By Dr. Mercola
Over the past couple of years, we’ve learned the unsavory
truth about “pink
slime,”
reconstituted meat, and how the use of
meat glue cheats you out of your hard-earned money at the
grocery store and threatens your health.
We’ve also learned that fast food fare such as McDonald’s
hamburgers contain so many chemicals and so few real food
ingredients that a
burger fails to show signs of decomposition after more
than a decade...
The famous McDonald’s McRib also came under closer scrutiny,
and turned out to be something less than mouthwatering. The
McRib sandwich is a non-standard item on the fast food
restaurant’s menu;1
its annual return is always advertised with great fanfare — last
year it even made the headlines on ABC News.2
The pork sandwich is described as a tasty fan favorite
slathered in tangy barbecue sauce, slivered onions and tart
pickles, served on a hoagie style bun. Sounds perfectly normal,
but what’s it made of, really? In a November 2011
article, CBS Chicago news3
spilled the beans on this seasonal favorite:
“More than 70 ingredients make up the McRib and, yes,
one of them is pork. But as CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole reports,
there’s also an ingredient that can be found in shoes...
[Registered dietician Cassie] Vanderwall gave the McRib a
closer look and found the McRib has azodicarbonamide, which
is used to bleach the flour in bread. It has other uses. 'It
could be on your yoga mat, in your gym shoes, in your
anything that’s rubbery,' Vanderwall said...
Then there’s the pork – which is really restructured
meat product. In other words, it’s made from all the less
expensive innards and castoffs from the pig... Vanderwall
said the McRib ingredient list 'reminds me of a chemistry
lab.'”
To see pictures of a ‘deconstructed’ McRib sandwich, check
out foodfacts.info’s McRib page.4
It sure doesn’t look so appetizing anymore once the sauce is
washed off and the meat sliced in half. In fact, it can barely
pass meat, which was the point CBS news tried to make in the
first place.
What is "Food" Anyway?
Two years ago, the
nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
singled out McDonald's in their advertisement against
obesity-related deaths. As the ad claimed, obesity, diabetes,
high cholesterol, hypertension and heart attacks are hallmark
diseases associated with a fast food diet – a clear indication
that it does not provide the appropriate nutrition for your
body.
So, is McDonald's fare really food?
When you consider the fact that a large number of the
ingredients in a fast food meal exist nowhere in nature, but are
rather concocted in a lab, the answer would have to be 'no.'
Unfortunately, and to our severe detriment, ever since the
advent of the so-called TV dinner back in the 1950's, the
concept of "food" has expanded from meat, vegetables, raw dairy
products, fruit and other such natural items to include the
highly processed, preserved, artificially flavored and often
brightly colored chemical concoctions. But man simply was NOT
designed to thrive on man-made chemicals.
Sadly, store-bought foods you might not recognize as
processed, such as ground beef, are oftentimes no better. As
reported last year, approximately 70 percent of the ground beef
sold in U.S. supermarkets contains "pink slime" added in as a
cheap filler.
The Pepto-Bismol-colored concoction consists of beef scraps
and cow connective tissues, which has been treated with ammonium
hydroxide (basically a solution of ammonia in water). It can
legally make up 15 percent of any given beef product, which
shaves about three cents off the cost for a pound of ground
beef. The trimmings used come from parts of the cow that are
most likely to be contaminated with dangerous bacteria like E.
coli — which is why it must be treated with ammonia to
kill off the pathogens in the first place. It’s really
industrial food practices like this that pose very real threats
to your health, not raw unpasteurized dairy products and other
non-processed whole foods...
Russia Throws Poisonous Meat Back to U.S.
In related “questionable food” news, Russia has recently
banned U.S. meat supplies after discovering it contains
ractopamine — a beta agonist drug that increases protein
synthesis, thereby making the animal more muscular. This reduces
the fat content of the meat. As reported by Pravda,5
Russia is the fourth largest importer of US meats, purchasing
about $500 million-worth of beef and pork annually.
The drug is banned for use in 160 countries, including China
and Russia, but allowed in 24 countries, including Canada and
the United States. According to the New York Times,6
the ban took effect as of December 7, 2012, and Russian health
regulators stated that while they will initially conduct their
own testing, foreign countries will soon be required to certify
their meat as ractopamine-free if they want to export it to
Russia. While the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers
ractopamine safe and doesn’t test for it, Russia’s chief health
inspector, Gennady Onishchenko, claims there are “serious
questions” about the safety of the drug. He told the New
York Times:
“For instance, use of ractopamine is accompanied by a
reduction in body mass, suppression of reproductive
function, increase of mastitis in dairy herds, which leads
to a steep decline in the quality and safety of milk.”
Ractopamine is also known to affect the human cardiovascular
system, and may cause food poisoning, according to Pravda.7
It’s also thought to be responsible for hyperactivity, muscle
breakdown, and increased death and disability in livestock.
While other drugs require a clearance period of around two weeks
to help ensure the compounds are flushed from the meat prior to
slaughter (and therefore reduce residues leftover for human
consumption), there is no clearance period for ractopamine. In
fact, livestock growers intentionally use the drug in the last
days before slaughter in order to increase its effectiveness.
According to veterinarian Michael W. Fox, as much as 20
percent of ractopamine remains in the meat you buy from the
supermarket. Despite potential health risks, the drug is used in
45 percent of U.S. pigs, 30 percent of ration-fed cattle, and an
unknown percentage of turkeys.
Mexico and Brazil have announced that they will comply with
Russia’s demand for ractopamine-free meats.8
The US has shown no sign of coming to an agreement, however.
Instead the US has accused Russia of violating World Trade
Organization (WTO) rules — an accusation Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has dismissed as being part of
business as usual, since “all WTO members break these rules.”
How to Identify REAL Food
There are major incentives to center your diet on real foods
as opposed to “food-like” products, the primary one being that
real food is essential for optimal health. Real foods also taste
delicious, and when bought from sustainable sources help to
protect the environment. But with all the sneaky tricks being
employed, how can you tell the difference? Here’s a listing of
the characteristics and traits of real food versus processed
“food products.”
Real Food |
Processed Food-Like Products |
It’s grown, and sold “whole” |
Produced, manufactured in a factory, and sold in neat,
convenient packages |
Variable quality |
Always the same (no quality or taste variance) |
Spoils fast |
Stays “fresh” for extended periods of time |
Requires preparation |
No preparation required, just heat and serve |
Vibrant colors and rich textures |
Contains fillers, additives and preservatives to make
otherwise dull and bland mixtures appetizing |
Authentically flavorful |
Artificially flavorful |
Strong connection to land and culture |
No connection to land or culture |
Shopping Guidelines for Real, Health-Promoting Food
As the U.S. agriculture industry now stands, antibiotics,
pesticides, genetically engineered ingredients, hormones and
countless drugs are fair game for inclusion in your food. So if
you purchase your food from a typical supermarket, you’re taking
the chance that your food is teeming with chemicals and drugs —
even those that have been banned in other countries due to
adverse health effects.
So please do your health a favor and support the small family
farms in your area. You’ll receive nutritious food from a
source that you can trust, and you’ll be supporting the honest
work of a real family farm.
It all boils down to this: if you want to optimize your
health, you must return to the basics of healthy food choices.
Put your focus on WHOLE foods — foods that have not been
processed or altered from their original state — food that has
been grown or raised as nature intended, without the use of
chemical additives, drugs, hormones, pesticides, fertilizers,
and “mystery concoctions” of discarded scrap parts.
It’s really as simple as that!
And it’s not nearly as daunting a task as it may seem to find
a local farmer that can supply your family with healthy,
humanely raised animal products and produce. At
LocalHarvest.org, for instance, you can enter your zip code
and find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of
sustainably grown food in your area, all with the click of a
button. Once you make the switch from supermarket to local
farmer, the choice will seem natural, and you can have peace of
mind that the food you’re feeding your family is naturally
wholesome. That said, regardless of where you do your grocery
shopping, these are the signs of high-quality, health-promoting
foods you want to look for:
- It's grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers
(organic foods fit this description, but so do some
non-organic foods)
- It's not genetically modified
- It contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or
other drugs
- It does not contain any artificial ingredients,
including chemical preservatives
- It is fresh (keep in mind that if you have to choose
between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional
produce, the latter may actually be the better option)
- It did not come from a factory farm
- It is grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning
animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and
animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the
outdoors)
- It is grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts
of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning
animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of
environmental pollutants)
If the food meets these criteria, it is most likely a wise
choice, and would fall under the designation of "real food."
Keep in mind that reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of
healthful living, so you know exactly what you're putting in
your body. If you need help to get started, see Colleen Huber's
helpful tips on how to eat
healthier organic food on a budget. And if you're "hooked"
on fast food and other processed foods, please review my article
How to Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 Steps. It's
one of the absolute most positive life changes you could make!
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.