80% of American pre-packaged foods BANNED

Depends on what I feel like eating that day.

Usually, I don't eat a lot of processed foods. The other day though, I went to Wendy's twice.

Mmmmm, Wendy's.....

/Homer Simpson drool

Holy crap, that article was disturbing. I was aware that the European Union had long ago banned additives linked to breast cancer that are commonly allowed in American health and beauty products (parabens and pthalates), but I feel silly to say that it had never occurred to me that there might be similar cases with food. I've recently made the decision to start eating clean(er) after my friend's mom died of cancer in her fifties. It was just a wakeup call about mortality and my health. I don't think it's the end of world to indulge in a little processed food occasionally, and I don't think it has to be either/or, but I think eating clean is ultimately the way to go. Thanks for the article share.

I just had to reply with this link I found, posted at a chemistry blog, which addresses the extreme exaggerations made by the writers of the book referenced by this article.

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2013/06/21/eight_toxic_foods_a_little_chemical_education.php

C'mon folks, at least think about what people are presenting to you, please!

This isn't about wholesale buying into an argument that all chemical processing is bad. I appreciate his article just as much as the first. Thinking of eating as an either all fresh and natural or all processed itself is a fallacy. Sure, the second source is written by a chemist, whose expertise I can more likely rely on, but the very fact that so many countries have banned certain substances in American foods is also telling about the nature of other scientific studies (which the author of the second articles doesn't address, because they don't support his argument), which may link those chemicals, even in trace amounts, to other health problems, which have lead countries around the world to ban them, even if we haven't in the United States. Science is a process, not an endpoint, and hence there are always new studies coming out and many different perspectives. So just because there's one article contradicting the claims of chemicals like bromide affecting human health doesn't mean you should discount all the arguments of the other side. I think it's significant that so many countries have banned these chemicals.

And there's also a bit of the ew factor here too. For many people, I would imagine that discovering there's formaldehyde (the chemical used to preserve dead bodies) found in your food would turn many off. Hence, I think articles like the first one are good for educating the general public about what's in their food, even if, as the second article says, it may not necessarily be that bad for you (in small amounts).

Knowledge is power. That's why you should look at a lot of sources of different perspectives.

C'mon folks, at least think about what people are presenting to you, please!

AMMURICA. And FREEDOMZ.....

Makes me proud to be an American!

That.....is.......distuuuuuurbing. I still eat several ready meals a week. I use them on the day when i no I will get super late. It stop me getting a takeaway. I may try make my dinner the day before myself and reheating it

Good article, thanks for posting. I had no idea, well maybe I had no idea. I think down deep, all 'Muricans KNOW our food is wrong. I try to keep a garden, and buy organic when I can, but yes I fall victim to the "fast, cheap, & easy".

It pisses me off that everything is knocked out of foods when they are processed, everything but the doggone salt. I'm old, but as a child I remember seeing commercial on TV about the changing of foods, and remember My mom saying - "they are messing with the foods". Can you imagine how frightened I was? Now I hate myself because I eat that crap, because its so convenient. I buy a chicken that is the only chicken I can eat because of my gums - Tenderbird breast. Its a frozen chicken with almost 500 mg sodium in it before I even cook it - raw chicken! Its hell out there.

This. Exactly.

I don't pretend to know the full consequences of eating pre-packaged foods all day, every day (or even what they contain) but I prefer to know what I am putting in my mouth.

I mean, coal tar, plastic, bleach, petroleum...

Nom nom nom nommmmm

Our regulatory framework may be a bit too lax in some cases, but it is also a fallacy to assume that every chemical is dangerous just because it is a chemical.

I try to avoid them as much as possible, but in this fast paced day it's just not always possible. If I do have them I try to limit myself to 1 serving or less. But when someone like me whose day starts at 4:30 a.m. then works full time, cares for a sick husband, a teenager, and a special needs child and your day does not end until 11:00 p.m.. Oh, and the special needs child has a sleeping disorder and if I get to sleep in my own bed past 1:00 a.m. it's a miracle; well those convenience foods are just that. Convenient. I'm not saying they are healthy but like anything else, I take it in moderation

This 'article' you speak of...