i second CFB's post on the frustration of things not being what you would think they are.
100% agree. Labeling should be as clear and accurate as possible. As a consumer, I want to know if that product is fresh, frozen, reconstituted, colored, etc. Food and non-food products.
and not just bow down to the gods of science and hope/pray it will fix whatever we screwed up last time, trying to fix something else!
Disagree totally. What I like about science is that it
does not involve hope/praying -
they aren't gods. When science makes a mistake, they acknowledge it, change their ways and move on. That's why we don't have lead in gasoline anymore, etc, etc, etc. Sure, it's not perfect, profit motives and egos can interfere, but it eventually comes to light. Whatever the faults, I can't think of a better system. 'gods' never admit a mistake because they don't make mistakes - by definition.
ERD, it's not just the bounty of the modern industrial food supply, it's all the crap industry has put into it to make it shinier, pinker (cockroach skeletons!ick), saltier, bulkier etc.
Don't buy it then. I think you can say they are just meeting customer demand. I guess that is what it is, because I sure don't like the saltiness, and most artificial flavors that are added to some foods. But someone must. Again, it's not a scare thing for me, just a preference. I'd rather get fresh broccoli, cook it myself and add a little something (butter, lemon, pepper, fresh-grated cheese?) if I want. I prefer that to some mass produced version of frozen, bread-crumbed, over-salted, MSG-d, hydrogenated oil fake cheese food product doused version of it.
But, to be honest, I don't really have a problem finding food that is acceptable to me. We just don't buy a lot of highly processed foods. Heck, they even took the trans-fat out of peanut butter, but I was using the 'natural' brands anyhow - I just prefer the taste. Actually, the trans-fat is PB is so low, they say it really is not significant - it just takes a tiny amount to keep the oil from separating.
I just can't agree with the fear mongering that every added ingredient and/or process must be a hidden danger that demands immediate attention. Being prudent is good, irrational fears (BGH, GMO) may do more harm than good.
And one must maintain perspective. I don't know a single person killed, incapacitated or even requiring medical treatment due to pesticides or hormones in food. Ever. And that's millions of people eating 3x or more a day! Yet we probably all know someone that fit those categories from a car accident. We should spend more time on drivers education and law enforcement on our roads over worrying about whether a cow received a synthetic version of a natural hormone. In my opinion
BTW, here's some interesting info on the use of synthetic hormones in HUMANS:
Levothyroxine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Synthroid is the most prescribed brand of T4 in United States. Synthroid was marketed in 1955,[1] but was not FDA approved at that time as it was considered "generally regarded safe". In the 1990s, in response to debate as to whether Synthroid was more effective than other levothyroxine preparations, (which ended up concluding that there was little difference between Synthroid and generic brands[2] all levothyroxine preparations were required to undergo the formal FDA approval process. Synthroid was approved by the FDA on 2002-07-24.[3]
So, people are not harmed by synthetic hormones, but you are worried about ones given to milk cows (to supplement hormones already naturally present)? Just seems over the top to me. Bigger fish out there, I say.
-ERD50