Basic HTML Version
What You Need to Know About
FOODAND
FOOD ADDITIVES
by
Michael A. Snyder
Many people like yourself are questioning the need for additives
and the use of refined foods. How
did we get into these habits? What can we do?
1
MAGINE
you
have been able
to huy a new
automobile.
Wh en
you
picked it up from
t he dealer, it had
everyt h i ng you
needed; power
steering, air condi–
t ion i ng, a me–
dium-sized engine,
comfortable seats,
radial tires.
The f irst thing
you do with your
new car is drive it to
a scrap yard , where
you have it crushed
into a metal block.
Then you take the
crushed remains of
your new car and
have it pulled apart
and painted until it
resemb les i ts o ld
shape. You have a
new engine installed and sorne
accessories put in. It costs a for–
tune, but you're just following an
accepted style.
Sound crazy? Of course! But
this analogy is similar to the pro–
cess that the refined foods you eat
go through. Bread, for example,
often is so commercially pro–
cessed that it only vaguely resem-
May 1981
bies in sorne aspects the wheat
bread great-grandmother used to
make.
Why
Additives and Processl ng?
The refined-foods trend grew out
of food prepared for royalty. Food
was milled and carefully sculp–
tured to please those in high
standing. As the economy became
more diversified, use
of refined foods
spread to the middle
and lower classes.
Today, increased
usage of food addi–
tives and processed
foods have arisen as
a result of basic,
fundamental
changes in our socie–
ty. Over a period of
severa] decades, our
Wes tern society has
become time and
economically
o r iented. As one
person characterized
it, we have become
a n ' ' instant pud–
di ng"
society.
~
Everything must
l
happen now!
This change is
j
reflected in our
t
foods. Where a cen–
~
tury ago wives and
~
::¡
small
child r en
¡;¡
would spend severa!
hours a day baking, cooking and
preparing foods, today's family
may have as little as 15 minutes
to prepare and eat an average
mea!. The United States Depart–
ment of Agriculture (USDA)
even sponsored a nationwide pro–
gram that attempted to educate
children in proper food habits.
But the proper preparation and
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