Hello everyone! As you can see, this week is a bountiful harvest of ideas! It really helps that a lot of things are happening in the world. So as the title states, many American snacks are being called out for their usage of toxic chemicals in their products, which is something I already knew.
If you are a long staying Inky Bud, then you might already know some of the things that are hiding behind the American food industry's proverbial curtain. I have written about similar topics before, so this isn't new knowledge. (The articles will be in the 'related posts' section.) These findings make me happy. It makes me happy that somebody is aware of what is trying to be hidden, and that it will be common knowledge that obesity and cholesterol aren't the only downsides to eating these snacks. So which brands have been called out for their wrongdoings?
So far, Peeps, Doritos, Skittles have been called out for the use of red dye no.3, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and brominated vegetable oil. There is a huge chance that you have probably never heard of these chemicals, and it's not your fault.
Some of these products aren't even labeled on the packaging ingredients, which proves that they were trying to hide it from the public. What exactly are these products anyways? What makes them harmful? Let's find out, starting with titanium dioxide.
Titanium Dioxide is a white solid that is insoluble in water, although mineral forms can appear black. As a pigment, it has a wide range of applications, including paint, sunscreen, and food coloring. When used as a food coloring, it has E number E171. This substance is generally considered as safe, BUT, when it is inhaled, it becomes carcinogenic to humans.
Pretty bad right? It only gets worse from here on out. Next, we have red dye no.3. Don't let the name fool you, it's not just food coloring. This dye is proven to cause cancer in animals, causing their thyroids to develop tumors. Its scientific name is erythrosine, and it's made from petroleum. Listless studies have shown the harmful effects of this dye. The International Association of Color Manufacturers (IACM), an industry group, maintains that Red Dye No. 3 is safe at the levels that people typically consume, and that human studies are more relevant than lab-rat studies (like the ones that led the FDA to ban it in cosmetics). This dye has been banned from cosmetics, but it is still ingested. The studies have associated this dye with behavioral problems many times, but the industry is trying so hard to cover their tails by saying that these studies are based on 'insufficient evidence.'
For example, several studies have linked some artificial food dyes, including Red Dye No. 3, to hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral effects in children. Double-blind studies controlled their diets for several weeks at a time, first without any artificial color additives, and then with them, at different doses. Not all children were affected in noticeable ways, but the ones who seemed to be more sensitive to the dyes showed more inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and restlessness even with a small amount—just 1 mg a day—than when they had dye-free diets.
(It's like Erin Brockovich all over again...)
The studies have shown that young children are at the biggest risk of the side effects of the dye. According to the FDA’s own estimates, American children ages 2 to 5 end up consuming twice as much Red Dye No. 3 as the general population on a body-weight basis. Even small amounts pose a threat. So, if they know it's a threat, why did they not ban it. The reason is: bureaucracy.
As the recent petition to the FDA puts it: “There is no scientific or public health justification for permitting the use of FD&C Red No. 3 dye in food while prohibiting [the dye] in cosmetics and externally applied drugs.”
Instead, it’s largely the result of complicated internal processes at the FDA. The list of color additives the agency allows in food, supplements, and ingested drugs (like pills and liquid medicine) is separate from the list for cosmetics and applied drugs (like prescription lotions). That means the FDA has had to make decisions about the safety of each type of use at different times.
In 1990, they banned the dye from cosmetics, but at that point in time, it was on a permanently approved list for food. (How convenient...😑)
At the time, the FDA said that it would “take steps” to ban it from food as well, but the process fell off.
So many children from all generations have been exposed to this, when they just didn't need to be! It makes me so angry.
The next sneaky killer is potassium bromate. Here an anecdote from my research on this substance: In 2007, Chinese authorities pulled a batch of imported snack chips from store shelves because they believed the chips contained potassium bromate, a food additive banned in China. The chips' country of origin? The United States."
Potassium bromate is also illegal in the European Union, Canada, Brazil and elsewhere because it causes cancer in rats and mice. In the United States, however, it has remained legal since it was first patented for use in baking bread, in 1914.
Yeah, I think it's safe to say that the U.S. government is either be negligent on the products that we are eating, or they really do want to kill citizens of the U.S. discreetly...
In 1982, researchers in Japan published the first of a series of studies showing that potassium bromate causes cancer in the thyroids, kidneys and other body parts of rats and mice.
Long story short, the FDA knows that these products are harmful to ingest, and it has taken many, many, many years for somebody to finally bring this 'forgotten' knowledge into the spotlight.
It sickens me to think that these people know, and have full knowledge of what we are eating, while many unsuspecting Americans don't! What's even worse is that they could do something about it! Literally every other country has outlawed the use of these products, but the U.S. hasn't! They are doing just fine without the use of these dye and products, but why is the U.S. straddling behind? (I think I'll pack my bags and move to Japan, where officials actually care about what their people are consuming! 🤷♀️)
This could easily have been avoided and prevented. Many children and adults had to go through the side effects of ingesting these harmful compounds, and it didn't even need to happen! All the people who have died because of these products, the carcinogenic effects, and the neurological problems cause by these substances, it's the FDA's fault. The blood is on their hands. It could have been prevented, and they completely knew about it. But they tried to straddle the use of these products for so long, for some reason.
I am just glad that this knowledge finally came into light, but I am upset that it took so long to be found.
It is unjustifiable that everyone is eating these products and may be experiencing the side effects of the ingredients, and they have no clue! Imagine if somebody never found this out, but this is 100% very likely to still be happening with other products.
I am disgusted by the sick people that could have done something but chose to sit idle and watch as lives are sacrificed and tampered with as a result of the negligence.
In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend eating anything from the U.S. It's not enough that you can't trust anyone in the world easily, but now your food is out to kill you. It's ridiculous, and just uncalled for! I hope you enjoyed this article, and I hope you learned something today, like why you should not buy food from the U.S. Heck, I'm saying this as an inhabitant of the USA that you shouldn't eat our food! It's practically poison!
Either way, be careful with what you eat friends! Your food might not be safe! (Being a tad dramatic...But I'm not wrong)
Thank you for reading everyone and have a good day🏙️/night🌃!
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(Stay tuned for the sources and further reading.)
Sources and Further Reading:
People should stop putting bad chemicals in candy kids love candy.