How to Avoid Being Fooled at the Supermarket

Call Toll Free: 877-985-2695

SEARCH:

FREE Subscription

The World’s Most Popular Natural Health Newsletter

ARTICLE TOOLS:

Current Newsletter

Share Your Comment

Print this Page

Podcasts

Save as Favorites

Submit My Story

Newsletter Feed

Health Blog Feed

TRANSLATE THIS PAGE:

Aging Allergies Alzheimers Arthritis Artificial Sweeteners Asthma Autism Back Pain Book Reviews Brain/Memory Health Cancer Cardiovascular Health Children’s Health Cholesterol Chronic Fatigue Conflict of Interest Conventional Medicine Corporate Greed Death And Dying Diabetes Digestive Disorders Digestive Health Drug Companies Drugs EFT EMF Emotional Health Energy Support Entertainment Environmental Exercise and Fitness Fats Fibromyalgia Finances Food GMO Government Abuses Health Concerns Health Support Healthy Aging Healthy Recipes Heart Diseases Hormones Immune Support Infectious Disease Internal Special Report Iron Excess/Hemochromatosis Joint Support Looking and Feeling Younger Men’s Health Mental Health Obesity Online Tests Osteoporosis Pain Management Personal Development Personal Improvement Pet Health Pets Raw Food Seizure Disorders Senior Health Sexual Health Sleep/Insomnia Smoking Soy Spiritual Health Substance Abuse Sugar Sunlight Supplements Swine Flu Technology Television Thyroid Disease Toxicity/Detoxification Toxins/Pollution Vaccines Vision Health Vitamin D Water Weight Management Women’s Health

Share this article

How to Avoid Being Fooled at the Supermarket

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
December 25 2008 | 50,383 views

How and what you eat has radically changed over the past few decades with the all-consuming rise of the supermarket. But what price are you paying for this homogenized, cheap and convenient food? This video investigates how supermarkets have affected the food on your plate, and reveals the telltale signs that the food you buy may not have been grown in the way you think.

Sources:

Channel 4

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It’s time the people of the world united against the profit only-driven corporations and demanded something better. Food that is still food, grown the way nature intended and not tinkered with behind closed doors in a laboratory. One of the unfortunate outcomes of modern food manipulation, besides the inhumane treatment of animals like those seen in the video, is antibiotic-resistant disease.

Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic-resistant disease is a major man-made problem.

Antibiotic-resistant disease, such as the well-known MRSA, actually exacts a greater death toll than “modern plagues” such as AIDS. Compounding the problem is that, not only are antibiotics over-prescribed in modern medicine, their rampant over-use in agriculture is grossly overlooked.

Animals are often fed antibiotics at low doses for disease prevention and growth promotion.

As you saw in this video, these animals are very disease-prone due to the atrocious conditions in which they’re raised. They are fed low quality feed and cramped into small spaces where they can barely walk or breathe, so it is no wonder they are sickly and don’t grow well.

All in the name of profit.

Animals receiving antibiotics in their feed gain 4 to 5 percent more body weight than animals that do not receive antibiotics, but the price is high for you, the end user, because this practice also creates the perfect conditions for antibiotic resistance to flourish.

You eat the meat from antibiotic-laden animals, taking in not only the antibiotic but the resistant bacteria as well. Chickens, such as the ones shown in the video, are a perfect example of this.

A 2006 study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found that bacteria from conventional chicken and from people who ate the chicken became resistant to Synercid, a strong antibiotic used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In essence, it can cause resistance to the last lines of defense currently available in the modern medicine cabinet.

The study also found that it was rare to find resistant bacteria among antibiotic-free chicken, while the majority of bacterial isolates from conventional poultry were resistant.

Before you vegetarians breathe sighs of relief that you are safe from these drugs, consider this…

Antibiotics filter down through the food chain in sometimes-unpredictable ways. For example, antibiotics are being transferred, via manure, into your food supply, which has troublesome implications for organic farmers who often use manure as their main source of fertilizer. And, as it stands, manure that contains antibiotics is still allowed under the organic label.

Yes, there could be antibiotics in your lettuce—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended) when it comes to supermarket secrets.

Genetically Modified Foods

After reviewing the evidence I am convinced that genetically modified foods are one of the most significant threats to the very survival of the human race. And they blanket your supermarket shelves.

The United States has planted more GM crops than any other country each year since 1996, when GM crops were first made available commercially. The United States grows two-thirds of all biotechnology crops on over 96 million acres, including corn, cotton, soybeans, squash and papaya. From 1996 to 2002 there was a 20-fold increase in the area allotted to GM foods in the United States, which is the fastest growth rate of any country.

A whopping 70 percent of the foods in your grocery stores contain GM foods. These unlabeled modified foods carry a risk for triggering life-threatening allergic reactions.

But it gets worse.

Studies on GM soybeans have shown that parts of the gene inserted into the soy ended up transferring into the DNA of human gut bacteria. What this means for you is, years after you stop eating a GM food such as soy, you might still be exposed to its risky protein because it is continuously being produced within your own intestines.

We are all essentially guinea pigs for genetic engineers. No one really knows the full extent of what happens when you splice in new genes. The only rule is that we should “expect the unexpected.” Research has already shown that GM foods can be allergenic, toxic, carcinogenic, and anti-nutritional.

But, have you heard of Morgellon’s Disease?

People with Morgellon’s disease describe it as a feeling of bugs or parasites scuttling around beneath their skin, accompanied by open lesions that heal slowly and ooze out blue, black or white fibers that can be several millimeters long. These fibers appear like pliable plastic. They can be as fine as spider silk, yet they are strong enough to distend the skin when pulled and elicit shooting pains when you try to remove them.

This bizarre disease has been popping up in 15 nations across the world. Even the CDC has described it as an outbreak.

The potential cause?

Genetically modified foods.

I urge you to pay a visit to Jefferey Smith’s website, the author of Seeds of Deception, for much more information about how GM foods cause unforeseen, surprising illnesses, and how the corruption within the government and food industries has perpetuated a cover-up.

I also highly recommend setting aside 90 minutes to watch the movie The Future of Food with your family.

How to Outsmart the Supermart

When polled, only about one-quarter of Americans report having eaten genetically modified food. However, chances are the real number is much higher, since more than seven out of every ten grocery items have been genetically modified ingredients.

So, how can you shield yourself from these deceptive marketing ploys?

1. Buy Organic. This continues to be the best way to ensure your food is not GM and not loaded with antibiotics and pesticides. That said, as GM crops are becoming more and more prevalent, even organic products may be contaminated with traces of GM elements or pesticides that have been spread by wind, water or insects.

The most important foods to buy organic are animal, not vegetable, products such as meats, eggs, and dairy. Not that buying organic produce isn’t good, but if you have to be selective due to your budget, animal products are the most important. Animal foods tend to concentrate pesticides more—non-organic meats have up to five times more pesticides than non-organic vegetables, and non-organic butter can have up to 20 times as many pesticides as non-organic veggies!

2. Read Labels. Soybeans and corn make up the largest portion of genetically engineered crops. Unless an item has the organic certification icon, you can bet that any corn or soy it contains is GM. There is an excellent list of sneaky foods that have corn or soy derivatives at How do You Know if Your Food is Genetically Modified.

3. Look at Product Stickers. You know, those little stickers on produce that contain different PLU codes, to show how the produce was grown. The PLU code for conventionally grown fruit consists of four numbers, organically grown fruit five numbers beginning with the digit 9, and GM fruit five numbers beginning with the digit 8.

4.    Avoid Processed Foods. These are the likeliest to contain GM ingredients—a 75% chance. Shop around the perimeter of the store, because most of the processed foods litter the middle aisles.

5.    Buy Local Fruits and Vegetables, in Season. Fresh local produce is better for you and the planet than old organic produce that has been shipped from many miles away.

6.    Support and Promote Sustainable Agriculture. I have a page on my site devoted to links to agencies with this primary goal.

7.    Be Vocal. Let your elected officials know how you feel about it; ask your local supermarket to stock their shelves with more natural organic foods; vote with your pocketbook –- avoid everything that contains GMO products. That means abstaining from virtually all processed food products and sticking to fresh, locally grown, organic foods -- and going back to basic food preparation in your own home.

The benefits of eating foods closer to their natural state are numerous, from better taste, to better nutritional content, to a cleaner environment. And some indicators even point to the possibility that organic produce will soon be cheaper than conventional produce.

The good news is that more and more Americans are wizening up to the dangers lurking in their supermarket aisles, and favoring locally grown organic foods and livestock. In time, with enough demand from all of us, I am hopeful that these unethical, inhumane and health damaging “food factories” will be put out of business and replaced by sustainable, earth-friendly organic farms