US Food Policy: If you could change one thing...
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If I could change one thing in our food industry, it would be to make every aspect of it - farming, transportation, storage, and labeling - completely transparent, with no deliberately added confusion. I don't mean that foods have to be labeled with this, but that if we needed to, we could find out the information about the food, quickly and easily. Phone call, on the web, through email, whatever.
Currently, we don't have that at all. Right now, it's practically impossible to find out what is actually in, on, or contaminating our food, even IF you ask outright.
As some examples:
100% maple syrup has defoaming agents in it in the USA - it's federally mandated. But you won't see it on the labels. You often won't even find out about it if you call up a company and ask about what is added to the syrup UNLESS you ask if there are any 'processing agents' added to it. Because the defoaming agent is considered part of the processing, and not an ingredient, and so they don't have to tell you about it unless it takes up more than 2% of the product or you ask the exact right way.
Some ingredients don't have to be mentioned because they were ingredients OF ingredients (like baking powder, which is made up of baking soda, some form or starch, etc... In a product, all they have to say is baking powder, and you don't know what the rest of it is.).
Apples, pears, and citrus can have a wax coating. Organic ones sometimes use something called a Lac coating, and it can contain dairy or soy. But since uncut fruit is not a processed food, it has different allergen regulations so there does not need to be any warning that it might contain soy or dairy. I know severely allergic folks who have even reacted to it.
Packaging for foods can have ingredients added that never need to be on the label. Some plastic wrapping, for example, has corn starch added to make it easier to peel away from the inside product.
Companies choose names for ingredients that do as much as possible to make them sound 'good' and hide what they actually are. Without a lot of research, and sometimes just plain lucking out and finding the right, informed, person in the industry to talk to, a consumer can't even figure out what the heck is in their food.
Like, for example, celery extract. Celery not an extract like vanilla is, where there are many components remaining of the original vanilla, now in some alcohol base. Celery extract simply means that whatever chemicals they have left that they are using (nitrates, in this case), they got them from celery; it has no more resemblance to anything that was celery than would, say, water if it was 'extracted' from humans and called 'human extract.' And re: labeling, by getting that nitrate from celery, companies can put 'nitrite and nitrate free' on the label, even though it IS an added nitrate.
This is happening with high fructose corn syrup right now, too. HFCS has about 45%-55% fructose in the syrup, but there is a legal name that the industry has to call it, so they can't exactly hide it. So now, a corn syrup has been invented that is 90% fructose to the syrup, so nearly twice what HFCS has. On the label, it is going to be called 'fructose' or 'fructose syrup,' now that the industry know that HFCS is getting a bad rap and people might otherwise avoid foods containing it.
I very much do NOT want the gov't telling us what we should eat. If I wanna eat a big, greasy cheeseburger with extra lard fries and candy in every unnatural color in the rainbow, I'd like to be able to do it.
But I DO want to be able to make my own decisions about what I eat, and so much is hidden right now - sometimes on purpose - that it makes that impossible. Trying to get a straight answer from the food industry about their products can feel like trying to get a straight answer from a politician, these days.
I think it says something about how the food industry views our food supply when we have laws that force people who do NOT add crap to their food to prove it, and pay to prove it*, while people who DO use chemicals and products on their food products can do it without half the regulations and oversight. You would think it would be the other way around: you have to pay to be able to use chemicals on our food, and to prove that what you are doing is safe. :-P
* yeah I am totally aware that the organic industry uses a lot of chemicals these days as well, but you understand my point.
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I think I would ban "Pancake Syrup". You know, that gunk that SHOULD be 100% maple syrup (grade B preferably) if someone with decency were buying it.
In fact, I'll still allow it on shelves. But anyone who takes a bottle of that crap to the register will have the tile they're standing on drop straight down into a dumpster filled with pillows.0 -
myheartsabattleground wrote: »If serving size is for 1 cake... DON'T PUT TWO !
So now I have to buy my eggs one at a time, instead of by the dozen, b/c someone somewhere thinks "1 serving" of eggs is 12 eggs, because that is the way they are packaged. Or buy my milk in cute little 8oz cartons instead of by the gallon.
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This is the craziest zombie thread ever. How on earth did I miss this gem 2 years ago?0
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Get rid of the organic label. It was the one of the major moves towards official government acceptance of pseudoscience.0
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vinegar_husbands wrote: »PaleoPath4Lyfe wrote: »
As someone who has spent decades in the restaurant business, I can quite honestly say that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Not that you had much credibility before, but at least now I know for a fact that you just completely make up any lies you can to try and push your own misguided agenda.Require all restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.
Yup, accurate ones too.
So much this. Regardless of chain or not. They know what they're putting in it shouldn't be that hard. And let's be honest, if they had to start reporting calorie counts and sodium content a lot of places would stop the abuse of butter and salt in their recipes.
Most restaurants don't use butter in their recipes...............they use cheap seed oils such as canola, corn, soy, etc.
There is nothing wrong with butter in the least.
I was referring to quantities used. There is such thing as too much butter.
Restaurants don't use real butter and very few chain restaurants actually do cooking. Most of the crap they serve is either frozen or canned. The only butter might be on the potato they bring to you and maybe a bit for your bread at the table.
My sister works in the restaurant industry as a general manager and has worked at a variety of different types of restaurants and she has told our family what that food is really like in the chain restaurants.
They use seed oils to cook with and most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I do know what I am talking about.
Sounds to me like your sister is a lousy restaurant manager.
I don't think that equals "most restaurants don't cook food."
My sister is a fantastic restaurant manager and actually when she went to work at a different restaurant many of the employees also requested to go that restaurant or quit all together.
They don't cook most of the food. Its re-heated crap. This is why we rarely eat out any more.
There are plenty of people that work in the restaurant industry that corroborates what she is the rest of us family members also.
also in the 10 years ive been a chef, have a degree in culinary arts, culinary operations, a bachelors in restaurant management, and currently in the process of my masters in nutrition i have NEVER ONCE reheated or used frozen food. "Most" restaurants are NOT olive garden or chilis.
I think @PaleoPath4Lyfe has been watching this...
hahahahaa i SAW THAT EPISODE! its funny because 12 years ago my first day of culinary school my chef said "i want to let you know that EVERYTHING at olive garden is frozen they do no cooking... so you are paying too much" haha0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »This is the craziest zombie thread ever. How on earth did I miss this gem 2 years ago?
Right? So good.0 -
PaleoPath4Lyfe wrote: »
As someone who has spent decades in the restaurant business, I can quite honestly say that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Not that you had much credibility before, but at least now I know for a fact that you just completely make up any lies you can to try and push your own misguided agenda.Require all restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.
Yup, accurate ones too.
So much this. Regardless of chain or not. They know what they're putting in it shouldn't be that hard. And let's be honest, if they had to start reporting calorie counts and sodium content a lot of places would stop the abuse of butter and salt in their recipes.
Most restaurants don't use butter in their recipes...............they use cheap seed oils such as canola, corn, soy, etc.
There is nothing wrong with butter in the least.
I was referring to quantities used. There is such thing as too much butter.
Restaurants don't use real butter and very few chain restaurants actually do cooking. Most of the crap they serve is either frozen or canned. The only butter might be on the potato they bring to you and maybe a bit for your bread at the table.
My sister works in the restaurant industry as a general manager and has worked at a variety of different types of restaurants and she has told our family what that food is really like in the chain restaurants.
They use seed oils to cook with and most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I do know what I am talking about.
Sounds to me like your sister is a lousy restaurant manager.
I don't think that equals "most restaurants don't cook food."
My sister is a fantastic restaurant manager and actually when she went to work at a different restaurant many of the employees also requested to go that restaurant or quit all together.
They don't cook most of the food. Its re-heated crap. This is why we rarely eat out any more.
There are plenty of people that work in the restaurant industry that corroborates what she is the rest of us family members also.
also in the 10 years ive been a chef, have a degree in culinary arts, culinary operations, a bachelors in restaurant management, and currently in the process of my masters in nutrition i have NEVER ONCE reheated or used frozen food. "Most" restaurants are NOT olive garden or chilis.
Been in the business for 30 years.
I've seen both ends.
Some small places reheat frozen crap
(Usually the fried stuff )
I've worked for a few chains too. Some of the side dishes may have been pre frozen., the main dish is usually cooked to order.
I've also worked for places that do more volume than the chains do, and source everything locally, and cook everything from scratch
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FunkyTobias wrote: »PaleoPath4Lyfe wrote: »
As someone who has spent decades in the restaurant business, I can quite honestly say that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Not that you had much credibility before, but at least now I know for a fact that you just completely make up any lies you can to try and push your own misguided agenda.Require all restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.
Yup, accurate ones too.
So much this. Regardless of chain or not. They know what they're putting in it shouldn't be that hard. And let's be honest, if they had to start reporting calorie counts and sodium content a lot of places would stop the abuse of butter and salt in their recipes.
Most restaurants don't use butter in their recipes...............they use cheap seed oils such as canola, corn, soy, etc.
There is nothing wrong with butter in the least.
I was referring to quantities used. There is such thing as too much butter.
Restaurants don't use real butter and very few chain restaurants actually do cooking. Most of the crap they serve is either frozen or canned. The only butter might be on the potato they bring to you and maybe a bit for your bread at the table.
My sister works in the restaurant industry as a general manager and has worked at a variety of different types of restaurants and she has told our family what that food is really like in the chain restaurants.
They use seed oils to cook with and most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I do know what I am talking about.
Sounds to me like your sister is a lousy restaurant manager.
I don't think that equals "most restaurants don't cook food."
My sister is a fantastic restaurant manager and actually when she went to work at a different restaurant many of the employees also requested to go that restaurant or quit all together.
They don't cook most of the food. Its re-heated crap. This is why we rarely eat out any more.
There are plenty of people that work in the restaurant industry that corroborates what she is the rest of us family members also.
also in the 10 years ive been a chef, have a degree in culinary arts, culinary operations, a bachelors in restaurant management, and currently in the process of my masters in nutrition i have NEVER ONCE reheated or used frozen food. "Most" restaurants are NOT olive garden or chilis.
Been in the business for 30 years.
I've seen both ends.
Some small places reheat frozen crap
(Usually the fried stuff )
I've worked for a few chains too. Some of the side dishes may have been pre frozen., the main dish is usually cooked to order.
I've also worked for places that do more volume than the chains do, and source everything locally, and cook everything from scratch
Ive only worked for non chains because... well all the school and experience I have. I also have lived in cities where food chains are not very popular.. San Diego, Portland, SF ect. In portland the only food chains were at the mall. Yes food chains may use oils and frozen foods (why I mentioned olive garden) but the majority use clarified butter.0 -
I understand most restaurants are different, but when it comes to the chain fast food places, it's a completely different story. I can say from work experience that a large portion of it isn't real stuff.0
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Based on this thread, we need to label accurate nutrition when people are being fed reheated dogs that have been put down by Russians subsidized by not banning the FDA's high fructose GMO's because anything less is a nannystate mentality. Also, be angry if that dog isn't deep fried in real butter and real maple syrup.
Did I thread right?0 -
Based on this thread, we need to label accurate nutrition when people are being fed reheated dogs that have been put down by Russians subsidized by not banning the FDA's high fructose GMO's because anything less is a nannystate mentality. Also, be angry if that dog isn't deep fried in real butter and real maple syrup.
Did I thread right?
They'll also need to resize every food container to an absolute minimum of one gallon size, just so the label can be large enough for every possible applicable "health warning". And each gallon jug will contain one serving, to avoid confusion and enable accurate measurement. So instead of buying a stick of butter, you'll buy 10 one-gallon jugs, each with one pat of butter in them (and all the appropriate "warnings" about the myriad evils and health risks of butter on the label, of course).0 -
Based on this thread, we need to label accurate nutrition when people are being fed reheated dogs that have been put down by Russians subsidized by not banning the FDA's high fructose GMO's because anything less is a nannystate mentality. Also, be angry if that dog isn't deep fried in real butter and real maple syrup.
Did I thread right?
They'll also need to resize every food container to an absolute minimum of one gallon size, just so the label can be large enough for every possible applicable "health warning". And each gallon jug will contain one serving, to avoid confusion and enable accurate measurement. So instead of buying a stick of butter, you'll buy 10 one-gallon jugs, each with one pat of butter in them (and all the appropriate "warnings" about the myriad evils and health risks of butter on the label, of course).
Sounds perfect. You got my vote.
Wait. I'm Canadian.0 -
stop subsidizing corn farmers0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIeii33QP4k
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