Is the Conventional Food Industry Getting Healthy!
It has been a long time coming that the for contributing to the state of our population’s health. We live in a society of reactionary medicine instead of preventative. Food is what keeps the body healthy and can also cause the body to be unhealthy. As Lyndsay and I promote natural and healthy foods, we think it is important that labelling of foods be informative so we, the consumer can make the choice between what might appear to be less than a healthy choice.
As a lifetime food industry professional, I am not a stranger to great food, healthy food, not so healthy food and of course food that is ‘darn right bad for me!’ I have my vices...Lay’s low salt potato chips (the blue bag, my favourite); avocado oil potato chips when I can find them; Barkleys Natural Confectionary ‘s new Cupcake Truffle Bar, which has replaced my old favourite, the Mint Truffle Bar; Sweets From The Earth’s Cashew Cookies, they are the best, although Lyndsay would argue that her favourite, the Chocolate Caramel Pecan Bar is better. I obsess about food and what I am putting into my body, both the good food and the bad. When I choose the bad, I don’t necessarily need to read the nutritional label to know what I am eating is not good for me, but I make that choice consciously. The average consumer does not have my food knowledge and therefore without clear labeling, healthy words used on labels can be misleading.
Reading and understanding nutritional tables is not necessarily an easy process, so I googled to find a few sites that might enlighten you, the consumer:
I believe the progress the food industry is making, is lead by the natural food advocates and the natural health practitioners. I am not sure how such small numbers are affecting the big ones, but it is happening. The Fast Food Industry has had no choice, but to make changes and now include fresh foods to their format. Wendy’s is advertising ‘nutritious options’; McDonald's has made their nutritionals available online and Burger King’s hype is ‘cage free pork’. For many of our subscribers and readers, there are very few items on any of these menus that they would order; however I do believe that it is good to see these kinds of changes. Now if we can just get everyone on board with a truly healthy veg-vegan option in fast food restaurants, we might just have an option when on road trips!
We have a long way to go to where the consumer’s health is given top priority on labeling however the food industry is making noticeable development toward change at a fairly quick pace. I believe we can attribute this to the Natural Food and Health Advocates who are peppered throughout Canada and the US. I truly do not believe the healthy options the fast food chains are offering are truly healthy options, however ‘healthier’ is better than nothing at all. What are your thoughts on this topic?
Happy Cooking,
Laurie and Lyndsay
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