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Attacking Our Food

The food industry is one of the most competitive and crazy industries there is. Competitive because there are so many food producing companies out there making all kinds of food products that are all competing for the money in shopper's pockets, from the snack cakes to the breakfast cereal. Crazy because there are a bunch of people lacking intelligence or common sense on the Internet spreading misinformation and lies about modern food products.

We live in a world of fear instead of curiosity. What is not understood is not met with reason and objective investigation it is attacked with ignorance and self-righteousness. I see this frequently in the unfounded attacks against harmless additives and natural occurring proteins in food. Unfortunately, food manufacturers seem to think they need to cater to these asinine fads and trends, or they capitulate to the demands of the Internet food ignoramus.

Since the processing of raw materials and the manufacture of foods in factories began companies have been making sure the food they are selling to their customers is the best quality that they can offer. Quality ingredients have always been the first part of a successful food manufacturing operation. Food manufacturers do not put anything into their food that would cause harm to anyone consuming their product. That would put the Company out of business fast and would have legal ramifications. Many eat the same food they produce and sell. Employees of a big food company usually buy the brands their company makes, people working in the fast food restaurants usually eat the food prepared there. The owners and workers in the food industry are not mindless and immoral people.   

Food safety, quality product control, and sanitary conditions at a food producing facility are paramount. A recall of a product will cost a company thousands or even millions of dollars. Each food additive is tested with rigour for safety before being approved for use. Ingredients are a big and expensive part of food production and companies don't use an ingredient they don't have a reason for using. It is preposterous to even suggest that a company is poisoning its customers, and yet this is exactly what some people are promoting.

I hear some people say, "it doesn't need to be in the bread" referring to some additive in bread. My reply would be milk, butter, eggs, raisins, nuts, or cranberries don't have to be in bread either. In fact, bread can be reduced to just flour and water if that is what one wants, but it is a chemical additive they might argue. Here it starts. This anti-chemical, anti-science, anti-company campaign we see today.

Yes, humans use chemicals. Humans learned about chemicals from nature. Nature taught humans about chemicals because nature started using chemicals first, and humans saw the benefits of chemical use. Chemistry was created from what humans learned from nature. Chemicals are used in industry and in medicine. Just because it is a chemical does not mean it is harmful, nor does something natural mean it is not harmful. The vitamins and minerals added to fortified ready to eat cereal, for example, are synthetic (chemicals). These additives are beneficial, not harmful. 

A food product can be used in an non food application. Vegetable oil can be used to cook food and it can be used to power a diesel engine. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is used in baking as a leavening agent, used in effervescent drinks, and used in fire extinguishers. These non food uses does not mean vegetable oil and baking soda is harmful in food. 

The dosage is the poison. Solanine is a poison found naturally in potatoes that in large dosages can lead to death. However, the small amount ingested by eating potatoes is harmless. One would have to eat about 70 large potatoes in one sitting to receive a lethal dosage of solanine that is found in the potato. Would one stop eating potatoes and campaign with an Internet petition for the potato to be banned because the potato contains solanine? 

Many food additives are so small they are calculated in PPM (part(s) per million). A safe additive common in the fast food industry to make the bread rise more has a legal limit of 45 PPM. 1 PPM is 1 milligram of something per 1 litre of something, or 1 kilogram of something. If the maximum amount of the additive allowed is 45 PPM, then the maximum amount of additive in 45 kilograms of dough is just 45 milligrams.

The standard amount of the additive used is far lower than the maximum allowed, but even if the maximum was used each time, that 45 milligrams would be spread out over the number of loaves of bread made from the 45 kg of dough. In the end, the bread one would eat would have so little of the additive in it the additive would be barely detectable, if detectable at all because of its low PPM, and that this particular additive breaks down during baking. The additive even in its low PPM amounts still increases the rising of the bread loaf, and that is why this safe additive is used.

Unfortunately, I can't put these Internet food idiots in a time machine and send them back to a time before we had modern food processing and preservation to know just how much our food has improved over the years, and how it is the best it has ever been in both quality and convenience. That is where they want to take us, back in time. They don't know what it is like to have to take hours preparing each meal, food that lacked nutrients, was scarce, spoiled easily, having to deal with mouldy bread, or insects living in their food. If one does not like a type of food product, one has the choice to not buy it, but one does not have the right to force anyone else to do the same. 

A company must give what its customers want, but there is a line between serving customers with integrity, and promoting misinformation and lies to them to make some easy money. Food manufactures are playing a dangerous game by following nonsensical trends and fads, not standing by their products, and especially by not fighting back against the Internet food ignoramus.

© Trevor Dailey

carbohydrate |kɑːbəˈhʌɪdreɪt|

noun

Biochemistry any of a large group of organic compounds occurring in foods and living tissues and including sugars, starch, and cellulose. They contain hydrogen and oxygen in the same ratio as water (2:1) and typically can be broken down to release energy in the animal body.

Source: Oxford Dictionary

gluten |ˈgluːt(ə)n|

noun

a substance present in cereal grains, esp. wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough. A mixture of two proteins, it causes illness in people with celiac disease. ORIGIN late 16th cent. (originally denoting protein from animal tissue): via French from Latin, literally ‘glue.’

Source: Oxford Dictionary

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