We are being sold #%*! food

[patfromlogan]

I flew from Munich to the good ol' USA and they served us pizza. Small yummy pizzas and I looked at the ingredients listed on the box. It was very simple, something like flour, water, tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, garlic, yeast and some spices. I wondered why the pizza back in the USA would have an ingredient list a bit longer, and one that would read like this:
ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), TOMATOES (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), CHEESE BLEND (LOW MOISTURE PART SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE [PASTEURIZED MILK, CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES], MOZZARELLA CHEESE SUBSTITUTE [WATER, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN OIL AND/OR SOY OIL), CHEESE SOLIDS, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, NONFAT DRY MILK, WHEAT GLUTEN, SWEET WHEY, SALT, MAGNESIUM OXIDE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, NIACINAMIDE, ZINC OXIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), CYANOCOBALAMIN]), WATER, CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, ENZYMES, SALT, ANNATTO [COLOR]), CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: YEAST, VEGETABLE SHORTENING (PALM OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN), SMOKE-FLAVORED PROVOLONE CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES AND SMOKE FLAVORING), SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN, COTTONSEED, CORN, AND/OR CANOLA OIL), PARMESAN CHEESE (PASTEURIZED CULTURED PART-SKIM MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SALT, SEA SALT, MALTODEXTRIN, ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, DATEM, PAPRIKA, SODIUM STEAROHYL LACTATE, ISOLATED CARROT PRODUCT, SPICE, DOUGH CONDITIONER (WHEAT STARCH, L-CYSTEINE HYDROCHLORIDE, AMMONIUM SULFATE), GARLIC, CITRIC ACID, ONION, ASCORBIC ACID.

Now Kraft Mac and Cheese is wearing warning labels in Europe. http://foodbabe.com/2013/06/06/victo...warning-label/
and this graphic shows why


What has led our country to eating such crap?

[goodlun]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/bo...anted=all&_r=0

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tu...3/michael-moss

Essentially because its profitable here and we don't regulate shit.

[goodlun]

This guy's book Cooked is also good

there are a bunch of hour+ long interviews with him. That look at this issue.

[goodlun]

[Katje]

I actually found a brilliant 18 page article summarising his findings on this I've been meaning to post up here for a while. It's a very long read, but man is it interesting. Gives a lot of credence to the concept of "food addiction" don't you think?

[Vorpal]

I make Annie's organic Mac and cheese for my kids. The reason these companies make crap food is because people buy it. Simple as that. Buy simple ingredients and learn how to cook people. Eat healthy. Thanks Pat.

[nils]

Ever since I played the first "The Walking Dead"-Videogame, where a rural family resorts to cannibalism although there is a fertile forest just in front of them, I knew there was something utterly wrong with american diet.

[scipio]

Interesting one this. I regularly visit the US (as well as other parts of Europe) and although this is perhaps a bit of a generalisation but I think that Europeans and Americans view food, how they eat it, buy it and relate to it in a totally different way.

One thing I noticed that last couple of times whilst I was in the States is the way in which premade foods are eaten in much larger quantities than in Europe. The amount of space given over to premade food is much higher than in the UK and far more say than say France.

You walk into a supermarket in Europe and most of the time you will first of all be walking through the fresh fruit/veg area followed by meats etc. I don't see that in most (although not all supermarkets in the US).

It doesn't mean that people in Europe don't eat premade food (they do and some of it is as crap as the cheesy pasta mentioned) but people are far more likely to eat freshly prepared homemade food. Depending on where you go in Europe that can be a higher proportion of meals.

I get the impression that a lot of folk in the US view food as fuel rather than and end in itself to be enjoyed.

I also get the impression that there is higher regulation of the quality of food in Europe than say the US - look at the list of ingrediants above in the cheesy pasta as an example.

I'm afraid that if you do want to change the quality of food in the US then it's a cultural change that you need to make. It will probably mean less cheap food, potentially more time preparing it but you would be eating less crap.

It all depends on if folk on the US are prepared to do this.

[OwlMatt]

I get the impression that a lot of folk in the US view food as fuel rather than and end in itself to be enjoyed.

I think there is a lot of truth to this. I remember being in Europe and noticing how everything stops at lunchtime. Here in the USA, lunch breaks are something we take because we have to. I wonder if this has something to do with how much of European countries' identities are blind up with food.

[CrackFox]

I didn't watch any of the videos, so maybe this was covered, but could this partially due to stricter rules to disclose all ingredients in the US? Processed food on my side of the pond can be fairly nasty, so I can't imagine it being that much worse over there. Over here things get referenced as E-numbers, which can make the list much shorter than using the full name.

Also, this thread is giving me a big nostalgia buzz for the first time I went to the States. I have really vivid memories of all the food packaging being covered in weird ingredient names and bold declarations that it did contain bizarre chemicals I had never heard of.

[ChenPengFi]

... Europeans and Americans view food, how they eat it, buy it and relate to it in a totally different way.

This is quite true in my experience as well.
Even the stores are set up "healthier" and food is priced differently.
Candy is expensive in Denmark and tucked back in the store, but their organic tomatoes and carrots were high quality, up in the front of the store and cheap.

That said it's still possible to eat well on not too much money.
Our food prices are probably the highest in the country and I eat pretty much zero processed food.
In fact, after i finish up some work (read: drink more coffee and screw around online) i'm going to the farmer's market.
Nomnomnom...


http://alamoanafarmersmarket.com/kailua.html

[goodlun]

I just picked up a bag of 30 (small) Avocados for $5.

[Homernoid]

... so a lot of you do NOT cook simple meals - like making pizza, baked beanz, etc - by yourself? And I am not talking 'bout using microwave stove and that.
I even make mayonnaise by myself, because I don't like that shitstuff inside for no reason, and for the better taste of course.

(I've never been to the US, never left Continental Europe.)

[ChenPengFi]

I just picked up a bag of 30 (small) Avocados for $5.

That's cheap!

We have these, but they're a bit more expensive than that unless you have a tree.

Skip to about 10:00

[patfromlogan]

I make Annie's organic Mac and cheese for my kids. The reason these companies make crap food is because people buy it. Simple as that. Buy simple ingredients and learn how to cook people. Eat healthy. Thanks Pat.

It's more than just people buying it. US has become Walmartized way more than the rest of the world.

The choices aren't really easy to make. It drives me a little crazy that one can buy a well built toaster in London that is made in England, while in the US there are only Chinese crap imports.