Jake Hughes
The Paw Print
Over the past year or so I have found myself paying more attention to what ingredients go into the foods I consume. Due to the increasing demand for people to eat healthier and watch out for certain ingredients in food like gluten, trans fats and sugar, it has come to no surprise that the increasing number of controversial topics has risen in our supermarkets both internationally and at home in the US.
The US has a taste for sugary foods. If you look carefully in your ingredients, I’m sure you will find sugar or some kind of sweetener in every food available to us. Over the past ten to 20 years, western societies have seen a rise in a controversial ingredient called high fructose corn syrup. This ingredient is commonly used as a bulk up sweetener and is directly linked with the rise in obesity and cardiovascular disease. Along with the sugary coating of everyday products, another worrying trend is of course artificial ingredients and GMO (genetically modified foods).
I am no angel, I admit; I do indulge occasionally in chocolate or what I thought to be. I noticed an ingredient that kept popping in the chocolate bars, PGPR. The use of this artificial ingredient has raised a number of controversial debates particularly with chocolate lovers. PGPR stands for polyglycerol polyricinoleate, which is used by corporate companies like Hersey’s Corporation as a substitute for cocoa butter. Apparently cocoa butter has become too expensive for these huge corporate companies, so they sell fake diluted chocolate and promote it as a delicious chocolaty snack. Although the FDA doesn’t allow the manufactures to claim the product is 100% chocolate, the companies still advertise their products as made with real chocolate. In addition to PGPR, most corporate companies that produce chocolate also use an ingredient called TBHQ. TBHQ stands for tertiary butylhydroquinone, which is an organic compound that is used as a preservative in chocolates and other products. This highly critical ingredient is also found in butane lighters, lacquers, varnishes and resins – and we are consuming this.
This ingredient is directly linked with a number of diseases like nausea, delirium, collapse, tinnitus, and vomiting. There are also suggestions that it may lead to hyperactivity in children as well as asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. In 1940, there were only 300 chemicals in our food chain. These chemicals where used to grow food, color it, flavor it and preserve it.
In 2000 it was recorded that over 80,000 chemicals and over 20,000 are directly in our food chain. This does not count the 80% of the food grown today that is GMO altered. The well water is not even safe anymore due to hydraulic fracking. My point is, you should think twice about what you are purchasing and consuming. Read the labels and ingredients and figure out what is actually in your food. Do some research into suspicious ingredients and figure out if you actually want to consume it.
If you have any comments or questions about any articles past or present, please don’t hesitate to contact me. On a final note, I want to wish everybody a happy and productive summer break. Enjoy yourself, take advantage of every moment and be safe.
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