California."
AB 97, authored by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), requires professional cooks to purge their kitchens of any ingredient containing more than 0.5 grams of artificial trans fats by Jan. 1, 2010. Inspectors could impose fines from $25 to $1,000 for violations.
Bakers have an extra year to adhere to the ban because pastries are the most difficult products to make without trans fat-laden oils and shortenings.
Several cities already have ordinances banning trans fats, including New York and Philadelphia.
Artificial trans fats, short for trans fatty acid molecules, are the result of partial hydrogenation, which changes the texture of cooking oils and elongates their shelf life. They increase levels of bad cholesterol and decrease levels of good cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.
"As a former fourth grade school teacher in east L.A, I saw first hand the problems of obesity," Mendoza said. "AB 97 is culmination of these concerns and works to benefit the well being of kids and California."
Mendoza said he hopes the law will inspire a nationwide renunciation of trans fats. "It is catching on, ever since last year when we introduced it (the bill). Now that it's law in California, I think it's really going to move."
The California Restaurant Association originally opposed the ban because of potential costs to restaurant owners. But a spokesman said today that the association is confident its members will be able to comply.
"Given that our industry was already moving away from the use of trans fats, and the long time-frame for implementation, we're confident that we can satisfy mandate," said Daniel Conway. "But we still think such decisions should be made by the federal government and not on the state and local level."
Betty Jo Toccoli, president of the California Small Businesses Association, said the new law may result in consumers paying more to dine.
"I think there will be confusion, in the end there will be an increase in prices, and I'll look for items being taken off of menus and a loss of business," she said.
Stephen Joseph, a healthy-food activist and lawyer from Tiburon who worked with Mendoza on the bill, says consumers should not fear that their favorite dish will not taste as good without trans fat. He pointed to a blind taste test, conducted by Texas A&M University last year, in which trans fat-free French fries scored better than fries cooked in partially hydrogenated oil.
"The industry lapped that up," said Joseph. "They realized that there was no way they could keep taking the position that it was going to affect taste."
Joseph added that the difference in price between oils containing oils with trans fat and those that don't is minimal, if any.
"I'm drunk with pleasure that the governor signed this bill," said Joseph, while sipping Champagne and noshing on trans fat free Oreos.
E-mail Samantha Sondag at ssondag@sfchronicle.com.
Showing posts with label Trans Fats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trans Fats. Show all posts
Friday, August 1, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Beast of the Month - January 2008
Beast of the Month - January 2008
Trans Fats, Deadly Food Additive
"I yam an anti-Christ... "
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
A New Year is here, and with it comes New Year's Resolutions. And, as is always the case in the USA, topping the list for most Americans involves the results of having one too many servings of turducken over the holidays. And sure, maybe joining a gym (or putting some Tony Little, Tae Bo or P90X on the TV) helps, but ultimately, it's what you put in your body that has more to do with gain or loss of weight than any workout plan can ever hope.
Of course, obesity is just the most blatant side effect of the Standard American Diet (often called SAD by health critics.) Among the other wonderful health problems: heart disease, diabetes, liver problems, infertility and the big C. And while personal responsibility certainly can't be ignored in the resulting health crisis, it's a rigged game. Thanks to the processed food industry and korporate food konglomerates, the most common snacks and meals in the United States are dangerous nutrition filled with killer chemicals and additives. Among the greatest hits:
* Refined Sugars & Carbohydrates: From high fructose corn syrup to Wonder Bread, refined sugars and carbs are overloaded in American food products. It is because of the debilitating nature of America's carbo habit that the Atkins and Zone diets (which stress high protein, low carb diets) have become so popular and successful.
* Aspartame: Need that sweet sugar taste without the side effects? The most popular artificial sweetener, under the label of NutraSweet or Equal, is not the right answer. Among the documented side effects: headaches, fatigue, blurred vision and blindness, heart palpitations, brain lesions and tumors, memory loss, dizziness, seizures and insomnia. Originally, aspartame was categorized as a biochemical warfare weapon by the Pentagon in a list submitted to Congress. It is because of these health issues that sucralose and stevia have risen in popularity (though in the case of stevia, FDA stonewalling has blocked its usage as a food additive despite its extensive history in Japan.)
* Sodium Nitrate: Used in process meats such as bacon and bologna as both a preservative and for coloring, it is a cause of cancer in the colon, breast, prostate and pancreas. Suddenly, we don't wish we were an Oscar Mayer wiener.
* RBGH Milk: Cows juiced with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone have flooded the US market since Monsanto (the fine makers of noted nutrapoison NutraSweet) pushed it under the brand name Posilac. Despite the evidence linking it to cancer it is still legal to use it in the USA, though it is banned in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe. In 1997, a Florida Fox affiliate squelched a news expose on the dangers of rBGH milk and fired the journalists who did the story. Despite attempts to cover up the dangers of rBGH milk, the grocery chains Safeway, Kroger and Trader Joe's (along with, among others, tasty ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's) have rejected the usage of rBGH milk from their stores.
* Frankenfoods: rBGH is just one example of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Thanks to predictably lax regulation by the FDA, the US food market (particularly processed foods) are now loaded with GMOs, making the American public lab rats at the behest of American biotech corporations. Widespread concerns among Europeans over the dangers of GMOs has led to trade disputes over US food crop imports in the EU.
* Super Size Me!: The biggest culprit in obesity may be the "Bigger is better" trend in fast food marketing. Though the "Super Size" on fries and drinks was stopped at McDonald's after Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary exposed the health dangers of the Ronald McDonald diet, in a world where Carl's Jr. has a Double Six Dollar Burger, Wendy's the Baconator, Burger King the Cheese Double Whopper, McD's the Cheese Double Quarter Pounder and Hardee's it's Monster Thickburger (with an astounding 1420 calories) it certainly is hard to lose weight while visiting your favorite burger stand. And to think it all started with the now apparently modest sized Big Mac. (Thanks a lot, Mrs. Esther Rose!)
* Acrylamide: In 2002, this carcinogenic substance was discovered in fried and baked carbohydrates such as breads, cookies and chips thanks to the heating process. Six years later, there is still no labeling or regulation of it in the American food supply.
* Monosodium Glutamate: Found as a taste enhancer in foods ranging from Chinese food to Kentucky Fried Chicken, MSG is (like aspartame) an excitotoxin, which in animal studies have caused brain damage to consumers. Among the other health hazards of MSG: body numbness, chest pain, headaches, nausea and a rapid heartbeat.
* Salmonella & E. Coli: While foodborne illnesses due to bacteria are not put into food intentionally, it is the end result of lax enforcement of food laws by the USDA and industrial methods for producing mass quantities of food that decreases sanitary methods.
* Mad Cow Disease: The most lethal of food dangers, so far the US has been fortunate not to have a massive infection, but critics of the USDA and FDA believe it is only a matter of time due to shoddy enforcement of both laws involving feed and the care of bovine. In the meantime, legitimate fear of US cattle has curtailed US beef imports to Japan.
Still, with all due respect to the previous nominees, the biggest threat to US food integrity has come from trans fats, The Konformist Beast of the Month. It's dangers, and how it became such a part of the American food supply, is illustrative of how korporate profits rule American food production and how it trumps sound health policy.
Artificial trans fats were first introduced into the American diet in 1911, when Procter & Gamble (the korporate titan that includes the Mark of the Beast in its logo) began selling shortening under the brand name Crisco. This was only a decade after trans fats were first created artificially via the process of hydrogenation, where hydrogen atoms are added to non-saturated fats, extending their shelf life. (Perhaps the first sign that hydrogenated oils are not healthy to eat is the extended shelf life: it indicates that bacteria doesn't find it worthy nutrition.) Though there were indeed health dangers tied to trans fats from the start, it was minimized due to hydrogenated oils being consumed in small amounts, primarily through Crisco and margarine. It was during the two world wars, when butter was rationed to support the war efforts, that there were major spikes in trans fat consumption by the American public.
After WWII, trans fats steadily increased in consumption through the sixties, as food processors began realizing the benefits of adding trans fats to their products for increased profits. Coincidentally, as this rise in trans fat usage continued, it was backed by a campaign warning people of the supposed health dangers of consuming butter and other alternatives to hydrogenated oils. This created some strange alliances: the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has often been on the right side on health issues, pushed in the 80s for the removal of animal fats use for frying in restaurants, as well as coconut oil in popcorn at movie theaters during the 90s. (While the CSPI now is opposed to the usage of trans fats, it has never owed up to its responsibility in promoting it as part of the American diet in the first place.) CSPI may have been suckered into promotion of trans fats, but others may not have been so blind. One noted player would have to be Archer Daniels Midland, the food titan that is the major processor of soybeans, which were used to make eighty percent of all hydrogenated oils in processed foods. The promotion of trans fats literally had billions of dollars riding on the outcome.
Despite the pro-hydrogenation propaganda, most natural health advocates (such as Harvey and Marilyn Diamond in their Fit for Life book series, authors Paul and Patricia Bragg, and Julian Whitaker of the Whitaker Institute) were never fooled. They warned that artificial trans fats had no history of being consumed by humans, and thus our digestive system was unprepared for this foreign invader. The evidence has proved them correct: in 1994, it was estimated that 30,000 deaths were caused each year in the US due to heart disease caused from trans fat consumption, or ten times the deaths on 9/11 every year.
The good news is, thanks to the bad PR trans fats have received, they are rapidly being removed from the American food supply. (It's hard, after all, to defend using a deadly product in foods when it is inferior in taste to other options, as anyone who has consumed both butter and margarine can attest.) Most processed food products have reduced trans fats to under a half gram per serving due to publish pressure. Leading the charge: the all-American Oreo cookie, which now has no hydrogenated oils in its ingredients. Among the food servers who have removed or restricted trans fats from their foods are all Disney theme parks, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Arby's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King and, of course, McDonald's. This was fueled by New York City's banning of trans fats in all NYC restaurants. Joining the Big Apple are Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, Maryland with Chicago and the states of California and Vermont having proposals to enforce their own bans. Crisco itself has been reformulated to have less than one gram of trans fats per serving. Even the Indiana State Fair banned their usage in tasty snacks such as french fries, corn dogs and deep-fried Oreos, Snickers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
In the end, how trans fats have gone from a household product to a dirty word is a story with a happy ending. If consumers vote with their dollars, food products can and will change. The downside to the story is the fact that trans fats even became an American food staple in the first place. Undoubtedly the list of food beasts will continue to have new additions, and the battle has just begun.
In any case, we salute trans fats (and those behind it) as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, dudes!!!
Sources:
Enig, Mary and Fallon, Sally. Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats. New York: Penguin Group, 2005.
Enig, Mary G. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol. Silver Spring: Bethesda Press, 2000.
Fallon, Sally and Enig. Mary G. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Winona Lake: New Trends Publishing, 1999.
The Weston A. Price Foundation <http://www.westonaprice.org/>.
Special thanks to Harvey & Marilyn Diamond for their Fit for Life and Fitonics for Life books, NewsTarget.com, Rense.com and the film Super Size Me for help on this article.
Some cool things to look at for more about SAD dangers:
Aspartame & Aspartame Poisoning Information: http://www.dorway.com/
The Atkins Diet: Atkins.com
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: BenJerry.com
Bragg Live Foods & Health Books: Bragg.com
Center for Science in the Public Interest: CSPINet.org
Dr. Whitaker: DrWhitaker.com
Fox BGH Suit: FoxBGHSuit.com
Trader Joe's: TraderJoes.com
The Zone Diet: ZoneDiet.com
Trans Fats, Deadly Food Additive
"I yam an anti-Christ... "
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
A New Year is here, and with it comes New Year's Resolutions. And, as is always the case in the USA, topping the list for most Americans involves the results of having one too many servings of turducken over the holidays. And sure, maybe joining a gym (or putting some Tony Little, Tae Bo or P90X on the TV) helps, but ultimately, it's what you put in your body that has more to do with gain or loss of weight than any workout plan can ever hope.
Of course, obesity is just the most blatant side effect of the Standard American Diet (often called SAD by health critics.) Among the other wonderful health problems: heart disease, diabetes, liver problems, infertility and the big C. And while personal responsibility certainly can't be ignored in the resulting health crisis, it's a rigged game. Thanks to the processed food industry and korporate food konglomerates, the most common snacks and meals in the United States are dangerous nutrition filled with killer chemicals and additives. Among the greatest hits:
* Refined Sugars & Carbohydrates: From high fructose corn syrup to Wonder Bread, refined sugars and carbs are overloaded in American food products. It is because of the debilitating nature of America's carbo habit that the Atkins and Zone diets (which stress high protein, low carb diets) have become so popular and successful.
* Aspartame: Need that sweet sugar taste without the side effects? The most popular artificial sweetener, under the label of NutraSweet or Equal, is not the right answer. Among the documented side effects: headaches, fatigue, blurred vision and blindness, heart palpitations, brain lesions and tumors, memory loss, dizziness, seizures and insomnia. Originally, aspartame was categorized as a biochemical warfare weapon by the Pentagon in a list submitted to Congress. It is because of these health issues that sucralose and stevia have risen in popularity (though in the case of stevia, FDA stonewalling has blocked its usage as a food additive despite its extensive history in Japan.)
* Sodium Nitrate: Used in process meats such as bacon and bologna as both a preservative and for coloring, it is a cause of cancer in the colon, breast, prostate and pancreas. Suddenly, we don't wish we were an Oscar Mayer wiener.
* RBGH Milk: Cows juiced with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone have flooded the US market since Monsanto (the fine makers of noted nutrapoison NutraSweet) pushed it under the brand name Posilac. Despite the evidence linking it to cancer it is still legal to use it in the USA, though it is banned in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe. In 1997, a Florida Fox affiliate squelched a news expose on the dangers of rBGH milk and fired the journalists who did the story. Despite attempts to cover up the dangers of rBGH milk, the grocery chains Safeway, Kroger and Trader Joe's (along with, among others, tasty ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's) have rejected the usage of rBGH milk from their stores.
* Frankenfoods: rBGH is just one example of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Thanks to predictably lax regulation by the FDA, the US food market (particularly processed foods) are now loaded with GMOs, making the American public lab rats at the behest of American biotech corporations. Widespread concerns among Europeans over the dangers of GMOs has led to trade disputes over US food crop imports in the EU.
* Super Size Me!: The biggest culprit in obesity may be the "Bigger is better" trend in fast food marketing. Though the "Super Size" on fries and drinks was stopped at McDonald's after Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary exposed the health dangers of the Ronald McDonald diet, in a world where Carl's Jr. has a Double Six Dollar Burger, Wendy's the Baconator, Burger King the Cheese Double Whopper, McD's the Cheese Double Quarter Pounder and Hardee's it's Monster Thickburger (with an astounding 1420 calories) it certainly is hard to lose weight while visiting your favorite burger stand. And to think it all started with the now apparently modest sized Big Mac. (Thanks a lot, Mrs. Esther Rose!)
* Acrylamide: In 2002, this carcinogenic substance was discovered in fried and baked carbohydrates such as breads, cookies and chips thanks to the heating process. Six years later, there is still no labeling or regulation of it in the American food supply.
* Monosodium Glutamate: Found as a taste enhancer in foods ranging from Chinese food to Kentucky Fried Chicken, MSG is (like aspartame) an excitotoxin, which in animal studies have caused brain damage to consumers. Among the other health hazards of MSG: body numbness, chest pain, headaches, nausea and a rapid heartbeat.
* Salmonella & E. Coli: While foodborne illnesses due to bacteria are not put into food intentionally, it is the end result of lax enforcement of food laws by the USDA and industrial methods for producing mass quantities of food that decreases sanitary methods.
* Mad Cow Disease: The most lethal of food dangers, so far the US has been fortunate not to have a massive infection, but critics of the USDA and FDA believe it is only a matter of time due to shoddy enforcement of both laws involving feed and the care of bovine. In the meantime, legitimate fear of US cattle has curtailed US beef imports to Japan.
Still, with all due respect to the previous nominees, the biggest threat to US food integrity has come from trans fats, The Konformist Beast of the Month. It's dangers, and how it became such a part of the American food supply, is illustrative of how korporate profits rule American food production and how it trumps sound health policy.
Artificial trans fats were first introduced into the American diet in 1911, when Procter & Gamble (the korporate titan that includes the Mark of the Beast in its logo) began selling shortening under the brand name Crisco. This was only a decade after trans fats were first created artificially via the process of hydrogenation, where hydrogen atoms are added to non-saturated fats, extending their shelf life. (Perhaps the first sign that hydrogenated oils are not healthy to eat is the extended shelf life: it indicates that bacteria doesn't find it worthy nutrition.) Though there were indeed health dangers tied to trans fats from the start, it was minimized due to hydrogenated oils being consumed in small amounts, primarily through Crisco and margarine. It was during the two world wars, when butter was rationed to support the war efforts, that there were major spikes in trans fat consumption by the American public.
After WWII, trans fats steadily increased in consumption through the sixties, as food processors began realizing the benefits of adding trans fats to their products for increased profits. Coincidentally, as this rise in trans fat usage continued, it was backed by a campaign warning people of the supposed health dangers of consuming butter and other alternatives to hydrogenated oils. This created some strange alliances: the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has often been on the right side on health issues, pushed in the 80s for the removal of animal fats use for frying in restaurants, as well as coconut oil in popcorn at movie theaters during the 90s. (While the CSPI now is opposed to the usage of trans fats, it has never owed up to its responsibility in promoting it as part of the American diet in the first place.) CSPI may have been suckered into promotion of trans fats, but others may not have been so blind. One noted player would have to be Archer Daniels Midland, the food titan that is the major processor of soybeans, which were used to make eighty percent of all hydrogenated oils in processed foods. The promotion of trans fats literally had billions of dollars riding on the outcome.
Despite the pro-hydrogenation propaganda, most natural health advocates (such as Harvey and Marilyn Diamond in their Fit for Life book series, authors Paul and Patricia Bragg, and Julian Whitaker of the Whitaker Institute) were never fooled. They warned that artificial trans fats had no history of being consumed by humans, and thus our digestive system was unprepared for this foreign invader. The evidence has proved them correct: in 1994, it was estimated that 30,000 deaths were caused each year in the US due to heart disease caused from trans fat consumption, or ten times the deaths on 9/11 every year.
The good news is, thanks to the bad PR trans fats have received, they are rapidly being removed from the American food supply. (It's hard, after all, to defend using a deadly product in foods when it is inferior in taste to other options, as anyone who has consumed both butter and margarine can attest.) Most processed food products have reduced trans fats to under a half gram per serving due to publish pressure. Leading the charge: the all-American Oreo cookie, which now has no hydrogenated oils in its ingredients. Among the food servers who have removed or restricted trans fats from their foods are all Disney theme parks, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Arby's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King and, of course, McDonald's. This was fueled by New York City's banning of trans fats in all NYC restaurants. Joining the Big Apple are Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, Maryland with Chicago and the states of California and Vermont having proposals to enforce their own bans. Crisco itself has been reformulated to have less than one gram of trans fats per serving. Even the Indiana State Fair banned their usage in tasty snacks such as french fries, corn dogs and deep-fried Oreos, Snickers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
In the end, how trans fats have gone from a household product to a dirty word is a story with a happy ending. If consumers vote with their dollars, food products can and will change. The downside to the story is the fact that trans fats even became an American food staple in the first place. Undoubtedly the list of food beasts will continue to have new additions, and the battle has just begun.
In any case, we salute trans fats (and those behind it) as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, dudes!!!
Sources:
Enig, Mary and Fallon, Sally. Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats. New York: Penguin Group, 2005.
Enig, Mary G. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol. Silver Spring: Bethesda Press, 2000.
Fallon, Sally and Enig. Mary G. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Winona Lake: New Trends Publishing, 1999.
The Weston A. Price Foundation <http://www.westonaprice.org/>.
Special thanks to Harvey & Marilyn Diamond for their Fit for Life and Fitonics for Life books, NewsTarget.com, Rense.com and the film Super Size Me for help on this article.
Some cool things to look at for more about SAD dangers:
Aspartame & Aspartame Poisoning Information: http://www.dorway.com/
The Atkins Diet: Atkins.com
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: BenJerry.com
Bragg Live Foods & Health Books: Bragg.com
Center for Science in the Public Interest: CSPINet.org
Dr. Whitaker: DrWhitaker.com
Fox BGH Suit: FoxBGHSuit.com
Trader Joe's: TraderJoes.com
The Zone Diet: ZoneDiet.com
Friday, December 14, 2007
Is SAD Bad For Your Health?
http://www.newstarget.com/022331.html
December 6 2007
Is The Standard American Diet (SAD) Bad For Your Health?
by S.A Ramratan
(NewsTarget) Extreme is a good way to describe the diet that most people in America subsist on. Many people wouldn’t look at the standard American diet, and call it extreme; many would just call it normal. But if you look at the diet close-up, we can see that it is pretty extreme, and certainly not healthy.
The Standard American Diet usually consists of a myriad of processed carbs (cereals, breads, pasta, cookies, cakes etc.), processed meat products, and a few fruits and veggies. What you eat is the foundation of your health – so what is in this diet?
This diet is high in many things, most of which your body doesn’t really need. It is full of hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, phytic acid, acrylamide, sodium nitrate, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lacking in basic essentials such as vitamins, minerals.
Hydrogenated oil causes a host of problems. It contributes to cancer, heart disease and obesity. A recent study showed that monkey fed these oils gained a significant amount of fat around the abdomen, even though they were not fed in such excess as to warrant fat gain. This is bad! Fat gain without consuming extra calories, and around the worst place on the body to gain it too, is one of the worst things for your health. We also know that trans fat boosts women’s infertility by 70%, if you consume it for 2% of your total calories. For someone on a 2000 calories a day diet, that is only about 4 grams of fat. And 4 grams of fat is not a lot! You could get that much in one donut, or a small serving of fries.
High fructose corn syrup raises blood sugar levels quickly. There are links to the consumption of high fructose corn syrup to type II diabetes and heart disease. It provides no nutritional value, and is the ubiquitous sweetener for foods that are known as “empty calories.”
Phytic acid has been proven to be an “anti-nutrient.” It is in all grains, nuts and seeds that have not been soaked and dried first. If you are eating boxes of food that are grain based, not only are you eating something that has no nutrition, you are also eating something that will readily take nutrients from you.
Acrylamide C3H5NO
If you eat anything with carbohydrates heated to a high temperature, you are eating acrylamide. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has stated that possible short-term effects of ingesting acrylamide are damage to the nervous system, weakness and incoordination in the legs. The possible long-term effects are damage to the nervous system, paralysis, and cancer. Acrylamide in fried or baked goods is produced by the reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars or reactive carbonyls. Browning during baking, frying or deep-frying or over-cooking of foods will produce acrylamides. Acrylamides can also be created during microwaving.
Sodium Nitrate NaNO2
Consumption of processed meats has been linked to cancer (colon, breast, prostate and pancreas). The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for sodium nitrate states that ingestion in the pure form could cause gastroenteritis and abdominal pains. Other symptoms may include dizziness, bloody diarrhea, convulsions, and collapse; and chronic exposure can cause methemoglobinemia. This happens in some individuals when bacteria in the stomach convert the nitrate to nitrite. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, irregular breathing, convulsions, coma, and death can occur should this conversion take place. If you truly don’t want to give up your bacon, salami or whatever there is a way to fight the harm that sodium nitrate can inflict on your body. You have to consume large doses of vitamins C and E before you eat something with sodium nitrate in it. These wonderful vitamins inhibit the conversion of sodium nitrate to the carcinogenic form, nitrosamines.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is in a class of chemicals known as excitotoxins. Excitotoxins, like MSG, introduced to the body in high doses have been shown in animal studies to cause damage to areas of the brain unprotected by the blood-brain barrier. A variety of chronic diseases can arise out of this neurotoxicity. In other animal research, MSG has been shown to indirectly cause obesity. According to laboratory studies, the chemical does this by downregulating hypothalamic appetite suppression which increases the amount of food animals consume. This is another universal ingredient and can be found under names such as hydrolyzed yeast, torula yeast and autolyzed yeast.
Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet is full of packaged foods. Most packaged foods have virtually no nutritional value! They are pretty packages housing calories. If this is all you eat, then you are on the fast track to being overfed, and under nourished. I know that we are told that we should be eating lots of grain products. Eat up. But a diet recommendation like that is ignoring the true science out there telling us that insulin spikes, phytic acid, acrylamide and the negative immune system responses we get from eating cooked food doesn’t mean a thing. We don’t fully understand what happens in the body with all these extras - the synergistic effects are simply not known. Eating a diet rich in refined carbohydrates and processed meat products is a sure fire way to walk the path of disease.
There are real health advocates that teach the right way to eat. Avoiding all those unwanted extras most people get by eating the Standard American Diet takes a little drive but it is worth it. Reduce or eliminate refined carbs and go for whole, sprouted grains instead; and use them sparingly. Or replace those carbohydrates with amaranth, buckwheat, millet or quinoa. Chose raw fats - found in extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil or the fats found in raw avocados. The food you eat should be colourful and vibrant! Most people do not get the recommended number of fruits and vegetables in their diet; don’t be one of those people. Recent studies show that if we eat broccoli and tomatoes together, the health benefits are amplified. You get more results eating these foods together than if you ate them in isolation – so go for a lot of colour on your plate. For a detailed look at what it truly takes to make a healthy diet check out Mike Adams' Honest food guide. Leave “SAD” behind, and build a foundation of health and happiness!
About the author
Sarah is a Chemical and Materials Engineer by education. Through years of focused self-study, she has come to see the benefit of whole food nutrition and allowing the body to heal itself. A Field Center Certified Facilitator, Sarah is passionate about being helpful to others, in any venue, in their quest for a better life.
http://www.serenesynergy.com/
December 6 2007
Is The Standard American Diet (SAD) Bad For Your Health?
by S.A Ramratan
(NewsTarget) Extreme is a good way to describe the diet that most people in America subsist on. Many people wouldn’t look at the standard American diet, and call it extreme; many would just call it normal. But if you look at the diet close-up, we can see that it is pretty extreme, and certainly not healthy.
The Standard American Diet usually consists of a myriad of processed carbs (cereals, breads, pasta, cookies, cakes etc.), processed meat products, and a few fruits and veggies. What you eat is the foundation of your health – so what is in this diet?
This diet is high in many things, most of which your body doesn’t really need. It is full of hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, phytic acid, acrylamide, sodium nitrate, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lacking in basic essentials such as vitamins, minerals.
Hydrogenated oil causes a host of problems. It contributes to cancer, heart disease and obesity. A recent study showed that monkey fed these oils gained a significant amount of fat around the abdomen, even though they were not fed in such excess as to warrant fat gain. This is bad! Fat gain without consuming extra calories, and around the worst place on the body to gain it too, is one of the worst things for your health. We also know that trans fat boosts women’s infertility by 70%, if you consume it for 2% of your total calories. For someone on a 2000 calories a day diet, that is only about 4 grams of fat. And 4 grams of fat is not a lot! You could get that much in one donut, or a small serving of fries.
High fructose corn syrup raises blood sugar levels quickly. There are links to the consumption of high fructose corn syrup to type II diabetes and heart disease. It provides no nutritional value, and is the ubiquitous sweetener for foods that are known as “empty calories.”
Phytic acid has been proven to be an “anti-nutrient.” It is in all grains, nuts and seeds that have not been soaked and dried first. If you are eating boxes of food that are grain based, not only are you eating something that has no nutrition, you are also eating something that will readily take nutrients from you.
Acrylamide C3H5NO
If you eat anything with carbohydrates heated to a high temperature, you are eating acrylamide. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has stated that possible short-term effects of ingesting acrylamide are damage to the nervous system, weakness and incoordination in the legs. The possible long-term effects are damage to the nervous system, paralysis, and cancer. Acrylamide in fried or baked goods is produced by the reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars or reactive carbonyls. Browning during baking, frying or deep-frying or over-cooking of foods will produce acrylamides. Acrylamides can also be created during microwaving.
Sodium Nitrate NaNO2
Consumption of processed meats has been linked to cancer (colon, breast, prostate and pancreas). The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for sodium nitrate states that ingestion in the pure form could cause gastroenteritis and abdominal pains. Other symptoms may include dizziness, bloody diarrhea, convulsions, and collapse; and chronic exposure can cause methemoglobinemia. This happens in some individuals when bacteria in the stomach convert the nitrate to nitrite. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, irregular breathing, convulsions, coma, and death can occur should this conversion take place. If you truly don’t want to give up your bacon, salami or whatever there is a way to fight the harm that sodium nitrate can inflict on your body. You have to consume large doses of vitamins C and E before you eat something with sodium nitrate in it. These wonderful vitamins inhibit the conversion of sodium nitrate to the carcinogenic form, nitrosamines.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is in a class of chemicals known as excitotoxins. Excitotoxins, like MSG, introduced to the body in high doses have been shown in animal studies to cause damage to areas of the brain unprotected by the blood-brain barrier. A variety of chronic diseases can arise out of this neurotoxicity. In other animal research, MSG has been shown to indirectly cause obesity. According to laboratory studies, the chemical does this by downregulating hypothalamic appetite suppression which increases the amount of food animals consume. This is another universal ingredient and can be found under names such as hydrolyzed yeast, torula yeast and autolyzed yeast.
Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet is full of packaged foods. Most packaged foods have virtually no nutritional value! They are pretty packages housing calories. If this is all you eat, then you are on the fast track to being overfed, and under nourished. I know that we are told that we should be eating lots of grain products. Eat up. But a diet recommendation like that is ignoring the true science out there telling us that insulin spikes, phytic acid, acrylamide and the negative immune system responses we get from eating cooked food doesn’t mean a thing. We don’t fully understand what happens in the body with all these extras - the synergistic effects are simply not known. Eating a diet rich in refined carbohydrates and processed meat products is a sure fire way to walk the path of disease.
There are real health advocates that teach the right way to eat. Avoiding all those unwanted extras most people get by eating the Standard American Diet takes a little drive but it is worth it. Reduce or eliminate refined carbs and go for whole, sprouted grains instead; and use them sparingly. Or replace those carbohydrates with amaranth, buckwheat, millet or quinoa. Chose raw fats - found in extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil or the fats found in raw avocados. The food you eat should be colourful and vibrant! Most people do not get the recommended number of fruits and vegetables in their diet; don’t be one of those people. Recent studies show that if we eat broccoli and tomatoes together, the health benefits are amplified. You get more results eating these foods together than if you ate them in isolation – so go for a lot of colour on your plate. For a detailed look at what it truly takes to make a healthy diet check out Mike Adams' Honest food guide. Leave “SAD” behind, and build a foundation of health and happiness!
About the author
Sarah is a Chemical and Materials Engineer by education. Through years of focused self-study, she has come to see the benefit of whole food nutrition and allowing the body to heal itself. A Field Center Certified Facilitator, Sarah is passionate about being helpful to others, in any venue, in their quest for a better life.
http://www.serenesynergy.com/
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Surprise Ingredients In Fast Food
http://www.newstarget.com/022194.html
November 3 2007
Surprise Ingredients In Fast Food
by John Andrews
(NewsTarget) The movie Supersize Me has probably had more of an effect than the producers anticipated. Since then, in the fast food industry, there has been a market trend promoting menu items that appear to be healthy. But most of these menu items have ingredients that health conscious consumers would prefer to avoid.
Most health conscious consumers consider healthy foods to be things like raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, and clean meats like wild Alaskan salmon, or free-range chicken or turkey.
Some ingredients that health conscious consumers consider unacceptable are MSG (or free glutamate, or free glutamic acid, including anything hydrolyzed or autolyzed), trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils [3]), artificial colors, artificial flavors, and most preservatives.
Many so-called healthy fast food menu items, upon closer inspection, do not live up to the health hype. Most of the meat from any of the major chains has anything but a simple ingredients list. They add emulsifiers, preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, trans fats, and hidden ingredients under generic labels such as spices, or natural and artificial flavors.
Some of these food additives are not foods at all, but are chemicals that are generally recognized as safe. Most of these additives cannot be found at your local grocery store, probably because they aren’t food. But some can be found at your local hardware store, though in inedible products like low tox antifreeze, silicone caulk, soap, sunscreen, and play sand.
The ingredient information in this article came straight from the various fast food restaurants’ web sites.
McDonald’s
The egg’s reputation is recovering, but scrambled eggs as a part of McDonald’s breakfast include much more than egg. Their pasteurized whole eggs have sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, and monosodium phosphate (all added to preserve color), and nisin, a preservative. To top it off, the eggs are prepared with liquid margarine: liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils (trans fats), salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil (trans fat), soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, and beta carotene (color). Though not all bad, these added chemicals may be the reason why homemade scrambled eggs taste so much better than McDonald’s.
For coffee drinkers, it would seem fairly safe to just grab a quick cup of coffee at McDonald's on the way to work. But many health conscious people would object to it also including this list of ingredients: sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, and carrageenan. Do health nuts still drink coffee?
Salads can usually be counted on to be a “what you see is what you get” item. But McDonald’s adds some interesting ingredients. The salads with grilled chicken also have liquid margarine.
Several salads have either cilantro lime glaze, or orange glaze added. Along with many of McDonald’s sauces, both the cilantro lime glaze and the orange glaze contain propylene glycol alginate. While propylene glycol is considered "GRAS" for human consumption, it is not legal for use in cat food because the safety hasn't been proven yet [10]. Propylene glycol is also used "As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles" [10].
The chili lime tortilla strips that are included in the southwest salads have several ingredients used to hide MSG. They also contain two ingredients that advertise the presence of MSG: disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.
The chicken has sodium phosphates (of an unspecified variety). It could be trisodium phosphate (a cleanser), monosodium phosphate (a laxative), or disodium hydrogen phosphate [11]. Why would McDonald’s add sodium phosphates (a foaming agent), and dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent in their crispy chicken breast fillets? It isn’t dishwasher detergent.
Burger King
It’s interesting to note that the BK Veggie Burger has six ingredients commonly used to hide free glutamate (MSG): calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed corn, yeast extract, soy protein isolate, spices, and natural flavors. At the end of the ingredients list, it states This is NOT a vegan product. The patty is cooked in the microwave. Was that a warning statement?
Burger King has three salads to choose from. The TENDERCRISP Garden Salad, the TENDERGRILL Garden Salad, and the Side Garden Salad.
A salad may be a little boring without a dressing like Ken’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing which includes titanium dioxide (an artificial color, or sunscreen, depending on use), preservatives, and the ingredient seemingly mandatory in all ranch dressings: monosodium glutamate.
Once again, as is typical with the fast food industry, they took a simple thing like chicken, and added a long list of ingredients.
TENDERGRILL® CHICKEN BREAST FILET
Chicken Breast with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Spices, Natural Flavors, Onion Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Fat, Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Garlic, and Artificial Flavors.), Modified Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Salt, Sodium Phosphates. Glazed with: Water, Seasoning [Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Methylcellulose, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Partially Hydrogenated Sunflower Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Fructose, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Modified Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavors, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Chicken Fat, Carmel Color, Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil), Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Turmeric, Smoke Flavor, Annatto Extract, and Artificial Flavors], Soybean Oil. [12]
Taco Bell
Taco Bell’s website didn’t have much emphasis on health. Under the nutrition guide, at the bottom was a link to Keep it Balanced, a token nod to health. It had no serious information on how to really eat healthy. They recommend foods like pizza and tacos (no surprise) because they may include ingredients from several food groups at once. Including several food groups does not necessarily mean it’s a healthy food.
The seasoned beef, carne asada steak, spicy shredded chicken, and even the rice all include autolyzed yeast extract (hidden MSG). Disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are flavor enhancers used in synergy with MSG [7,8]. Therefore, menu items with disodium inosinate and/or disodium guanylate also contain MSG. This includes the avocado ranch dressing, southwest chicken, citrus salsa, creamy jalapeno sauce, creamy lime sauce, lime seasoned red strips, pepper jack sauce, and seasoned rice.
According to Wikipedia, dimethylpolysiloxane is optically clear, and is generally considered to be inert, non-toxic, and non-flammable. It is used in silicone caulk, adhesives, and as an anti-foaming agent [6]. Appetizingly enough, it’s also included in Taco Bell’s rice.
Wendy’s
At Wendy’s, there are several tempting salads. The mandarin chicken salad seems healthy at first glance. It has diced chicken, mandarin oranges, almonds, crispy noodles, your choice of dressings, and five different varieties of lettuce. Then reality takes a bite when you check the ingredients list. The almonds are roasted and salted. The crispy noodles are not whole grain. The mandarin orange segments are not freshly peeled oranges; most likely canned. The diced chicken has added autolyzed yeast extract (MSG), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium phosphates (soap?), salt, more salt, sugar, modified cornstarch (sic)[1], and the universal umbrella ingredient list: spices, natural flavors, and artificial flavors.
In the ingredients lists for the salad dressings, one surprise was titanium dioxide in the Low Fat Honey Mustard Dressing and the Reduced Fat Creamy Ranch Dressing. It’s a very versatile chemical. It can be used to manufacture paint, sunscreen, semiconductors, and food coloring [2].
Wendy’s Southwest Taco Salad is a salad with Wendy’s chili. Once again, the chili has hidden MSG: autolyzed yeast extract, spices, artificial flavors, natural flavorings, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate (MSG give-aways). It’s puzzling to try to understand why their chili would need to include an anti-caking agent such as silicon dioxide (also known as sand, or glass powder).
See if you can spot the sunscreen, MSG, and soap in this Wendy’s ingredient:
Seasoned Tortilla Strips
Whole Corn, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean or sunflower oil), Salt, Buttermilk Solids, Spices, Tomato, Sweet Cream, Dextrose, Onion, Sugar, Cheddar Cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Nonfat Dry Milk, Garlic, Torula Yeast, Citric Acid, Autolyzed Yeast, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Artificial Colors (including extractives of paprika, turmeric and annatto, titanium dioxide, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), Disodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Soy Lecithin. CONTAINS: MILK.
Apparently, taste really is all that matters at Wendy’s.
Subway
If a sandwich is advertised as healthy, one would expect that the bread would be whole grain. Not so with Subway’s wheat bread. While it does have some whole wheat flour, it’s the third ingredient, listed just before high fructose corn syrup [4]. None of Subway’s breads are whole grain. Ammonium sulfate (a fertilizer) is also added. Unfinished sandwiches may be composted. The bread also contains azodicarbonamide. From Wikipedia,
Use of azodicarbonamide as a food additive is banned in Australia. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive has identified azodicarbonamide as a respiratory sensitiser (a possible cause of asthma) and determined that products should be labeled with May cause sensitisation by inhalation [5].
Most of the meats at Subway contain MSG and/or sodium nitrite.
KFC
The chicken, the gravy, and even the rice all have monosodium glutamate added. Not surprisingly, the chicken in the salads also has MSG. For a healthy menu item, the House Side Salad without dressing has nothing more than iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes.
KFC claims 0g trans fat per serving for all their fried chicken. But The Extra Crispy Chicken, Colonel’s Crispy Strips, HBBQ Wings, Boneless HBBQ Wings, Fiery Buffalo Wings, and more have partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed in the ingredients. So if the trans fat content is below 0.5g per serving, they can round down to zero and claim zero grams per serving.
In Closing
The salad a la carte may be the only healthy thing to eat at a fast food place. The side salads offered at the fast food places are hardly a meal, and hardly what one would consider a real salad.
Regarding MSG, it is helpful to remember this statement from Wikipedia when reading food labels.
Under current FDA regulations, when MSG is added to a food, it must be identified as monosodium glutamate in the label's ingredient list. If however MSG is part of a spice mix that is purchased by another company, the manufacturer does not have to list the ingredients of that spice mix and may use the words flavorings or spices. Even food that uses the no msg label may therefore have MSG that is added from a spice mix from another company under current FDA regulations.[9]
As with most meat products in fast food restaurants, consider any meat, including on salads, to include MSG, chemical preservatives, and trans fats. Even seemingly simple items like rice can have ingredients like anti-foaming agents.
References
[1] http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fats
[4] http://subway.com/subwayroot/MenuNutrition/Nutrition/frmUSIngredients.aspx
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylpolysiloxane
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_inosinate
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_guanylate
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_phosphates
[12] http://www.bk.com/#menu=3,-1,-1
About the author
John Andrews is an electrical engineer currently living in Utah. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2001 at the University of Utah. John has adopted a whole foods lifestyle rich in raw fruits and vegetables. This lifestyle change has produced a noticeable improvement in physical health, appearance, and mental clarity. He savors knowledge and is eager to teach others how to be healthy.
November 3 2007
Surprise Ingredients In Fast Food
by John Andrews
(NewsTarget) The movie Supersize Me has probably had more of an effect than the producers anticipated. Since then, in the fast food industry, there has been a market trend promoting menu items that appear to be healthy. But most of these menu items have ingredients that health conscious consumers would prefer to avoid.
Most health conscious consumers consider healthy foods to be things like raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, and clean meats like wild Alaskan salmon, or free-range chicken or turkey.
Some ingredients that health conscious consumers consider unacceptable are MSG (or free glutamate, or free glutamic acid, including anything hydrolyzed or autolyzed), trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils [3]), artificial colors, artificial flavors, and most preservatives.
Many so-called healthy fast food menu items, upon closer inspection, do not live up to the health hype. Most of the meat from any of the major chains has anything but a simple ingredients list. They add emulsifiers, preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, trans fats, and hidden ingredients under generic labels such as spices, or natural and artificial flavors.
Some of these food additives are not foods at all, but are chemicals that are generally recognized as safe. Most of these additives cannot be found at your local grocery store, probably because they aren’t food. But some can be found at your local hardware store, though in inedible products like low tox antifreeze, silicone caulk, soap, sunscreen, and play sand.
The ingredient information in this article came straight from the various fast food restaurants’ web sites.
McDonald’s
The egg’s reputation is recovering, but scrambled eggs as a part of McDonald’s breakfast include much more than egg. Their pasteurized whole eggs have sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, and monosodium phosphate (all added to preserve color), and nisin, a preservative. To top it off, the eggs are prepared with liquid margarine: liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils (trans fats), salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil (trans fat), soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, and beta carotene (color). Though not all bad, these added chemicals may be the reason why homemade scrambled eggs taste so much better than McDonald’s.
For coffee drinkers, it would seem fairly safe to just grab a quick cup of coffee at McDonald's on the way to work. But many health conscious people would object to it also including this list of ingredients: sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, and carrageenan. Do health nuts still drink coffee?
Salads can usually be counted on to be a “what you see is what you get” item. But McDonald’s adds some interesting ingredients. The salads with grilled chicken also have liquid margarine.
Several salads have either cilantro lime glaze, or orange glaze added. Along with many of McDonald’s sauces, both the cilantro lime glaze and the orange glaze contain propylene glycol alginate. While propylene glycol is considered "GRAS" for human consumption, it is not legal for use in cat food because the safety hasn't been proven yet [10]. Propylene glycol is also used "As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles" [10].
The chili lime tortilla strips that are included in the southwest salads have several ingredients used to hide MSG. They also contain two ingredients that advertise the presence of MSG: disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.
The chicken has sodium phosphates (of an unspecified variety). It could be trisodium phosphate (a cleanser), monosodium phosphate (a laxative), or disodium hydrogen phosphate [11]. Why would McDonald’s add sodium phosphates (a foaming agent), and dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent in their crispy chicken breast fillets? It isn’t dishwasher detergent.
Burger King
It’s interesting to note that the BK Veggie Burger has six ingredients commonly used to hide free glutamate (MSG): calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed corn, yeast extract, soy protein isolate, spices, and natural flavors. At the end of the ingredients list, it states This is NOT a vegan product. The patty is cooked in the microwave. Was that a warning statement?
Burger King has three salads to choose from. The TENDERCRISP Garden Salad, the TENDERGRILL Garden Salad, and the Side Garden Salad.
A salad may be a little boring without a dressing like Ken’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing which includes titanium dioxide (an artificial color, or sunscreen, depending on use), preservatives, and the ingredient seemingly mandatory in all ranch dressings: monosodium glutamate.
Once again, as is typical with the fast food industry, they took a simple thing like chicken, and added a long list of ingredients.
TENDERGRILL® CHICKEN BREAST FILET
Chicken Breast with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Spices, Natural Flavors, Onion Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Fat, Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Garlic, and Artificial Flavors.), Modified Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Salt, Sodium Phosphates. Glazed with: Water, Seasoning [Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Methylcellulose, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Partially Hydrogenated Sunflower Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Fructose, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Modified Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavors, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Chicken Fat, Carmel Color, Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil), Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Turmeric, Smoke Flavor, Annatto Extract, and Artificial Flavors], Soybean Oil. [12]
Taco Bell
Taco Bell’s website didn’t have much emphasis on health. Under the nutrition guide, at the bottom was a link to Keep it Balanced, a token nod to health. It had no serious information on how to really eat healthy. They recommend foods like pizza and tacos (no surprise) because they may include ingredients from several food groups at once. Including several food groups does not necessarily mean it’s a healthy food.
The seasoned beef, carne asada steak, spicy shredded chicken, and even the rice all include autolyzed yeast extract (hidden MSG). Disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are flavor enhancers used in synergy with MSG [7,8]. Therefore, menu items with disodium inosinate and/or disodium guanylate also contain MSG. This includes the avocado ranch dressing, southwest chicken, citrus salsa, creamy jalapeno sauce, creamy lime sauce, lime seasoned red strips, pepper jack sauce, and seasoned rice.
According to Wikipedia, dimethylpolysiloxane is optically clear, and is generally considered to be inert, non-toxic, and non-flammable. It is used in silicone caulk, adhesives, and as an anti-foaming agent [6]. Appetizingly enough, it’s also included in Taco Bell’s rice.
Wendy’s
At Wendy’s, there are several tempting salads. The mandarin chicken salad seems healthy at first glance. It has diced chicken, mandarin oranges, almonds, crispy noodles, your choice of dressings, and five different varieties of lettuce. Then reality takes a bite when you check the ingredients list. The almonds are roasted and salted. The crispy noodles are not whole grain. The mandarin orange segments are not freshly peeled oranges; most likely canned. The diced chicken has added autolyzed yeast extract (MSG), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium phosphates (soap?), salt, more salt, sugar, modified cornstarch (sic)[1], and the universal umbrella ingredient list: spices, natural flavors, and artificial flavors.
In the ingredients lists for the salad dressings, one surprise was titanium dioxide in the Low Fat Honey Mustard Dressing and the Reduced Fat Creamy Ranch Dressing. It’s a very versatile chemical. It can be used to manufacture paint, sunscreen, semiconductors, and food coloring [2].
Wendy’s Southwest Taco Salad is a salad with Wendy’s chili. Once again, the chili has hidden MSG: autolyzed yeast extract, spices, artificial flavors, natural flavorings, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate (MSG give-aways). It’s puzzling to try to understand why their chili would need to include an anti-caking agent such as silicon dioxide (also known as sand, or glass powder).
See if you can spot the sunscreen, MSG, and soap in this Wendy’s ingredient:
Seasoned Tortilla Strips
Whole Corn, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean or sunflower oil), Salt, Buttermilk Solids, Spices, Tomato, Sweet Cream, Dextrose, Onion, Sugar, Cheddar Cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Nonfat Dry Milk, Garlic, Torula Yeast, Citric Acid, Autolyzed Yeast, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Artificial Colors (including extractives of paprika, turmeric and annatto, titanium dioxide, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), Disodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Soy Lecithin. CONTAINS: MILK.
Apparently, taste really is all that matters at Wendy’s.
Subway
If a sandwich is advertised as healthy, one would expect that the bread would be whole grain. Not so with Subway’s wheat bread. While it does have some whole wheat flour, it’s the third ingredient, listed just before high fructose corn syrup [4]. None of Subway’s breads are whole grain. Ammonium sulfate (a fertilizer) is also added. Unfinished sandwiches may be composted. The bread also contains azodicarbonamide. From Wikipedia,
Use of azodicarbonamide as a food additive is banned in Australia. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive has identified azodicarbonamide as a respiratory sensitiser (a possible cause of asthma) and determined that products should be labeled with May cause sensitisation by inhalation [5].
Most of the meats at Subway contain MSG and/or sodium nitrite.
KFC
The chicken, the gravy, and even the rice all have monosodium glutamate added. Not surprisingly, the chicken in the salads also has MSG. For a healthy menu item, the House Side Salad without dressing has nothing more than iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes.
KFC claims 0g trans fat per serving for all their fried chicken. But The Extra Crispy Chicken, Colonel’s Crispy Strips, HBBQ Wings, Boneless HBBQ Wings, Fiery Buffalo Wings, and more have partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed in the ingredients. So if the trans fat content is below 0.5g per serving, they can round down to zero and claim zero grams per serving.
In Closing
The salad a la carte may be the only healthy thing to eat at a fast food place. The side salads offered at the fast food places are hardly a meal, and hardly what one would consider a real salad.
Regarding MSG, it is helpful to remember this statement from Wikipedia when reading food labels.
Under current FDA regulations, when MSG is added to a food, it must be identified as monosodium glutamate in the label's ingredient list. If however MSG is part of a spice mix that is purchased by another company, the manufacturer does not have to list the ingredients of that spice mix and may use the words flavorings or spices. Even food that uses the no msg label may therefore have MSG that is added from a spice mix from another company under current FDA regulations.[9]
As with most meat products in fast food restaurants, consider any meat, including on salads, to include MSG, chemical preservatives, and trans fats. Even seemingly simple items like rice can have ingredients like anti-foaming agents.
References
[1] http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fats
[4] http://subway.com/subwayroot/MenuNutrition/Nutrition/frmUSIngredients.aspx
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylpolysiloxane
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_inosinate
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_guanylate
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_phosphates
[12] http://www.bk.com/#menu=3,-1,-1
About the author
John Andrews is an electrical engineer currently living in Utah. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2001 at the University of Utah. John has adopted a whole foods lifestyle rich in raw fruits and vegetables. This lifestyle change has produced a noticeable improvement in physical health, appearance, and mental clarity. He savors knowledge and is eager to teach others how to be healthy.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Dunkin' Donuts going free of trans fat
http://www.ocregister.com/news/dunkin-trans-fat-1822528-doughnut-chain
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Dunkin' Donuts going free of trans fat
The change is to take place at 5,400 U.S. restaurants by Oct. 15.
By MARK JEWELL
The Associated Press
BOSTON Dunkin' Donuts, the food-on-the-go chain whose name celebrates a treat that's symbolic of unhealthy eating, is trying to refresh its image by largely eliminating trans fat across its menu, Homer Simpson be damned.
Dunkin' planned to announce Monday that it has developed an alternative cooking oil and reformulated more than 50 menu items – doughnuts included. The Canton, Mass.-based chain says its menu will be "zero grams trans fat" by Oct. 15 across its 5,400 U.S. restaurants in 34 states.
About 400 locations nationwide that took part in a four-month test already have made the switch to a new blend of palm, soybean and cottonseed oils. That includes all restaurants in New York City and Philadelphia, which are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of artery-clogging trans fat.
The ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins, another unit of Dunkin' Brands Inc., plans to be zero grams trans fat by Jan. 1.
Dunkin' isn't claiming it will become "trans fat free," but does say any trans fat in foods including doughnuts, croissants, muffins and cookies will fall below half a gram per serving. Federal regulations allow food labels to say they've got zero grams of trans fat, provided levels fall below the half-gram threshold.
A nutrition advocacy group welcomed Dunkin's addition to the list of restaurant chains that have recently shifted away from trans fat.
"It's good news that they're dropping most, if not quite all, trans fat," said Jeff Cronin, spokesman for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based nonprofit. "If Dunkin' Donuts can do that, anyone can."
But Cronin cautioned that when it comes to Dunkin's doughnuts, "we're still talking about a food that's mostly white flour, sugar, and fat."
Dunkin' isn't positioning its namesake product as health food – a shift that would involve more disbelief suspension than might be possible for a treat synonymous with portly, doughnut-gobbling Homer from television's "The Simpsons."
"The goal was not to make a healthy doughnut, it was really to create a doughnut that was better," said Joe Scafido, Dunkin's chief creative and innovation officer. "Certainly, we did not create a healthy doughnut."
Although its coffees are by far a bigger seller, the New England-bred, 57-year-old chain was founded on the reputation of its doughnuts. Now, Dunkin' claims to be the first major chain to introduce a zero grams trans fat doughnut, although smaller doughnut makers have already done so. Mainstream doughnut makers' products can have around 5 grams of trans fat apiece.
The main source of trans fats is partially hydrogenated oils, formed when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to harden them. Evidence suggests that artificial trans fats boost "bad" cholesterol and lower "good" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Dunkin' is ahead of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., which has yet to roll out a zero gram trans fat doughnut but hopes to do so. Brian Little, a spokesman for the North Carolina-based chain, said, "We continue to work aggressively with outside supply partners, and our goal is to get to zero trans fatty acids while maintaining great Krispy Kreme taste."
A call seeking comment from another chain, California-based Winchell's Donut House, wasn't immediately returned.
Starbucks Corp., Dunkin's Seattle-based rival in the coffee shop niche, said in May that it would cut artificial trans fats out of its food and drink by year's end in stores in the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada.
Dunkin's announcement follows about four years of research of more than 28 alternative cooking oils and proprietary blends.
This past spring, hundreds of restaurants began taking part in a test to gauge customer reaction to the blend that Dunkin' ultimately selected. Managers at participating stores were split into two groups, with one receiving conventional cooking oil, the other receiving the experimental oil, and neither group knowing which type they received. Dunkin' closely watched sales and customer response at restaurants with the experimental oil.
"We got no negative consumer feedback, and we sold 50 million doughnuts in that time," Scafido said.
Dunkin's 1,900 locations outside the U.S. are expected to begin using the new oil over the next couple years, he said.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Dunkin' Donuts going free of trans fat
The change is to take place at 5,400 U.S. restaurants by Oct. 15.
By MARK JEWELL
The Associated Press
BOSTON Dunkin' Donuts, the food-on-the-go chain whose name celebrates a treat that's symbolic of unhealthy eating, is trying to refresh its image by largely eliminating trans fat across its menu, Homer Simpson be damned.
Dunkin' planned to announce Monday that it has developed an alternative cooking oil and reformulated more than 50 menu items – doughnuts included. The Canton, Mass.-based chain says its menu will be "zero grams trans fat" by Oct. 15 across its 5,400 U.S. restaurants in 34 states.
About 400 locations nationwide that took part in a four-month test already have made the switch to a new blend of palm, soybean and cottonseed oils. That includes all restaurants in New York City and Philadelphia, which are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of artery-clogging trans fat.
The ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins, another unit of Dunkin' Brands Inc., plans to be zero grams trans fat by Jan. 1.
Dunkin' isn't claiming it will become "trans fat free," but does say any trans fat in foods including doughnuts, croissants, muffins and cookies will fall below half a gram per serving. Federal regulations allow food labels to say they've got zero grams of trans fat, provided levels fall below the half-gram threshold.
A nutrition advocacy group welcomed Dunkin's addition to the list of restaurant chains that have recently shifted away from trans fat.
"It's good news that they're dropping most, if not quite all, trans fat," said Jeff Cronin, spokesman for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based nonprofit. "If Dunkin' Donuts can do that, anyone can."
But Cronin cautioned that when it comes to Dunkin's doughnuts, "we're still talking about a food that's mostly white flour, sugar, and fat."
Dunkin' isn't positioning its namesake product as health food – a shift that would involve more disbelief suspension than might be possible for a treat synonymous with portly, doughnut-gobbling Homer from television's "The Simpsons."
"The goal was not to make a healthy doughnut, it was really to create a doughnut that was better," said Joe Scafido, Dunkin's chief creative and innovation officer. "Certainly, we did not create a healthy doughnut."
Although its coffees are by far a bigger seller, the New England-bred, 57-year-old chain was founded on the reputation of its doughnuts. Now, Dunkin' claims to be the first major chain to introduce a zero grams trans fat doughnut, although smaller doughnut makers have already done so. Mainstream doughnut makers' products can have around 5 grams of trans fat apiece.
The main source of trans fats is partially hydrogenated oils, formed when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to harden them. Evidence suggests that artificial trans fats boost "bad" cholesterol and lower "good" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Dunkin' is ahead of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., which has yet to roll out a zero gram trans fat doughnut but hopes to do so. Brian Little, a spokesman for the North Carolina-based chain, said, "We continue to work aggressively with outside supply partners, and our goal is to get to zero trans fatty acids while maintaining great Krispy Kreme taste."
A call seeking comment from another chain, California-based Winchell's Donut House, wasn't immediately returned.
Starbucks Corp., Dunkin's Seattle-based rival in the coffee shop niche, said in May that it would cut artificial trans fats out of its food and drink by year's end in stores in the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada.
Dunkin's announcement follows about four years of research of more than 28 alternative cooking oils and proprietary blends.
This past spring, hundreds of restaurants began taking part in a test to gauge customer reaction to the blend that Dunkin' ultimately selected. Managers at participating stores were split into two groups, with one receiving conventional cooking oil, the other receiving the experimental oil, and neither group knowing which type they received. Dunkin' closely watched sales and customer response at restaurants with the experimental oil.
"We got no negative consumer feedback, and we sold 50 million doughnuts in that time," Scafido said.
Dunkin's 1,900 locations outside the U.S. are expected to begin using the new oil over the next couple years, he said.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Burger King to use trans-fat-free oil
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070706/ap_on_he_me/burger_king_trans_fats
Burger King to use trans-fat-free oil
By ADRIAN SAINZ, AP Business Writer
7-6-7
Burger King said Friday it will use trans-fat-free cooking oil at all its U.S. restaurants by the end of next year, following in the footsteps of other leading fast-food restaurants.
The world's second largest hamburger chain said it was already using zero trans-fat oil in hundreds of its more than 7,100 U.S. restaurants nationwide.
Burger King is known for its flame-broiled burgers, but uses cooking oil for its french fries and most of its chicken products.
In tests, consumers determined that more than a dozen items cooked in the new oil, such as french fries and hash browns, tasted the same or better than products cooked in the trans-fat oil, the company said.
Miami-based Burger King Corp. said two trans-fat-free oil blends passed tests. If adequate supply becomes available, the U.S. rollout of the oils could be completed sooner than 2008, the company said.
Trans fats are listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. They can raise bad cholesterol and lower healthy cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, doctors say.
Critics have said Burger King was taking too long to move toward the healthier oils. The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Burger King in May, saying the company was moving too slowly and had failed to set a definite timetable for removal of trans fats.
In response to the lawsuit, Burger King said in May it expected to begin the national rollout its new zero trans-fat oil by the end of this year.
Among Burger King's main competitors, McDonald's Corp. said earlier this year it had selected a new trans-fat-free oil. Wendy's International Inc. started using cooking oil with zero grams of trans fat in August 2006.
Starbucks Corp. announced in May that it will cut artificial trans fats out of food and drinks in its stores in the continental United States, Alaska and Canada by the end of the year.
Yum Brands Inc. said in April that all of its KFC restaurants are now serving fried chicken with zero grams of trans fats. Yum Brands also said its Taco Bell restaurants switched to a trans fat-free frying oil.
Burger King is owned by Burger King Holdings Inc. and operates more than 11,200 restaurants worldwide. About 90 percent its restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees.
Burger King to use trans-fat-free oil
By ADRIAN SAINZ, AP Business Writer
7-6-7
Burger King said Friday it will use trans-fat-free cooking oil at all its U.S. restaurants by the end of next year, following in the footsteps of other leading fast-food restaurants.
The world's second largest hamburger chain said it was already using zero trans-fat oil in hundreds of its more than 7,100 U.S. restaurants nationwide.
Burger King is known for its flame-broiled burgers, but uses cooking oil for its french fries and most of its chicken products.
In tests, consumers determined that more than a dozen items cooked in the new oil, such as french fries and hash browns, tasted the same or better than products cooked in the trans-fat oil, the company said.
Miami-based Burger King Corp. said two trans-fat-free oil blends passed tests. If adequate supply becomes available, the U.S. rollout of the oils could be completed sooner than 2008, the company said.
Trans fats are listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. They can raise bad cholesterol and lower healthy cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, doctors say.
Critics have said Burger King was taking too long to move toward the healthier oils. The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Burger King in May, saying the company was moving too slowly and had failed to set a definite timetable for removal of trans fats.
In response to the lawsuit, Burger King said in May it expected to begin the national rollout its new zero trans-fat oil by the end of this year.
Among Burger King's main competitors, McDonald's Corp. said earlier this year it had selected a new trans-fat-free oil. Wendy's International Inc. started using cooking oil with zero grams of trans fat in August 2006.
Starbucks Corp. announced in May that it will cut artificial trans fats out of food and drinks in its stores in the continental United States, Alaska and Canada by the end of the year.
Yum Brands Inc. said in April that all of its KFC restaurants are now serving fried chicken with zero grams of trans fats. Yum Brands also said its Taco Bell restaurants switched to a trans fat-free frying oil.
Burger King is owned by Burger King Holdings Inc. and operates more than 11,200 restaurants worldwide. About 90 percent its restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees.
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