Counterfeit foods and deceptive labeling: the good news is that we now have some nutrition information on labels of processed foods. The bad news is that packagers of these products usually twist facts, introduce half-truths in their advertising, and imply non-existent beliefs

Nutrition Health Review, Winter, 2002 by William Jr. Renaurd

Editor's Note: The article on this page first in Nutrition Health Review issue #45.

Until the turn of the century, food was prepared at home or produced locally. People enjoyed homemade food that did not depend upon chemicals, food additives, and flavoring to preserve the food or enhance taste.

During the ensuing fifty years, giant conglomerates appeared on the scene. The local bakery yielded to the emergence of the mass producer of wheat products that seldom compared with the breads and rolls that the consumer enjoyed within hours of their baking. To keep up with the speed of mass-produced foods, preservatives, artificial colors, and flavor enhancers were employed that changed the nature of baking as well as most other foods.

Food pollution has permeated the home kitchen, restaurants, institutional feeding, our schools, and the military. It is a "contamination" apart from improper sanitation. In fact, most of the chemicals used in food preparation are justified as "making the food supply safer."

There are, however, many responsible observers who believe that the rise in degenerative diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, kidney ailments, liver diseases, and circulation problems, can be attributed to the radical change in eating habits, from fresh edibles to the high-tech production of "fake" foods.

Battle lines have been drawn: There is little question that those who profit from foisting artificial foods upon the public profit handsomely and cannot be depended upon to police themselves. It is also evident that consumers are lured into eating these foods because their taste buds are being gradually corrupted--to the point where many people do not know how real bread should taste or what the true flavor of fruits and berries is.

The two agencies responsible for regulating use of additives in food are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They do manage to ban additives and pesticides from time to time. But just as soon as one or two are put on the prohibited list, others are introduced into the foodstream. Some of these are eventually banned also. Yet the delaying action continues.

As generations pass and the memory of unadulterated foods disappears, the multitudes that have been reared on foods that are laboratory devised may never know how cheated they are. That deception in itself is only a small part of the tragedy.

The devastation of proper nutrition, through healthful feeding, has begun to permeate our society. Obesity, lack of energy, and mental problems could be the legacy that is being passed on to countless generations.