I don't believe in conspiracies but....

InfinitePoss

One thing I have noticed since I started this journey is that I really have to read the labels on everything I purchase with a microscope.

I know that the best thing is to eat 100% unprocessed foods but for many of us this is probably a bit hard so we do have to rely on a certain amount of packaged/processed foods but I have noticed that it is almost impossible to keep the amount of sugar and sodium I consume within the daily limits, even including deducting the natural sugars that occur in some foods. Most days I come in well beneath my calorie goal but my sodium and sugar consumption will be almost double what I am allotted. And -no, I am not eating potato chips and Twix bars

Anyway, I like my foods to have taste good a much as the next person but I would have to think that some of these food manufacturers could back off on the sodium and sugar, especially in the foods they market as "healthy". If I want to go on sugar and/or sodium binge there are literally millions of choices every where I look. Anyway, just an observation.....

chachadiva150

It's not a food industry conspiracy. It is what it is.

If you want to control the ingredients in your food, you have to choose and eat fresh food and cook it yourself. If you're savvy, you can shop during sales periods and stock up on the good stuff when it's cheaper. Comparison shop and look for stores that do price matching.

If you don't want to go through the effort, then you are giving the control of your food supply over to a corporation.

Tami113

I agree that food companies can totally decrease the amount of sugar and sodium in their foods and not alter taste. I buy welsh's reduced sugar jelly and i wonder why that isn't the only jelly. It doesn't taste any different. Just one example. But as i am sure you know, and i know it is difficult sometimes, but the less processed foods you eat the better

MKloste

I hate how everything that is sugar free has aspertaine or some other type of artifical sweetener in it. I absoultely REFUSE to consume anything with aspertaine in it. I don't even know why it's on the market, it so bad for you in sooooooo many worse ways then sugar is. Sugar wise though as long as you aren't eating anything to overly processed or junk food, you should be okay. I have noticed that the only time I will go over my sugar amounts is if I eat the Special K Crisp Bars (I call them the Special K healthy pop tarts bites lol).

Also if you want to watch a good documentary on the stuff that the food industry puts in our food, watch....'Food, Inc' or "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead!" If you have netflix you can watch them on the instant streaming....both those movies really made me think about what I was eating and changed how I bought food, not just meat but fruits, veggies everything!

btnyegurl

Sugar, fat, salt and carbs are addictive - literally. They alter the way that you're brain works and therefore its in the best interest of the food company try and get you addicted to their products. It's all about money.

sweettthings

I cut the amount of processed foods in my family's diet to the minimum, buy low sodium versions of a few things like soy sauce, and naturally sweetened jams and jellies, etc., and otherwise try not to worry about it. You can only do what you can do, all things in moderation. Just being conscious of it is better than 90% of the population.

Edit to add: I totally agree there is a bit of a conspiracy about sweetener labelling. I've been fooled a few times when I was in a hurry and believed the "Naturally sweetened" banner on a front label. I get home, taste the product, realize "something in the milk isn't clean" and wind up having to toss the food. Sucralose isn't a product of nature, no matter what they say.

Tami113

I hate how everything that is sugar free has aspertaine or some other type of artifical sweetener in it. I absoultely REFUSE to consume anything with aspertaine in it. I don't even know why it's on the market, it so bad for you in sooooooo many worse ways then sugar is. Sugar wise though as long as you aren't eating anything to overly processed or junk food, you should be okay. I have noticed that the only time I will go over my sugar amounts is if I eat the Special K Crisp Bars (I call them the Special K healthy pop tarts bites lol).

I totally agree! I refuse to consume aspartame!!!! I used to drink diet peach snapple because no calories and it was super yummy. Then i became label conscious and noticed it had aspartame!! So incredibly bad for you. Neorologically it really messes with your brain!!!! I agree that food industries should remove it from their products. I also believe that food ondustries should put on labels if there is any animal product be it gelatin, chicken broth, bacon flavor or anything from an animal. I also think that artificial dyes should be banned as well. I was shocked to find out that most cough medicine and other medicines are loaded with artificial flavors! So sickening that you can't avoid it. To each their own i guess

InfinitePoss

Great responses and, as I mention in my OP, I know that the more one cuts out processed foods the easier it is to control all of this stuff but my point was that I think that much of the sugar, sodium, and other additions to processed foods is really unnecessary.

I don't truly believe there is a "conspiracy" but, like others have mentioned, I am sure much of what food manufacturers put in food isn't really as much about taste as about creating an addiction. Also, all of us that are taking the time to use MFP are way ahead of the general population but in the US we have a health care crisis when it comes to obesity and I do believe the government should do a heck of a lot more regulating of what is contained in our foods and advertising. I am all about personal liberty and if someone wants to dump crap into their body that's completely their right but what I have a problem with is the way the food industry uses a lot of deceptive techniques in advertising and puts ingredients in foods that are totally unnecessary. There is a reason that the problem of obesity has grown so much in the past thirty years.

meshashesha2012

salt is also a great preserver, so companies might had more salt because there's really no idea how long something will be sitting on the shelf.

as for the added sugar, i always find that additional sugar is mainly in things that have been made low fat. since foods are primarily made up of 3 things - carbs, proteins and fats - when one thing is lowered then one of the others has to be increased. so i generally stay away from anything that's processed and labelled low fat

i dont think it's a conspiracy though, it's common sense. you can't have both the convenience of something being mass produced and distributed AND it being made from whole foods. the price would be way too high and the shelf life would be non existant