With the obesity problem among children and adults in this country reaching alarming levels), even junk food makers have started to claim they want to steer children toward more healthful choices.  And its about time they did –  According to the health protection agency over a third of boys and nearly a third of girls are overweight or obese!  That is frightening.  But is the food industry really bothered?

Are wellness initiatives that McDonalds, Cadbury, Coke etc.. just marketing ploys? Such moves by the food industry may seem to be a step in the right direction, but ultimately makers of popular junk foods have an obligation to stockholders to encourage children (and adults) to eat more—not less—of the foods that fuel their profits.

So let’s look at what they might not want us to know:

1. Processed foods are made for long shelf-life, not long human life!

The food industry invests millions into Chemicals, additives and preservatives being added to processed foods so that they will last for a long time without going rancid or affecting the taste of the food. Food manufacturers spend time, money and research on beautiful packaging and strategies to lengthen shelf-life, with little attention on how the foods will lengthen your life or create lasting health.

2. The studies that food producers support tend to minimize health concerns associated with their products.

In fact, according to a review led by David Ludwig (a paediatrician) of hundreds of studies that looked at the health effects of milk, juice, and fizzy drinks, the likelihood of conclusions favourable to the industry was several times higher among industry-sponsored research than studies that received no industry funding. “If a study is funded by the industry, it may be closer to advertising than science,” he says.

3. Junk food makers donate large sums of money to professional nutrition associations.

The American Dietetic Association(ADA), for example, accepts money from companies such as Coca-Cola, which get access to decision makers in the food and nutrition marketplace via ADA events and programs!!  Urm, conflicted interest or what?  I’m not even going to go in to the ‘official sponsors’ of the Olympics.  Is it just us or does having Mars and McDonalds as main sponsor’s somehow seem wrong?

4. More processing means more profits, but typically makes the food less healthy.

Minimally processed foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables obviously aren’t where food companies look for profits. The big money comefrom turning government-subsidized commodity crops—mainly corn, wheat, and soybeans—into fast foods, snack foods, and beverages. High-profit products derived from these commodity crops are generally high in calories and low in nutritional value.

5. Less-processed foods are generally more satiating than their highly processed counterparts.

Fresh apples have an abundance of fiber and nutrients that are lost when they are processed into applesauce, for example. And the added sugar or other sweeteners increase the number of calories without necessarily making the applesauce any more filling.  This same stripping out of nutrients happens with highly refined foods such as white bread (in fact anything white), cakes, ice cream etc…if you think about it there is always room for a dessert…!  It’s also the reason people can eat and eat and eat junk.  Its very hard to over eat on chicken, broccoli, steak etc..  again its another win for the food industry, you can eat loads of it without feeling full so you have to buy loads more of it to try and fill you up!

Plus, eating highly processed or highly concentrated foods can artificially stimulate dopamine (the pleasure neurotransmitter), which plays a role in addiction. In this way, you are eating foods that lack nutrients and fiber, but create a pleasurable feeling. A food addiction starts because you feel good when you are eating these foods and they make you think they taste better. You crave that pleasurable feeling again and again and viola…this is what starts a food addiction

6. Many supposedly healthy replacement foods are hardly healthier than the foods they replace.

To reduce ‘calories’, sugar is often replaced with sweeteners to make it more healthy.  This is like asking someone whether they would prefer to be stabbed in the back or shot in the knee…neither is much fun and they are both pretty bad for your health.  There are probably as many studies linking sweeteners to health issues as there are sugar ones.  It’s simple, both are very unhealthy.
Another example of this is when major beverage makers agreed to remove sugary drinks from school vending machines. But the industry mounted an intense lobbying effort that persuaded lawmakers to allow sports drinks and vitamin waters that—despite their slightly healthier reputations—still can be packed with sugar and calories.

7. A health claim on the label doesn’t necessarily make a food healthy.

Health claims such as “zero trans fats” or “contains whole wheat” may create the false impression that a product is healthy when it’s not. While the claims may be true, a product is not going to benefit you or your child’s health if it’s also loaded with salt and sugar ,say, and lacks fiber or other nutrients. We think these are just distractions aimed to lure people into a false sense of security..which obviously works as they are all at it.

 8. Nutrition labels on processed foods are often misleading and have harmful health effects.

Many labels say “sugar free,” but contain other sweeteners like agave, which is like high fructose corn syrup (a nutrition-less product that makes you fat!). Additionally, product labelling may hide ingredients like GM (genetically modified) foods and harmful additives like MSG. (These are hidden behind words on the label like “natural flavorings” or “approved spices”).

9. The food industry funds front groups that fight antiobesity public health initiatives.
Unless you follow politics closely, you wouldn’t necessarily realize that a group with a name like the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has anything to do with the food industry. In fact, David Ludwig points out, this group lobbies aggressively against obesity-related public health campaigns—such as the one directed at removing junk food from schools—and is funded, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, primarily through donations from big food companies such as Coca-Cola, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and Wendy’s.  This is a quote from Indymedia (an independent media company with no ties to any government or commercial organisations):

The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) (formerly called the “Guest Choice Network”) is a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries. It runs media campaigns which oppose the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, environmentalists and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, calling them “the Nanny Culture — the growing fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, anti-meat activists, and meddling bureaucrats who ‘know what’s best for you.

10. The food industry works aggressively to discredit its critics.
According to the new JAMA article, the Center for Consumer Freedom boasts that “our strategy is to shoot the messenger. We’ve got to attack ‘activists’ credibility as spokespersons.”

The bottom line is very simple: Everyone (children and adults) need to eat right -click here to find out the best way to eat forever-, include more fruits and vegetables, cut out the processed food and beware of the food industry!