Fake Food

[Whofan]

My co-worker is very health conscious and almost vegetarian. She believes in low fat/low calorie/whole grains. To be fair, she is also slim and athletic, but she is still young with a good metabolism. So today she was microwaving Morningstar Farms Bacon Strips. Just for fun and without even knowing what they are made from, I asked her to read me the nutrition label out loud. About a minute into what became a monologue we both fell about laughing. Here's the link. I challenge you to read it out loud, pronouncing every word, and time yourself to see how long it takes.

http://www.morningstarfarms.com/morningstar-farms-veggie-bacon-strips.renderImageText.html?BID=29192&MD5=714d8244ef514ee6b9b94c873e6a1ade&FT=MorningStarFarmsVeggieBaconStrips_352&productORrecipe=product&freeTextPresent=no

She disapproves of me eating bacon, but maybe not so much any more.

[MandalayVA]

It's always funny when a vegetarian condemns me for eating meat while munching on Morningstar Farms and Boca stuff. Chemicals and soy, it's what's for breakfast. :D Also the stuff usually tastes gross.

[RuthannP]

Gross! Yuck!

[Trabba]

Well, yeah, but who doesn't love some Sodium Tripolyphosphate to start their day off on the right foot? :lol:

My wife buys that stuff now and I keep telling her that it is not necessary but she is simply counting calories this time around, but hey if that works better for her, then I'm not going to judge, just as she does not judge me for how I am doing things. To each his (or her) own.

[Deezil]

Ugh...where's the food?? Barf.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q276/Deezil_album/lowfat.jpg

[superaunt]

holy wow! crazy :)

[mio1996]

Wow, that stuff could almost pass for an Atkins bar :lol:

[Babette R]

Which begs the question ... what's wrong with REAL food? lol lol

[RuthannP]

Tell your friend to investigate the ingredient carrageenan.

"In the 1940s, carrageenan, a polysaccharide made from a type of seaweed, was recognized as a dangerous allergen. Since then it has become a standard laboratory material to use to produce in-flammatory tumors (granulomas), immunodeficiency, arthritis, and other in-flammations. It has also become an increasingly common material in the food industry. " SHAME ON THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION OR THE USDA!

[rightnow]

wow. That's pretty much "3 kinds of gluten and 7 kinds of sodium with some soybeans and gums and color."

PJ

[Deezil]

wow. That's pretty much "3 kinds of gluten and 7 kinds of sodium with some soybeans and gums and color."

PJ

Exactly.
Once again, where's the food?? *cringe*

Injesting crap like that is just a time bomb waiting to go off...so glad I know better! ;)

[freckles]

Wow, that stuff could almost pass for an Atkins bar :lol:

Yep, I agree!...ANY processed food whether lc or not is just not natural nor healthy AT ALL.

If it's in a box, packaging or cellophane it's probably not something we should eat. If it's in a can or bottle check carefully.

I overheard two women talking today and one told the other that she heard that if there were more than 5 ingredients listed on any food product to pass it up because after the first five it was all fillers, chemicals, etc. I found that to be good advice....but I'd still pay close attention to even the first 5.

[Whofan]

Tell your friend to investigate the ingredient carrageenan.

"In the 1940s, carrageenan, a polysaccharide made from a type of seaweed, was recognized as a dangerous allergen. Since then it has become a standard laboratory material to use to produce in-flammatory tumors (granulomas), immunodeficiency, arthritis, and other in-flammations. It has also become an increasingly common material in the food industry. " SHAME ON THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION OR THE USDA!

I just cut and pasted this and emailed it to my co-worker. Thank you for the heads up. Y'know, I developed a skin condition called annulare granuloma in the 1980's which occurred at precisely the same time I became a vegan and started subsisting on all that fake crap and grains. I didn't know about carrageenan until reading your post. I've been plagued with this skin condition for the last 26 years until going low-carb-unprocessed-food a little over a year ago. Since then there have been no more flare-ups. Coincidence? I think not.

[Amanda1978]

DD tried to tell me once that my cheese crisps weren't real crackers, so I told her to read the label on a box of cheese flavored crackers out loud. She couldn't pronouce most of it and conceded that the cheese crisps were real food and the boxed crap was fake food.

edit: Just thought I'd note that she has always loved cheese crisps, she just didn't think of them as crackers.

[Ruffian]

I don't understand people who prefer chemicals and unknown ingredients over real food
For example, I buy salted butter because the ingredients are: cream, salt. Unsalted butter says: cream, natural flavoring. I don't know what natural flavoring is.

[freckles]

I just cut and pasted this and emailed it to my co-worker. Thank you for the heads up. Y'know, I developed a skin condition called annulare granuloma in the 1980's which occurred at precisely the same time I became a vegan and started subsisting on all that fake crap and grains. I didn't know about carrageenan until reading your post. I've been plagued with this skin condition for the last 26 years until going low-carb-unprocessed-food a little over a year ago. Since then there have been no more flare-ups. Coincidence? I think not.

I don't have the book right here with me, but I'm pretty sure this skin condition is mentioned in the book Wheat Belly! Interesting.

[bike2work]

I admit that in the mid 1990s I was eating Morningstar Farms "sausage" patties for breakfast everyday. They didn't give me reactive hypoglycemia like every other plant-based breakfast. I bought into the low fat hype for decades. In that mindset, fat is the one thing you need to look out for and everything else gets a pass.

Now I shake my head in disbelief that I fell for it. I thought I was being virtuous by eating a soy product and foregoing animal fat. This is what I was told by doctors, nutrition authorities, books, magazines, etc.

Look at that name, "Morningstar Farms." As if this were a farm product. As if it were wholesome. And the package is green, as I recall, which sends a certain subliminal message as well: plant-based diet, good for the planet, no animals slaughtered, healthy, virtuous.

[bike2work]

Wow, that stuff could almost pass for an Atkins bar :lol:
:agree: :thup:

[Ilikemice]

Look at that name, "Morningstar Farms." As if this were a farm product. As if it were wholesome. And the package is green, as I recall, which sends a certain subliminal message as well: plant-based diet, good for the planet, no animals slaughtered, healthy, virtuous.
A little OT, but I've always felt that "red meat" gets this treatment - red connotates blood, war, violence, etc. Even though it's only red through myoglobin content, (or added dyes?) not fat, the red tag gives meat an evil aura.

[keith v]

I don't know what natural flavoring is.

Monosodiumglutamate
:thup:

[keith v]

A little OT, but I've always felt that "red meat" gets this treatment - red connotates blood, war, violence, etc. Even though it's only red through myoglobin content, (or added dyes?) not fat, the red tag gives meat an evil aura.


Not to mention the communist reference...

[Ruffian]

Monosodiumglutamate
:thup:

Ooh, tricky! Like when they try to call HFCS ” corn sugar. ”
:rolleyes:

[Pinot-Girl]

Is there a Cream in Canada (Vancouver) brand that doesn't contain that Sea weed stuff? I had no idea it was in there, and only just saw it on my cream label.....

Thanks!
PG.

[pinkclouds]

ugh! never tried one...never will. My hubby ate the morningstar sausage patties last year while he was training for a marathon, seems some book on performance nutrition for runners told him it was a good idea. :rolleyes: He seemed to like them.

My thought: if it's not made of meat, but it's made to look and taste like meat, there must be something wrong with it!

[Merpig]

Tell your friend to investigate the ingredient carrageenan.

"In the 1940s, carrageenan, a polysaccharide made from a type of seaweed, was recognized as a dangerous allergen. Since then it has become a standard laboratory material to use to produce in-flammatory tumors (granulomas), immunodeficiency, arthritis, and other in-flammations. It has also become an increasingly common material in the food industry. " SHAME ON THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION OR THE USDA! And I love heavy cream, but it's basically pretty near impossible to buy any that doesn't contain carrageenan.

[Merpig]

For example, I buy salted butter because the ingredients are: cream, salt. Unsalted butter says: cream, natural flavoring. I don't know what natural flavoring is. The unsalted butter I buy (Kerrygold) just reads: "cultured pasteurized cream" - pretty simple.

I also love Daisy brand sour cream. If anyone has it in their supermarket compare the ingredients between the full-fat sour cream: "Grade A cultured cream", or even their light sour cream: " Grade A cultured cream, skim milk, vitamin A palmitate" with the fat-free sour cream I saw in the store also (one example): "Cultured Lowfat Milk, Modified Corn Starch,Whey Protein Concentrate, Propylene Glycol Monoester, Artificial Color, Gelatin, Sodium Phosphate, Agar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Citrate, Locust Bean Gum, Vitamin A Palmitate."
- and this is just an example I found online. The one I saw in the actual store had 2-3 times the number of ingredients!

[Elizellen]

I was horified to discover that the yogurt on offer in hospital when I had my stem cell transplant a couple of years ago contained no milk products at all but was mainly made of "modified maize starch" and chemicals - which explained why they could offer it as a dairy-free menu option (I had assumed that was a typo!!)

[qudoz]

To be fair, the majority of people who are vegetarian are so for ethical reasons. They might question the healthiness of meat and believe humans aren't natural carnivores but the primary reason for eating the processed fake meat rather than real meat is an ethical one.

[rightnow]

I think it depends. There are some good blogs that talk about the different motives for veganism. I'd never given it much thought before but I have found many of the arguments on both reasoning sets to be interesting.

I don't mind enslaving animals for their eggs or milk, since I am enslaved for my work skills after all. :lol: We all have to pay for our keep. I just believe in treating them well.

I would prefer not to kill animals for their meat and if there were some equally-healthy option (such as lab-grown actual tissue that somehow contained all the same nutrients etc.) I would be all for that. There isn't yet. Some part of me hopes that maybe our own species will somehow evolve to the point of finding that.

So, finding animals necessary for adequate human health in the meantime, I think they should be treated as well as possible, be given the freedom possible, be given the lifespan possible, and when killed it should be done in the most painless, least traumatic fashion. I'm a big fan of Temple Grandin, a genius autistic who developed a system for the cattle industry I wish more of them would use.

PJ

[freckles]

if there were some equally-healthy option (such as lab-grown actual tissue that somehow contained all the same nutrients etc.) I would be all for that. There isn't yet. Some part of me hopes that maybe our own species will somehow evolve to the point of finding that.

That's a truly scary thought! I can't stand the thought of eating genetically modified fruits and veggies. I certainly don't like the thought of eating meat engineered in a lab. I want natural foods that haven't been messed with by men.

[Deezil]

That's a truly scary thought! I can't stand the thought of eating genetically modified fruits and veggies. I certainly don't like the thought of eating meat engineered in a lab. I want natural foods that haven't been messed with by men.

That whole idea made my stomach turn. *shiver*

I have issues buying beef/chicken and pork products from the grocery store, never mind lab grown "meat". That thought is truely frightening to me.

The thought of the stress the feed-lot animals must endure makes me very sad and I'm sure it effects the hormone profile of the animals and the actual quality of the meat. Never mind what they're being fed and the drugs etc..that they're pumped up with... :(

We are very lucky in that most of our red meat we harvest ourselves (moose, deer & elk) in an extremely ethical and humane way. It's never guaranteed that we will fill our freezer but we take the time and commit to the task.

It's always been a calm, quiet environment, with the animal foraging, unaware that it will soon be nourishing our family. It is a very spiritual and natural experience.

The feeling of gratitude we have for the animal is as pure as the gifts it provides.
As real as it gets. ;)

[qudoz]

I think it depends. There are some good blogs that talk about the different motives for veganism. I'd never given it much thought before but I have found many of the arguments on both reasoning sets to be interesting.


There are lots of reasons why people go veggie/vegan yeah, but still the primary reason for most of them is ethics regarding animal rights. Every other reason is kind of just like added extras.

[Elizellen]

I don't know how far along towards putting it in shops they are but in Holand they are making "meat" in a lab already
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16972761

[Whofan]

I don't know how far along towards putting it in shops they are but in Holand they are making "meat" in a lab already
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16972761

With this in our future, one day we might look back fondly on the current health problems caused by Monsanto wheat and the rest of today's altered chemical crap. Obesity etc. might seem benign compared to whateverthehell this is going to do to us.

[Amanda1978]

That's a truly scary thought! I can't stand the thought of eating genetically modified fruits and veggies. I certainly don't like the thought of eating meat engineered in a lab. I want natural foods that haven't been messed with by men.

Yeah, I think I'd rather be a LC vegetarian eating foods from my own garden than eat test tube meat.

[ICDogg]

And I love heavy cream, but it's basically pretty near impossible to buy any that doesn't contain carrageenan.

Trader Joe's or Whole Foods house brands

[Babette R]

With this in our future, one day we might look back fondly on the current health problems caused by Monsanto wheat and the rest of today's altered chemical crap. Obesity etc. might seem benign compared to whateverthehell this is going to do to us.

So true!! I wonder what (if anything) it will take to make people revolt against this sort of crap?!

[keith v]

you mean the sheeple that eat the GMO wheat and chemical bars that say 'healthy' on them?

the movie Soylent Green is looking less and less like fiction :help:

[askwhy456]

Wow, that stuff could almost pass for an Atkins bar :lol:

This made me snicker!!!

[freckles]

Yeah, I think I'd rather be a LC vegetarian eating foods from my own garden than eat test tube meat.

No kidding! I'd miss beef profusely, but we have room for chickens. At least
I'd have some meat and eggs!

[Nancy LC]

Well, that violates my rule: If the ingredient list is longer than my shoe, don't buy it or...

If I have to take off my glasses to read the ingredient list, don't buy it. :p

[Nancy LC]

A little OT, but I've always felt that "red meat" gets this treatment - red connotates blood, war, violence, etc. Even though it's only red through myoglobin content, (or added dyes?) not fat, the red tag gives meat an evil aura.
I read a story once where all the women were eating vegetables and salads as was the fad at the time, except one. She dug into a rare piece of red meat and ate it with particular relish. All the other ladies were scandalized by her unlady-like behavior... but the men thought she was hot. :lol:

So, a little savagery can be sexy, IMHO!

[keith v]

we do tend to like unladylike behavior done in a ladylike way....sometimes :)

[WereBear]

I read a story once where all the women were eating vegetables and salads as was the fad at the time, except one. She dug into a rare piece of red meat and ate it with particular relish. All the other ladies were scandalized by her unlady-like behavior... but the men thought she was hot. :lol:

So, a little savagery can be sexy, IMHO!

Anybody likes to see an unapologetic display of passion; especially if one hopes there will be leftovers for them.

[AnaBee2222]

Quote:
"Cultured Lowfat Milk, Modified Corn Starch,Whey Protein Concentrate, Propylene Glycol Monoester, Artificial Color, Gelatin, Sodium Phosphate, Agar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Citrate, Locust Bean Gum, Vitamin A Palmitate."
- and this is just an example I found online. The one I saw in the actual store had 2-3 times the number of ingredients!

I find it fascinating how long the ingredients lists are on products when I shop in the US. It always really confuses me. I used to only a few (and for that matter, I'm used to only a few brands, we have way less choice. I can spend hours reading labels while on holiday in the states!)

For example, at my local supermarket, the store brand low fat sour cream says:

Ingredients: Pasteurised Light Cream (Minimum 18% Milk Fat), Culture

the full fat one says:

Ingredients: Pasteurised Cream (Minimum 35% Milk Fat), Culture


store brand low fat cottage cheese has a few more:

Ingredients: Skim Milk Curd (Skim Milk, Culture, Non Animal Rennet), Concentrated Skim Milk, Cream, Salt, Food Acid (330), Vegetable Gums (410, 412, 415), Preservative (202)

If I have cream, I usually get the Dairy Farmer's brand which says:

Ingredients: Pasteurised Pure Cream

love it, as it should be! But I just noticed though that the 'thickened cream' which is more common includes something they call 'vegetable gum (407a) which google tells me is "407a Processed eucheuma seaweed" But 407 is carrageenan. Are they related? Sure looks like it. I don't like thickened cream in tea, it goes all weird and for other things it doesn't whip but is still more runny than I like. But it sounds like there's a bigger reason to avoid?

[annettep38]

here in France they sell a lot of 'organic' meat replacement pasties.. absolutely foul stuff 1000% processed food.

But there is one thing that does sometimes put me off even looking at recipes here: PORK. I can't be the only one who doesn't eat pork, they are millions of my kind in the US :)
to me the idea of pork is as repulsive as industrial artificial food.

[Elizellen]

Is it because it comes from a pig and you like pigs, so don't want to eat them or do you have cultural/religious reasons?

That would eliminate bacon!! :(

I love pork and often choose pork, bacon or ham over many other food options.

[annettep38]

Yes I have never in my life eaten pig :)
we just don't do that. Can't be the only Jew around ?

[keith v]

I like piggies!
they taste great ")

[Elizellen]

Yes I have never in my life eaten pig :)
we just don't do that. Can't be the only Jew around ?
I shouldn't think so!

In a way it is good for all of us that some cultures/religions/medical problems forbid certain foods as it makes it easier when ordering in restaurants and attending catered meals if the staff are used to having customers asking for different ingredients to be omitted from their meals.

If they can offer someone else dishes with no bacon or no sugar or no gluten they can just as easily prepare dishes with no rice or pasta or starchy vegetables for me, so there is no need for me to feel shy to ask for my own "dietary restrictions" to be catered for. :thup:

[aj_cohn]

Regarding the dangers of carageenen, there is some evidence from tissue culture lab work (http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/564984/109362/carrageenan) that the stuff is bad news. There are a lot of personal stories on the net (google "carrageenan allergen") from people who react badly to the substance. There are even a few published studies (http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/milk.shtml) proposing the mechanism of reaction to carrageenan:

J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1995 May; 95(5 Pt 1): 933-6. Anaphylaxis to carrageenan: a pseudo-latex allergy. Tarlo, S M Dolovich, J Listgarten, C
Agents Actions. 1975 Oct;5(4):371-3. Effect of calcitonin on carrageenan foot oedema. Abdullahi SE, De Bastiani G, Nogarin L, Velo GP.
Arch Pharm Res. 2008 Jul;31(7):891-9. Effects of calcium channel blockers on hyaluronidase-induced capillary vascular permeability. Halici Z, Suleyman H, Cadirci E.
Carbohydr Res. 2008 Feb 4;343(2):364-73. Epub 2007 Oct 30. Heterogeneity in iota-carrageenan molecular structure: insights for polymorph II-->III transition in the presence of calcium ions. Janaswamy S, Chandrasekaran R.

My impression is that this is a low-occurrence, high-disruption reaction.

[Kurst]

Wow, thanks for the links aj! Very informative.