Unnatural Food: Colorful DrinksAlimentos antinaturales: Bebidas de colores
By: Keith
We go to Walmart once a week for household supplies and groceries. Walmart, as you know, isn’t known for its wholesome food selection, it’s known for being the place where gross people with front-butt shop. Walmart, though, doesn’t always deserve its bad rap. It’s more than a collection of icky people and nasty food. Certain food items at Walmart are totally worth the trip, and only a noticeable minority of shoppers are circus freaks. Price and quality do sometimes intersect at Walmart. You might notice that I didn’t take a picture of that intersection. I took a picture of colorful, toxic looking drinks, indicative of what we expect from Walmart. But, don’t get me wrong. It’s not just Walmart selling this crap, and it’s not Walmart’s fault people are disgusting. They simply sell what people buy. We were there yesterday looking for half and half and yogurt. We came across this science experiment on the way, in the juice section, and I felt compelled to take a picture when Neil stopped, picked up the green and red bottles, pretended to pour them together, and said “Do you think they’ll explode if they mix?”
There’s something wrong with a food when a 7 year old recognizes it as science and not nourishment. We aren’t paragons of health in our family, but we do primarily eat foods with recognizable ingredients. We eat meat, vegetables, beans, cereals and dairy. We don’t always get our foods in the correct proportions, but authenticity is the goal in this family. And that’s important because according to an article in The Daily Mail scientist have good reason to believe that cancer is almost entirely of our own making. They say it’s a combination of pollution, stress and the crap we eat. I believe it. Take a look at the ingredients of this orange colored drink (below). 98% of it is water and high fructose corn syrup (I wonder what the proportion is). And, look at all the other chemicals in attendance. That can’t be healthy. We know that food coloring has been linked to hyperactivity in kids. The rest of the ingredients don’t look any better. Sodium Saccharin has been linked to cancer in the urinary tract. Sodium Benzoate, like food coloring, has been associated with ADHD. Not being a scientist, I don’t know what to say about the rest of the witches brew (actually frog tongue sounds better). None of it apart from the water looks remotely appealing.
How do people feed these things to their kids? Don’t say “because it’s cheap”; water is cheaper. There’s no excuse for this. Do we blame Meadow Gold for making it, Walmart for selling it, or the person who buys it and feeds it to his kids? Observe a co-shopper’s cart the next time you visit the market. See how his physical appearance matches what’s in his cart? Our culture has to wake up and realize that these items do not qualify as food. I would think that the proof against these products is strong enough to warrant at least an FDA warning label. It probably wouldn’t make much difference, but perhaps enough people would realize that what they’re doing is not healthy, and that would cause a shift in our societal attitude towards foods. People already inured to these poisons might be unwilling to change. Maybe parents, though, who become educated, would have a greater incentive to change. Go ahead and die a whale if that’s your choice, but don’t continue the cycle by feeding this junk to your kids.
Ingredients of the Orange Colored Substance: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Contains less than 2% of: Citric Acid, Sugar, Sodium Saccharin (3.2mg Saccharin per Fluid Ounce), Gum Acacia, Natural and Artificial Flavoring, Yellow 6, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Brominated Soybean Oil, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), BHA (Antioxidant). Sweetened with Nutritive and Non Nutritive Sweeteners.
Nosotros vamos a Walmart una vez por semana para comprar artículos para el hogar y la despensa. Walmart, como ustedes saben, no es conocido por su selección de alimentos saludables, es conocido por ser el lugar en donde personas asquerosas, con nalgas en la panza, van a comprar. Pero Walmart, no siempre merece su mala reputación. Es más que una colección de personas repulsivas y alimentos asquerosos. Ciertos artículos alimenticios en Walmart totalmente valen la pena, y solamente una notable minoría de los consumidores son los fenómenos de circo. El precio y la calidad a veces sí se cruzan en Walmart. Tal vez notaste que no tomé una foto de esa intersección. Tomé una foto de unas bebidas de colores que se ven tóxicas, indicativas de lo que se espera de Walmart. Pero, no me malinterpretes. No es solamente Walmart quien vende esta basura, y no es la culpa de Walmart que las personas sean repugnantes. Ellos simplemente venden los productos que la gente compra. Fuimos ayer a comprar yogurt y crema para el café. Y nos encontramos con este experimento científico en el camino, en la sección de los jugos, y sentí la necesidad de tomar una fotografía cuando Neil se detuvo, levantó una botella verde y una roja, pretendiendo mezclarlas, y dijo “¿Crees que exploten si se combinan?”
Hay algo malo con un alimento cuando un niño de 7 años de edad le reconoce como un experimento científico y no como una fuente de nutrición. En nuestra familia no somos parangones de la nutrición, pero si consumimos principalmente alimentos con ingredientes reconocibles. Comemos carne, verduras, frijoles, cereales, y productos lácteos. No siempre los consumimos en las proporciones correctas, pero la autenticidad es la meta en esta familia. Y eso es importante, porque de acuerdo con un artículo en The Daily Mail los científicos tienen buenas razones para creer que el cáncer es casi en su totalidad creado por el hombre. Ellos dicen que es una combinación de contaminación, estrés y la basura que consumimos como alimentos. Yo les creo. Echa un vistazo a los ingredientes en esta bebida de color naranja (abajo). 98% es agua y jarabe de maíz de alta fructosa (me pregunto cuáles son las proporciones). Y, mira a los otros químicos que le acompañan. Eso no puede ser saludable. Sabemos que los colorantes artificiales están vinculados con la hiperactividad en los niños. El resto de los ingredientes no se ven mucho mejores. La sacarina sódica también ha sido vinculada con el cáncer en los tractos urinarios. En benzoato de sodio, al igual que los colorantes artificiales, ha sido asociado con el ADHD. No siendo un científico, yo no sé más información acerca del resto de la preparación de brujas (de hecho lengua de sapo se oye mucho mejor). Ninguno de los ingredientes a parte del agua se ven remotamente atractivos.
¿Cómo puede alguien alimentar a sus hijos con esto? No digas “porque es barato” por el agua es más barata. No hay ninguna excusa para esto. ¿Culparemos a Meadow Gold por producirle, a Walmart por venderle, o a la persona que se lo da a sus hijos? Observa los carritos de otras personas comprando la próxima vez que visites el supermercado. ¿Ves cómo su apariencia física armoniza con lo que tienen en el carrito? Nuestra cultura tiene que despertar y darse cuenta que estos artículos no califican como alimentos. Yo pensaría que la prueba contra estos productos es lo suficientemente fuerte como para merecer al menos una etiqueta con advertencias por parte del FDA. Probablemente no haría mucha diferencia, pero tal vez suficientes personas se den cuenta que lo que están consumiendo no es saludable, y eso causaría un cambio en nuestra actitud social hacia los alimentos. Las personas que están acostumbradas a este tipo de venenos tal vez no estén dispuestas a cambiar. Pero, tal vez los padres (y madres), quienes se vuelvan educados, tengan una mayor incentiva para cambiar. Vete a morir siendo del tamaño de una ballena si así lo quieres, pero no continúes el ciclo alimentando esta chatarra a tus hijos.
Los ingredientes en la substancia de color anaranjado: Agua, jarabe de maíz de alta fructosa, contiene menos de un 2% de: acido cítrico, azúcar, sacarina sódica (3.2mg de sacarina por cada onza de fluido), goma de acacia, saborizantes naturales y artificiales, amarillo #6, sacarosa de acetato de isobutirato, bromados de aceite de soya, benzoato de sodio y sorbato de potasio (como preservativos), BHA (antioxidante). Endulzado con endulzantes nutritivos y no nutritivos.
What then, do you make of Gatorade, which is colored sugar water, too?
Dennis: I don’t know how the ingredients stack up between Gatorade and this other colorful stuff. It’s probably quite similar. We need to stop thinking simply in terms of calories and sugar content because, while that’s certainly a huge problem, there are so many other chemicals that are also horrible. We don’t drink gatorade or any of those sorts of drinks.
It is amazing how messed up our food is. I watched Super Size Me and Food Inc. last week and that just ticked me off. The marketing, control and lack of education that is part of the food industry is way off center line.
I have known our food system is messed up but those videos just laid a lot of it out on the line.
Bottom line, if we the people quite buying they will quite selling. They try to control our buying habits with marketing but if we as a people would quite listening and start thinking and then acting with some common sense there just might be a chance to change some of this mess.
One person at a time is how it can change.
With a family of six to feed, we’re in Walmart at least once a week – the prices can’t be beat on some things. And they do have Stonyfield Farm yogurt, a lot of organic veggies and cage free eggs. However, most of what people buy is the junk. One day I saw a mom leaving with three overweight kids, each with a huge soda. Breaks my heart. I wonder what that kind of food does to the developing kids’ brains!
I’ve noticed that for myself, red dye is a direct cause of pretty awful and persistent headaches. I’m trying to be better about what we put in our bodies in our house, but it’s difficult.
Gatorade makes me sick, and that high-fructose corn syrup is everywhere. Makes shopping more complicated, but totally worth it when you can avoid the stuff.
The older I get, the more grossed out I get by stuff like this. Besides the fact that it’s basically bad stuff, it must makes you feel sick for about a day after drinking it. Really gross. Like going to a Halloween party dressed as a Brett Favre text message.
Sometimes, I think that many people simple don’t care. Really!!.
I even bet that some people thinks that sparking drinks are way better for them because It’s invented in a lab… Duh!!!,, and nature is dumb.
As you say water from the tap is way better and cheaper, but who cares… sweet is tasty, and then some doctors can fix me later.
These colored drinks in plastic bottles have always fascinated me. I can’t understand how anyone can stomach them. My palate has always been hyper sensitive to the taste of preservatives, food colorings and whatever else is in the contents that I couldn’t begin to pronounce. And why would anyone pay actual money for a drink that contains only one element the body needs… water. You struck a chord when referring to how awful much of this cheap, readily available food is for our bodies. I was recently watching a PBS documentary that, in a nutshell, stated that 3 of 4 people in America will be overweight or even obese by the year 2020. This is because of the cheap unhealthy food that has become so much a part (increasingly so) of our daily lives.
But no where in this very informative and shocking documentary were there ANY colorful and highly offensive words describing the overweight souls you speak of that are patrons of Wal-Mart.
Personally I am blessed. My metabolism has endured a lifetime of abuse, without complaining about whatever unhealthy foods or eating habits I have thrown at it. I’ve always enjoyed a slender body, and at one time in my life I could actually say I was well built.
But… yes here’s the but part. Not all loved ones in my family have been this fortunate. And I can look you in the eye and state to you that some of my loved ones have weight struggles that have little or nothing to do with poor eating habits, or lack of exercise.
This is your blog. The privilege and the right to put your thoughts and opinions in writing for all to see is a wonderful thing. This post has revealed much about your shallow character that is horribly ugly to me. My friends in the real world do not posses this quality… and I choose not to expose myself to this heartless prejudice in the virtual world either.
I don’t expect this comment to ever go public. If it does… I take back a portion of the character of you that is now burnt into my skull. I’m only hoping that you, the author of this hurtful content reads this. And maybe you might remember that ordinary people are among your reader base. Ya know… the whole reason Adsense has any purpose at all?
Also a reminder… although you took the picture of the brightly colored drinks. And yes you do own the copyright on them. Wal-Mart won’t blink an eye making life difficult for you for taking a picture of their frontage. Very few merchants allow this sort of thing.
For what it’s worth. The only hesitation I had about deleting you from my RSS feed… is the actual time involved in authoring this comment.
Goodbye Mr. Keith. Good luck on your blogging future.
Lee: ? It’s hurtful to call people fat when they’re fat? That’s like saying it’s hurtful to call a duck a duck. And, by the way, the number of people who are fat because of genuine metabolic problems is so infinitesimally small, that your family members who are fat, are just that — fat. They’re fat because they eat poorly and they eat too much and they don’t take care of themselves. Truth hurts. Live with it.
Oh, and you might be interested to know why you have no traffic to your website. It’s because you don’t take a stand and say anything you believe in and open yourself to criticism. Get off your PC high horse. I’d hate to think how the world would look with your enforced boredom. blah.
I’m not Lee, but I’ll answer your reply. Nahhh… fat is not a hurtful word. Let’s see – how about whale? Circus freak? Icky people? Oh, I know – how about gross people with front-butts? Are you out of seventh grade yet? And are you teaching that intolerance and ignorance to your children? Just wondering…
Surely, during one of your numerous “college courses” you heard of PCOS? You know, the endocrine disorder? Or how about hypothyroidism? Not all people are overweight due to poor diet choices and lack of exercise. And are you disregarding the genetic factor entirely?
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of people who are overweight due to poor diet and lack of exercise, but your gross blanket statements and name calling imply all overweight people are “disgusting and icky” by choice. And honestly, even if people are indeed overweight as a result of poor choices, do they really deserve to be ridiculed?
Your article has a lot of merit, I agree with the information you are conveying, I do not agree with the name calling. It’s not necessary, and a poor way for you to be heard. You just served filet mignon on a trash can lid – you are serving quality, but your delivery sucks.
Lisa: Actually, according to my traffic numbers, my delivery is pretty darn good. Like I said to Lee, get off your PC high horse because it makes you look silly. Also, like I said, the number of people with genuine medical problems that cause them to be overweight is so small that, yes, pretty much everyone you see who’s fat is that way because of poor life choices. That fact apparently inconveniences you. Live with it. Lee said that his relatives are not fat because of life choices but because of some disorder outside their control. Seriously? Everybody else is fat because of life choices, but NOT Lee’s family — no, they have an excuse! HA. Listen, you can argue all you want. The fact remains that colorful language and descriptions make life more interesting. If you’re offended then go someplace else. Or don’t, keep telling me how wrong I am — I don’t care. I write what I think. People who couch their words to not offend are boring. I read things I don’t like all the time. What I don’t do is tell the author that they should not say what they said because I’m offended. I don’t get offended at words on paper. Why do you put quotes around “college courses”? That’s a little childish.
Fake food colors disgust me and I would never eat anything with (much) unnatural color let alone have the kids in my life eat them!
The reason why I think that way? Mainly because my mom taught me early on and I will be forever grateful to her for that.
Yes, it is parents’ responsibility to teach their kids about nutrition. And this includes making them aware of how our nutrition affects health and physical appearance. (This does not justify teaching kids bad habits such as gossiping about people of any shape and size.)
Artsy: Don’t know anybody who teaches there kids to gossip.
If somebody gossiped once in front of their kids they’ve done it already.
Artsy: Then it’s a non starter statement because everybody’s done it.
agree with you, but if I were you I was a little more careful with the words you use. Because, there are people who eat this food and they feel good to see someone write this with something they eat every day. But again, I have no doubt that the situation is much more severe than what you describe here. They bring us food and things that we want to know:)
YOU ARE SHALLOW AS FUCK AND PEOPLE LIKE YOU IS THE REASON WHY THERE IS SO MUCH HATE IN THE WORLD!!!