9781422269947

Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet Eating Healthier as a Family Eating Whole Foods, Minimally Processed Foods for Peak Fitness Fruits and Vegetables for Health

How to Eat a Balanced Diet Eating in Moderation and Intermittent Fasting Lean Protein for Health Nuts and Seeds for Health What’s in a Label?

What’s in a Label?

By Patricia Waldygo

MASON CREST M i a m i

Mason Crest PO Box 221876, Hollywood, FL 33022 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free) • www.masoncrest.com

Copyright © 2024 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Series hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4823-2

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4833-1 Series ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-6984-8 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-6994-7 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress Developed and Produced by Print Matters Productions, Inc Cover and Interior Design by Torque Advertising+Design

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KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase readers’ understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send readers back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase readers’ ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field. Additives Sneak into Foods.......................................71 Series Glossary of Key Terms........................................88 Further Reading & Internet Resources..........................92 Index.......................................................................... 94 Author’s Biography & Credits.......................................96 Chapter 1: The Roller Coaster History of Food Labeling in the United States....................................................7 Chapter 2: How to Read Those Complicated Nutrition Facts Labels..............................................23 Chapter 3: Deception 101: Why and How Do Food Companies Try to Fool People?. ................................39 Chapter 4: The USDA’s Domain: Meat, Poultry, and Eggs. .55 Chapter 5: How Chemicals, GMOs, and Toxic

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

Bacterial: Pertaining to bacteria, living organisms that have only one cell and often cause infections and diseases. Beriberi: A disease caused by a deficiency of thiamine in the diet that inflames the nerves and causes heart failure. Germ (or wheat germ): A part of the wheat kernel that is removed in milling and is often sold separately as a good source of vitamins and minerals. Pellagra: A disease caused by a deficiency of niacin or tryptophan in the diet, with symptoms of diarrhea, dermatitis, and mental imbalance. Scurvy: A disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C in the diet with the symptoms of swollen, bleeding gums and wounds that don’t heal.

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Chapter

The Roller Coaster History of Food Labeling in the United States

A country’s food supply is not safe by accident. It takes visionary people working with committed leaders to ensure food safety for an entire country. Unfortunately, throughout history, greed and the desire to make a quick buck have often jeopardized the US food supply. It seems that people usually wait until there’s a problem before they try to fix it. Thus, almost every new law and regulation follows that pattern. This chapter explains how the process unfolded. The 1850s–1860s: The Wild West of Food Safety Imagine living back in the 1850s, the pioneer days, when people didn’t know whether their next meal might kill them. Although Robert Hooke and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek had used primitive microscopes to identify molds and bacteria (in 1665 and 1676, respectively), there were still no US laws prohibiting the sale

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of moldy or rotten foods. People had to rely on the “sight and smell” test when buying groceries or meat, and food-borne illnesses were widespread. In 1850, even President Zachary Taylor died of a bacterial infection in his intestines, caused by eating spoiled cherries and iced milk at a picnic. (Some sources dispute this and say he was assassinated, but both versions could be true.) People in those days were unaware of how food poisoning from the following toxic bacteria could cause illness, hospitalization, or death:

• norovirus • Salmonella (non-typhoidal) • Campylobacter • Listeria monocytogenes • Toxoplasma gondii • Clostridium botulinum

See the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/foodborne-germs.html) for an A-to-Z list of all food-borne illnesses. Food adulteration was another problem in the 1850s. Many medical reports publicized the dangers of adulterated foods that contained added toxic substances. Experts at the time believed that adulterated foods had contributed to the decline in Americans’ life expectancy. Some US states passed laws against food adulteration, but the laws didn’t apply to foods sold across state lines. These laws harmed everyone who produced regional specialty foods, because con men sold fake versions of those items in other states. So big producers, such as H.J. Heinz and Frederick Pabst, lobbied for the creation of a federal agency to regulate foods and beverages. In 1862, President Abraham

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What’s in a Label?

Before current laws, people had to rely on the “sight and smell” test when buying meat from a neighborhood butcher.

Q: How can you tell if food has botulism? A: Botulism toxin is so dangerous that even one taste of food contaminated with it can result in death. People can’t smell, see, or taste botulism toxin. The home canning of foods causes about 30 percent of the botulism outbreaks in America. Any survivalists who plan to can all the extra vegetables from their garden should go to this link for safety instructions: https:// www.cdc.gov/botulism/consumer.html. Commercial canned foods can also go bad, so look for these signs: The can bulges or leaks or is swollen, damaged, or cracked. When the container is opened, it gushes foam or liquid, or the food is moldy, stinky, or discolored. When in doubt, throw it out!

9 Chapter 1: The Roller Coaster History of Food Labeling in the United States

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln established the USDA, which was the country’s first step toward enforcing rules for food processing and handling.

Lincoln established the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which was the country’s first step toward enforcing rules for food processing and handling. The Early 1900s: The Rise of Packaged Foods In the early 1900s, most people still bought their groceries in bulk. When boxed, packaged, and canned foods came on the scene, they were a new thrill. They were more expensive, but also

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What’s in a Label?

very convenient and easy to handle. Housewives could save time in the kitchen, preparing dinner in minutes instead of hours. The popularity of packaged foods sold by large manufacturers soon tempted fraudsters to cash in. They began underselling the brand-name foods through “short-weight packaging,” putting smaller amounts of food in the same size packages as the brand name products and selling them for lower prices. Horrific reports of unsanitary meatpacking plants, poisonous dyes and preservatives contaminating foods, and worthless quack remedies claiming to be cure-alls were some of the problems that spurred the government to get involved. In 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, the first federal law prohibiting producers from using untrue or deceptive language on food labels. This move led to the creation of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That same year, the Meat Inspection Act was passed, requiring inspection of all red meats sold across state lines. Then, in 1913, the Gould Act (also called the “Gould Amendment”) required all food packages to have the “quantity of their contents plainly and conspicuously marked on the outside of the package in terms of weight, measure or numerical count.” In an interview with the website Food Dive, FDA historian Suzanne Junod said that “the focus in the Progressive Era [1890–1920] was on preventing consumer fraud. . . . The idea was to protect the consumer from fraudulent and dangerous ingredients.” The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act After World War I, there were many new scientific breakthroughs in the area of food and nutrition. A lot of vitamins weren’t even discovered until the 1920s, which was the period when the FDA began focusing on nutrition and the roles that vitamins play in health. By that time, it had become obvious that vitamins

Chapter 1: The Roller Coaster History of Food Labeling in the United States

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Who Wants a Lead Trinket in Their Candy?

This undated FDA photo reveals some dangerous additives in foods before the government created safety regulations. Candy was allowed to contain prizes, which often consisted of toys containing lead and coins that could break children’s teeth or possibly choke them. Apparently, the court case mentioned in the photograph below happened before numerous amendments made the Food and Drugs Act very strict, or else the judge was misinformed, because he said that adding a coin to the candy did not violate the act.

Source: US Food and Drug Administration.

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What’s in a Label?

cured certain diseases: for instance, a lack of vitamin B caused beriberi , and a deficiency of vitamin C resulted in scurvy . In 1938, Congress passed the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which required all artificial colorings, flavorings, and preservatives to be listed on every product label. The law also included food standards “to promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers.” World War II, however, delayed the government from setting national standards.

Q: What’s the backstory on food rationing in the United States?

A: The US government established rationing of certain foods in 1942, and it continued until World War II ended in 1945. Each person was issued a certain number of “ration points,” which had to be used along with money to buy food. Sugar was the first food to be rationed, followed by coffee, meat, butter and cooking oils, canned fish, cheese, and canned milk. People were urged to plant “victory gardens” to grow their own vegetables. Some problems that arose were food hoarding, shortages of certain items, and a black market where people could buy anything they didn’t have ration points for.

The 1940s: Standards for Enriched Flour Flour enrichment started in the 1930s as white flour became popular. It was made by processing whole wheat flour to remove the bran and the germ —elements that provide all of flour’s vitamins and minerals. Before long, people who ate foods made with white flour began to suffer from pellagra and beriberi caused by nutritional deficiencies. In 1940, hearings were held on these

Chapter 1: The Roller Coaster History of Food Labeling in the United States

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Learn about the dangers of eating too much white bread every day.

health issues, and the American Medical Association (AMA) and the National Academy of Sciences recommended a standard for enriched flour that had “appropriate levels” of vitamins and minerals added. The FDA then applied these standards to white bread. Because it was a “standardized food,” however, its labels did not need to list those nutritional ingredients, only added ones. In the 1930s and 1940s, many people either weren’t aware of the importance of a healthy diet or couldn’t afford nutritious foods. The widespread hunger and poverty of the Great Depression had lingering aftereffects. Up to 40 percent of US military recruits were rejected during World War II because of malnutrition. Wartime food rationing and shortages affected children as well, and malnourishment was common. That led military leaders to persuade Congress to create the National School Lunch Program, providing government-subsidized meals to kids.

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What’s in a Label?

The 1960s and the Siren Song of Convenience Foods

Before the 1960s, Americans cooked and ate most of their meals at home. When prepared convenience foods, such as frozen TV dinners, began to appear in the supermarket, people wanted to know how the foods were made. In 1962, President Kennedy created the Consumer Bill of Rights, which sought to guarantee the consumer’s “right to safety, right to be informed, right to choose, and right to be heard.” By 1966, the USDA ruled that all ingredients had to be listed on every product being sold across state lines.

When prepared convenience foods, such as frozen TV dinners, began to appear in supermarkets, people wanted to know how the foods were made.

Chapter 1: The Roller Coaster History of Food Labeling in the United States

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See how the 1952 TV dinner was created from a surplus of Thanksgiving turkeys.

In 1969, President Nixon convened the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. According to Suzanne Junod, “Out of this conference came a recommendation that the FDA spend less time on the composition of foods and more on enhancing their nutritional value, letting people know about their nutritional value, and harnessing the power of technology to improve the nutritional value of foods.” In short, the FDA wanted to create a system that gave people enough information to make wise decisions when buying their groceries. 1973: False Health Claims Get Out of Hand By the late 1960s, many companies had begun claiming in ads or on labels that their foods were healthy or prevented diseases. Most of these claims, however, were deceptive or not supported by scientific research. In 1972, the FDA responded by proposing regulations for

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What’s in a Label?