Myth #3: If It's On the Label, It Must Be True!

The following post has been written by my mom, who hosts her own blog as The Reluctant Onion. While we share many of the same views, some are her own. I invite you to learn more about her journey towards a Plant Based diet by visiting her blog at www.thereluctantonion.com

On October 18th of this year, I will be celebrating my one year anniversary following a Plant-Based Diet (Vegan). I find it almost hard to believe that it’s been a year, but even more, that I ever started this journey in the first place.

I was brought up not unlike many of you reading this article. There were a basic set of principles handed down to us by our parents that we followed - usually without question. “Respect Your Elders”, “Fear God”, “Honor Your Country”, “Listen to those in Authority” and so the list goes. It wasn’t until I started having kids that we were encouraged to “Question Authority”. It’s still something that goes against the grain of my upbringing but I am gradually beginning to believe that it is necessary. Especially when it comes to our health.

I, for one, learned too late that the world had changed and I had been so busy living that I failed to notice.

There was a time when I would head to the market and pick up any product off the shelf without ever reading a label, much less be concerned that the food I am about to eat may be harmful to me. Why would I? The USDA approved it, the RDA recommended and my grocer carried it. Yet, as I would learn by exhaustive reading, research and investigation, we really do need to pay attention to what we purchase for consumption. 

This list is not comprehensive but will provide just a few examples of where it might be important to begin thinking for yourself, reading labels and considering other options for where you purchase your food.

Reading Labels - There is an excellent video that I would recommend on this topic. It is hosted by Jeff Novick, MS, RD of the McDougall Group and he gives one simple example of how deceiving food labels really are, especially when it comes to foods that are marketed to us as ‘Health Food’. As consumers, we are guided to consider total calories as a basis for determining the percentage of fat, protein or carbohydrates might be in a can of food. So, we turn the can over and see that the % of fat is 1%. Yet, what we learn is that the basis by which the food manufacturer measures fat is based on volume, not calories. When the canned food is mostly water, the fat is very low by volume. But, as a percentage of calories, it is almost all fat. This requires that we take our time to thoroughly inspect the back of the label to clearly understand what we are consuming. Food manufacturers spend millions of dollars adapting their strategies and marketing messages to confuse consumers. Stay one step ahead of them!

GMO’s - The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming and are often not very accurate.

There is significant concern by consumers worldwide that our food supply is gradually transitioning towards all GM crops without consumer knowledge. This is especially true in the United States. In Europe, food manufacturers are required to label their foods containing GMO’s. However, in the US, there is no such requirement.

Currently, there is a ballot in California which would require GMO labels on all foods containing them. For more information about this ballot, visit the OCA site. It is my hope that California is successful in passing this legislation so that other states can follow. However, giant biotech firms like Monsanto and Pro-GMO Food Manufacturers are throwing huge money to defeat it. 

Organic v. 100% Natural - It’s pretty amazing to me to see how many products today are labeled “100% Natural” In fact, the back of labels are the legally required information but the front of the label, is often times, the most misleading - and sadly, influential. So what’s the difference between ‘natural’ and ‘organic’?

Isn't "natural food" just as safe and healthy as organic food? Unfortunately, natural does not mean organic and comes with no guarantees. "Natural foods" are often assumed to be foods that are minimally processed and do not contain any hormones, antibiotics or artificial flavors. In the United States, however, neither the FDA nor the USDA has rules or regulations for products labeled "natural." As a result, food manufacturers often place a "natural" label on foods containing heavily processed ingredients.

What about organic? Organic is the most heavily regulated food system. Only organic guarantees no toxic synthetic pesticides, toxic synthetic herbicides, or chemical NPK fertilizers are used in production, and no antibiotics or growth hormones are given to animals. Organic producers and processors also are subject to rigorous announced - and unannounced - certification inspections by third-party inspectors to ensure that they are producing and processing organic products in a manner you and your family can trust.

Low in Sugar - Careful reading of labels is necessary to know how much added sugar you are getting. Sometimes there will be small amounts of many types of sugars, so none of them end up being in the the first few ingredients of the label. Other times, sugar masquerades as apparently more “healthy” ingredients, such as honey, rice syrup, or even “organic dehydrated cane juice”. These are sugar. Sometimes fruit juice concentrates will be used, which sound wholesome, but usually the juices chosen, such as white grape, apple, and pear juices, are among the least nutritious of the juices. By the time they are “concentrated”, very little remains but the sugar. 

Here is a list of some of the possible code words for “sugar” which may appear on a label. Hint: the words “syrup”, “sweetener”, and anything ending in “ose” can usually be assumed to be “sugar”. If the label says “no added sugars”, it should not contain any of the following, although the food could contain naturally-occurring sugars (such as lactose in milk).

• Barley Malt Syrup
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
• Dehydrated Cane Juice
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Maltodextrin
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Rice Syrup
• Saccharose
• Sorghum or sorghum syrup
• Sucrose
• Syrup
• Treacle
• Turbinado Sugar
• Xylose

Cage Free, Free Range, Grain Fed, Humanely Grown and other nonsense - This last topic is the one that is the most difficult for me to talk about. As I mentioned, I started this journey almost a year ago and, initially, it was solely for health benefits - and they have been many! Yet, as I began the process of opening my eyes to many of the problems with our factory farming and food manufacturing processes, this journey became something more. Something that I wasn’t prepared for. 

I have lived most of my adult life as a politically conservative, Bible believing Christian. (I’m still one of those today, by the way) and the thought of questioning the government I had sworn allegiance to was not in my realm of experience. Additionally, I had unwittingly become part of a group (Veganism) that is perceived to be very liberal politically and perhaps even intolerant of most traditional Christian views.

Yet, I have found exactly the opposite to be true - and this is where this blog article has the possibility to become potentially offensive to some readers-so please hang in there with me. 

My journey to health through adopting a plant-based, vegan diet has opened up a world of living the most authentically Christian experience I could have imagined. My view towards God, His creation and all of life and the living has expanded. I am learning to exercise true compassion for the first time. I am being challenged in my thinking and my faith around every corner and yet, my faith has never been stronger.

My intent in sharing this is not to share every detail of my journey, but to encourage you to consider that Vegan’s are not all weird, they are not all liberal, they are not all athiest or ‘new age’. In fact, this community of which I am now a grateful part are some of the most thoughtful, caring and compassionate people I have EVER, met (Christian circles included).

To this end, the marketing messages we have been ‘fed’ regarding how animals have been treated or raised in the production of our food are all meant to hide the insidious truth of how our food is actually processed. Most of us are perfectly happy to accept the lovely pictures of spacious farms and smiling animals on the packages of our food (like the California cows) - the thought of anything different would be just too much to bear. The truth is, it is too much to bear.

So, I invite you to investigate this myth on your own. There are numerous books, websites and documentaries on the topic and I’m confident Tori can recommend some of her favorites. There is one, however, that drives the point home clearer than others. However, it is not for the faint at heart. It is gruesome, horrific, shocking and sadly, true. You will be changed after you watch it. It’s impossible to be confronted with what has happened on our watch without being prompted to change something.

The documentary is called “Earthlings”. You can rent it at the store, on Apple TV or it’s free on the filmmakers website. Please do not watch this with young children in the home and exercise discretion with anyone else who may respond negatively to graphic images.

It is my sincere hope that we would all re-think the way we eat, the foods we eat and the messages we are being given by an industry that is primarily concerned with hiding the brutal realities of what this industry has become and protecting the bottom line.

With all of that being said... Tori and I deem this myth...