Ultra Processed Food & Globalist Agenda vs Consumer

In my opinion, these globalist run mega companies want us CRAVING their products in order to CONTROL our wallets. There are ultra processed foods that are designed for the bliss-point, which creates a inner set of bio-chemical reactions that over-ride healthy behavior. Eating too much ultra processed food keeps the consumer weak and compliant. It is best to keep these as occasional foods or to avoid them. Similar to what we learned the last few years about the medical and pharmaceutical industry, none of these mega food companies profit significantly from health & nutrition, nor care about the overall health of the consumer.

The book Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us was published a decade ago and it is sad how little has changed. The food company lobbyists appear to still hold sway. Let’s look at a few recent examples that seem to provide evidence:

• Recently we are starting to see dietary guidance in other countries reduce the maximum recommended calories from added sugars. Most are dropping it from 10% of calories to 5% of calories. Reducing the amount of added sugars consumed is correlated with reducing obesity and supporting metabolic health (protect liver, feed gut, support brain). US instead of leading the way, remains steadfast with older recommendations. It is a shame because we have higher obesity rates and metabolic related diseases than other countries. This feels similar to the slow response the FDA took toward making sure the consumers understood the health impact of hydrogenated vegetable oils and got the food manufacturer's to stop using them.
• The FDA has been declaring new non-sugar replacements as Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) with minimal research, even though these ingredients are being used at non-naturally occurring levels. Recently two rare natural occurring sugars were approved by the FDA - tagatose is in apples and allulose is in figs. To naturally consume 1 gram of tagatose from apples, you would need to consume approximately 100 kilograms, of apples!! To naturally consumer 1 gram of allulose from figs, you would need to consume approximately 1 kilogram of figs!! (Nothing natural about eating that much!) To me, it appears that US consumers were part of the experiment, while other countries waited to approve until there was more safety data. Tagatose was approved for US in 2003 and for EU in 2005. Allulose was approved in 2012 for the US and is still pending for EU. (BTW – neither of this sugar alternatives are actually extracted from their natural source. They are chemically derived from GMO dent corn.)
• The industry / globalist trend for alternative proteins, food as medicine and plant based proteins, does not mean what most consumers think these terms do. These trends are not driven by the consumer, but by the companies.
  • Alternative proteins include insect derived ingredients and lab grown meats. Most consumers would think alternative proteins would be more along the lines of seitan (vegan alternative made of gluten) instead of beef or oat milk instead of dairy milk. Lab grown meats are more expensive and less accepted by the consumer at this point compared to real meat. entoMilk is already being sold – insect milk ice cream!
  • Food as medicine includes delivery of pharmaceutical grade vaccines as part of food, where the plant or meat is genetically modified to be a delivery system. The traditional meaning of food as medicine is about using natural nutrition of plants & animals to build health and target specific symptoms or concerns.
  • Plant based foods includes using highly refined and ultra processed plant materials as a substitute for clean, real food. Plant Based Foods is part of the globalist sustainability / climate change agenda. Most people think that is another way to advocate for vegetarian eating or to consume more fruits and vegetables.
    • You may have caught some of memes about John Kerry farting in the middle of his speech at a climate change meeting. There are press releases about how at this meeting they made all the attendees eat plant based foods that they are trying to popularize. Clearly John Kerry's digestive system was not happy!!!
• The term “stealth health” is prevalent inside the food industry. They make changes without informing the consumer, just quietly changing the nutrition facts and ingredient listing on the label. Sometimes these are healthy changes, sometimes not. The food industry leverages “health halo” in naming ingredients or using color, flavor and marketing images to make us think more favorably of the food. In other cases they substitute cheaper ingredients to supposedly help claims. These often are new and novel ingredients (think chemicals).
  • Ingredients that are generating too much noise in the press and impacting consumer spending get new "health halo" names, yet they don’t change the actual ingredient. “Beet sugar” sounds more natural / healthier than “refined sugar.” It has a "health halo" because people associate normal roasted red beets or beet supplements as healthy. Yet many consumers don’t realize "beet sugar" means GMO sugar beets and that it is still refined sugar  (same as what is likely in the sugar bowl at home). 

These globalist-run mega food companies could create healthier foods that support health in more than just their niche brands. There are private companies making ultra processed foods (and more natural foods) that are keeping a better balance of macronutrients & micronutrients and minimizing additives and toxins while keeping the foods delicious!

These mega companies expand capabilities mainly through acquisition, instead of evolving their existing successful brands. When one of these companies purchase an upcoming brand or a niche health brand, one of the first steps is to make it more profitable. We see how sometimes the parent company goes beyond simple volume leveraged cost savings. They start to dilute what made the brand unique in the first place.

Even though they take long term view for globalist agenda - these publicly traded companies take short term view on profits and don’t want to impact their current blockbusters. They don’t want consumers to stop CRAVING their blockbuster foods to risk giving up CONTROL of the consumer wallet.

Vote with your fork (and your wallet)! Stop supporting the companies that don't support you or align with your values!