Food Industry Secrets

Unfortunately food is big business and can fall victim to all the pitfalls of anything that revolves around money. There is greed and corruption and misrepresentation in the food world as much as any stock portfolio or pharmaceutical company.

It's a shame since food is so vitally important to health and well being and while corporate megastars play games the average consumer suffers at their mercy.

Yahoo published this article a couple weeks ago with what they call "shocking food industry secrets". I was not shocked by any of them, but they do bear some study.

I find #10 fascinating. Finally, someone is doing some research on the addictive nature of junk food. I often joke that certain unhealthy treats are laced with crack, thus making me crave them even after one bite. The old Lays potato chip slogan was "You can't eat just one" and it is true. Your body craves what it knows and that is true for healthy food too, but it reacts faster and more quickly to salt and sugar so junk food cravings are more volatile and more severe. People who criticize junk food eaters for being uninformed or lazy don't understand how hard it can be to break that habit.

Items #11 and 12 are also of great interest to me. The mark up on food is pretty high and a lot of that goes towards advertising costs and grocery store stocking fees. The politically correct answer to this is buy organic and local, but that is not always feasible for most people, but you can shop the grocery store smarter. Taste test some generic or lesser known brands of certain items (cereals, crackers, yogurt and the like) and save some money in the process.

Food anthropologist Michael Pollan states in his little tome Food Rules, never eat anything you see advertised on television. If this subject matter interests you I point you toward Mr. Pollan, he can be a little preachy, but he is well-informed and writes in an interesting and compelling fashion.

What we eat is so vital to our health and how much we need to spend to put good food in our body is so crucial to our budget, knowledge is your best source of power in this ongoing fight. What do you think? Were you shocked by any of these revelations?