Food processing is just one of those parts of our society that I know about but don’t think about. Really, do I want to know that beaver anal glands (castoreum) is in my vanilla ice cream?

No, all I care about is that because of processed foods, I have more choice and convenience. Think of frozen or canned vegetables. Of course their fresh counterparts taste better, but I don’t have time to go grocery shopping every day, and I also appreciate being able to buy any vegetable year-round instead of in-season only.

The Huffington Post had a story earlier this year titled “Top 10 Reasons to Avoid Processed Foods” but doesn’t make a compelling argument. For example, I’m glad meat is tested for stray wires (#6). And guess what? Processed foods actually can reduce food allergens (#2).

If you’re so against processed foods, just think about what you would eat for breakfast: Cereal? Nope. Toast? Nope. Bacon? Nope. Coffee? Nope. I could go on and on.

So bring on those additives and preservatives! And if I keep damaging my brain cells for learning and memory (#4), then I’ll … um … what were we talking about again?

For more information, check out these articles:

• The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
• European Food Information Council
• Wikipedia
• Asian Food Information Centre

Tags: food processing, Huffington Post

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 3:35 pm and is filed under News and Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.