Kids’ Health Cheated For Kraft’s Profits
When Kraft’s so-called “Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product” gets a seal of approval from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, along with permission to use its education program’s Kids Eat Right label on the Kraft Singles packaging, it is time for us all to howl in protest against Congressional sellout of children’s health. Not only because the “Product” contains less than 51% of an inferior dairy concoction that can barely be called ‘cheese’—not to mention it being loaded with antibiotics, hormones and other toxins ingested by factory-raised cows. Not even because the Kraft Food Group successfully lobbied Congress to let it subvert the Truth in Advertising law by sneaking in the word ‘cheese,’ but making it ‘legal’ by calling it Product. Loud protest is warranted, however, against Kraft’s boosting its sagging profits by specifically targeting children in their consumer marketing and sales.
One of a growing number of food activists sounding the alarm about this sellout of kids’ health to food industry profits is Anna Lappé who specializes in, and writes about this issue in Wellness Warrior.org.
Happy Update:
Wish this information had come to our attention before we posted the above. In a recent lecture at Columbia University, Dr. Marion Nestle, one of the leading experts in Public Health, announced the happy news that, as a result of some uproar in circles advocating for food safety and healthy nutrition, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics had backed off its support of Kraft Foods. Let’s hope that we’ll hear some loud warnings from the Academy, to parents and schools to delete at least the super-offensive Kraft Singles from their children’s, families’ and school diets.
Don’t Be Fooled By New Name
Big Agriculture and the Big Food industry are once again showing their contempt for the intelligence and health of American consumers by responding to sagging sales of products laced with the notorious High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)—now that shoppers have learned to avoid it—by simply changing that ubiquitous sweetener’s name to “Fructose.” Their purpose? To mislead the public in the hope the new name will be mistakenly perceived as that of natural sugar found in fruit, rather than what it actually is: an even more dangerous chemical concoction of the corn syrup they have learned to avoid.
Complicit in the misleading name-change, the FDA signed off on it after the HFCS chemical formula was rejiggered to increase its original fructose levels from its previous range of between 42 and 55 percent, to a whopping 90 percent. . This, in spite of the proven fact that even with its previous lower fructose (i.e., processed sugar) content, HFCS was found by countless reliable researchers to be a major cause of the growing world-wide epidemic of obesity, diabetes and other chronic an fatal diseases. There is no doubt that the higher concentration of this sweetener has an increased ability to wallop the pancreas and heighten vulnerability to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and other illnesses caused by over-consumption of sugars.
It is hard to tell how effective the bamboozling of consumers has been since the HFCS name change, but the food activists have quickly caught on and are working to correct the nutritional misinformation in advertising and the media. But to improve the quality and safety of our food supply and protect our and our families’ health, all of us must keep learning about food safety, read labels more carefully and keep an eye out for food industry shenanigans.
Speaking of which: Has as anyone at the Food and Drug Administration bothered since the name change to compare the health effects of the original product with those of the renamed one? Just asking…
More tips for ‘defensive grocery shopping’:
- Avoid products that hide “Fructose” among other items on their ingredient lists.
- Avoid most sodas—including the “sugar-free” ones that contain the toxic Aspartame (sometimes listed under such names as NutraSweet, Equal, etc.), a chemical known to increase the risk of diabetes, cause seizures and other health hazards.
- Stay away from processed foods—most of which contain corn syrup or some other chemical sweetener.
- Be well-informed and unrushed when shopping for groceries—which does require time and serious thought about the long-term economical advantages of good nutrition, the mainstay of a healthy lifestyle conducive to mind-body balance, clarity and energy.
- Read reliable and well-researched print and online publications which do not carry advertisements for unhealthy products or promotions. Check out the free magazines stacked on many health food store counters, websites, online newsletters—such as Wellness Warrior—and both print and online columns focused on fitness, organic foods, healthy cooking and related topics—especially (forgive the plug) the weekly ones written by our famous partner, Catharine L Kaufman, a.k.a. The Kitchen Shrink.
DER
Fertility, Neurological Development Endangered by Endocrine Disrupting Food Additive
According to the non-profit, non-partisan Environmental Working Group (EWG), the much too commonly used endocrine-disrupting chemical Propyl Paraben is a serious threat to health—especially to genetic development related to fertility.
A ubiquitous preservative found in some 49 processed food items, propyl paraben continues to be approved by the FDA, in spite of proliferating proof about its health hazards. Obviously, the FDA needs reminding that its job is to protect public health by keeping the U.S. food supply safe, rather than to cater—or cave in—to the pressure and influence of chemical and processed food industries.
Until our supposed Government protectors and food safety watchdogs do their jobs, however, all of us health-conscious consumers are in charge of protecting ourselves. Fortunately, with access to lots of reliable information on good nutrition (for the mere price of a little time and attention spent on research), most of us are perfectly capable of developing the habit of choosing not only toxin-free, but unprocessed, real foods.
One of the first steps we could take toward that goal is to click on the link below and check out the list of foods known to contain propyl paraben, as well as scientific information about the health hazards the chemical has been associated with:
DER