Eat Green: Food Additives And Pesticides

What factors should I consider when reading a food label?

Some of the things that I look out for when I shop is: I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, ingredients that are artificial, preservatives, enriched flour. I try to, if there is a more natural option, to go with the more natural option. Although the adverse health effects from some of these products have not been proven, I would rather my family have a more natural option and not be concerned about future health effects.

What is high fructose corn syrup?

High fructose corn syrup is in a lot of things because it is very inexpensive. It’s a sweetener that is derived from corn, and some of the drawbacks to using it are that a lot of the corn is genetically modified. They use a lot of pesticides and they use petroleum-based fertilizer.

What are synthetic dairy hormones?

Synthetic dairy hormones are hormones that are made and injected into cows to artificially increase milk production. On a carton of milk it will usually say if these cows have not been treated with these hormones, and that’s something to look out for if you’re concerned about possible health effects. The FDA says that there is no difference between milk that comes from cows that are treated and that are not treated with these hormones, but most countries do not allow these hormones because they’re concerned about environmental and health effects.

What does cage free mean?

Cage free means that the birds are not confined to a cage, but they are indoors and usually packed in very tight in an industrial setting. Free range means that they do have access to the outdoors, but that does not necessarily mean that they spend time outdoors. If you’re looking for something that is for chickens that would be in a more natural setting, you may want to talk to your local farmers markets and find out about how that farmer raises their chickens, if that’s something that you are concerned about.

What types of produce could contain high levels of pesticides?

Some foods that contain the highest level of pesticides would be apples, pears, grapes, spinach, green beans, winter squash, and potatoes. Those are some of the few things that you want to make sure to wash really well and maybe peel, because that will get rid of a lot of the pesticides. It’s mainly on the outside and first layer. Also, if you want to avoid pesticides you could try using organic food because that is grown without pesticides.

What are some concerns about the production of red meat?

Some of the concerns that we have is that cows are fed corn, which is not what they would eat naturally so it is not very good for them and that means that they tend to get sicker. Also, when they are in an industrial setting in the feed lots, they are in very tight quarters which can also lead to them getting sick. We prefer if we do eat red meat to use grassfed meat or try to find a local farmer that has a more natural setting for the cows.