From the processing plants where cow manure gets ground into meat to the chemistry labs that create fast food flavors such as a "smoky, grilled taste," the story behind every perfectly round patty hamburger and golden fry is something the fast food industry would prefer you not know.

A slew of books and movies over the last decade have revealed the gnarly business of fast food, and it's anything but enticing.

Not Just Food

Any recount of fast food horrors would be remiss without a collection of sordid restaurant tales. Bugs, rodents, and unsanitary working conditions are the common pitfalls of making mass-produced food. These war stories shouldn't be surprising, yet they are. Here's a sprinkling gathered from former fast food workers and news reports:

* At a Long John Silver, an employee stirred a bucket of cole slaw with his whole arm immersed so deep that his armpit hair mingled with the shredded cabbage. 
* TV news cameras filmed dozens of rats scurrying around a Taco Bell/KFC in New York City. 
* Former fast food workers say that it's common to blend cockroaches and other bugs into dairy deserts. 
* Inspectors found dead rodents decomposing in a rattrap at a Wendy's in Texas. 
* A customer was served a cup dripping in blood at Hardee's in Florida. 
* A patron, taking a bite into a taco at a Chicago Taco Bell, bit into chewing gum.

Even though people are vaguely aware of these violations, Americans continue to consume vast quantities of fast food. Why? Convenience and price are good reasons, but that doesn't really explain why we eat so much of it. After all, a street vendor could be selling steamed fresh broccoli and spinach for a penny and do less business than a McDonald's does. The obvious reason is that fat, salt, and starches appeal to our palates. But there's more going on than good grease. Excellent frying techniques can't explain the allure of McDonald's fries. In fact, fast food flavor has little to do with the innate qualities of the food-it's all in the additives.

Engineered Flavors

The fast food industry has worked hard to engineer foods that will appeal to our every sense with manufactured flavorings, color, and what's called mouthfeel-the texture, weight, and consistency. In his book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser described how companies-often the same ones that make perfumes-mix the chemicals that give our processed food their flavors. Schlosser lists nearly one hundred chemicals that make up the standard strawberry flavor in a milkshake. The flavoring for proprietors is kept secret. For decades, McDonald's used beef tallow to cook its fries. When the public started to worry about saturated fat, the company switched to vegetable oil, but it continues to use animal products to achieve the same flavor. McDonalds has refused to disclose what other ingredients they use. The FDA doesn't require food companies to list the ingredients in additives, as long as they are Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS).   

Although the organic movement has certainly started to influence how Americans think about their food, it is still no match for the American fast food industry, which continuously finds creative new ways of piling sugar, salt and fat on a plate and charging customers $4.99 for the privilege of eating it.

In recent years, in fact, some of America's favorite chains have gone above and beyond the call of duty and concocted thoroughly repellent dishes that make the Double Quarter Pounder look like a celery stick. These companies have offered Americans these revolting meals despite the fact that roughly one-third of the country is now obese, a deplorable state of affairs that accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimates costs the U.S. health-care system $200 billion a year in wasted spending.

 We'll name and shame the very worst offenders, whether they're 1,400-calorie hamburgers or 550-calorie cups of coffee. So let's get things rolling with …

No. 7 -- The Krispy Kreme Doughnut Sundae

Two years ago, the brain trust at Krispy Kreme decided to answer the age-old question of how to make ice cream sundaes even less healthy. The solution, it turns out, is to remove bananas, strawberries or anything that looks remotely like it might contain nutrients, and replace it with a doughnut.

When the sundae -- known affectionately as the Kool Kreme -- premiered in Tacoma, Wash., customers had the choice of adding several toppings, including bits of Snickers, Butterfinger, Heath and Junior Mints. They could add some fruit as well, of course, but what's the point? If you regularly eat a doughnut sundae, no level of Vitamin C will save you.

No. 6 -- Starbucks's Mocha Coconut Frappuccino Blended Coffee With Whipped Cream

At first glance, the Starbucks Mocha Coconut Frappuccino Blended Coffee with whipped cream doesn't seem to belong on this list. After all, its 550 calories and 22 grams of fat pale in comparison to some of the burgers and pizzas we'll encounter a little bit later. But then you remember that the Frappuccino is supposed to be a breakfast drink. As in, something you drink the first thing in the morning while you eat your cereal. And then you understand that if you're willing to consume one-fourth of your daily caloric intake before you even arrive to work, there's nothing to stop you from wolfing down a 1,200-carlorie KFC Double Down (see Item No. 2) for lunch and dinner.

No. 5 -- Cheeseburger Fries

These treats were apparently made for people who love eating cheeseburgers and fries but who don't want to go through the hassle of mashing them together into a fine paste. Cheeseburger fries gained national attention when the New York Times reported that they had become a mini-sensation in the Midwest. The fries, said the Times, were "made of a meat-and-cheese compound" that was "breaded, then deep fried and served with ketchup or barbecue sauce." The caloric intake for these beasts was 75 calories per fry, meaning that eating 10 of them would account for more than a third of your daily intake.

No. 4 -- The KFC Famous Bowl 

KFC has a long and proud history of making Americans morbidly obese, but the company reached a new high in 2007 when it unleashed its Famous Bowl upon the world. The Bowl is really a variation on a classic American method of cooking that involves taking a bunch of unhealthy goo from different sources and then slopping them all into a bowl. In this particular example, KFC threw together mashed potatoes, corn, fried chicken, gravy and cheese to create a 720-calorie horror that contains 1 1/2 times your daily fat allowance. The thought of joylessly plowing through the Bowl's starchy potatoes, greasy gravy and processed cheese sounds about as soulless and monotonous as working in a puppy-slaughtering factory.

No. 3 -- Hardee's Monster Thickburger

Simply put, the Monster Thickburger is a fat, sloppy middle finger aimed at nutritionists everywhere. Clocking in at an artery-blowing 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat, the Thickburger premiered in 2004, when McDonald's and Burger King were starting to sell out and offer their customers salads. In defending his decision to sell such a gaping monstrosity, Hardee's CEO Andrew Puzder played George W. Bush to McDonald's and Burger King's John Kerry, essentially calling them out as wimps who didn't have the balls to dramatically shorten their customers' life expectancy with just one meal. Specifically, he said the Thickburger was "not a burger for tree-huggers" but rather "for guys who want a really big, delicious, juicy decadent burger." Yes, gents, nothing will show the ladies how manly you are quite like a belly made entirely of butter.

No. 2 -- The KFC Double Down

Apparently determined to take the Atkins Diet to its most insane and illogical conclusion, KFC has released a new sandwich that succeeds in eliminating carbohydrate-packed bread by replacing it with two slabs of fried chicken. And oh yeah, in between the chicken they lay down heaping gobs of bacon and Swiss and pepper pack cheese. The KFC Double Down is really the ideological heir to the Thickburger, as it was seemingly designed for the sole purpose of pissing off nutrition advocates.

You can imagine future commercials where a rugged Ford-truck-style announcer comes on and says, "The next time some fruity bureaucrat tells you to exercise, look him in the eye and say, 'Hell no! I'm doublin' down with the KFC Double Down!' " The Double Down is slightly wimpier than the Thickburger as it only contains an estimated 1,200 calories. However, it more than makes up for this because it also contains something called "The Colonel's Sauce," which probably contains at the very least 2 percent all-natural radioactive waste.

No. 1 -- Domino's Oreo Cookie Pizza

Sure, everybody loves pizza. But what do you do when traditional pizza has lost its magic? How do you retain your love for it when all the fatty toppings -- pepperoni, buffalo chicken, Alfredo sauce and so forth -- just aren't satisfying you the way they used to? If you're Domino's, you take one of the world's least-healthy cookies and couple it with large doses of frosting to cover an entire pizza crust. Were Dr. Jack Kevorkian still practicing his trade, he'd surely use consumption of the Oreo pizza as his preferred method of assisted suicide. Truly, the only way this sucker could be any worse would be to put it in blender with a bucket of cheeseburger fries and then pour the resulting mixture into a bowl and then cover it with processed cheese.

Courtesy of Healthy Cooking Tips

Chef Tim Johnson

Remember...Grace is upon you so eat to live!

Various shelves throughout every aisle of your grocery store are stocked with wolves in sheep's clothing. Colorful packaging, appetizing pictures, and nutrition claims hide the truth: unhealthy chemicals are lurking in many these seemingly harmless foods. Here are some tips to help you steer clear of hidden toxins that masquerade as safe products.

1. Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate accounts for their appetizing red hue, but this additive can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.

2. Stick to low-mercury fish like American-farmed tilapia instead of swordfish or tuna. Overexposure can cause memory problems, fatigue, and other health issues, and besides, most wild fish stocks are threatened these days. (Looking for an alternative? There's branzini, the fish you've never heard of.)

3. Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. Cans are commonly lined with bisphenol-A, an organic compound that, according to the Lang study, may be associated with diabetes and heart disease.

4. Cut back on meat and dairy products. These animal products may contain trace amounts of harmful contaminants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyl and dioxins. Although many of these toxins have been banned, they are still present in the soil. Reducing your intake of animal products is also more friendly to the environment.

5. Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches. Besides, anything that gives rats brain tumors is worth avoiding in my book.

6. Choose the farmed fish carefully. Studies show that farm-raised fish contain more polychlorinated biphenyl and over ten times the amount of dioxin.

7. Opt for organic chicken. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.

8. Only drink milk that says "no rBGH" on the carton because recombinant bovine growth hormone has been linked with breast cancer. Better yet, opt for responsibly-produced, unsweetened soy, nut or rice milk.

9. Avoid manufactured snacks. Hydrogenated oils are used to lengthen the shelf life of products like crackers and cookies, but they are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. Another reason to stay away from the middle aisles: snack foods are generally loaded with salt, corn syrup and other unhealthy ingredients.

10. Stay away from artificially-colored foods like candy, maraschino cherries, and gelatin. Mice and rats exposed to blue 1 and 2, red 3 and yellow 6 suffered from brain, adrenal gland, thyroid, and kidney tumors.

11. Always buy organic produce. This one's a no-brainer, but the list wouldn't be complete without it. Lingering pesticides can lead to nervous and reproductive system damage, not to mention cancer.

12. Use stainless steel or cast iron cookware to prepare your meals. The Teflon used to create nonstick surfaces can release noxious gases when exposed to high temperatures, which puts you at risk for heart disease.

13. Never microwave food in plastic bowls, containers, or dishes. Exposure to heat causes the bisphenol-A found in plastics to break down and potentially contaminate your food. Also, make sure to hand wash them.

 

Among my fondest childhood memories is savoring a strip of perfectly cooked bacon that had just been dragged through a puddle of maple syrup. It was an illicit pleasure; varnishing the fatty, salty, smoky bacon with sweet arboreal sap felt taboo. How could such simple ingredients produce such riotous flavors?

That was then. Today, you don't need to tax yourself applying syrup to bacon, McDonald's does it for you with the McGriddle. It conveniently takes an egg, American cheese and pork and nestles it between pancake like biscuits suffused with genuine fake-maple-syrup flavor.

The McGriddle is just one moment in an era of extreme food combinations -- a moment in which bacon plays a starring role, from high cuisine to low.

There is: bacon ice cream; bacon-infused vodka; deep-fried bacon; chocolate-dipped bacon; bacon-wrapped hot dogs filled with cheese (which are fried, then battered and fried again); brioche bread pudding smothered in bacon sauce; hard-boiled eggs coated in mayonnaise encased in bacon -- called, appropriately, the "heart attack snack"; bacon salt; bacon doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies; bacon mints; "baconnaise," which "for people who want to get heart disease but [are] too lazy to actually make bacon"; Wendy's "Baconnator" -- six strips of bacon mounded atop a half-pound cheeseburger -- which sold 25 million in its first eight weeks; and the outlandish bacon explosion -- a barbecued meat brick composed of 2 pounds of bacon wrapped around 2 pounds of sausage.

It's easy to dismiss this gonzo gastronomy as typical American excess best followed with a Lipitor chaser. Behind the proliferation of bacon offerings, however, is a confluence of government policy, factory farming, the boom in fast food and manipulation of consumer taste that has turned bacon into a weapon of mass destruction. While bacon's harmful effects were once limited to individual consumers, its production in vast porcine cities has become an environmental disaster. The system of industrialized hog (and beef and poultry) farming that has developed over the last 40 years turns out to be ideal for breeding novel strains of deadly pathogens, such as the current pandemic of swine flu. If a new killer virus appears, like the Spanish flu that killed tens of millions after World War I, factory farms will have played a central role in its genesis.

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) churn out cheap, but flavorless, meat. However, for the CAFOs to exist there must be demand for the product. That's where the industrial food sector comes in. Chains like McDonald's, Chili's, Taco Bell, Applebee's and Pizza Hut approach the tasteless, limp factory beef, pork and chicken as a blank canvas with which to create highly enticing, even addictive, foods by pumping it full of fat, salt, sugar and chemical flavorings.

The chains lard on bacon in particular as a high-profit method of adding an item that has a "high flavor profile," a "one-of-a-kind product that has no taste substitute."  A standard joke in the restaurant chain industry goes, "When in doubt, throw cheese and bacon on it."

 The food industry uses science and marketing to try to make its products addictive. By manipulating what he calls the three points of the compass... fat, sugar and salt, the food industry creates highly processed foods that can hook us like drugs. In various countries and regions, the levels of fat, sugar and salt are even calibrated to different "bliss points" to maximize the consumers' pleasure.

 One scientist who studied lab mice that were willing to work nearly as hard to get doses of Ensure, a drink high in fat and sugar, as they were to get hits of cocaine. One food company executive calls his industry, the manipulator of the consumers' minds and desires.

 Research shows that there are big differences in how the sugars fructose and glucose are metabolized by your body. Overweight study participants showed more evidence of insulin resistance and other risk factors for heart disease and diabetes when 25 percent of their calories came from fructose-sweetened beverages instead of glucose-sweetened beverages.

A study looked at 32 overweight or obese men and women. Over a 10-week period, they drank either glucose or fructose sweetened beverages totaling 25 percent of their daily calorie intake.

Both the groups gained weight during the trial, but imaging studies revealed that the fructose-consuming group gained more of the dangerous belly fat that has been linked to a higher risk for heart attack and stroke. The fructose group also had higher total cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and greater insulin resistance.



 This is not the first study showing that fructose harms your body in ways glucose does not. Two years ago, another study concluded that drinking high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) -- the main ingredient in most soft drinks throughout the world -- increases your triglyceride levels and your LDL (bad) cholesterol.

 And, just like this latest study, these harmful effects only occurred in the participants who drank fructose -- not glucose.

 How Much Fructose are You Consuming?

 Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of high fructose corn syrup.

 Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it's also about 20 times sweeter than table sugar.

 This switch drastically altered the average American diet.

 Corn syrup is now found in every type of processed, pre-packaged food you can think of. In fact, the use of HFCS in the U.S. diet increased a staggering 10,673 percent between 1970 and 2005, according to a recent report by the USDA.

 By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars - the majority of which comes from high fructose corn syrup.

 As I've mentioned on numerous occasions, processed foods account for more than 90 percent of the money Americans spend on their meals, so it's no wonder the yearly sugar consumption of the average American weighs in around 142 pounds a year.

 This is a staggering amount, but if you eat mainly processed foods, you're likely in this category whether you're consciously aware of consuming that much sugar or not.

 Ironically, the very products that most people rely on to lose weight -- low-fat diet foods -- are often those that contain the most fructose!

 I recommend that you limit your intake of added sugar to about 2 pounds per year in order to optimize your overall health, and one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to focus on fresh, whole foods that have not been altered and processed.

 Fructose is Metabolized Differently by Your Body

 Despite the fact that this and other studies show clear differences in how fructose is metabolized by your body, researchers claim that the findings do not prove that HFCS is worse for your health than other sugars.

 That simply makes no sense.

 They keep claiming that HFCS is chemically similar to other widely used sweeteners, including table sugar (sucrose), honey, and even sweeteners made from concentrated fruit juices.

 But this is clearly not true.

 HFCS is a highly processed product that contains similar amounts of unbound fructose and glucose. Sucrose, on the other hand, is a larger sugar molecule that is metabolized into glucose and fructose in your intestine.

 And whereas the glucose in other sugars are converted to blood glucose, fructose is a relatively unregulated source of fuel that your liver converts to fat and cholesterol.

 There is over 35 years of hard empirical evidence, in addition to this latest study, showing refined man-made fructose like HFCS metabolizes to triglycerides and adipose tissue, not blood glucose.

 The danger of that is that fructose does not stimulate your insulin secretion, nor enhance leptin production, which is involved in appetite regulation. 

 Because insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you eat, as well as your body weight, dietary fructose can also contribute to increased food intake and weight gain.

 So, if you need to lose weight, fructose is one type of sugar you'll definitely want to avoid, particularly in the form of HFCS.

 Beware of New Super-Charged Fructose Sweetener!

 Despite the evidence against fructose, industry has created a new high-octane version of HFCS that's 99 percent fructose, called "crystalline fructose."

 Clearly, all the health problems associated with HFCS could become even more pronounced with this product.

 Adding insult to injury, crystalline fructose may also contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals -- a virtual laundry list of toxic agents you clearly want to avoid at all cost. Especially if you have children, as all of these contaminants can impact your child's development and long-term health.

 Fructose Raises Your Risk of Heart Disease

 Aside from the weight gain and increased risk of diabetes, fructose has been shown to increase your triglyceride levels. In one previous study, eating fructose raised triglyceride levels by 32 percent in men.

 Triglycerides, the chemical form of fat found in foods and in your body, are not something you want in excess amounts. Forty years worth of research has confirmed that elevated blood levels of triglycerides, known as hypertriglyceridemia, puts you at an increased risk of heart disease.

 How to Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

 Ideally I recommend that you avoid sugar, in all forms. This is especially important for people who are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

 But if you're looking for the occasional sweet treat, I recommend:

 1.       The herb stevia (this is the best and safest sweetener, although illegal to use as a food additive, according to the FDA)           
2.        Organic cane sugar            
3.        Raw, organic honey

 I recommend avoiding all other types of sugar, including fructose, HFCS, and any type of artificial sweeteners. As I mentioned earlier, the absolute easiest way to do this is to stop drinking soda and avoid processed foods.

 Small amounts of whole fruit, which do contain fructose, are typically not a problem. As long as you're healthy, feel free to enjoy fruit and berries in moderation according to your nutritional type.

A widespread and silent killer that's worse for your health than alcohol, nicotine and many drugs is likely lurking in your kitchen cabinets right now. "It" is monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer that's known widely as an addition to Chinese food, but that's actually added to thousands of the foods you and your family regularly eat, especially if you are like most Americans and eat the majority of your food as processed foods or in restaurants.

MSG is one of the worst  food additives on the market and is used in canned soups, crackers, meats, salad dressings, frozen dinners and  much more. It's found in your local supermarket and restaurants, in your child's school cafeteria and, amazingly, even in baby food and infant formula.

MSG is more than just a seasoning like salt and pepper, it actually enhances the flavor of foods, making processed meats and frozen dinners taste fresher and smell better, salad dressings more tasty, and canned foods less tinny.

While MSG's benefits to the food industry are quite clear, this food additive could be slowly and silently doing major damage to your health.

What Exactly is MSG

You may remember when the MSG powder called "Accent" first hit the U.S. market. Well, it was many decades prior to this, in 1908, that monosodium glutamate was invented. The inventor was Kikunae Ikeda, a Japanese man who identified the natural flavor enhancing substance of seaweed.

Taking a hint from this substance, they were able to create the man-made additive MSG, and he and a partner went on to form Ajinomoto, which is now the world's largest producer of MSG (and interestingly also a drug manufacturer).

Chemically speaking, MSG is approximately 78 percent free glutamic acid, 21 percent sodium, and up to 1 percent contaminants.

It's a misconception that MSG is a flavor or "meat tenderizer." In reality, MSG has very little taste at all, yet when you eat MSG, you think the food you're eating has more protein and tastes better. It does this by tricking your tongue, using a little-known fifth basic taste: umami.

Umami is the taste of glutamate, which is a savory flavor found in many Japanese foods, bacon and also in the toxic food additive MSG. It is because of umami that foods with MSG taste heartier, more robust and generally better to a lot of people than foods without it.

The ingredient didn't become widespread in the United States until after World War II, when the U.S. military realized Japanese rations were much tastier than the U.S. versions because of MSG.

In 1959, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeled MSG as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS), and it has remained that way ever since. Yet, it was a telling sign when just 10 years later a condition known as "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" entered the medical literature, describing the numerous side effects, from numbness to heart palpitations, that people experienced after eating MSG.

Today that syndrome is more appropriately called "MSG Symptom Complex," which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identifies as "short-term reactions" to MSG. More on those "reactions" to come.

Why MSG is so Dangerous

One of the best overviews of the very real dangers of MSG comes from Dr. Russell Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon and author of "Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills." In it he explains that MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain damage to varying degrees -- and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease and more.

Part of the problem also is that free glutamic acid is the same neurotransmitter that your brain, nervous system, eyes, pancreas and other organs use to initiate certain processes in your body. Even the FDA states:

 "Studies have shown that the body uses glutamate, an amino acid, as a nerve impulse transmitter in the brain and that there are glutamate-responsive tissues in other parts of the body, as well.

 Abnormal function of glutamate receptors has been linked with certain neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's chorea. Injections of glutamate in laboratory animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain.

Although the FDA continues to claim that consuming MSG in food does not cause these ill effects, many other experts say otherwise.


 "When an excess of food-borne excitotoxins, such as MSG, hydrolyzed protein soy protein isolate and concentrate, natural flavoring, sodium caseinate and aspartate from aspartame, are consumed, these glutamate receptors are over-stimulated, producing cardiac arrhythmias.

 When magnesium stores are low, as we see in athletes, the glutamate receptors are so sensitive that even low levels of these excitotoxins can result in cardiac arrhythmias and death."

Many other adverse effects have also been linked to regular consumption of MSG, including:

* Obesity 
* Eye damage 
* Headaches 
* Fatigue and disorientation 
* Depression

Further, even the FDA admits that "short-term reactions" known as MSG Symptom Complex can occur in certain groups of people, namely those who have eaten "large doses" of MSG or those who have asthma.

According to the FDA, MSG Symptom Complex can involve symptoms such as:

* Numbness 
* Burning sensation 
* Tingling 
* Facial pressure or tightness 
* Chest pain or difficulty breathing 
* Headache 
* Nausea 
* Rapid heartbeat 
* Drowsiness 
* Weakness

No one knows for sure just how many people may be "sensitive" to MSG, but studies from the 1970s suggested that 25 percent to 30 percent of the U.S. population was intolerant of MSG -- at levels then found in food. Since the use of MSG has expanded dramatically since that time, it's been estimated that up to 40 percent of the population may be impacted.

How to Determine if MSG is in Your Food

Food manufacturers are not stupid, and they've caught on to the fact that people like you want to avoid eating this nasty food additive. As a result, do you think they responded by removing MSG from their products? Well, a few may have, but most of them just tried to "clean" their labels. In other words, they tried to hide the fact that MSG is an ingredient.

How do they do this? By using names that you would never associate with MSG.

You see, it's required by the FDA that food manufacturers list the ingredient "monosodium glutamate" on food labels, but they do not have to label ingredients that contain free glutamic acid, even though it's the main component of MSG.

There are over 40 labeled ingredients that contain glutamic acid,[9] but you'd never know it just from their names alone. Further, in some foods glutamic acid is formed during processing and, again, food labels give you no way of knowing for sure.

Tips for Keeping MSG Out of Your Diet

In general, if a food is processed you can assume it contains MSG (or one of its pseudo-ingredients). So if you stick to a whole, fresh foods diet, you can pretty much guarantee that you'll avoid this toxin.

The other place where you'll need to watch out for MSG is in restaurants. You can ask your server which menu items are MSG-free, and request that no MSG be added to your meal, but of course the only place where you can be entirely sure of what's added to your food is in your own kitchen.

To be on the safe side, you should also know what ingredients to watch out for on packaged foods. Here is a list of ingredients that ALWAYS contain MSG:

Autolyzed Yeast      
Calcium Caseinate    
Gelatin Glutamate    
Glutamic Acid    
Hydrolyzed Protein
Monopotassium Glutamate    
Monosodium Glutamate     
Sodium Caseinate
Textured Protein    
Yeast Extract    
Yeast Food
Yeast Nutrient               

These ingredients OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing

Flavors and Flavorings    
Seasonings     
Natural Flavors and Flavorings     
Natural Pork Flavoring    
Natural Beef Flavoring
Natural Chicken Flavoring    
Soy Sauce     
Soy Protein Isolate     
Soy Protein     
Bouillon Stock     
Broth     
Malt Extract     
Malt Flavoring     
Barley Malt
Whey Protein    
Carrageenan     
Maltodextrin     
Pectin     
Enzymes Protease     
Corn Starch     
Citric Acid     
Powdered Milk     
Anything Protein Fortified
Anything Enzyme Modified    
Anything Ultra-Pasteurized                   

So if you do eat processed foods, please remember to be on the lookout for these many hidden names for MSG.

Choosing to be MSG-Free

Making a decision to avoid MSG in your diet as much as possible is a wise choice for nearly everyone. Admittedly, it does take a bit more planning and time in the kitchen to prepare food at home, using fresh, locally grown ingredients. But knowing that your food is pure and free of toxic additives like MSG will make it well worth it.

Plus, choosing whole foods will ultimately give you better flavor and more health value than any MSG-laden processed food you could buy at your supermarket.

According to a lead researcher in the field, the contamination of food with certain metals needs to be urgently addressed in light of growing evidence linking trace metals to behavioral problems.

Lead has been linked to antisocial behavior, partly because it contributes to nutrient depletion. Aluminum has also been linked to antisocial behavior, as it competes for the binding sites of biochemical receptors of other metal ions, such as iron and zinc. 

Heavy metals are a scourge of modern living and very difficult to avoid as these toxic contaminants have become an integral part of our industrialized culture. Metals like aluminum, cadmium, lead and mercury are commonly found in thousands of different food products, household products, personal products and untold numbers of industrial products and chemicals.

The really bad news is that soon after you're exposed to them, the heavy metals are rapidly removed from blood circulation and stored in vital tissues where they disrupt your biological systems and can wreak absolute havoc on your health.

The presence of toxic metals in your body is highly significant for they are capable of causing serious health problems by interfering with your body's normal biological functioning.

The health effects range from minor physical ailments to chronic diseases, and as discussed in the article above, your mood and behavior.

How Heavy Metals Affect Behaviour

You're exposed to heavy metals in varying amounts from a staggering number of sources as you move about in your day to day life. This  earlier article contains an impressive list of sources of various heavy metal contaminations, and their associated health effects.It has long been known that being exposed to excessive amounts of any metal can be dangerous, but now there is also strong evidence that even small traces of certain contaminants can lead to aggressive and anti-social behaviour.

According to Neil Ward, professor of chemistry at the UK's University of Surrey, many of the mechanisms are still unknown, but it's clear that eliminating heavy metals produces positive improvements in people with mood disorders who have high levels of contaminations in their system.

Now, some metals act as nutrients in small amounts, and are essential for good health, such as:

• Copper
• Manganese
• Zinc

 I have made it my mission to educate as many people about the philosophical pitfalls of believing "If it's on the shelf, it must be safe." In the US, we suffer from something called the "shortest healthy lifespan". That means we spend more years battling chronic disease than our peers from the 12 industrialized nations. There are many factors leading to this problem, but one of the obvious is how loaded our diets are with artificial chemicals.

1. Soda. Ahh, the good old American beverage. Soda is everywhere. It is marketed hard, and found at birthday parties to church functions. Nothing could be worse for the body than a splash of insulin overloading sugar soup. Almost every person I counsel on weight issues has a soda or diet soda addiction.

2. Avoid Soy, this article is designed to help uncover some of the things many people are not aware of. Here is some of the research on soy. A 2001 literature review suggested that women with current or past breast cancer should be aware of the risks of potential tumor growth when taking soy products, based on the effect of phytoestrogens to promote breast cancer cell growth in animals.

A study found high consumption of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found in most types of vegetable oil including soybean oil, may increase the likelihood that postmenopausal women will develop breast cancer. The most serious problem with soy may be its use in infant formulas. The amount of phytoestrogens that are in a day's worth of soy infant formula equals 5 birth control pills.

3. Monosodium Glutamate. The word you need to know is excitotoxicity which means too much activity, it is the pathological process by which nerve cells are damaged and killed by glutamate and similar substances i.e. (MSG). This occurs when receptors for the neurotransmitter are bombarded and can cause excitotoxicity by allowing high levels of calcium ions to enter the cell. Calcium influx into cells activates a number of enzymes. These enzymes go on to damage cell structures such as components of the cytoskeleton, membrane, and DNA.

Excitotoxicity may be involved in spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) such as Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, Alcoholism and Huntington's disease. It's no wonder why the US leads the world in neurodegenerative diseases. Millions of people consume this product and don't even know the side affects.

4. Aspartame. It's a non-nutritive sweetener about 180 times sweeter than sugar. When I speak, people invariably want to argue this point. They want their artificial sweetener. I often get comments like, "It's FDA approved." WARNING! WARNING! If the government has to "approve" something for consumption THERE IS A PROBLEM! It is simply approved until enough people die, than it will be unapproved. Your health is your responsibility. Guard it well.

5. Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you have seen any of the advertising material for HFCS high-fructose corn syrup, the marketers are trying to convince us this is a natural product. HFCS or crystalline fructose or hydrolyzed fructose, it convert to triglycerides and adipose (fat) tissue within one hour of consumption. The cheapest ingredient in the processed food industry is HFCS. The fact that mercury is found in 50% of products with HFCS should be more of a concern to every parent.

6. Hydrogenated Oil or Partially Hydrogenated Oil. Never buy foods with these ingredients since they are trans fats. Trans fats are deadly, causes heart disease, cause weight gain, and once more, other medical problems.

7. Avoid Sugar. In fact, the sweetener seems to prompt the same chemical changes in the brain seen in people who abuse drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Sugar that is processed turns out as refined white powder.

8. Don't Be Fooled By "Natural" and "Artificial Flavor". These words, most of the time, mean that the food is loaded with chemicals and grown with pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides. The bottom line-eating organic food is best.

9. Avoid Artificial Color. If anything has dye in it, stay away. A dye is a chemical poison.

10. Avoid Palm Oil. This is a very unhealthy oil that is cheap to manufacture. It also has the wrong essential fatty acid ratio, which means it increase the inflammation circulating in your blood. Inflammation is being tied to almost all disease processes.

11. Dextrose, Sucrose, and Fructose. There are chemically made sweeteners. There are not good for the body at all. So, it's best to avoid them.

12. Avoid Sucrulose and Splenda. This is a man-made sweetener that most people have heard of. In spite of the hype, it is unnatural, artificial, and man-made. The problems it can cause are increases in appetite, depression, allergies, etc., all depending on the person's genetic makeup. It is best to avoid these products.

13. No Enriched Bleached White Flour. This flour has no fiber. It has no nutritional value, and is highly refined. Eat organic wheat flour or other organic flours such as rye, millet, etc. Shoot for 20 grams of fiber a day.

 

 

Low-fat is good, butter is bad; buy free-range, not battery; tofu's terrific, lard's a killer... Messages about what we should and shouldn't eat bombard us on a daily basis. So what are we to believe? And what about the cost to the planet? Rose Prince unravels the myths and explains what we need to know to choose our food with confidence - and a clear conscience

APPLES

Are there chemical residues on apples?

Yes. First, be aware that while it is in the interests of supermarkets to control the level of pesticide and post-harvest fungicide drenches applied to apples from the "dedicated" British farms that supply them, they are less able to monitor imports. In 2005, the government-backed Pesticides Residues Committee sampled 63 apples and found chemical residues on all but seven. No residues were found on the four organic samples taken. Residues were found on all EU-originated apple samples. Two samples contained residues at levels unacceptably high for children. Concerned parents should peel imported apples.

Are organic apples the right choice?

Not always. Organic apples from supermarkets, organic food shops and even box schemes are often imported, and the food miles they clock up negate any environmental gain. Buying British-grown organic apples is ideal but you will have to look hard for them. Growing a disease-free, good-looking apple without pesticides is a tough task in the British climate. Old trees that have never been treated with agricultural chemicals tend to produce abundantly without problems, but organic farmers say new orchards can develop disease/pest problems after just a few years, which are very hard to control.

After picking, British apples are stored for up to six months at 2-3C in a "controlled atmosphere" with nitrogen gas and ammonia to reduce oxygen levels. But not all apples are stored this way. In 2005, the chemical 1-methylcyclopropene was approved for use in Europe. This is a gas that, when pumped into cold rooms or shipping containers, halts the release of ethylene, the natural hormone in fruit that ripens it. This means the apple you buy can be up to one year old, because the chemical makes apples retain their "just-picked" looks, flavour and juice.

When are British apples in season?

The season for apple growing in northern hemisphere countries runs from August to March but, with the exception of a few varieties, the more unusual ones are available for only some of this time. This is either because they are in short supply or because they do not store well. Thanks to "controlled atmosphere" storage methods, British apples are available until March (although the supply is limited).

The southern hemisphere season kicks in neatly in April, lasting through the British summer and into autumn. Savvy shoppers beware - it can encroach on the start of the British season, the time when loyalty to British farms is paramount.

EGGS

No food is more versatile - or controversial. The increasing number of free-range eggs on sale in supermarkets indicates that shoppers are more aware of the cruelty of caging hens in batteries. That goes only partly towards solving our egg troubles; in spite of labelling laws, eggs are still not a safe food, especially in ready-cooked dishes.

Which eggs are safe to eat?

British eggs, individually stamped with a "red lion" logo, are laid by hens that have been vaccinated against salmonella. The scheme means that 90-95 per cent of British shop-sold eggs are. These are the ones to use when making mayonnaise, but seek out free-range eggs with the red lion logo if you are concerned about hen welfare, too.

Which eggs are unsafe?

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) reports a serious problem in the catering trade with the use of imported eggs - Spanish eggs in particular - contaminated with salmonella. Salmonella infection is linked to poor husbandry and intensive systems. It is a mystery why there's no law to force caterers to provide consumers with information about the eggs they use, as retailers of fresh eggs do. British farmers are lobbying the catering trade, demanding that they stop using imports.

What's in the supermarkets?

Marks & Spencer operates an ethical egg policy, selling only eggs from free-range hens and using them in its ready meals and other foods - excellent. Its hens are fed on a GM-free, cereal-based vegetarian diet; there's one metre of floor space for every 11 birds, but the organic variety has more space. The Co-op sells 66 per cent UK-sourced eggs from hens whose welfare complies with the RSPCA's Freedom Food standards (loose requirements compared to Soil Association-certified organic systems). Feed for the hens is GM free and the diet consists of cereals, grass and meal. The Co-op has not banned the sale of battery eggs but is admirably honest in labelling products. Tesco, Morrisons and Asda did not supply information about their eggs.

TEA

We in the UK (with Russia) are the biggest tea-drinkers. Putting aside the taste and any benefits to be had, read between the leaves and you may change the way you buy it for ever.

Are there chemicals in my tea?

In 2001, 46 tea brands were tested and residues were found on five samples. The residues did not exceed government-approved maximum levels, but this is still unsatisfactory in a drink that should be 100 per cent pure.

Is tea an environmentally friendly crop?

Tea is grown in a monoculture - in other words, just one type is planted over vast areas. This reduces biodiversity (ie wildlife) and increases the need for agricultural chemicals, which can also be dangerous to estate workers who apply it. There are organic tea farms, which do much to lessen the impact of growing tea on the environment.

Who picks the tea leaves?

Production is very labour-intensive and workers' conditions are a serious cause for concern. The workforce can be trapped within the plantations, dependent on the "owners" for medical aid, housing, fuel, food and in many cases the education of their children, themselves destined for life on the plantation. Wages are low. In India, the rate varies from less than one US dollar a day to just over a dollar; it is estimated that the living wage should be more than $2 a day. Problems on estates include sexual discrimination, poor working conditions and abuse of migrant workforces.

So is all tea, apart from Fairtrade, unfairly traded?

Not necessarily. Some of the bigger conglomerates and all UK retailers have signed up to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP). Both schemes promise an admirable code of conduct.

Can buying Fairtrade tea help?

Yes. The Fairtrade organisation either buys direct from an estate, if the social welfare and income of the workers are good, or it buys from groups or co-operatives of smallholder farmers, or gives farmers and workers shares in processing plants.

LAMB

Recently, mutton and meat from older lambs have finally entered the consciousness of British meat-eaters. For a long time, it seemed only that British lamb was tenderly sweet and pale; then, when stocks ran low, in came New Zealand lamb - tenderly sweet and, yes, pale. All the while that 100,000 tons of NZ lamb was coming into ports, it passed boats crammed with live sheep from the UK going on hellish journeys to southern Europe - 50,000 a year. Only these were the interesting ones: tasty, slightly older lambs with the flavours of wild grasses from fell, dale and highlands. Their destination was slow cooking, with garlic, tomatoes and wild marjoram. If one good thing came out of the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic, it was the exposure of this crazy swap and transportation scandal.

What lamb is in season, when?

March-April - spring lambs, newly weaned, born around Christmas. Most are bred for this season and the practice of getting them to this weight is fairly unnatural; many are reared indoors and fed concentrates.

May-July - British lamb will still be in shops, larger lambs born in early spring who have fed on the new grass. This is fine-tasting young lamb, often superior to "spring" lamb and cheaper, too.

August-October - hogget (or shearling). These are lambs (usually hill breeds) that have reached a year old or more; their meat is stronger flavoured and delicious.

November-spring - New Zealand lamb arrives. It's nice, and I'm glad the sensible New Zealand farmers, who never receive subsidies, have an outlet. But there is no getting away from the fact that this shipped-in lamb has a food-mile sickness.

What is mutton?

Mutton is from sheep that are slaughtered at over two years old. Older sheep have more flavour and may need a lot of slow cooking in order to be tender, but most mutton animals produce beautiful tender meat.

Is lamb farmed intensively?

Apart from those rushed for the Easter season, most lamb is farmed relatively naturally.

Is organic lamb superior?

A high-grade conventional lamb is as good a choice as organic; choosing organic in the case of lamb is more about the environment. It is good to know, for example, that the animal was not grazed on land treated with chemicals. This is not to say that most conventional lamb is; hill farmers in particular rear their lambs on untreated land.

LARD AND DRIPPING

Use lard in pastry and it promises to be endlessly crisp. Spread dripping on toast and top with cress for a filling meal. Both fats produce fabulous roast potatoes. In spite of the high vitamin content, doctors don't approve because these are saturated fats. But a little at a time is a pleasure, and at least these fats do not go through the horrendous refining process that diminishes the goodness of most vegetable oils - and, indeed, makes them potentially harmful.

What is lard?

Lard must be pork fat or it cannot be labelled as such. The fat is heated, which reduces most of it to a liquid. This is then filtered and cooled, leaving a white, naturally hard fat with a high melting point. Because it undergoes no further deodorising, lard retains a porky taste, which is great for cooking. Lard keeps in the fridge for up to 12 months.

How harmful are animal fats?

Animal fat is saturated and health experts recommend we limit the amount we eat. But animal fats have many good properties. They are a whole, natural food. Lard, dripping and dairy fat are antiviral and antibacterial, and they can play a part in fending off disease, including cancer. The fatty acids are important for metabolism and growth. The conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) actually help reduce body fat. Meat fats contain a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6, albeit in small quantities.

Where does lard come from?

Most lard you see wrapped in white paper in chiller cabinets hails from the slaughterhouses of Denmark, Holland and Belgium. Animal welfare standards are lower in these countries - for example, stalls and tethers are still legal practice. Although such practices are banned in the UK, up to 70 per cent of our pigs are indoor-reared. Lard from free-range pigs is a rare commodity, but easy to make if you buy pork fat from a butcher you trust and melt it at home.

Is beef dripping safe to eat?

In terms of BSE, beef dripping falls under the same rules as beef and may not enter the food chain unless it can be traced back to the farm. That's not to say illegal dripping does not slip through the net. Saving dripping from roasts is the best source.

SOY SAUCE

The lengthy, resonating flavour that characterises soy sauce is described as "umami" but it comes in two guises, natural and chemical. The former is the result of amino acids developing as the sauce brews naturally; the latter comes through the simple addition of monosodium glutamate. There are three types of soy sauce:

Japanese naturally brewed soy sauce - made using the koji process, similar to wine-making. Aspigillis bacteria are added to soya, wheat and water and the mash exposed to humid heat to grow a mould. The sauce is brewed for up to six months, and amino acids develop. This soy sauce contains no added sugar, colour or flavour, though it does contain salt.

Chinese fermented soy sauce - made with soya and no wheat, and less acidic. Sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate is usually added to preserve it. Japanese soy sauce is extracted by pressing the mash, while Chinese sauce is water that is flushed through the mash, taking on only its flavour. The liquid must then be coloured with caramel, and salt, sugar and sometimes artificial flavourings are added.

Hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP) soy sauce - a highly processed and disgusting product. Hydrochloric acid is added to the beans, creating flavour-producing amino acids. HVP has been found to contain chloropropanol, which is a carcinogen. Fortunately, HVP sauce represents a small share of soy sauce sold in the UK.

BUTTER AND SPREADS

Butter bad, margarine good - or so the mantra went. But recent evidence claims that the transfats in spreads and margarines are more harmful than in butter, and that dairy fat wins the nutrient quality stakes despite being a saturated fat. Could it be possible that butter is a safer, more wholesome food? It may be, but it has other drawbacks.

Which is better for you, butter or "spread"?

Spreads contain varying levels of transfats. Those made with hydrogenated oil have the highest levels, but transfats are formed when all vegetable fats are refined. Those in butter, dairy foods and other animal fats are naturally occurring and do not share the harmful properties of the synthetic transfat that results from hydrogenation.

Are low-fat and olive oil spreads the answer?

They can still contain transfats and a lot else. Bertolli "Lucca" Olive Oil Spread, for example, contains 21 per cent olive oil (Bertolli's own), plus rapeseed oil, vegetable oil, buttermilk, water, emulsifiers, preservatives, thickener, flavourings, colouring and vitamins. Watch out for the term "vegetable oil": it often means palm oil, a saturated fat that carries serious environmental concerns but that manufacturers like to use because it has a high melting point.

What's good about butter?

Butter made from cow's milk contains unique acids that protect against viral illness, fight tumours and guard the gut from pathogenic bacteria and the negative effects of microbes and yeasts. Butter is rich in vitamins A and D, which aid the absorption of calcium. However, do not ignore warnings about overeating saturated dairy fats - enjoy butter in moderation.

Surely butter is fattening?

In fact, evidence is emerging that eating a bit of butter helps with weight loss. The short- and medium-chain fatty acids (such as butyric and lauric acid) contained in butter are used rapidly for energy - faster than those in other oils, including olive oil. The medium-chain lauric acid in butter actually raises metabolism.

Are the problems with fat purely about health?

Sadly not. The production of palm oil has had a devastating impact on the ecosystem of South-east Asia, where large tracts of the natural forest have been cleared for palm plantations.

And is butter innocent?

Butter troubles abound. There is the poor quality of life for cows in large-scale, intensive dairy farms, and the effluent from such farms can poison the local environment and water supply. Cheap imports of butter (or cream for butter-making) have put economic pressure on farmers, causing them to increase herd sizes, keeping the dairy cattle indoors all their lives so they never graze in fields.

SUSHI

When a specialist food becomes available to everyone, it should be time to celebrate. In the case of sushi, the transformation in 10 years has been remarkable. Now, any city dweller can pop out to the supermarket for maki rolls. We are cheered by the low calorie count and ecstatic about the nutritional goodness... But it isn't all good news.

What's not to love?

The body count of the fish used is the big problem. Blue-fin tuna is listed as critically endangered, while stocks of yellow-fin - the one in supermarket sushi - are dropping. Some tuna is caught on long lines, which is a danger to other marine species. Ask about the retailer's dolphin policy when buying fish or sushi.

Where does all that fish come from?

The salmon in supermarket sushi is farmed and this can be problematic in terms of marine pollution and the decimation of wild stocks used for feed. Pollution issues also arise with another sushi ingredient, warm-water prawns. Environment agencies say the deforestation of mangroves in South-east Asia to make way for prawn farms leaves the coastline dangerously unprotected, and contributed to damage in the 2004 tsunami.

Is sushi safe?

Against all odds - yes. You'd think that a combination of cooled cooked rice and raw fish should carry a cigarette-pack-style health warning but the Health Protection Agency reports no trouble. It is, however, illegal for restaurants, takeaways and shops to sell sushi or sashimi that has not been previously frozen at minus 20C for 24 hours. Those that make the sushi on the premises are not subject to the "freezing" law. Some fish can contain worms, which the FSA says can cause illness. These worms die at low temperatures.

How fresh is the fish?

Ideally, the fish arriving in the UK is not more than four days old from catch time, stored at 0.4C. In the case of frozen fish, the catch may be blast-frozen on the boat itself.

Is sushi totally good for you?

The Japanese have the lowest heart-disease rate in the world, but it is not known whether this is down to their fish eating or the general diet. The oils in some fish are beneficial to heart health. There have been concerns about mercury levels in oily fish and dioxins in some farmed salmon. Weighing good against bad, the benefits of the essential fatty acids in fish oils win, and mercury levels are tiny in wild fish. If you worry about contaminants in farmed salmon, choose organic or wild Irish salmon.

TOFU

Like people, some foods have a permanent halo even if they don't always deserve it. Tofu is one such food. It was first made in China more than 2,000 years ago and was taken to Japan by Keno priests in AD700. Hand-made tofu is still a matter of pride and skill in Japan, but traditionalists say corners have been cut for the mass-market product, turning what should be a flavoursome, meaty curd into a bland slab. And there are some environmental concerns.

What's in tofu?

It's made from ground cooked soya beans, water and a coagulant that sets the paste into curds. These are pressed to remove liquid, leaving a cake that can be cut, eaten fresh, cooked or diced into soups and stir-fries.

How is tofu made?

The crucial point is the coagulant. Nigari - the mineral magnesium chloride, taken from evaporating seawater - is the traditional substance used to curdle the paste and give tofu a multifaceted, earthy flavour. But modern makers can use calcium sulphate, or gypsum. This retains a lot of water, boosting the makers' profits, but it gives tofu a chalky taste. The industry insists gypsum's calcium content is a good thing. The most artificial coagulant is glucono delta lactone, a highly refined chemical derived from maize.

Another big issue with tofu is genetic modification; one type of GM soya has been licensed for use in the UK but any food product, including soya, must be clearly labelled if it is derived from a genetically modified organism (GMO). GM's detractors say that crops are being gradually contaminated with
GMOs.

How can I avoid GM soya?

Buy organic tofu, simply because the organic sector best polices the movement of GM-contaminated material.Trading standards offices in the UK are particularly concerned about fraudsters passing off non-organic foods as organic.

If tofu eco-friendly?

Not always. Soya farming has grown hugely. With not enough being grown and no more suitable agricultural land where it can be grown, large Amazon rainforest areas are being cleared to make way for it.

CHICKEN

The rise in popularity of free-range and organic birds is due solely to concerns about factory farming. But rumblings about avian influenza threaten the free chicken. We can expect to see birds back in the shed or, worse, mass slaughter. The irony is that disease spreads fast when animals are densely stocked.

Why do some chickens cost £3 and others £20?

The price reflects the farming method. It is possible to rear a chicken in only 38 days, and hence to sell it for less than a fiver, but traditional, slow poultry rearing (which can take up to six months) pushes up the farmer's costs and therefore the shelf price. Chickens bred specially for fast growth are reared indoors, on a diet designed to get them up to size in the minimum time, and welfare troubles are endless. The life of a broiler-house bird is horrendous, if mercifully short. Hope for change is remote; a European directive meant to change standards is under discussion but nothing is likely to happen until 2010.

Is a chicken what it eats?

No doubt about it. For the traditionally reared chicken, a cereal diet supplemented by forage in pasture, picking up the odd grub, will produce flavoursome meat with a well-exercised, muscular texture. Feed in the broiler house is also cereal-based, but high-protein feed for fast growth, based on fishmeal, can be soya (which can be GM derived), often fed to the chickens along with oils and additives, including vitamins, enzymes and antibiotics. Antibiotics "prescribed" by vets help to keep the birds disease free - a necessity in such cramped conditions.

Antibiotic residues in meat are a huge consumer problem. A government inquiry found the presence of antibiotics in meat to be responsible for 50 per cent of people's decreased immunity to infections.

Are free-range chickens the most welfare-friendly?

Not always. Free-range farms can be overcrowded, and handling of the birds on farms, during transport and at slaughter can be just as rough as for the broiler-house bird. To carry the free-range label, a bird has only to spend half its life with access to outdoors. Unless labelled organic, the bird's feed is also in question. Look for "traditional free range" or "free range - total freedom" on labels, as these indicate higher welfare standards. The strictest standard, in terms of welfare and feed, is the organic Soil Association mark.

How are chickens reared in Europe?

France and Italy farm poultry intensively, too, but they have always had large, thriving markets for the slow-reared farmhouse bird, regarded as a luxury and having a price to match.

CURED PORK

One huge attraction of the continuing love affair with all things southern European is the ever-changing menu of cured pork. Right now, the hot legs in town are Iberico hams, with their buttery fat and dark, tender meat. Lardo di colonnata will be next; wafer-thin strips of this peppery cured pork fat, melted over toast, are a revelation. A positive outcome of the 1990s food scares is growing consumer curiosity about provenance: where and how livestock are reared and what they are fed.

Like all pork products, cured meats have animal welfare issues. The assumption is that imported cured meats are bound to be made on cute farms on oregano-scented hillsides. Artisan charcuterie does exist but, like all specialist meats, it is available in specialist shops and markets, especially in the country where it is produced. However, almost all generic cured meats sold in the UK - although based on traditional recipes - are made using factory-reared pigs. Welfare standards in European countries are lower than in the UK. Mass-produced British pork comes from factory farms, too, but here they use marginally kinder methods.

What's in the supermarkets?

The overwhelming majority of supermarket hams and salamis are undistinguished, to say the least. There are exceptions; Tesco sells genuine Parma and San Daniele ham, and Sainsbury's and Waitrose stock genuine Iberico ham from Spain, although not equivalent in quality to Joselito Iberico. Sainsbury's stocks no other cured foods made with pork from free-range farms, but it does sell organic ham. Waitrose's own-brand Italian prosciutto, salami and pancetta are made with "farm assured" pork from inspected Italian farms - an improvement in information, reassuring on animal welfare.

PEAS

We guzzle 100,000 tons of frozen peas a year. Little wrong with that; our favourite brands boost British farm incomes and are relatively safe and unadulterated. But imported fresh peas pose troubling debates that environmentalists, aid agencies and consumers find hard to reconcile.

Where do frozen peas come from?

Birds Eye sells 50 per cent of frozen peas in our shops. Virtually all are grown in the UK (only a shortage will see the company import from New Zealand) and the business supports 380 individual farmers. Turning over £50m a year, Birds Eye (which is now part of Unilever) is vital to our farming economy. It does not pack "own brand" peas for supermarkets or other names, and its corporate transparency makes the brand a safe choice if you want to buy peas with British provenance.

What's the process from farm to freezer counter?

While the peas are processed by state-of-the-art technology, artificial additives are not used. Birds Eye peas are harvested from June to August and, at the moment of ripeness, are picked using special machines that shell and clean them before taking them to the factory. The peas are blanched in water at 90C for 60 seconds, cooled, and blast frozen in a special tunnel at minus 25C. The conveyor belt bounces, keeping the peas apart. They are held in stores, then packed through the year as required.

Are peas sprayed with pesticides?

Frozen peas were last tested for residues in 2003; 76 samples were tested and residues of the fungicide Vinclozolin were found on one sample imported from Belgium. No residues were found on the British samples. Podded, air-freighted fresh peas (from Kenya, Guatemala and Peru) were tested for residues in 2004; of 72 samples tested, 27 had residues.

Can peas be grown without chemicals?

Farmers are being encouraged to reduce artificial treatments and introduce environmentally friendly pest-control using predators, companion planting and pheromone traps, but these measures are voluntary. Birds Eye has worked with the Wildlife Trusts Partnership and birdlife ecologists on the issue, but this remains at the research stage. UK organic farmers are permitted some treatments deemed "natural" but admit that peas are a problematic organic crop.

 

 Courtesy of Healthy Cooking Tips

 Remember... Grace is upon you so eat to live!™