written for January 2012 Shop Holistic newsletter

I hope you like ( or rather dislike) this picture  of  the  potential  supermarket  of the future – if the corporatists have their way!

As  you  probably  already  know,  I am  passionate  about  good  ethics, and  educating  people  on  the dangerous  food  additives  enabling them  to  choose  their  family’s  food wisely.  Sadly much of this information is not covered by mainstream media.

There is no doubt that the food chain has  become  controlled  by  faceless  and  ruthless  corporations  who  put
profit  before  health  so  we  need  to educate ourselves on whether we are eating anything that is harming us.

The  main  dangerous  ingredients  I suggest you avoid in foods are (by no means an exclusive list!):

ARTIFICIAL  SWEETENERS:
Aspartame, Acesulfame K, Sucralose (Splenda),  Nutrasweet,  Saccharin,  etc  etc,  even  the  new  Stevia-based sweetener, Truvia, is very bad news.
These  are  insufficiently  tested,  and where testing has been performed it is often biased as it is carried out by the  manufacturer  and  based  upon junk  science.  These  have  been linked  to  cancer,  tumours,  weight gain  and  even  death.  There  are  92 FDA-documented  reactions  to Aspartame alone!

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG):
A  flavour  enhancer   found  in  many foods  especially  crisps  and  snacks, that attacks your brain cells. It works by  neurologically  causing  people  to experience  a  more  intense  flavour from  the  foods  that  they  eat  rather than  just  flavouring  foods,  and  has been  linked  to  many  disorders  and ethical issues.

FLUORIDE:
I mention in another article about the dangers of this toxic substance  found  in  almost all mainstream dental care, and in some water  supplies.  A  major  cause  of cancer, Alzheimer’s and much more.

SODIUM  NITRATE  &  NITRITE:
Found  in  deli  meats,  such  as  bacon and ham, have been linked to gastric cancer and oesophageal cancer.

HYDROGENATED  FATS:
Fats  that have  been  blasted  with  hydrogen  to make  them  semi-solid  such  as  in ‘healthy’  spreads. Fats  that  have
been  altered  in  any  way  are extremely  bad  for  us.  Hydrogenated fats are basically plastics, possessing no  properties  of  oils  or  fats  once processed.  Consumption  of these  trans
fats  are  directly  linked  to  cancer,  heart disease  and  unhealthy cholesterol  imbalances (despite advertising to the contrary).

GM  FOODS:
Genetic  Modification,  or Engineering, is completely unethical and
untested,  no-one  has  any  idea  how these foods will react to our bodies. The argument  against  GM  is  too  lengthy  to cover  here.  Some  of  our  foods  are already GM or  contain GM ingredients,
if  you  choose  organic  then  there  is reassurance that your food will not contain GM ingredients or if it is meat, has been fed with GM feed.