Top 10 Reasons to Avoid Processed Foods

I ran across this article on the Top 10 Reasons to Avoid Processed Foods. I thought that you might find it well ........ I'll let you decide. Tell me what you think.

By guest blogger Tyler Graham, coauthor of The Happiness Diet

1: Deciphering food label ingredients leads to unappetizing results. Take the innocuous-sounding castoreum, which is used to enhance the flavor of puddings, candies, and some frozen dairy desserts. You might be surprised to know that it's derived from beavers--beaver anal glands, specifically.
2: Many foods get their red coloring--"carmine"--from ground-up insect shells that can cause severe allergic reactions in some people.
3: The greater the number of cheap cuts of meat ground into a single patty, the greater the risk of contamination with E. coli. A standard fast-food burger contains the trimmings of dozens of cows raised around the globe.
4: According to research from UCLA, it takes only two months to lower levels of brain chemicals responsible for learning and memory (like BDNF) on a steady diet of processed foods.
5: Processed food is only as good as its packaging: In the summer of last year, Kellogg's recalled 28 million boxes of cereal because a compound in the box lining (the company wouldn't say what) was giving off a foul smell and tainting the taste of the boxed food.
6: The same company that makes metal detectors for airports also sells them to food manufacturers, who use the devices to test processed meats for stray wires, metal shards, and hypodermic needles.
7: The ingredients list for Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups doesn't include...strawberries.
8: Animal feed given to factory-farmed cows contains rendered roadkill and euthanized cats and dogs, as well as plastic pellets as a cheap form of "roughage."
9: There are more than 80 ingredients in one Oscar Mayer Lunchables Breaded Chicken and Mozzarella sandwich.
10: The FDA allows 19 maggots and 74 mites in a three-and-a-half-ounce can of mushrooms.



Tyler Graham is the coauthor of The Happiness Diet. Previously, he served as the health and environment editor of O, The Oprah Magazine, the nutrition editor atPrevention, and the environment editor atBest Life. He recently launched a men's health section at Details magazine.

Consumer Demands for Family Midscale Restaurants: Health and Convenience, Reports Mintel

According to a recent Mintel foodservice report, 80% of family restaurant-goers who are eating out less in general are doing so because of budgetary reasons. Due to this and other challenges, family restaurant sales are expected to decline by 7% over the next four years.

“Playing the pricing game has not proved successful for family restaurants,” notes Eric Giandelone, foodservice director at Mintel. “Mintel believes that the greatest opportunity for the market to return to a path of growth is to employ a sustainable approach to value by promoting reasonable prices with value-added benefits like health and convenience.”

The report goes on to say the challenge for restaurant operators is that historically, “healthy” menu items don’t sell well because a healthy item often communicates “no taste.” However, a change may be imminent. In fact, 34% of restaurant-goers say healthy food is an important factor in selecting a family restaurant.

It's suggested that adding value through convenience is another approach that can benefit family restaurants. While the majority (75%) of consumers enjoy the sit-down, full-service experience, families are more likely to say that service at these restaurants is typically too slow. As a result, families are more likely to save family restaurants for weekend dining, when they have more time.

The consumer demand for healthier food and convenience are a great reason for restaurants to have an "online cafe". It attracts more business crowds and catering during business hours and families who don't have time for the sit-down experience during their busy week night schedules.

I am not surprised that when asked what family restaurant goers want to see more of on the menu, 44% said fruit as a side option, while 41% want different preparation methods, like grilling. These numbers correspond with the importance of healthy "whole food" menu items being available to order online for  pick-up, delivery, curbside, and even faster dine in service.

Too many businesses today wait for the customer to figure out how best to use their products and services. I believe that our number one responsibility as business people, is to understand the needs of our customers consistently and offer effective solutions. Those of us who do a better job at serving the changing needs of our customers become admired industry leaders with resilience to competition and sluggish economies.

State of the Union Healthcare

As I watched the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, I couldn't help but to think how we must focus on the cause of health disease to reduce healthcare costs. No amount of government regulation or medical research will reduce the cost of healthcare, unless we eat healthier.

The increased supply of cheap, tasty, fast, low nutrition processed food with improved distribution, and marketing has contributed to the growth of obesity. As a result, obesity will soon replace tobacco as the single most important preventable cause of chronic non-communicable diseases, and will add an extra 7.8 million cases of diabetes, 6.8 million cases of heart disease and stroke, and 539,000 cases of cancer in the United States by 2030. However, awareness of how to prevent obesity remains relatively low or confusing due in part to trend diets.

When it comes to employers’ healthcare costs, the Thomson Reuters Workforce Wellness Index Study recently reported that employers spend roughly $670 annually on total medical costs for each employee.  A surprising 60% percent, or $400 of that cost is directly attributable to illnesses linked to obesity. In addition, obesity leads to lost production, greater absenteeism, higher worker’s compensation costs, increased insurance premiums, and reduced profit margins.

The President said last night, "If you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, I am eager to work with you." Mr. President I would like to suggest that we offer incentives to encourage  disease prevention rather than one that focuses primarily on medical research and treatment. Incentives like subsidizing organic and natural farming to make it more affordable for the middle class or tax credits for people who purchase products or services that promote wellness.

My suggestion to the President will require ongoing consumer education, and food providers unwilling to compromise on nutrition. This is why select restaurants across the nation are teaming up to support monthly health and wellness webinars, while featuring their highest quality "whole food" menu items starting this Spring with Whole Foods Network. These restaurants aren't waiting on the government, lobbyist, and food manufacturers to do the right thing for our health and wellness. They are willing to be a part of the solution to prevent health disease today. Eating healthier is the single most important step we can all take to control healthcare costs in our nation.

Don't Forget to Eat Your Glyphosate.

I was reading an article regarding Glyphosate, a non-selective herbicide, meaning it kills almost all plants; it is absorbed through the leaves and spreads throughout the plant, including the roots and seeds. Glyphosate is systemic; it can’t be washed off because it’s inside the plant. According to the National Pesticide Information Center maintained by the University of Oregon, glyphosate kills by preventing the plant from making proteins needed for growth; it stops an enzyme pathway, the shikimic acid pathway, which is found only in plants and some microorganisms; therefore, glyphosate not only kills plants but also microorganisms.

The ability of glyphosate to kill microorganisms can also affect animals that eat the plants.When the animals eat the genetically engineered crops that have been treated with glyphosate-containing Roundup, the animals’ beneficial gut bacteria are killed, thereby removing the natural resistance to toxins such as botulism. The levels of glyphosate currently permitted in feed are high enough to kill normal biological control organisms such as lactobacillus and alcaligenes. Therefore, feeding foods made with Roundup Ready crops to infants could be especially risky because infants don’t yet have full intestinal gut bacteria.

What concerns me the most about glyphosate are the serious and significant health threats to humans and animals caused by exposure to glyphosate and Roundup Ready crops. Glyphosate causes “reproductive failure, infertility, as well as miscarriage for cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and poultry.”  Further, since the effect covers so many animal species, it is also likely to affect humans the same way, and there is evidence that infertility in humans is steadily increasing.

Other studies have shown premature aging in animals; cows at two and a half years old have been downgraded at market to a ten-year-old cow. A study published in 2010 showed evidence that pregnant women exposed to glyphosate have babies with “congenital malformations, including microcephaly, anencephaly, and cranial malformations. In addition, both glyphosate and the commercial herbicide severely affect embyonic and placental cells, producing mitochondrial damage, necrosis, and programmed cell death . . . with doses far below those used in agriculture.

With so much damage to plants, animals, and humans it's clear that we can't wait for the government, lobbyist, and food manufacturers to do what is right for us. We must support only those farmers, retailers, and restaurants that sell the highest quality natural and organic food available. This will drive change in how our foods are produced and sold.

Chipotle Mexican Grill CEO Steve Ells is Providing New Ingredients and Raising The Quality Bar.

If you need proof that consumers want fresh, healthy, and more natural foods - the votes are in. Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded at $356.39 per share on January 20, 2012, while many restaurant chains struggle to get $100.00 per share.

So, what's their secret?  The casual-Mex chain has improved the raw ingredients to help consumers eat healthier and get more fiber. Plus, the chain makes it convenient for customers to order over the Internet, by fax, or through an iPhone ordering application. Maybe we can all learn something from the Q&A conducted by Bloomberg Businessweek on January 19, 2012. Let's go "back to the start."  Nobody said it was easy.

Q&A: Chipotle Mexican Grill CEO Steve Ells

Why are fast-casual restaurants leading the industry now?
The days of ordering by a number and having some sort of prepackaged or prescribed meals—that’s not appealing to customers anymore. People don’t want restaurants to tell them that something is good or that something is fresh. The food has to be on display in front of the customer. We put the food on center stage.

 What’s new at Chipotle? (CMG)
For 19 years we haven’t really added a lot to the menu, but we have improved the raw ingredients. That’s the big innovation—better quality. But there are a few things. Brown rice is now an option. People like brown rice because it’s a different texture and has a nuttier taste. People like it for health reasons and because it has more fiber. We’ve also been adding more whole wheat to the tortillas, which makes for a more interesting texture and more complex flavor. 

How is your new Washington (D.C.) restaurant, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen?
There’s a line out the door every day. It’s about the same number of different ingredients that you can choose from at Chipotle, but there’s more emphasis on vegetables—Chinese broccoli, corn, eggplant, and long beans. Additionally, we have pickled vegetables and green papaya slaw. The restaurant is doing very, very well.

Where is Chipotle expanding internationally?
London has two restaurants. Paris should be opening in a few weeks. In London they’re cooking great food and sourcing great raw ingredients, and customers are really liking it. We’ll continue to add a few restaurants in London and maybe a couple more in Paris. I’m going to look at a site in Germany soon. While domestic is our main area of growth, ShopHouse and international are ways to seed for the future. 

Chili’s Grill & Bar Introduces Lighter Choices Menu Featuring Delicious, Lighter Entrees With the Same Bold Chili’s Taste

Chili’s® Grill & Bar introduces a new Lighter Choices menu with seven bold entrees that, in addition to being delicious, also happen to be nutritious and flavorful. The featured Lighter Choice items have less than 750 calories, 25 grams fat and 8 grams saturated fat.

Seven menu items complete the Lighter Choices menu – three of which are new – and satisfy the needs for health-conscious guests, while maintaining the bold, Southwestern flavors they’ve come to expect from Chili’s entrees. Chili’s listened to guest feedback about providing healthier options on the menus. 

I commend Chilli's for listening to their guests about featuring healthier menu options. The only concern I have is there's too much emphasis on calories and fat rather than overall nutrition that comes from whole foods without artificial colors, preservatives, flavors, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats. A menu item can be low in calories and fat, yet not contain the nutrition our bodies need to fight health disease.

When we concentrate on eating more whole foods, it becomes easier for us to cut trans and saturated fats from our diet because these fats are often added to processed foods and fast food. Plus, whole foods include fewer extras to help reduce calorie intake. For example, it is virtually impossible to eat enough fruits and vegetables to equal the calories in just one hamburger with fries.

Quite simply, in terms of our health, whole foods are the best options, compared with processed foods. Therefore, I recommend looking for menu items that contain real food in its whole form like beans, fruits, vegetables, whole grain, nuts, seeds, chicken without the skin, and unprocessed lean meats. The only way to make sure that we are receiving all the nutrients possible is to eat more plant foods and meats in the least processed form possible.

Nature Tells Us What Foods Help What Part of Our Bodies

 

Have you ever noticed that a Tomato has four chambers and is red like our heart, loaded with lycopene? Or, that Kidney Beans look exactly like our human kidney, and they actually heal and help maintain kidney function? Check out this amazing video to see how nature tells us what foods help what parts of our bodies. Enjoy!

Should Restaurants Seek a Higher Purpose With Customers or The Real Deal With Groupon?

60 Minutes featured a story on “The Real Deal with Groupon” Sunday January 15, 2012. It seems as if many of our nation’s restaurants have forgotten why they exist and their purpose. Instead of serving a higher purpose, some restaurants are willing to stand in line to give 50% or more off retail menu prices. I’m certain that is not the reason why most people get into the restaurant industry.

Our country is going through a health-care crisis, and the only viable solution seems to be eating healthier to prevent chronic disease. Therefore,  instead of offering deep discounts, restaurants should  feature healthier menu options without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats to help consumers get their proper nutrition. You would probably agree that offering healthier menu options is a better approach to attracting loyal consumers who are willing to pay full retail value.

In my experience, restaurants that are willing to offer such deep discounts have not established the value of their higher purpose with customers. Businesses with a higher purpose tend to attract the trust and loyalty of customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and their community. These are the people who become passionate about doing business with your restaurant.

Starting this Spring 2012, we are launching www.WholeFoodsNetwork.com to help restaurants across the nation maximize this unique opportunity to help consumers eat more natural foods. Our mission is to educate consumers on eating more whole foods and less processed foods to prevent health conditions like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.

When I was in flight school, my instructor’s main purpose was to teach me to become a safe pilot. However, if you ask business owners or managers what’s their purpose, many will answer to make money. What’s your purpose for being in the restaurant industry?