Don’t believe something is good for you or safe for you just because the government puts their stamp on it. You’d think the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) really had our back, but after researching articles for a couple of posts lately, I am just not sure. If you follow the link to what the FDA is all about you’ll see they are supposed to be regulating the safety of the USA’s food supply, but why is it then that there are numerous ingredients and/or practices allowed in the US that other developed countries’ governments ban?
According to nutritionist, Mira Carlton, and her husband, Jayson Carlton, Ph.D, there are 13 products that the US allows, but are banned in other countries due to their detrimental health effects. Mira and Jayson went on a six year journey touring 100 countries on seven continents, studying 150 ingredients to come up with this list of problematic ingredients. Together they wrote the Rich Food, Poor Food . Here is the list of 13:
1. Coloring Agent: Blue 1
2. Coloring Agent: Blue 2
3. Coloring Agent: Yellow 5
4. Coloring Agent: Yellow 6
These coloring agents can be found in cakes, candy, macaroni and cheese, sports drinks, soda, pet food, and cheese.
5. Olestra
Found in fat free potato chips.
6. Brominated Vegetable Oil
Found in sports drinks and citrus flavored soda.
7. Posassium Bromate
Found in rolls, wraps, flatbreads, breadcrumbs, and bagel chips.
8. Azodicarbonamide
Found in breads, frozen dinners, boxed pasta mixes, and packaged baked goods.
9. BHA
10. BHT
Both BHA and BHT can be found in cereal, nut mixes, gum, butter, meat, dehydrated potatoes, and beer.
11. rBGH
12. rBST
Both rBGH and rBST can be found in dairy and milk products.
13. Arsenic
Found in poultry.
Once again, read labels. If you see any of these ingredients listed RUN AWAY! If you want to know more about why the government allows these products and the harmful effects of these products read this article in Shape magazine.
Snack Wars 