Out of the 575 million pounds of olive oil consumed last year, some was mostly made of soybean oil – actually  90% !  That leaves a mere 10 percent for olive oil.   This was discoved two years ago when testing began on extra-virgin olive oil.  Allergies to soy are on the increase which makes this fake reality a health concern. In addition, sixty to seventy percent of extra virgin olive oils tested to be a lower grade.

Fish is the most abused category for fake representation.  Red snapper may be tilapia. When tested, seventy-seven percent of the “red snapper” was something else…   Wild Salmon may actually be farmed-raised which is easy to spot when you cook.  The red dye begins to leak. 

Honey is counterfeited as well. Cane Sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and beet sugar are relatively inexpensive replacements.

Maple Syrup should come from sap collected from a maple tree and boiled down to create 100 percent syrup.  However, some products are diluted with sugar and water to assit the company’s bottom line.

There are more examples. These are ones most recently reported by USA Today. *

What is a consumer to do?  Read your labels carefully, buy trusted brands and qualify fish by asking your fish retailer to verify their products.  We have a list of trusted brands as we research all food companies.  Please go to www.BetterFoodChoices.com for more information.  Or, go to www.GoMillionMoms.com, “sign” the petition and get a Free download of our most recent edition of the Brand To Trust grocery list.

Be sure you get what you pay for.

… for the health of your family,
ellen

* Elizabeth Weise, “That label could be a costly lie”, USA Today, 1/20/09, pp. 1D, 2S.

Vanilla extract may be an aritificially flavored version.  It is supposed to be labeled as such. Watch for Vanillin,  which is banned from the US as it contain the drug, coumarin, a blood thinner.

The study, Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising for Children in the United States, was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It was based on 1,838 hours of television content and 8,854 food ads on networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, the Cartoon Network, Disney, MTV and Nickelodeon. ‘Sugar’ cereals, candy and fast food togather represented the majority of the food advertising.

Repetition repeatedly stimulates desire for what is advertised. Why don’t the major suppliers of fruit and vegetables bond together, hire a great creative ad firm, and advertise their products?

The major food manufacturers (11 who do two-thirds of the advertising for kids) say they “That half of that advertising will be EITHER for healthier offerings OR encourage physical activity.” We’ll see. In the meantime, less television viewing is one good answer.

SOURCES
Lorraine Heller, “Report reveals candy, snacks as most advertised kids products”, FOOD USA, navigator.com, 3/29/07

Nanci Hellmich, “No sugarcoating this: Kids besieged by food ads”, USA Today, 3/29/07. p.9D

The study, Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising for Children in the United States, was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It was based on 1,838 hours of television content and 8,854 food ads on networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, the Cartoon Network, Disney, MTV and Nickelodeon. ‘Sugar’ cereals, candy and fast food togather represented the majority of the food advertising.

Repetition repeatedly stimulates desire for what is advertised. Why don’t the major suppliers of fruit and vegetables bond together, hire a great creative ad firm, and advertise their products?

The major food manufacturers (11 who do two-thirds of the advertising for kids) say they “That half of that advertising will be EITHER for healthier offerings OR encourage physical activity.” We’ll see. In the meantime, less television viewing is one good answer.

SOURCES
Lorraine Heller, “Report reveals candy, snacks as most advertised kids products”, FOOD USA, navigator.com, 3/29/07

Nanci Hellmich, “No sugarcoating this: Kids besieged by food ads”, USA Today, 3/29/07. p.9D

Kritisen Harrison, professor at University of Illinois, noted that these nutrient-poor, high-sugar products continue to dominate television advertising aimed at children between the ages of 6 to 11. The National Advertising Review Counsel (NARC) are looking at making recommendations designed to strengthen self-regulation in children’s advertising. Too bad they didn’t stop to think how the proliferation of these junk food ads would impact the health and behavior of children, young and old, and take a healthier position sooner.

Source: FOOD USA navigator.com, “Are parents or the food industry to blame for obesity?”, 9/26/2005

The worst time for kids to receive messages about the food products is on Saturday morning TV, actually on weekend mornings. This is prime time for food manufacturers to lure kids into eating their foods. Unfortunately, Harrison’s study found that 97.5 percent of the food commercials appearing then are for unhealthy foods. Many are nutritionally empty and artificially additive-filled, creating generations of children who are sick with diseases such as adult-onset diabetes, cancer and the newly labeled disease, obesity which leads to heart disease. The food manufacturers pay mega-bucks to advertising agencies to create extremely effective ads that will positively excite kids about their foods. The colors, the music, the timing, the placement, the script, the visuals, the messages are all designed to drive your kids to demand whatever is being sold on the television. Just one trip to the grocery store with kids will verify this phenomenon.

In addition, these ads can be seen during the week along with all the food ads targeted to adults. Diet-free, low-fat and more lines are attached to foods that may be better choices for overweight adults but not for growing children. Harrison claims that TV advertising intentionally blurs the lines between diet and nutritional food by “equating weight-loss benefits with nutritional benefits … Child televison viewers are bombarded with health claims in television advertising. Given the plentitude of advertisements on television touting the health benefits of even the most nutritionally bankrupt of foods, child viewers are likely to become confused about which foods are in fact healthy.”

How do we as parents deal with this situation? The obvious answer is to keep your children busy with activities that do not include television. Videos and DVDs offer alternative ad-free viewing options. In addition, evidence has proven to us that educating kids about foods, the good and and not good products, moves kids to make Better Food Choices. Tell them the truth about the candy cereals that fills the supermarket shelves. Let them know that water hydrates their brain so it will help them remember what they learn in school. Share with them that soda does not, infact, it does the opposite. Soda can dehydrate their brain, muscles and everything else. Our book explains this and gives you many more ways to help your kids make Better Food Choices. You can send your kids the right messages even when advertising does not.