Are You Also Being Deceived into Eating Fake Frankenfoods?

Should we buy food with health claims on the label?

These days, we are seeing more and more health claims that go beyond the usual. These include "trans fat-free," "gluten-free," "heart healthy," and foods spiked with vitamins, such as my new favorite: sodas with vitamins and minerals.

We see whole-grain breakfast pastries and chicken with misleading labels such as "raised without antibiotics." We see natural sweeteners advertised as fiber. We see whole-grain cereals that are still full of sugar.

Now you can get "health food" like salads at fast food restaurants, but with salad dressings that have more calories than their biggest burgers.

And we also see antioxidant-spiked junk food and ginkgo-spiked energy drinks.

What should we make of all these marketing claims? Do they provide any benefit?

In Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, he rails against the notion of "nutritionism," the idea that we can single out nutrients from whole foods, add them back to processed food, or take them as supplements, and achieve health benefits.

His point is very well taken.

We must be very careful to avoid the marketing ploys of the food industry, which wants to trick us into eating more junk food by putting it in friendlier packaging.

Make no mistake.

These foods are still wolves in sheep's clothing.

We need to be very wary of any food that comes in a package, box, or a can. That is not to say that there are not some good whole foods that are available in boxes, packages, or cans.

However, most of what is available in the marketplace is simply not real food.

A recent patient of mine is a food scientist who works for a large food industry company. His job is to invent and create new foods in the laboratory by mixing food and chemicals to create certain tastes and flavors that mimic real food or that stimulate appetite and satisfy our need for various tastes.

Think of these as "Frankenfoods."

My patient became quite sick from handling these compounds and chemicals everyday. I have been working hard to get him to not only stop eating processed food, but also to stop playing with it.

He wore a funny T-shirt to my office, which listed the top 10 reasons to major in food science, a scientific discipline that teaches people how to invent foods for the food industry.

According to his shirt, here are the top 10 reasons to become a food scientist:

1. Eat ice cream for breakfast and get credit for it.

2. We are in it for the dough.

3. Grocery shopping is research instead of a chore.

4. We get to eat the results of our research project.

5. Because hairnets are a fashion statement.

6. Because we know what is really in your hot dogs.

7. Not only do we know how to drink beer, we can make it.

8. Cheese, yogurt, and buttermilk -- who says we are not cultured?

9. As long as you are eating, we will be working.

10. We have not stopped playing with our food and now we are playing with yours.

He gave me a food industry trade journal which I found very enlightening.

I was shocked to read the very careful and deliberate marketing ploys used to gain a foothold in our increasingly health conscious market.

The advice to the food industry was clear: Modify packaging and ingredients in food just slightly to give the impression of health, while continuing to provide poor-quality, nutrient-poor, calorie-dense foods.

For example, there was an ad for a company that provides new types of food coloring. This allows manufacturers to color junk food with natural pigments, which can replace the artificial coloring used in tablets, coatings, pan confections, rubs, sauces, and more.

Who are they fooling?

In this journal, I also learned that one company cleverly labels their chicken as "produced without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans," meaning they did use antibiotics -- just not ones that cause problems in humans.

And one of the giant agriculture corporations that has been losing money recently, is creating a food line designed to make you think the unhealthy foods they sell are actually healthy.

Another article documented a company who said that innovation in the food industry will continue in areas of "perceived" health and wellness, convenience, and ethnic products.

Read that carefully.

"Perceived" health and wellness -- not actual health and wellness.

As long as you make people think they are getting something healthy, that is good enough -- even if it is the same old junk food.

Other new junk foods include allergy free junk foods and energy drinks. There was also an article about a company that now offers whole-grain pocket sandwiches, which are still full of chemicals and processed food, but now have a few more flecks of fiber to give the illusion of a health food.

There is even an ad for a compound designed for cholesterol reduction that puts plant phytosterols in sugary junk food!

So what's the bottom line?

As I have always said, if it has a label, do not eat it. And as Michael Pollan says, "Eat food [meaning real, whole food]. Not too much. Mostly plants."

We have to be very cautious as consumers to recognize label claims for health benefits on processed foods, which sprinkle miniscule, non-therapeutic amounts of healthful ingredients into otherwise poor-quality, high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods, giving us the illusion that we are doing something good for ourselves.

I encourage you to eat food that comes from a farmer's field and not a food chemist's laboratory -- and you will not have to worry about all these functional food claims.

Here is what to eat:

1. Whole, real food such as vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, lean animal protein like small wild fish and poultry, and whole omega-3 eggs.

2. Small amounts of grass fed, antibiotic- and hormone-free beef or lamb.

That is it.

Food scientists tend to make us think that we need all these special ingredients in foods to stay healthy.

But they are just extracting them from real, whole foods -- so why not start with the whole food in the first place?

Now I'd like to hear from you...

Have you sampled any of these "Frankenfoods"?

What did you think of them?

Why do you think the food industry is trying to make junk food seem healthier?

Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, M.D.

Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.

Follow Mark Hyman, MD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markhymanmd

Comments

[OnestaOrganics]

I know the magazine(s) you are speaking about.

The same is true for pet foods: Start with cheap, unhealthy, refined ingredients and then add a vitamin/mineral slurry to bring nutrients up to the AAFCO-recommended levels to create 'balanced' or 'complete' foods. I can't stop writing about this business on my blog www.onestaorganics.com/blogg).

Lack of government regulations doesn't make it easy for consumers to choose. In the pet food industry, only certified organic claims are regulated and enforced, while any other (non-certified) organic claim isn't and hasn't been verified by an unbiased third-party (an organic certification agency such as Oregon Tilth). So people buy an 'organic' pet food product but really get a conventional one. And the government is aware of this (read on my news page what a State compliance officer says about non-certified organic pet food claims). The same is true for other muggy marketing terms which aren't defined or regulated (e.g., natural, green, holistic, premium, antibiotic-free).

If a vitamin/mineral slurry that is added to our modern pets' 'balanced' foods did its job, why is it that more pets are sick now and die earlier than before these foods became popular and when pets still ate real food?

If a government were serious about health care for its people (and pets), meaningful regulations would be established and enforced. People (and animals) would be healthier. But that may not be in the interest of some industries.

[RJII]

I went to a friend's friend cookout. They were feeding a less than one year old Popeyes fried chicken. He didn't have the teefs to eat it properly and sucked on a drumstick. That baby fa.rted from across the room and nearly kno.cked me out.
Same when I vounteered at a inner city public school for 3rd graders. This one kid fa.rted and it was rancid like that baby's.

Parents stay away from the processed foods. All of them.

[Conk]

I see parents in the grocery buying those vile little Lunchable packages. I want to say something or smack them in the arse. How could any responsible parent feed a child such garbage?

My daughters 13 year old friend has broken her arm six times. She eats nothing but microwaved garbage and pop-tarts. Really sad.

[MJinCanada]

I think part of the problem is that so few people learn to cook these days. My sister got involved in an inner city program for young families and was stunned to learn there were literally generations who grew up on KD, canned soups and frozen burgers. They in turn were stunned to find out how easy it was to make a pot of chili or stew or a tuna casserole.

If I may, I'd like to suggest not restricting yourself to great-grandma's cooking -- I have Indian, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Middle Eastern cookbooks -- all of which have very tasty vegetable dishes.

[SaltySaltillo]

I note that beef makes the list but pork doesn't. While I can understand why pork doesn't make most people's list of good foods, I once had a very enlightening discussion with an organic farmer about the relative virtues of raising pigs for consumption. The bottom line: pigs are the most efficient garbage disposals on the farm. Any produce that a farmer produces that is unfit for sale or consumption (e.g. old carrots) gets converted by very quickly into animal proteins. And the land needed to raise pigs is minimal compared to what is needed to raise cows. Bottom line - meat should be consumed very lightly, but if you are concerned about the relative ecological impact of different kinds of meats, surprisingly organic farm-raised pigs are much "greener" on a pound per pound basis than cows or poultry.

[Conk]

No. Mother Nature does not put labels on her food.

[emily00011]

That's not food they are selling it's "food products". Maybe if people saw that there was a difference they would act accordingly.

I was lucky enough to have a mother that cooked home-made food and didn't believe in buying pre-made food for us. When you don't eat that stuff as a child you never develop the taste for it. I cook as much of my own food as a I can, and I don't eat much meat at all.

I love chemistry, I love food and cooking, and the chemistry of food is fascinating and worth researching, but exploiting it to make "food products" isn't going to take us anywhere we want to go.

Buy (or grow) raw ingredients and cook your own food - you will be glad in the long run!

[ohjodi]

Michael Pollan also makes a good point when he says that we just DON'T KNOW the effects of individual nutrients added to food. We do know that there is increasing research that says that many vitamin supplements and additives may be very harmful to us.

Carrots are good for us. Carrots have beta-carotene. Take the beta-carotene from a carrot and put it in other foods or supplements. Is this good for us? Research says that people who consume high levels of beta-carotene supplements have greater risk of certain cancers.

Maybe we haven't looked into the carrot-as-­a-beta-car­otene-deli­very-syste­m. It's not the nutrient alone that is good for us. It is the vegetable we consume with it. There could be something else in the carrot that helps us use the beta-carotene correctly.

"Vitamin-fortified" foods could be poison to us.

You can fortify dog poop. That doesn't make it a healthy food.

[baronmerlot]

Agreed! In the example of the carrot it is the combination that IS the carrot. Beta-carotene, fiber, natural sugars and how they interact with each other in this thing that is the carrot.

[NewYogini]

Amen!

Pollan's "In Defense of Food" totally changed the way I look at food.

I'm healthier than I have been in a long time and I'm loving it.

[NewYogini]

Amen.

Amen, amen, amen.

Great article.

"In Defense of Food" by Pollan totally changed the way I think about food.

I'm healthier now than I have been in a very long time.

[brooklyncitizen]

When did eating get so complicated?Just ban all processed foods from your pantry.

Some places (Trader Joe's) are deceptive in that they sell inexpensive "healthy" food but I find I can only buy two things (nuts/almond butter and frozen berries) from them and I stay away from products that depict a "legend".

The legend is what typically follows Ingredient­s.In the tiniest of prints it is about an inch or more high. Sorry but food should not have THAT many ingredients, most of them un-pronounceable.

My biggest concern is the genetically modified produce so I try to buy organic for most produce.

[ReesieKitty]

Trader Joes has stuff with additives in it, no doubt. But they have some good things too. After about a month of tracking what we normally eat - snacks, sandwiches, etc- my 9 year old and I started switching out everything for a product that contains no HFCS and no hydrogenated oils. We found- that with some shopping around between our local grocery store, Target ( who carries a lot of organics in their Archer Farms label) Trader Joes ( for example, my son was able to find chocolate syrup for making chocolate milk that had only REAL sugars in it and no HFCS) and the occasional trip to Whole Foods for specific things- we were able to swap out EVERYTHING we liked for a healthier, simpler product and it actually didn't cost any more money than before. I had to coordinate my shopping a little more, but now that we're used to it, its working out great.

[themainpoint]

It's all about short term profits and charging more than they used to, but less than companies that deliver truly healthy food.. Junk is cheaper to produce, has a longer shelf life and misleading claims blur the distinction between their products and the genuinely healthy ones that cut into their profits. By the time consumers catch up and figure it out,these frauds already made a bundle more than they would have otherwise and just move on to the next trick or morph into a new company.

Even many "health food" grocery stores now sell all sorts of things that don't really qualify as health food to people who do the research..

Example: The company "Silk" pulled a bait and switch on its loyal customers. For years their organic Silk soy milk was in a red carton. I recently noticed the word "natural" had been added, which I know to be a warning. I looked for the "organic" to find it was no longer there. So all the loyal customers who thought they were buying the organic in usual the red carton, were paying for genetically modified or non organic soymilk! I called and they said the organic is now in a green carton! Meanwhilethey've got their extra profits. This sort of false advertising might even be illegal?

Also, "organic" grown in other countries, is not necessarily any assurance.

ANSWER: eat mostly whole foods, grown and raised locally by people I trust--or grow your own.

[GLHorton]

I was a fat kid, and must use iron discipline to keep my weight within the normal range. My husband is diabetic. We must constantly read labels, because foods that were once safe and healthy-- like yoghurt-- have been adulterated with things like Modified Food Starch-- which are binge-triggers for a carb-sensitive dieter -- yet the same claims of "lite" and"healthy choice" are on the product! We need a crackdown-- and taxes-- on this crap so that the unadulterated products become the standard, not pricy specialty items for "picky eaters".

[Lesscancer]

Confusing the consumer with well-researched marketing strategies has compromised healthy eating.

In this day and age of being over scheduled with little time to spare-we are especially vulnerable to being susceptible to the next slick package we see. -

A practice that is not exclusive to packaged foods but farmed foods as well.

As an example food marketers understand the importance of implicating health by providing the essence of "Organic" using terms such as "whole health", local, or natural understanding that often we are pushing our carts faster than what we can read sighting key words as opposed to information.

Organic is a USDA brand that is enormously valuable. Marketers understand the importance relative to revenue for riding on the coattails of the brand.

Since the late 1990s, U.S. organic production has more than doubled, but the consumer market has grown even faster. Organic products are now firmly established in the American food culture: once available only in natural product stores, organic foods are now found in mainstream venues like Wal-Mart,Target, and Costco.

Organic is identified by the USDA green and white label that indicates the product is organic.

Food can't be rushed- when it is we make poor decisions and in an effort to cut back on the confusion one may first reach for the USDA Organic label-when convenient and affordable. And while not a perfect system it currently is a system with higher standards.

Bill Couzens Founder Less Cancer

[mpclover]

I have to eat gluten-free because I have celiac disease. If I eat gluten it makes me sick and runs havoc on my immune system. For celiacs, gluten-free labeling is a godsend. The recent increased celiac awareness has been a total blessing. The increased availability and variety of gluten-free products on the market should be applauded. Celiac is a very common (an estimated 1 in 100 people in the U.S. suffer from the autoimmune disorder) although very under-diagnosed. Of course, for people without celiac or other wheat allergy or sensitivity, eating gluten-free does not have the same benefits and, yes, some gluten-free foods are not nutritional. A gluten-free brownie is still a brownie. That said, it is absolutely divine for me to have these options. And I'd like to thank Baby Cakes in NYC for making my husband and me the most delicious gluten-free wedding cake!

[MJinCanada]

Good point -- food labelling in itself is not a sin. it can help people with allergies or sensitivities. But deceptive health food labelling is twisted.

[liviapeacock]

Eating real food is NOT expensive. You don't have to always buy organic, but snap it up when it goes on sale (which it does) and freeze it for later. Its difficult to buy produce grown in the US, but I've found that usually when I stick to US only fruits and veggies, A) its cheaper and ) I am getting what is actually in season in my region, which by the end of March gets a little slim, but I know that it didn't have to travel from Costs Rica or Honduras.

It takes some getting used to, but it is not more expensive if you stop buying the processed stuff.

Also, plant a small garden or even pick up a couple of 4-5 gallon plastic pots and throw some veggie plants in them during the summer months. An initial investment will bring you many meals of fresh produce later on.

I grew up in the 70's with a garden tended by the whole family (which I HATED) but now would never have a summer without my own produce. You tend to do what your parents did, so help your kids out and eat real food.