What EXACTLY are you eating?
It’s happened.
We are now now so far removed from the processes of food, food growing, food getting that we no longer innately understand the cause and effect of the industrialization of food. We can no longer innately distinguish between real food and adulterated food - and that is just the way industrial food systems would like things to stay.
Were you aware that chicken is the most popular protein for Canadians? Our consumption of chicken has increased over the past 30 years from 19.3 kg/person in 1985 to 31.7 kg in 2015. Chicken appears on restaurant menus more often than any other meat. Quick-service restaurants (aka fast food joints), reported chicken sandwiches increased by 13 million servings in 2015 over the previous year.
People want to know where their food comes from and the vast majority of Canadians believe that it is important that domestic chicken be labelled as such. Labels matter to us, and since 2002, environmental and food safety issues have emerged as a top consumer concerns.
So it came as no surprise when CBC’s Marketplace released a report in February 2017, that quickly went viral. Their testing revealed fast food chicken used in sandwiches had about a quarter less protein than you would get in a home-cooked equivalent and sodium levels that were between 7 and 10 times higher than what they would be in a piece of normal chicken.
The absence of chicken DNA from the chicken sandwiches that were collected from Subway, Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s, A&W and Wendy’s was disturbing. An unadulterated piece of chicken from the store should come in at 100 per cent chicken DNA. Seasoning, marinating or processing meat brought that number down by anywhere from 10 to 50 percent.
So, if it isn’t chicken…then WHAT is it? From the 5 chicken meat samples tested, there was a combined total of about 50 ingredients. Each chicken sample had an average of 16 different ingredients which ranged from items you would find in your kitchen like honey and onion powder to industrial ingredients — all of which, are government approved for human consumption, yet none of them labeled in an obvious way.
Canadians want to know what they are eating and the lack of transparency in the food industry hinders an informed choice. Nobody likes to feel like they’ve just been duped.
Approved for Consumption, is it Safe?
People with allergies or health conditions, seniors, parents of young children, as well as those who are health conscious want to know what is being ingested when they choose to eat out. On average, Canadians consume 30 percent of our meals outside our homes.
Healthy Menu Choices Act 2015 of Ontario, requires that by January 2017, all restaurants with 20 or more locations must clearly display the caloric information for any food and drink items. Display calories - that’s it….nothing else is mandatory just calorie counts. Any other nutritional information that may be provided is voluntary.
This new legislation is deeply lacking if it is intended to provide the people of Ontario with the information they require to make fully informed choices. Calorie counts give no indication of quality, or actual ingredients or the source of the foods being provided. Oddly, this legislation does not even apply to day cares, elementary and secondary school cafeterias, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and retirement homes - places where the most vulnerable in our society reside or spend large amounts of their time.
The modified chicken in the sandwiches tested by CBC Marketplace had various forms of refined starches, sugars, salt, phosphates and soy imbedded in the meat. Although they have been approved for use in food, there is a large volume of research which demonstrates none of these ingredients provide a benefit to human health and some may pose real health concerns.
Take phosphate for example, there are 45 different phosphate containing additives that have been approved for use in the industrial food system. The phosphate based additives function in multiple ways: as emulsifiers, as leavening agents, as acidifying agents, as neutralizing agents, as preserving agents, as dietary supplements, they modify the texture or appearance of foods, they can intensify flavours, and they can even change the surface tension of the liquid components of the foods.
Phosphate containing additives in our diet has been estimated to have doubled since the 1990’s, from just under 500mg/day to well over 1000 mg/day. The RDA for all forms of phosphorus is 700 mg. There are no labelling laws to assist the people of Ontario in determining the amount of phosphate salts that have been added to their chicken products. The only indicator that it might be present is the term ‘seasoned’ in the marketing or packaging of the product. Food companies aren't required to list sodium phosphate levels on the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged foods.
This industrial ingredient is used throughout the food system. A study done in Northeast Ohio found 44% of the best selling grocery items contained phosphorus additives. The additives were common in prepared frozen foods (72%), dry food mixes (70%), packaged meat (65%), bread & baked goods (57%), soup (54%), and yogurt (51%).
The numerous forms of sodium phosphate added to foods are inorganic. This means they aren't chemically bound to fats and carbohydrates the way naturally occurring phosphorus is. Inorganic phosphates are much more easily absorbed by the body, leading to excessive levels of phosphate in the blood.
Too much sodium phosphate in the blood (hyperphosphatemia) is a problem for anyone with kidney disease and can result in an excess of parathyroid hormone (hyperparathyroidism), can result in the demineralization of bones (renal osteodystrophy) and may contribute to the stiffening of arteries (vascular calcification). None of these conditions are to be taken lightly.
Recently, a high-normal blood serum phosphate concentration has been found to be an independent predictor of heart problems and death for average individuals. Excessive dietary phosphate can lessen the body’s ability to absorb minerals like iron, calcium and magnesium, and interfere with how vitamin D is activated. Scottish researchers recently found that high blood-phosphate levels are connected with markers of accelerated aging.
Phosphate additives in food are a matter of concern, data bases have been shown to be incorrect, and the impact on human health has likely been under-appreciated by regulators.
Industrialized food systems have a love affair going with sodium phosphates that isn’t going to fade away anytime soon as reported by Donna Berry for Food Business News on Jan. 23, 2015 - “Phosphates are ubiquitous in the food industry, but nowhere is their importance greater than in meat and poultry systems,” says Jim Anderson, business development manager-Americas, ICL Food Specialties, St. Louis. “Their functionality remains unique in the world of food ingredients. Their primary role in meat systems is best described as ‘protein management,’” he explains.
When protein is in its isoelectric point, it does not bind water very well. However, when meat protein is charged, it attracts water and binds it. Protein gets charged by lowering or raising its pH. That’s one of the functions of phosphates.
Some phosphates, can also tenderize the stiffened muscle fibers (from accumulation of lactic acid and rigour mortis) and increase water binding sites. This is accomplished by changing the pH and by protein modification.
It’s all about binding water in order to increase weight and therefore profits, under the guise of ‘juicy meat’. Feeling duped yet?