Why food is becoming poisonous?

By Madhurie Singh, June 05, 2015

Why why why the food today has become so poisonous?

Why do we parents not check the labels on the products that we pick up in malls especially?

Well because we trust the brands that we have been using since our own childhood. Right?

But in the olden days, there was less competition and less adulteration. I have come to believe that there is a vicious cycle that is causing great harm to our kids. Can not really blame one or two things but there are a lot of culprits who are themselves driven by materialistic gains.

Lets analyze one by one.

1. Competition 

Yup! This is the biggest culprit. Each company is fighting tooth and nail to survive or lock in profits. Bigger a company, larger is their stake in the market. To maintain this humongous stake they will leave no stone unturned. Ethics is only in the paper. So they entice consumers with taste which will hook especially children to their products. Knowing the parents psychology too well, they know its not difficult to make us buy food that is tasty and seemingly healthy. 

So they keep on adding ingredients that will make their products taste better or look better. To hell with the health!

Adding ingredient unnecessarily is not a worry to them. Add detergent in noodles to make it non sticky or extra silicon, who cares. The stupid kids won't decipher ever and the ignorant parents have no time! Yes, that's how these biggie think of you and your kids.

What should they do? To remain conscientious, they need to employ right people. People who will make the company grow in the right way towards profitability and not resort to any hook or crook.

2: MBAs

MBAs from prestigious colleges across the globe share a lot of blame too in my opinion. When they pay crores in fee, youth must join very high paying companies to pay their loans. The companies they join are biggies who can literally buy your life for the work they expect you to do. So these young kids actually work their butt off trying to prove their worth. In the bargain they have to leave their ethics and conscience at home where they reach midnight!

They have to come up with cut throat marketing strategies and business plans and ignore health of the consumer along with their own.

What can they do? Well, for the starters, do not run after such courses that make you a life long slave of a bank. 🙂 Follow your passion and chase your dreams without getting carried away by the rat race. You, can do this. Stop your child falling into this trap by teaching yourself that chasing marks never ensures happiness. 

Read about this 22 yr old MBA from Wharton School of Business how he dies and his father's guilt.

3: TV Promotional Advertisements

Our kids watch more TV than we did. Should or not is a point that needs debating else where. But, these TV promotional ads are luring the kids with flimsy toys and promises that they obviously do not understand. They show totally irrelevant acts after consuming their products. Drinks turning kids into super kids! Baah!

Ok they are kids. What about you? Parents especially moms are targeted by the food product ads. These ad make moms feel guilty when they do not buy and give the expensive drinks or readymade food that seems to make their kids healthier and stronger! 

If only you would pause the ads and try to read the tiny scrolling disclaimers in the ads, you will be shocked to know how their product advertisements claims are farce and empty.

I did this article in 2009 on health drink comparison and have been doing reviews since then to be shocked each time by claims on the ads. Read the comparison here.

Claims that their products give nutrition as good as wheat roties or milk are all empty. Check the pack disclaimers and you will read that they actually themselves say you must give balanced food along with their junk products! Why? If their food is sooooo healthy, why not claim it too.

Health drinks claim all kinds of growth in height and brain activity but if you read their disclaimers, they mention very clearly that only when taken with milk their product works! The amount protein claimed is actually of the milk! 🙂 

Claims that their product is good for all kids is also wrong! Read here why Pediasure is not good for all kids.

Aspartame added in most sweet products especially meant for kids. I had to throw away a lot that were sent from US or bought by my relatives when I had read most contain aspartame that kills brain cells and artificial color and flavors. Did you know even the chocolate has brown color added in Hershey's Chocolate Syrup! That is just one example! Go read yourself all the labels. I have stopped or minimized the consumption of these products in my house. Yes not banned totally because I also believe that things taken in moderation is necessary to keep the body used to these poisonous ingredients. 

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Ajinomoto or MSG is harmful if taken in large quantity and regularly. Read here why Pringles caused serious allergy to my son.

What should they do? Again be ethical and mindful. Their kids are also consuming the same food! 

4: DINKS

Now, lets shoulder the blame too. Why point fingers only at others? They are "others". They are doing it for profitability. Why are you doing it ?

DINKS (Double Income) parents have to work really hard in these above companies so obviously, they have no time. No time to really Google about the claims on these food products. No time to read the labels. If you do have time you have no choice (?) as these are sooo convenient and easy to use products. Yes, you have no time, so these companies are taking advantage of this fact by pushing packaged food to us in the colorful packs. 

What can you do? Well, hire a cook. Trust me ever since I hired one, my kids are eating more home cooked food than ever. They are little expensive but then what is more precious than the health of our children. To make you feel better, think also that you are giving job to one more person and helping the country. 🙂

There kids are also partly to be blamed but I have decided to keep them out of this list as its again us to be blamed of their demands and behaviour. 

So Start reading the label. 

Check out each ingredient on wikipedia.

Check this site for nutrition

INGREDIENT
WHAT IT USES
WHY IT'S BAD
Artificial Colors
  • Chemical compounds made from coal-tar derivatives to enhance color
  • Linked to allergic reactions, fatigue,asthma, skin rashes, hyperactivity and headaches
Artificial Flavorings
  • Cheap chemical mixtures that mimic natural flavors
  • Linked to allergic reactions, dermatitis, eczema, hyperactivity and asthma
  • Can affect enzymes, RNA and thyroid

Artificial
Sweeteners

(Acesulfame-K, As-partame, Equal®, NutraSweet®, Sac-charin, Sweet’n Low®, Sucralose, Splenda® & Sorbitol)

  • Highly-processed, chemically-derived, zero-calorie sweeteners found in diet foods and diet products to reduce calories per serving
  • Can negatively impact metabolism
  • Some have been linked to cancer, headaches, dizziness and hallucinations

Benzoate
Preservatives

(BHT, BHA, TBHQ)

  • Compounds that preserve fats and prevent them from becoming rancid
  • May result in hyperactivity, angiodema, asthma, rhinitis, dermatitis, tumors and urticaria
  • Can affect estrogen balance and levels

Brominated
Vegetable Oil

(BVO)

  • Chemical that boosts flavor in many citric-based fruit and soft drinks
  • Increases triglycerides and cholesterol
  • Can damage liver, testicles, thyroid, heart and kidneys

High Fructose Corn

(HFCS)

  • Cheap alternative to cane and beet sugar
  • Sustains freshness in baked goods
  • Blends easily in beverages to maintain sweetness
  • May predispose the body to turn fructose into fat
  • Increases risk for type-2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer
  • Isn’t easily metabolized by the liver

MSG

(Monosodium Glutamate)

 

 

 

  • Flavor enhancer in restaurant food, salad dressing, chips, frozen entrees, soups and more
  • May stimulate appetite and cause headaches, nausea, weakness, wheezing, edema, change in heart rate, burning sensations and difficulty in breathing

Olestra

  • An indigestible fat substitute used primarily in foods that are fried and baked
  • Inhibits absorption of some nutrients
  • Linked to gastrointestinal disease, diarrhea, gas, cramps, bleeding and incontinence

Shortening,
Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated Oils

(Palm, Soybean and others)

  • Industrially created fats used in more than 40,000 food products in the U.S.
  • Cheaper than most other oils
  • Contain high levels of trans fats, which raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, contributing to risk of heart disease

Sodium Nitrite and Nitrate

  • Preserves, colors and flavors cured meats and fish
  • Prevents botulism
  • Can combine with chemicals in stomach to form nitrosamine  a carcinogen

The best advice I can give today is to not trust any brand or Ad on TV. Check the label right in the mall before buying a product and google it on your smartphone. Remember, minimising packaged food is the need of the hour today.

Check this site to find out if the brand is harmful or not. 

Hi Madhurie, I really appreciate your endeavor to educate parents, it relieves me to know that, someone thinks like I do. When reading your several articles on this site, I suddenly realized that even the dishwashing soaps use a lot of chemicals. Now that we're so dependant on servants, we can't really expect them to clean the utensils without leaving a trace of the soap. In this case what is the best possible alternate we can go for, if you've already researched, pls send me the link. Since we use utensils for everyday use for food, it becomes vital to replace chemical based soaps to something natural.

Thanks Rakhi, I would love to review it provided someone made an excel sheet of the ingredients in them with quantity used.

Well said Anita

Ma'am, since we may not be able to change the way companies work to multiply their profits but as parents we need to be more vigilant. As you said something as basic as reading the label before deciding to pick a product goes a long way towards healthier living, especially for kids. There is nothing like home cooked meal which also can be interesting with a little imagination.

Totally agree with you Anita. Home cooked food is the best way to survive.

Yup very true

MBA pay more Fees says Madhurie Singh. MBBS Doctors pay more to Join and More money to pass each exam. So we have many doctors who are not fit and who have got a degree by paying money. Is there any ethics in health treatment or Surgeries. We get treated the same way FROGS got treated in Biology classes when these doctors started learning surgery at Age 14!. I know doctors who have Imported Equipment for EEG from Abroad. They force Tests for Patients to recover costs of the imported equipment. I also knew a Physician who till age 55 used Stethoscope and treated. But from Age 56 he had a Blood Testing unit in his clinic and then every patient he forced Blood Tests and Ultrasound and after Report used to say Good it is Negative. 99% of patients had Negative for all Blood and Ultrasound Tests. But he made money Rs. 350 per Ultrasound and Rs. 500/- for Blood Tests. Now the doctor is Dead!

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