Unsafe Food in the USA

[Ronnoco]

Anyone see Dateline this previous week and the absolute gross conditions: sewage, rats, garbage, food handling, etc. in the food terminal that supplies many of restaurants in Los Angeles? They used hidden cameras and the owner ended up facing criminal charges.

Ronnoco

[mwfanelli]

as for sweeteners..

Do you know how they make the artificial sweetener that "tastes just like sugar because it's made from sugar?"

They take a sugar molecule and bond a chlorine molecule to it so that your body doesn't recognise it as sugar, and therefore doesn't absorb it. That's scary. Same theory behind that Olean oil that they were making chips with a few years ago, that gave people digestive problems. Body doesn't recognise or absorb it, so it just passes it as is.

Granulated sugar is sounding pretty good right now. And in normal quantities, most people have no problem processing it.

The chlorine atom doesn't allow the molecule to link with the proper receptors. This is not strange or scary because, as you know, much of what we eat is passed through unprocessed anyway. The problems with Olean, still used today, were the annoying (disgusting?) side effects, T\the same side effects you would get by eating too much fiber.

Neither aspartame nor sucralose have any reputable clinical evidence of harm. For that matter, neither do cyclamates.

As for sugar, tell a diabetic or pre-diabetic how good sucrose sounds now. With massive increases in chilhood diabetes, this is just silly. All sweeteners are overused, it doesn't really matter if they are sucrose or something else.

[Sushigaijin]

I totally agree with you - sweeteners (and most other additives) are way overused - that's why a little bit of sugar is a good thing, rather than hiding it in several forms in each product. Diabetes is on the rise, I'm sure it is from stuff like pop which has mega-doses of sugars, and not stuff like homemade lemonade or OJ which has very little sugar comparitively, even if it is sweetened with granulated sugar.

[adina]

I was sitting at Midas (yet again) with my 6 yr old waiting for my car. She's tired of being there, so is complaining she's thirsty, she needs a nonfat vanilla latte (she's get's hot chocolate, but likes to pretend it's a latte). The guy next to me offers to give her some of his soda. The look on his face when I said she doesn't drink soda? Priceless! I almost laughed outloud.

90% of the time, my kids drink milk or water. On the rare occasions they drink soda, it's orange or root beer. I could count on 1 hand the number of times they've had soda this year. I don't really drink it either.

We don't eat at McD's either. Yeah, I've got a relative or two who has called me a food nazi, but hey, better that as opposed to the alternative.

[mjs1973]

The look on his face when I said she doesn't drink soda? Priceless! I almost laughed outloud.

I know that look. I haven't had a soda since 1994, and people always look at me like I have 2 heads when I tell them. Everyone thinks it's strange that I don't drink soda, but nobody even gives it a second thought when they find out I don't drink alcohol...