Panera Bread has announced that they will be eliminating some of the chemical additives in their food. Additives?
Today, the company publicly published a “No No List” of artificial additives including colors, flavors, preservatives, and sweeteners that are banned from its restaurants as of today in the US (its rollout date in Canada has yet to be determined). The restaurant says it will remove more than 150 ingredients, including aspartame (taken out of Diet Pepsi last month) and azodicarbonamide (aka, the much-maligned yoga mat chemical), as well as old health foes like high-fructose corn syrup and lard. (Also on the list: sucralose, the artificial sweetener replacing aspartame in Diet Pepsi and acesulfame K, the beverage’s other sweetener.)
Click here for the complete NO-NO List from Panera Foods.
Check out this article about Panera’s announcement about taking another step toward ethical meat practices in Forbes Magazine.
Subway Restaurant
Remember the yoga mat incident? Well it looks like Subway has made another step toward helping their PR and announced plans for a significant reduction in sodium at its U.S. stores that could ultimately nudge much of the fast-food industry to follow.
Beginning today, sodium content in Subway’s “Fresh Fit” sandwich line in the U.S. will be cut 28% vs. 2009, when Subway first began to cut salt. And sodium in its overall sandwich line will be cut by 15%, compared with the same period.
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods, a few weeks ago, declared that they will be eliminating the food dye they were using in their Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, the stuff that makes it orange, and replacing it with natural ingredients.
Maybe Kraft is making this move because it’s losing market shareto organic products — although the company still sells half-a-billion dollars worth of the stuff annually.
As it turns out, the famous nuclear-orange color of Kraft’s mac and cheese can be obtained from natural ingredients like turmeric, annatto,and paprika — instead of artificial food dye.
But the BIGGEST news was….ta dah! CHIPOTLE GIVES UP GMOS! The public has spoken. Take that Monsanto who has no problem morally or ethically poisoning the consumer if it can make a profit.
WHAT IS A GMO? (Genetically Modified Organism)
A GMO is created by inserting genes from one species (typically bacteria or a virus) into the DNA of another. This can result in a plant with characteristics that wouldn’t occur naturally, such as producing pesticides or the ability to withstand high doses of chemical herbicides.
Not all GMOs are designed in the same way. Crops can be engineered to do a number of different things. The traits that cause the most concern to agricultural, environmental, and medical experts are:
1. Herbicide Resistance: Plants engineered to survive applications of glyphosate, a chemical that would otherwise kill them.
2. Pesticide Production: Plants engineered to produce insecticidal toxins
(Picture source: Chipotle website)
If you eat processed food, you are more likely to consume GMOs.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been grabbing headlines in recent weeks, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suddenly reversing bans on one genetically engineered crop after another. The list of genetically modified food ingredients is growing at an alarming rate. And what’s even more disturbing is the fact the USDA seems to have sided with big business in allowing GMO foods to be sold without any labeling whatsoever.
Consumers have been left largely in the dark, unable to make informed choices about buying foods containing GMOs. By some estimates, over 75% of all processed foods sold in the U.S. contain a GMO ingredient. Corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, sugar, beef and dairy products are among the most likely to have been genetically modified.
Scientists, environmental activists, supporters of organic farming and consumers alike are joining forces to protest the USDA’s decisions. Organizations like the Organic Consumers Association, Alliance for Natural Health USA and Say No to GMOs! are just a few examples of those working to fight back against GMOs.
What’s behind all of the outrage and fervor? Here’s a brief overview of the case against GMOs. It’s important to educate yourself now, because the onslaught of approved GMO foods entering our food supply is likely to continue, as the government refuses to acknowledge that they could be harmful.
Why do GMOs exist?
If you listen to the government and the Big Agra companies it supports, GMO foods are perfectly safe, and their benefits include lower cost crops, more productive farms and even healthier foods. But the truth is, genetically engineered plants exist for a single reason — profits. Companies like Monsanto have been known to bully farmers into paying “technology fees” to use their GMO seeds.
In most cases, the reason that seeds are genetically modified is so they plants can withstand massive doses of herbicides and pesticides. And guess who sells these toxic chemicals? The same companies that make the GMO seeds.
Why should you be concerned about GMOs in our food supply?
Genetically engineered plants have had either genes from bacteria or viruses, or genes that make plants resistant to toxic chemicals like the herbicide Roundup — spliced into their DNA. These genes were never part of the human diet until the first GMO plant was created in 1996.
To date, there have been no long-term human safety studies conducted on GMOs. To assume that they are safe defies common sense, as we lack any scientific evidence to prove that they do not pose a threat to human health. In fact, more research points towards potentially harmful effects of consuming GMOs.
The American Academy of Environmetal Medicine (AAEM)’s official position on GMOs is that they “have not been properly tested and pose a serious health risk” and that a more research shows that GMOs are posing a harmful effect to humans.
The Center for Food Safety has launched a free mobile application for smartphones called the True Food Shoppers Guide, a program that allows shoppers to quickly and easily identify grocery items that contain genetically engineered ingredients.
D5 Creation