Been 6 months, but here is "What's in Your Food" part 7 "Cheetos"

So was weird weekend. I ate cheese sauce with chorizo in it. But they were on white corn chips.All while watching SuperBowl. On Saturday a young maiden offered something to me that literally I have not let into my mouth for 40 years, Cheetos. I've always thought they were nasty, and never liked them. As I got older, I read the ingredients, and realized why.

Cheetos do have fantastic marketing, the tiger concept is just so innovative. The ads make those eating Cheetos to be just the coolest and hippest people in society. Too bad the Frito-Lay people won't spend that marketing money on making the things less disgusting. But then, Frito-Lay is owned outright by one of the Biggest manufacturers of toxic foods, Pepsico. Certainly not the BIGGEST food like product manufacturer, but the one with the highest concentration of toxic additives and ingredients. Most people don't believe that, most people don't think High Fructose Corn Syrup is a bad thing. I mean the manufacturers tell us it's fine and healthy. Most people see no problems with Aspartame, Ace-K, Sucralose and sugar alcohols. I mean the manufacturers tell us they are fine and healthy. Most people don't think MSG, high salt intake and artificial colors are bad things, I mean the manufacturers tell us they are perfectly safe. 

I'm not most people.

I believe that the numbers of 'not most people' are growing all the time. Unfortunately most people though are just unaware and truly believe that when the they are told something won't hurt them, they feel there is no reason to doubt the authenticity or motivation behind those claims. But then most people keep reelecting their congress people and senators time after time when they DAILY show themselves to hold the interests of large corporations above the needs of their constituents. 

Most people have no clue. Most people just don't care perhaps.

So anyway, I ranted long enough. Let's look at Cheetos.

Here we see the actual ingredient label from a Bag of Cheetos Flamin Hot flavor. Now this article isn't about whether or not Genetically Modified foods are inherently bad or not. I will be the first to admit that it could take years to determine if adding a gene to plant's DNA makeup would make the plant toxic. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Well let me amend that, there has been some research that showed that the Bt toxins Cry1AB and Cry9AC  do in fact cause cellular disruption of intestinal cells from humans in vitro. What I do know though is that pretty much ALL GM crops are drenched with horrifically toxic pesticides and herbicides. The residues of those are in pretty much ALL corn, wheat, soy, cotton and well, every crop grown that isn't certified organic. And even though the chemical companies tell us they are safe, the reality is very very different and we are learning just how long they last in the environment and hot devastating they are to humans, bees, and really the world itself. So, GMO corn, not a good thing.

The same thing applies to the oils used. GMO, pesticide residues. And granted the 17% total fat is not that bad as far as snack foods go. There are worse ones out there. Then there is the 'Hot Seasoning'. Scary but the seasoning has two types of sugar, regular sugar and maltodextrin. And two types of MSG, regular MSG and yeast extract. And salt. An ounce of these morsels of America's Chemical Feast contain 10% of your daily allotment of salt. AN OUNCE!!!!! There are four, yep, count 'em, FOUR different coal tar artificial coloring agents. These are known carcinogens. Then there are the Disodium twins, Inosinate and Guanalate. These aren't inherently bad, that we know of, (needs more testing to determine) but they are known in the industry as cheats. They are a lot like MSG in that they make mediocre things taste better. Then there is Sodium Diacetate. Which here this will shock some people, I don't have a problem with it. It gives foods a salty and vinegary flavor. And is a mild preservative. And really, not any discernible problems.

Now some people might look at this label and see that the ingredients do indeed contain two different sugars listed. And then look at the Nutrition Information and see that listed there the sugars are shown as being zero percent of the total. ZERO. What's up with that. How can the ingredients list added sugar but the nutrition info show none? The answer is simple, and legal as well. The FDA is the governmental group charged with monitoring the manufacturing and labeling of food and food like products. Of which Cheetos falls into the second category. The FDA directive for labeling nutritional information gives the manufacturer a 20% leeway up or down from actual tested percentages. That means they can put down zero when in reality sugars comprise up to 8% of the total weight of the product. It's not 20, it's a little more complex than that. But common sense tells us that if they add sugar, it has to comprise part of the end product. The sugar doesn't disappear in processing. I mention this because I want readers to realize that this is a very common practice with food and food like product manufacturers. They cheat. 

Something to think about.


Yup