Deceptive Labels – is the food Organic?

As people are looking for healthy lifestyles, they are changing the way they eat, but the deceptive labels on many foods are creating more problems.

“Throughout history, simple diet has been a function of low income. The most nutritious foods are the least expensive: whole fruits and vegetables, unprocessed dairy, whole grains. As lifestyle became more complex, and incomes grew, expensive, empty, processed, nutrient-deficient foods were popularized by marketing and advertising – the foods of commerce”.

Royal Lee, DDS, Nutritionist, created Standard Process Supplements.

Fat Free & Low Fat

What does it mean? The fat in the dairy products are removed via a centrifuge and thus the fat is separated out. This will, however, make the food bland and thus they will put in the additives such as sugar, flour or other substances. Fat free will usually mean they’ve added a lot of sugar. See our article – Low Fat Foods

Here the manufacturer exchanges sugars for artificial sweeteners. They will also add things that you wouldn’t find in real food. Read the labels.   The process used to take out the fat is usually a chemical that remains in the food – similar to decaffinated.

Diet Soda ingredients may surprise you. Then there are also the many ways that sugar is put in products – Sneaky Hidden Ways to Make Sugar Look Healthy

Gluten-Free

This has become a true fad. People are going on gluten free diets and you can find shelf after shelf of “gluten free” foods. Look at the labels. Many gluten-free products are high carb and contain many more sugars and fats. Read the label to see what is really in these products. Here is an article on this. Gluten Free Foods Are they healthy?

Want Gluten-free? Go to the produce department.

Precision Fermentation – different than the truly health-promoting natural fermentation, precision fermentation is an approach to manufacturing specific functional products which intends to minimize the production of unwanted by-products through the application of synthetic biology, particularly by generating synthetic “cell factories” with engineered genomes and metabolic pathways optimised to produce the desired compounds as efficiently as possible with the available resources. Precision fermentation of genetically modified microorganisms may be used to manufacture proteins needed for cell culture media, providing for serum-free cell culture media in the manufacturing process of cultured meat.

Bio-fortified

Does this sound good? Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is “improved” through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology such as DNA technology (genetic engineering. What does it mean? Genetically modified organisms (GMO)? The one factor that stands out more than any other is what companies choose to define as “GMO”. The word “choose” because that’s what it boils down to. There’s no single definition on what is or is not a GMO, so companies and legislators get to decide how to define it. But the term “GMO” as used in the current debate doesn’t have a clear definition. Is it just grain that has been modified, or the animals that eat the grain? See Inconvenient Truth about GMO Labelling.

Cholesterol Free

Cholesterol is necessary for the body and if you don’t eat it, your body will make it. Read this article – Cholesterol

Natural Food or Organic Food

“Natural” can be deceptive. There are no FDA guidelines and this term is not regulated by any certification. Foods that are “natural” can include pesticides, hormones, and harmful chemicals. Read the label.

Organic processed foods can still be full of carbs and sugars.

For some foods such as fruits, vegetables and meats, organic will be better than conventionally grown foods. See article Organically Grown Foods

Grass Fed Beef or Pasture Raised

Sounds the same? That’s what they want you to believe.

But because the cow is let out to graze, doesn’t mean she’s hungry. The cow, which is fed grains as a diet, but can also eat grass, can be called pasture raised. You can even find milk products that state “pasture raised” in an attempt to sound healthy.

Grass Fed Beef or Vegetarian Fed

Vegetarian fed means that the cows are feed corn, grain, and soy.

They can also be fed protein supplements, and growth hormones, which makes animals grow at a much faster rate.

On this type of diet, it only takes a little over a year before a calf is ready for slaughter. This is a faster and more profitable process.

It comes with dangerous consequences to our health. Switching animals from a grass-fed diet to a grain diet damages their digestive system, which is remedied with antibiotics in order to prevent sickness or death.

Grass-fed beef is lower in total fat than grain-fed beef, and many studies have shown that it is higher in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids.

Grass-Finished Beef

The term “grass fed” had become increasingly popular in the beef industry over the last few years to evoke images of idyllic, green pastures with cows contentedly grazing. However, with the growing popularity the term has been overused.

In contrast, grass fed is currently being used in reference to any animal that 1.) was fed a grass-based diet prior to grain finishing or 2.) An animal raised on pasture but butchered while still in a growth or immature stage. This results in meat that is just like conventional feedlot beef (1) or beef that is very lean and contains little fat (2).

The Importance of Grass Finished

Grass finished means the animal has reached physical maturity and was kept on grass while developing exterior and intramuscular fat.

No grain is ever fed to grass finished animals and this process will typically take from 24-36 months (compared to the 18-20 months for feedlot cattle). This is the largest factor why true grass finished beef will cost more than feedlot beef or lower quality grass fed beef. It is also why grass finished has superior health benefits and eating experience.

What to buy?

Don’t be fooled by marketing tricks. Read over all the ingredients and understand the ingredients.

Read also: Health Myths