Friday, August 28, 2009

Food Labels

What are feeding our children and ourselves? Learn to read labels.

For a list of “nice words” that really mean MSG see http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/21/MSG-Is-This-Silent-Killer-Lurking-in-Your-Kitchen-Cabinets.aspx

Anything "hydrogenated" or called "lard", "shortening", or "margarine" is a toxic, carcinogenic fat.

Sugars: High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is terribly toxic. Sugar-words include “syrup”, “sweetener”, and anything ending in “-ose” eg glucose, fructose, maltose. Also:
  • Dehydrated Cane Juice
  • Dextrin
  • Fruit juice concentrate
  • Honey
  • Invert sugar
  • Maltodextrin
  • Molasses
  • Saccharose
  • Sorghum or sorghum syrup
  • Treacle
  • Turbinado Sugar
  • Xylose

Worried about GMO foods? There's a great summary of culrpits and what to find on food labels at http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/10/20/gm-foods-part-seven.aspx .

If you’re concerned about where the food comes from, buy locally from reputable stores or farmer’s markets etc. For a list UPC codes & country of origin, see http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/barcodes.asp . There’s an interesting cautionary note there as well.

Summary of UPC codes & origin:
If the first 3 digits of the barcode are...
690 – 695 CHINA
471 - Taiwan .
00 - 13 USA & CANADA
30 - 37 FRANCE
40 - 44 GERMANY
49 - JAPAN
50 – UK
57 – Denmark
64 – Finland
76 - Switzerland & Lienchtenstein
480 – Phillipines
628 – Suadi-Arabia
629 – UA Emirates
740-745 – Central America