[acb-diabetics] interesting article

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

> Food manufacturers think you're stupid. In fact, they're banking on it. 

> Why else would Hershey's put a ribbon on the Good & Plenty box that 

> says "A fat-free candy." Sure, it's true-no fat in the box-but it's 

> also very misleading. The candy is essentially 100 percent sugar and 

> processed carbs. And Hershey knows the average American equates 

> fat-free with being good for you.

> 

> Another example: Between 2005 and 2008, as the organic movement 

> gathered steam, the prevalence of "simple" or "simply" on food labels 

> increased by

> 65 percent. Food marketers pinpointed how our expectations were 

> changing, and began using that knowledge to keep us buying unhealthy 

> processed foods.

> 

> While researching our latest book, Eat This, Not That! 2011, we 

> spotted more minefields than ever-in restaurants, at supermarkets, in 

> your own pantry. That's why we cornered food-industry insiders and 

> asked them to come clean. What they told us may shock you. Go ahead, dig
in.

> 

> 1. The average American has easy access to 2,700 calories each day, 

> according to the USDA, versus just 2,200 in 1970. That food is on 

> their plates and in their refrigerators, or neatly lining the vending 

> machines at work. In other words, potential calories are everywhere. 

> And studies show a direct correlation between food exposure and 

> consumption. If 500 calories a day doesn't sound like much, consider:
that's 52 pounds a year.

> 

> 2. The average American drinks 450 liquid calories a day. That's twice 

> as much as we consumed 30 years ago, according to researchers at the 

> University of North Carolina. What's to blame? Take your pick: sodas, 

> energy drinks, lattes, bottled teas, milk shakes. (Here are the most 

> sinister culprits-

> 

> 3. Fresh fruits and vegetables cost 10 times more than junk food, 

> according to researchers at the University of Washington. A thousand 

> calories of nutritious food cost $18.16, while a thousand calories of 

> junk food cost a mere $1.76. How do they keep junk-food costs so low? 

> Pretty simple, actually: flavor enhancers and other chemical 

> additives. Speaking of . . .

> 

> 4. There are more than 3,000 items on the FDA's list of approved food 

> additives-everything from aciculae potassium (an artificial sweetener 

> that animal studies have linked to breast cancer) to Yellow #5 (a food 

> coloring linked to learning and concentration disorders in children).

> 

> 5. Your food can legally contain maggots and rat poop. Sure, the FDA 

> limits the amount of such appetite killers in your food, but that 

> limit isn't zero. Trace amounts won't make you sick, but the thought 

> of them will.

> 

> 6. Smaller portions are equally as satisfying as larger portions. 

> Participants in a Penn State study ate macaroni and cheese over four 

> different days, and when presented with bigger portions, they consumed 

> an extra 160 calories. Despite the extra food, they rated their 

> fullness the same.

> 

> 7. Between 1977 and 1996, the average cheeseburger grew in size by 25 

> percent. In that same time, a bag of pretzels grew by 93 calories, 

> according to analysis by researchers in North Carolina. But you don't 

> have to give up the burgers to stay thin, but it helps to avoid them.

> 

> 8. What do hamburgers and fertilizer have in common? Turns out, 

> hamburgers-especially the stuff served at schools and fast food 

> restaurants-are routinely treated with ammonia to kill off E. coli 

> bacteria. That's the same substance used in fertilizers and household 

> cleaners.

> 

> 9. There's a good chance chicken will make you sick. In a 2006 

> Consumer Reports review, more than 80 percent of whole broiler 

> chickens bought nationwide contained campylobacter or salmonella-the 

> leading causes of food borne illness in America.

> 

> 10. Junk food is like a drug. A study in the journal of Nature 

> Neuroscience found that eating junk food doesn't just satisfy 

> cravings-it creates them. That's right; junk food is addictive. That's 

> why manufacturers load their foods with sugar, salt, and artificial 

> flavorings, and why you should never forget the golden rule: If your 

> food can go bad, it's good for you. If it can't go bad, it's bad for you.

> 

> 11. Only 19 percent of what you pay for a food product actually goes 

> toward the food itself. The rest pays for packaging, labor, and 

> marketing, according to USDA data. Yet another reason to buy fresh, 

> local ingredients.

> 

> 12. Food companies pay "slotting fees" to supermarkets to ensure the 

> best possible placement-an average of $70 per item, according to a 

> 2004 government report. These fees are passed on to consumers in the 

> form of higher prices. Pay less by shopping the tops and bottoms of 

> the shelves; that's where you'll find brands that aren't paying slotting
fees.

> 

> 13. The leanest cuts of meat may have the highest sodium levels. 

> Leaner cuts by definition are less juicy. To counteract this, some 

> manufacturers "enhance" turkey, chicken, and beef products by pumping 

> them full of a liquid solution that contains water and salt.

> 

> 14. Long checkout lines may make you fat. If you're waiting to pay, 

> you're up to 25 percent more likely to buy the candy and sodas around 

> you, according to a recent study at the University of Arizona.

> 

> 15. Calorie counts may be wrong. To ensure you're getting at least as 

> much as you pay for, the FDA is more likely to penalize a food 

> manufacturer for overstating the net weight of a product than 

> understating it. As a result, manufacturers often package more food 

> than the stated net weight or make servings heavier than the stated
serving size weight.

> 

> 

> 

> EAT RIGHT RULE: The best bedtime snack is a bowl of bran cereal with 

> skim milk. The slow-burning carbs will ease you into slumber.

> 

> 

> 

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> 

> 

> 

 

 

 

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