5 Scary Food Secrets Manufacturers Don’t Want You to Know

Most people understand that super frosted breakfast cereal, double sized chocolate bars and Big Macs are NOT health foods.

It’s scary to find out, that even when we think we are eating healthier, the large food corporations have tricked us into eating more garbage.

Luckily, it’s easy to deal with – once you are aware of what they are up to.

Here are five surprising facts:

 1.  Fast Food ‘Healthy Salads” have more calories than “Burger Meals”

 Why do consumer’s choose salads?  To be slim and healthy right?

 Applebee’s Oriental Chicken salad has 1310 calories, 93 grams of fat and 1470 mg sodium.

 Surprisingly, the Big Mac meal with Coke has only 1130 calories, 58 grams fat and 1245 mg sodium.

I’m using the word ‘only’  sarcastically .  Both choices are unhealthy since they both have huge amounts of unhealthy fats.

I eat neither!

 2.  ‘Zero Trans Fat” Does Not Mean ‘Zero’ Trans Fat.  

 20 years ago, I started hearing about the dangers of trans fat or hydrogenated oils. Now everyone is afraid of these unnatural oils because they have been linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other major health problems.

 Manufactures love trans fats though because they are cheap and provides  a great shelf life.

 You might think that a cookie box with “Zero Trans Fat” boldly printed on the label would be safe!

 Wrong!

It turns out manufactures can say “zero trans fat’ as long as a single serving contains less than .05 grams of trans fat.  Manufacturers simply reduce the serving size.  Instead of declaring a serving size of 4 cookies, they simply make it two or even one. Many people will eat 10.

 You have to check the label.  If it says hydrogenated oil or  partially hydrogenated, just don’t buy it!

 3.  Baby Food Worse Than Junk Foods.

 If there is one area where mothers don’t compromise, it’s on  good food for their new baby. Manufactures therefore spare no expense to market baby foods as healthy and safe.

Sadly, some baby foods contain as much sugar and saturated fats as chocolate cookies or cheeseburgers.

 That’s what theChildren’s Food Campaign, discovered.  In a survey of mover 100 foods for babies and toddlers, they found baby foods that were 29 percent sugar, and many  contained trans fats.

Once again you have to read the label!

 4.  Healthy Yogurts Twice the Sugar as Your Worst Cereals

Plain old yogurt – formerly only eaten by health food fanatics, has somehow been transformed in the public’s mind into the cool wholesome snack eaten by everyone.  

They achieved this by adding sugars and artificial sweeteners and flavors and not telling you.

 In reality, a serving of General Mill’s Yoplant has twice the sugar as it’s obviously junky Lucky Charms. 

Yogurt is still a dairy product, and being fermented doesn’t necessarily help if your body can’t handle dairy. Our testing shows that just as many people are sensitive to yogurt as plain milk, and in many cases more so. 

If you just have to eat yogurt, choose plain, or you guessed it…

Read the label.

 5.  Organic and Health Food Companies Owned by Mega Corporations

 If consumers don’t want to eat the junk  created by profit mongering  corporations like Coke, Kraft or Kellogg’s, they also may not want to support them with their consumer dollars.

It seems natural you might choose smaller ‘natural’ companies and feel good that your consumer dollars are supporting healthier, more environmentally orientated ideals.

It turns out the money is still ends up in the hands of the large food corporations.

‘Natural’ companies like Bert’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, Odwalla,  Naked Juice,  Cascadian Farm, Green and Black’s organic chocolate are all now owned by large conglomerates that don’t have your health in mind – or the planet’s. 

This Gorcery Store Blacklist article lists over 100 foods companies owned by the corporations who gave money to stop GMO labeling.  The article also lists some smaller independent and  ‘still healthy’ companies.   

What can be done? 

 You can avoid these sneaky food producers by eating less packaged and produced food.

 This means buying whole foods, preferably from local producers or growing it yourself, and cooking it from scratch.

Your next best choice is independent  restaurants where you know exactly what you are getting.

Here’s some easy healthy recipes you can try today.

Fresh Quick Pea Soup Recipe  It’s quick and delicious. Add anything you want to this green soup.

How to Cook Quinoa:  Nothing could be simpler, but make sure you do it right!

Vegetable Stir Fry  A classic!

Broccoli Rice Salad  It’s amazing what you can add to salads.

Avocado Vegetable Dip  For your healthy snacks.

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