My little journey through Subway being "fake" food
RhineDHP
Posts: 1,025 Member
A girl liked an article on my Facebook page about Subway. Having just read a post about it at some point the other day, I walk into this pretty skeptical-like. The article is called "Is Subway Real Food?"
Check it out:
http://foodbabe.com/2012/06/12/is-subway-real-food/
The author believes what hundreds of other people on this this site seem to think, that preservatives are bad, that this food is treated with harmful chemicals, etc. Apparently the only "real" food at Subway is a salad.
She states that she got some of she info from the World Cancer Research Fund. Well I think to myself, hmm, sounds credible. Let's check it out. I click the hyperlink, and it goes to another article (not the paper published by the Cancer Research Fund):
http://institutefornaturalhealing.com/2012/04/processed-meats-declared-too-dangerous-for-human-consumption/
The first sentences that pop up seem to, I dunno, jump at one's face:
So I'm thinking......uh-huh.....The I scroll down to find a link to the actual published article, and notice that whoever wrote the blog posted an update, saying this:
...Mmm So, they choose to ignore the fact that the American Heart Association backs many of these sandwiches, the fact that yes, while the spokesperson is there to draw consumers, he lost quite a lot of weight eating Subway sandwiches (backed by moderate exercise) and continues to live a very healthy lifestyle, and even the fact that the publisher of one of the articles they sourced physically told then that they misused the study they ran, re-worded it and advocated it for their own purposes.
Nope....preservatives and chemicals are scary, they'll kill you. Eat only "unprocessed," organic, gluten-free, "real" food. (Note: I'm not knocking on people who eating gluten free due to medical reasons or to those who eat organic and NOT shove it down other people's throats. Just to people with holier-than-thou attitudes after adopting certain diets for themselves.)
Now I admit, I didn't look through everyone of their sources. Feel free to do so if you're interested. I just hate that people produce this stuff and ultimately end up closing off and eliminating certain food choices because of it, labeling it as bad. I'm still of a mind that one can eat the foods they love, the key is portion control. Food is not evil. One does not have to go cold turkey, or in this case, cold packaged turkey.
Check it out:
http://foodbabe.com/2012/06/12/is-subway-real-food/
The author believes what hundreds of other people on this this site seem to think, that preservatives are bad, that this food is treated with harmful chemicals, etc. Apparently the only "real" food at Subway is a salad.
She states that she got some of she info from the World Cancer Research Fund. Well I think to myself, hmm, sounds credible. Let's check it out. I click the hyperlink, and it goes to another article (not the paper published by the Cancer Research Fund):
http://institutefornaturalhealing.com/2012/04/processed-meats-declared-too-dangerous-for-human-consumption/
The first sentences that pop up seem to, I dunno, jump at one's face:
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has completed a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer.1 Bottom line: Processed meats are too dangerous for human consumption. Consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives"
So I'm thinking......uh-huh.....The I scroll down to find a link to the actual published article, and notice that whoever wrote the blog posted an update, saying this:
The World Cancer Research Fund caught wind of our article...As they put it, they were 'in no way involved in the production of the article.' And they weren’t. We read their review and drew the only logical, possible conclusion. Their official response… 'The articles talking about processed meat being ‘too dangerous for human consumption’ are 'unhelpful and scaremongering.'
...Mmm So, they choose to ignore the fact that the American Heart Association backs many of these sandwiches, the fact that yes, while the spokesperson is there to draw consumers, he lost quite a lot of weight eating Subway sandwiches (backed by moderate exercise) and continues to live a very healthy lifestyle, and even the fact that the publisher of one of the articles they sourced physically told then that they misused the study they ran, re-worded it and advocated it for their own purposes.
Nope....preservatives and chemicals are scary, they'll kill you. Eat only "unprocessed," organic, gluten-free, "real" food. (Note: I'm not knocking on people who eating gluten free due to medical reasons or to those who eat organic and NOT shove it down other people's throats. Just to people with holier-than-thou attitudes after adopting certain diets for themselves.)
Now I admit, I didn't look through everyone of their sources. Feel free to do so if you're interested. I just hate that people produce this stuff and ultimately end up closing off and eliminating certain food choices because of it, labeling it as bad. I'm still of a mind that one can eat the foods they love, the key is portion control. Food is not evil. One does not have to go cold turkey, or in this case, cold packaged turkey.
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Replies
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I had a subway earlier.. it was amazing, I feel so preserved now :drinker:0
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There is nothing wrong with eating Subway at all. If it fits your macros then that is great. For me I prefer the quality of meat I can get at my local deli. The owners have no problem providing me the nutritional info, and I prefer the taste of the finished product. Of course my circumstances are different from others. I am single and have no kids so I am the only one I cook for most for the most part. I also used to be a chef at several restaurants so cooking is not a problem. Subway is a great option for people to get a meal that they enjoy and fits there caloric/macro needs. I find the people who come out and insist that something is terrible and should be avoided at all costs will try to sell you their alternative at a mark up in the next breath.0
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Fake food tastes good, doesn't it?0
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Just....YES. Thank you!0
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http://institutefornaturalhealing.com/2012/04/processed-meats-declared-too-dangerous-for-human-consumption/
The bolded part should have been the lightbulb....0 -
Wow! I love subway - I always think of it as a healthy alternative when I'm in a hurry. I give it to my kids and I don't feel bad. When I buy deli meat, I always buy whatever is nitrite/nitrate free, but I don't think too much about it when I'm at subway. I suppose, though, that clean eaters might not think it to be clean? Oh well. I think it tastes great and it's certainly better for me than McDonald's!0
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Nicely done. Hugs for your brain and thanks for this contribution to the factual content of MFP.0
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For my own reasons... I try to eliminate introducing any kind of chemicals into my body... meaning from foods, makeup, hair products, etc. as much as possible. That being said... I do on occasion have subway (though I prefer Jersey Mike's)... etc. But, like I said... that's my personal choice. When I go to my parent's house who do not live by this philosophy... I eat their food and I use their shampoo. I don't let it control my entire existence... it's just my preference for my own health.
One thing I notice about our society today is that everyone is so preachy about their preferences and saying if you don't do everything the way they do you're a terrible person. People need to learn to mind their own business. Thanks for sharing the article... very interesting.0 -
lol.0
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Isn't it all about moderation?0
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For my own reasons... I try to eliminate introducing any kind of chemicals into my body... meaning from foods, makeup, hair products, etc. as much as possible. That being said... I do on occasion have subway (though I prefer Jersey Mike's)... etc. But, like I said... that's my personal choice. When I go to my parent's house who do not live by this philosophy... I eat their food and I use their shampoo. I don't let it control my entire existence... it's just my preference for my own health.
One thing I notice about our society today is that everyone is so preachy about their preferences and saying if you don't do everything the way they do you're a terrible person. People need to learn to mind their own business. Thanks for sharing the article... very interesting.
Amen. Pun intended.0 -
Critical thinking FTW! :flowerforyou:0
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I had a subway earlier.. it was amazing, I feel so preserved now :drinker:
Haha, you are beautiful!
I love subway and I don't trust labels on food. I don't have the money to buy all organic and that bull, so I just don't I eat as healthily as I can on that budget and people who turn up their noses at people like me make me very angry >:|0 -
I stop eating subway when I found out that there meat wasn't really meat but mostly corn with a little meat for flavor. In fact I avoid anything that was made with any corn or corn product because it's all genetically modified(GM) and the true corn veggie is extinct but I only learned of it when I started the college culinary program which I had to study nutrition and where our food comes from. In 2010 the USA and Canada introduce a new GM corn in almost all processed foods that is made with mixing animal DNA to make a harder and more productive plant. It was never tested prior to the introduction to the USA and Canada but is already in most foods. Varied diet is what everyone needs but if all your getting is corn then its not healthy cause your also not getting everything your body needs.
Not surprising... one of the main reasons I adapted the holistic and natural eating and living habits I have is from working in the pet industry for years and learning about all the garbage that they put in pet foods and the harmful chemicals that are used in shampoos and other pet products. We try very hard to get only natural products for our pets... and that's when I decided we should have the same respect for our own bodies as well.0 -
I think Subway is disingenuous in promoting itself as a healthy alternative. The ingredients are pretty ordinary, they put an excessive amount of ingredients in their bread, and I don’t know what the hell that thing they call “chicken” actually is, it looks like something stamped from white Play Dough. That doesn’t meet my definition of “health food”, but definitions tend to vary.
That doesn’t make Subway deadly, but just not all that different then general fast food. However, if you keep hiring well-known athletes to do your commercials in addition to having a skinny guy with glasses hold up a giant pair of pants he used to wear, then that seems to convince consumers of the product’s “healthiness” and gets the masses buying 5…$5….$5 foot longs…0 -
I stop eating subway when I found out that there meat wasn't really meat but mostly corn with a little meat for flavor.
I would like to see your references for this...0 -
For my own reasons... I try to eliminate introducing any kind of chemicals into my body... meaning from foods, makeup, hair products, etc. as much as possible. That being said... I do on occasion have subway (though I prefer Jersey Mike's)... etc. But, like I said... that's my personal choice. When I go to my parent's house who do not live by this philosophy... I eat their food and I use their shampoo. I don't let it control my entire existence... it's just my preference for my own health.
One thing I notice about our society today is that everyone is so preachy about their preferences and saying if you don't do everything the way they do you're a terrible person. People need to learn to mind their own business. Thanks for sharing the article... very interesting.
This. Specially the second part. Makes me think people are uncertain and are looking for confirmation by raging against the "enemy".0 -
One thing I notice about our society today is that everyone is so preachy about their preferences and saying if you don't do everything the way they do you're a terrible person. People need to learn to mind their own business. Thanks for sharing the article... very interesting.
+10 -
I stop eating subway when I found out that there meat wasn't really meat but mostly corn with a little meat for flavor.
I would like to see your references for this...
I would too. Otherwise, I think you're talking out of your butt.0 -
Here is a quote from the actual report: http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/cancer_resource_center/downloads/chapters/chapter_12.pdf page 383 (my bolding)It is best that processed meats are avoided. They are generally energy-dense and can also contain high levels of salt (see recommendation 7). They also tend to be preserved by smoking, curing, or salting, or with the addition of chemical preservatives. Some of these methods of preservation are known to generate carcinogens; while the epidemiological evidence that these are causes of cancer is limited, it is a wise precaution to avoid them. Processed meat includes ham, bacon, pastrami, and salami. Sausages, frankfurters, and ‘hot dogs’, to which nitrates/nitrites or other preservatives are added, are also processed meats. Minced meats sometimes, but not always, fall inside this definition if they are preserved chemically. The same point applies to ‘hamburgers’. Fresh meats that have simply been minced or ground and then shaped and cooked are not considered to be ‘processed’.
I do remember one study on processed meat and cancer had serious problems, and the conclusion (that processed meat was bad) was actually the opposite of what the data showed. Will have to try and find that again...
But yeah, I'm still going to eat it.0 -
For my own reasons... I try to eliminate introducing any kind of chemicals into my body... meaning from foods, makeup, hair products, etc. as much as possible. That being said... I do on occasion have subway (though I prefer Jersey Mike's)... etc. But, like I said... that's my personal choice. When I go to my parent's house who do not live by this philosophy... I eat their food and I use their shampoo. I don't let it control my entire existence... it's just my preference for my own health.
Thanks for saying this. I too am trying to eliminate chemicals, preservatives, etc from my food, makeup, body products, etc. Although it doesn't control me either however, that being said, I gave away my Subway points card but that doens't mean I'll never eat there again.
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(though I prefer Jersey Mike's)...
I have to ask. We got a Jersey Mike's here a few months ago and some of my friends (some FROM NJ) were going crazy over it, talking about how wonderful it is. So we finally tried it out and I had no idea it was even possible to make a bad sub, but it was the absolute worst sub I have ever had and I will NEVER go back there. So what is so great about this place? Or do we just have a bad one?0 -
Meh, the AHA gets apid for that endorsement. Granted, they do put it toward research. Of course the "approved sandwiches" are only approved without any condiments and without any pickles, cheese, and olives, so basically plain veggies and a small amount of processed meats on some bread. Not so different from a salad with no dressing.
Frankly, it's more cbizarre to me that people think Subway tastes good. Even as processed deli meats go, theirs are fair to poor in taste and quality compared to much of what's commercially available.0 -
*turn on sarcasm font now*
If you don't buy all organics you are destroying the environment and killing the planet!
Ok, sarcasm asside, I think the above is a more legitimate argument for organics than the whole "chemicals" are going to get you and give you cancer nonsense, but this stuff drives me right up the wall. Almost as much as the people who honestly think GMO's are somehow going to cause mutations in their children. Seriously, this has nothing to do with the issue. There are legitimate concerns out there from a scientific perspective on both issues (at this point mostly just along the lines of not being apple to predict long term environmental effects, there's nothing conclusive yet either way), but environmentalists and health nuts honestly piss me off more than anyone else on these issues, and they're the ones supposedly on my side....:explode:0 -
Here is a quote from the actual report: http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/cancer_resource_center/downloads/chapters/chapter_12.pdf page 383 (my bolding)It is best that processed meats are avoided. They are generally energy-dense and can also contain high levels of salt (see recommendation 7). They also tend to be preserved by smoking, curing, or salting, or with the addition of chemical preservatives. Some of these methods of preservation are known to generate carcinogens; while the epidemiological evidence that these are causes of cancer is limited, it is a wise precaution to avoid them. Processed meat includes ham, bacon, pastrami, and salami. Sausages, frankfurters, and ‘hot dogs’, to which nitrates/nitrites or other preservatives are added, are also processed meats. Minced meats sometimes, but not always, fall inside this definition if they are preserved chemically. The same point applies to ‘hamburgers’. Fresh meats that have simply been minced or ground and then shaped and cooked are not considered to be ‘processed’.
I do remember one study on processed meat and cancer had serious problems, and the conclusion (that processed meat was bad) was actually the opposite of what the data showed. Will have to try and find that again...
But yeah, I'm still going to eat it.
Thanks for the extract from the actual report - it's definitely very different to what was quoted in the source for the OP's critical essay. I also note that it doesn't just include a ban on Subway meats - it includes ALL deli meats, if smoked, cured or salted. Especially smoked. For the same reason that (some)* Cancer Organisations also suggest people stay away from well-done toast - burning food is bad for you. There certainly is a truth to it - when inhaled, smoke can be carcinogenic. But there still doesn't seem to be any firm link in ingestion.**
For myself, well. I smoke tobacco anyway. And Subway isn't going to kill me any quicker than that!!!
*Sorry - weasel words - not up to looking for references at the moment - if folk want them, I'll scout later!
** Interested if anyone does know of any firm links.0 -
I stop eating subway when I found out that there meat wasn't really meat but mostly corn with a little meat for flavor.
I would like to see your references for this...
I would too. Otherwise, I think you're talking out of your butt.
I too would like to see the references for said butt talk..0 -
(though I prefer Jersey Mike's)...
I have to ask. We got a Jersey Mike's here a few months ago and some of my friends (some FROM NJ) were going crazy over it, talking about how wonderful it is. So we finally tried it out and I had no idea it was even possible to make a bad sub, but it was the absolute worst sub I have ever had and I will NEVER go back there. So what is so great about this place? Or do we just have a bad one?
We have something here called Potbelly's...F*ing AMAZING...I just can't even tell you how great it is...It is next to a Jersey Mike's that I have never been in because Potbelly's is next door...LOL0 -
(though I prefer Jersey Mike's)...
I have to ask. We got a Jersey Mike's here a few months ago and some of my friends (some FROM NJ) were going crazy over it, talking about how wonderful it is. So we finally tried it out and I had no idea it was even possible to make a bad sub, but it was the absolute worst sub I have ever had and I will NEVER go back there. So what is so great about this place? Or do we just have a bad one?
1) Nearly every subway I've been to, they put like 1 scrap of meat on the sandwich and call it a sub. 2) I'm not a huge fan of subs overall... when we go to Jersey Mike's I usually get a grilled chicken wrap. My hubby is a big sub lover and he really likes their subs. Actually... now that I think about it... I think the best sub I ever ate was actually from Jimmy Johns. Their bread is REALLY yummy 0 -
I think it's like everything - too much can be not healthy. If you're eating processed deli meat every meal, you might see some adverse effects in your health. I don't think eating it a couple of times a week is going hurt. You don't make friends with salad, man!
edit for a darn spelling error0 -
I just had veggies and cheese. I mean, seriously impossible to screw up, but but they somehow did. lol(though I prefer Jersey Mike's)...
I have to ask. We got a Jersey Mike's here a few months ago and some of my friends (some FROM NJ) were going crazy over it, talking about how wonderful it is. So we finally tried it out and I had no idea it was even possible to make a bad sub, but it was the absolute worst sub I have ever had and I will NEVER go back there. So what is so great about this place? Or do we just have a bad one?
1) Nearly every subway I've been to, they put like 1 scrap of meat on the sandwich and call it a sub. 2) I'm not a huge fan of subs overall... when we go to Jersey Mike's I usually get a grilled chicken wrap. My hubby is a big sub lover and he really likes their subs. Actually... now that I think about it... I think the best sub I ever ate was actually from Jimmy Johns. Their bread is REALLY yummy
Wegmans (a grocery store chain that unfortunately is not here) has amazing subs. I get either Publix (not the best ever, but good) and Firehouse. Subway stopped carrying Swiss cheese so I stopped going there.0
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