Processed foods have been around for decades, and for many people, it’s all that they consume throughout the day. The processed food industry is one of the largest portions of food production in the world, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily the best. This paper will explore what processed food is, how they're produced, and the various health effects that they cause.
By definition, highly or ultra-processed food is foods that are made directly from nutrients and chemicals derived from other resources, some including natural nutrients and some synthetic, and are usually fatty, sugary, and ready to eat. “Ultra-processed foods are made from processed substances extracted or refined from whole foods, e.g. oils, hydrogenated oils, flours and starches, variants of sugar, and cheap parts of animal remnants, with little or no whole foods” (C.A. Montiero) These foods usually include little to no natural energy sources, and are generally made in the form of snacks, desserts, and drinks. Soft drinks, such as sodas, candies, and snacks all fall under the category of highly-processed foods. With proper understanding of the damage that they do
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What is it that draws people to highly processed foods, and why? Well, reason being, these processed foods are usually much cheaper than natural ones, pre-cooked or made, and ready to eat immediately. Many low and medium income countries thrive off of these cheap meals and snacks, mainly because that's what they are: cheap. But that leaves one more question: What about the high income countries? Well, it’s predicted that the answer to this question lies in the lifestyle of these families. People and families that live a fast paced, hectic lifestyle are more likely to buy foods that are ready to go and take very little time to prepare. Ones that are calorie-conscious are more likely to buy healthy, natural, nutrient rich foods and less ultra-processed foods and
Food additives are substances that are added to food to enhance it; they can be both chemical and natural ("Food Additives: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia"). Recently many food additives have been questioned by both the public and scientists world wide. One example of the food additives that have been studied is sodium stearoyl lactylate. It has recently been looked at due to indications that it might be unsafe for consumption. In this essay a couple main points and questions will be explained; what is sodium stearoyl lactylate, what are its effects both positive and negative, what are some indirect effects SSL has on society, is it ethical to use, and if sodium stearoyl lactylate safe for human consumption.
Michael Pollan makes arguments concerning the eating habits of the average American. Pollan suggests, in spite of our cultural norms, we should simply “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.”
In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.
First of all, some may protest that processed foods are much cheaper than whole foods, so buying processed foods is a much more affordable option than buying whole foods. However, processed foods have hidden costs; while eating a bag of chips may seem like a smart, economical option economical now, in the long run, eating processed foods leads to disease and higher exorbitant medical bills; on average, obese men and women annually spend $1,152 and $3,613, respectively, more on medical bills than a non-obese men and women. (Begley) Furthermore, even at the check-out line in the grocery store, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and meat don’t have to exceed anyone’s budget; in fact, whole foods tend to be cheaper than processed foods. In the matter of fruits and vegetables the United States Department of Agriculture discovered in 2008 that the recommended vegetable and fruit consumption could be bought at $2 to $2.50 per person a day. With regards to whole grains, whole foods tend to be cheaper than processed ones. A quick search on ShopFoodEx, a online grocery store, showed that the unprocessed, Mahatma Brown Rice was seven cents cheaper per ounce than the processed, Minute Instant White Rice. Secondly, some may argue that processed foods are much easier to prepare than whole foods. However, with some practice, whole foods can easily be prepared in little time. Omelettes, organic yogurt with berries, grilled chicken, and salad are all examples of whole foods that, with a little know-how, can be prepared in ten minutes or less. Crock-pot dishes, soups, and many more recipes can be made in large quantities and frozen so as to reduce preparation time on busy days when a quick, easy lunch is necessary. In my life, I’ve found that throwing a chicken breast, some vegetables, and spices into a crockpot makes a easy delicious meal that has leftovers for many days. Whole foods don’t have to take
American has taken many steps to improve their food production, but why is most of its people sick with related food disease. About seventy percent of Americans diet is processed food; this includes canned good, fast food or any food that cannot be made with simple ingredients ...
Nutritionism and Today’s Diet Nutritionism is the ideology that the nutritional value of a food is the sum of all its individual nutrients, vitamins, and other components. In the book, “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, he critiques scientists and government recommendations about their nutritional advice. Pollan presents a strong case pointing out the many flaws and problems that have risen over the years of following scientific studies and government related warnings on the proper amount of nutrients needed for a healthy diet. Pollan’s main point is introducing science into our food system has had more of a negative impact than a positive one, we should go back to eating more of a traditional diet. I believe food science has given us
America is a capitalist society. It should come to a surprise when we live like this daily. We work for profit. We’ll buy either for pleasure or to sell later for profit. It should come to no surprise that our food is made the same way because we are what we eat. We are capitalist that eat a capitalist meal. So we must question our politics. Is our government system to blame for accepting and encouraging monopolies?
Food is a necessity in our lives; it provides us our basic biological needs; however, when it is misused it can be deadly. This is a problem faced in many western societies because the people of these societies prefer the processed fast food, over healthy foods. Over consumption of these fast foods can make consumers ill, obese, and can possibly shorten their lifespan. Many people in these societies believe the scapegoat is the diet itself, refusing to believe there are many other factors that contribute to the problem; however, there are many factors that come into play such as culture, personal responsibility, and a parsimonious food industries.
The abundance of food and quality of food differs depending on a person’s financial capability. Between the countries, their weekly spending is extremely different, but so is the food they purchase. Families from developed countries like Germany, the United States, and Italy have access to more options, but also deal with inflation, but the fact that some of these countries do not have organizations like the FDA to approve or disapprove their food allows it to cost less at a risk. The food differences between these families are very vast, and the more they spent the unhealthier the food was. The families from Germany and the United States had an excess of fast food, junk food, and soda, and they spent the most on groceries. It was very interesting to watch the amount of unnecessary food drop as the amount spent on food dropped like the families from Chad, Bhutan, and Ecuador. The families with lower grocery bills appear to eat healthier, because they purchased natural grains and rice, but also more vegetables and fruits; some of these families did not purchase any meat that I noticed. Very interesting was the fact about the amount of money spent to the connection of how many people the food nourishes. The first three
Fast food is widely considered a hallmark of American culture, but has spread worldwide. In a society where everyone is always on the go, the fast food industry has persuaded people to give up quality in favor of artificially-enhanced taste and drive thru convenience. Experts often blame fast food for obesity and related health problems. By using advancing kitchen technology to move towards efficient large-scale production rather than increased quality, the fast food industry has created lower quality food, forced lower standards of taste, and has caused adverse health effects in it’s consumers.
Introduction I will be looking into the roles of the manager, supervisor and an employee in Qualities Foods (Appendix 1 This how the shop looks like.) What the qualities of an employee looks for in each of the roles and the training and development opportunities in Quality Foods. I have chosen Quality Foods because it is the nearest and local supermarket other than the big and popular supermarkets. Manager: The manager is in charge of the development of the Quality Foods.
Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.
What are processed foods? It is food “composed of synthetic chemical additives, such as colorings, preservatives, sugar substitutes and trans-fats” (Fitzgerald, 2006, p.72). Fitzgerald reported that by the “1970s most meats and dairy products that were factory farmed were laced with growth hormones, antibiotics and a range of pesticides” (p.72). Furthermore, food that is frozen, packaged and canned is considered processed food. A brief explanation of the chemical additives in processed food.
It became so clear that junk foods lead to a punch of catastrophic diseases like obesity, type two diabetes, vascular diseases and cardiac disorders. Those kinds of diseases cost more than $150 billion annually, just to diagnose, treat people who suffer from them. That disease is chronic and leads to many health-related issues, for example, obesity considers a risk factor for type two diabetes, and high blood pressure, joint disorders and many others (The Denver Post 2012). The key of preventing many chronic problems is nutrition. Low income plays an important role of limiting most people to buy and eat a healthy diet and in the other hand, it is easy for people budgets to purchase junk foods. So controlling the prices of healthy foods to be suitable for all people make good nutrition available for everyone. Adequate diets mean decreasing the epidemic of those serious diseases, and stopping the spread and break the bad sequences that may happen. Long-term exposure to junk foods that are full with chemicals like additives, preservatives have led to chronic illnesses difficult to treat. Also, the chemical added to junk foods are tasted unique and made millions of people becoming addicted to them and are available everywhere for example in restaurants, cafes, lunchrooms (The Denver Post
Trends have a way of shaping a culture. They tell people how to act and what is popular at the time. There are many trends some are clothing, music, movies, and excuse. One trend I think is the most fascinating is food trends. Food is a very important part of everyone’s life. The American diet has changed a lot since the 50ths. Back then people use to eat a very limited diet and they would eat the same foods day in and day out. Now a days people have a very wide diet. People now eat foods from different cultures. Food trends seem to be changing very often.