Would you support a ban on processed food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I would support science rather than quackery and grifting to be driving our policies. I would support increased oversight and testing by the FDA to ensure food safety and labeling regulations are met.

I would be fine with a rating system being developed ..that is based on actual scientific research…identifying foods with highest nutritional content and higher % of natural ingredients.

People forget that before Teddy Roosevelt ushered in regulations you basically played Russian roulette with food buying. Stomach cancer was prevalent due to the ingredients. Arsenic,formaldehyde and many other poisonous chemicals were common place. Spoiled meat was the norm. Heinz invented ketchup as a way to cover up the taste of spoiled meat. Heinz also lobbied hard to get food ingredient label laws in place. His competitors undercut him by selling cheaper knockoffs and lying about the ingredients. This hurt consumer confidence in the product as well. When Heinz succeeded and the FDA was in place and started enforcing the regulations, his knock off competitors disappeared.

Consumers should have information access to what is in food.

This plus cutting the subsidies is the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if government tries to make healthy food ingredients affordable and heavily taxes unhealthy packaged and processed food and beverages ? Would you support any such effort?

The problem is that the government currently subsidizes most of the crops that highly processing foods are made from.

How about we stop subsidizing those and subsidize regenerative farming and whole food production with fewer chemicals.

I would support food stamps to only go to Whole Foods rather than processed junk which would alleviate food deserts as retailers would have to adjust.

You did not mean the organic grocery store, right? I also agree. Allow people access to only some processed foods like bread and cheese, canned tomato paste, canned beans etc, yogurt etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make our own corn tortillas at home. I have a mill and we grind the corn that we grow.

Milling is processing. You can eat your corn boiled, grilled or raw. Processing destroys the nutrients.

[Anonymous]

FDA can't regulate tons of processed foods. Once they get the GRAS label, it is over. Congress is the one messing up US health.

Read up on how they determine GRAS. It is an absolute S show. They basically have panels to determine GRAS. But the food industry stacks the panels.

99% of additives in food are basically not regulated.

[Anonymous]

For the person who advocated EU type regulation….i used to think that was a good idea but then I bought a coke in Europe and it was disgusting. Apparently the EU made them cut 25% of the sugar content so they replaced 25% of the sugar in all sodas with a disgusting fake sugar. I drink like six sodas a year — when I do, I would like them not to taste like a disgusting chemical. (Let’s hear it for Mexican coke with the original cane sugar!).

Anyway, I agree with PPs that the answer is better food labeling and cutting the subsidies for crap food. They should probably also bring back home ec classes to schools. I don’t think most kids learn to cook much at all. I’m a little guilty on this as well—I cooked a ton as a teen and my own kids have been utterly resistant to learning to cook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A big bag of potatoes and a big bag of carrots are very cheap and can make all kinds of meals but they aren't convenient. You have to haul these bags home (if you have kids and are on the bus, that isn't easy). You then have to wash and prep them, have time to cook them, have knowledge of cooking about how to make them taste good (especially to kids who are used to salt / sugar in processed food)spices and whanot and then put a meal on the table your family will eat. We probably eat a lot cheaper than people on food stamps and I could make great meals out of food stamps but that is because I grew up on the land and we pretty much lived off of our vegetable garden, fruit trees, chickens etc. If you don't have that knowledge, then a big bag of potatoes doesn't look like something you can turn into meals that your kids will eat.

Here’s your problem. Why are your children used to ultra-processed foods?

[Anonymous]

A “ban” sounds extreme, the products are already in the shelves. How about a tax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if government tries to make healthy food ingredients affordable and heavily taxes unhealthy packaged and processed food and beverages ? Would you support any such effort?

The problem is that the government currently subsidizes most of the crops that highly processing foods are made from.

How about we stop subsidizing those and subsidize regenerative farming and whole food production with fewer chemicals.

I would support food stamps to only go to Whole Foods rather than processed junk which would alleviate food deserts as retailers would have to adjust.

You did not mean the organic grocery store, right? I also agree. Allow people access to only some processed foods like bread and cheese, canned tomato paste, canned beans etc, yogurt etc.

Yes, it autocorrected. I meant whole foods.

[Anonymous]

Sure. Ban processed foods. Everyone should buy chickens and kill, defeather and gut them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A “ban” sounds extreme, the products are already in the shelves. How about a tax?

That’s what I think. Tax the crap out of them. Use that revenue to subsidize nutritious whole foods only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FDA can't regulate tons of processed foods. Once they get the GRAS label, it is over. Congress is the one messing up US health.

Read up on how they determine GRAS. It is an absolute S show. They basically have panels to determine GRAS. But the food industry stacks the panels.

99% of additives in food are basically not regulated.

Yes!

[Anonymous]

I am all for a ban on processed anything. Corn syrup, for starters. No more preservatives. We never buy processed crap anyway, and you shouldn't either.

[Anonymous]

I think if government tried to tax heavily processed food and beverages, MAGA would lose half their base. Take a drive through Appalachia and tell me how many Whole Foods markets you see. It is extremely difficult to eat healthy when the only market within an hour of your house is a gas station or a Dollar General. Maybe instead of making unhealthy food more expensive, the focus needs to be on making healthy more accessible to all Americans.

Even then, how do you convince the average American to eat a pile of sautéed kale over “heart healthy” (processed) cereal? We are a nation of convenience, fueled by major corporations and food lobbyists. Good luck changing that dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the person who advocated EU type regulation….i used to think that was a good idea but then I bought a coke in Europe and it was disgusting. Apparently the EU made them cut 25% of the sugar content so they replaced 25% of the sugar in all sodas with a disgusting fake sugar. I drink like six sodas a year — when I do, I would like them not to taste like a disgusting chemical. (Let’s hear it for Mexican coke with the original cane sugar!).

Anyway, I agree with PPs that the answer is better food labeling and cutting the subsidies for crap food. They should probably also bring back home ec classes to schools. I don’t think most kids learn to cook much at all. I’m a little guilty on this as well—I cooked a ton as a teen and my own kids have been utterly resistant to learning to cook.

That's happening here too. Even in milks (Fairlife! GROSS). If something says "lower sugar" it means they added stevia or something equally disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FDA can't regulate tons of processed foods. Once they get the GRAS label, it is over. Congress is the one messing up US health.

Read up on how they determine GRAS. It is an absolute S show. They basically have panels to determine GRAS. But the food industry stacks the panels.

99% of additives in food are basically not regulated.

GRAS = Generally Recognized as Safe. Please let's not be lazy about acronyms.