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Deceptions in the Food Industry: Applegate Organic & “Natural Meats”

www.mypicshares.com

I love bacon. It’s one of life’s most wonderful pleasures. I love to eat it with eggs from pastured hens cooked sunny side up or over easy, in plenty of Kerrygold butter.

When you go to the store, there are many products on the shelves claiming to be healthy and natural. It’s overwhelming  just how many there are, and confusing to the unaware consumer.

Applegate Organic & Natural Meats (formerly Applegate Farms) sells different meat products including sliced turkey, chicken, roast beef, ham, bacon, hot dogs, sausages, and salami. Yes, there are many other companies selling products claiming to be a healthy choice which really aren’t…or, facts about the product are concealed, and if you really knew the truth, you may change your mind about buying the product.

This brand happens to be one of those I keep seeing everywhere as one that many people seem to trust, even when many others are rejected. It’s a “compromise” brand that a lot of people seem to believe is better than many conventional meat products.

Their slogan “changing the meat we eat” implies that the meat they sell is different from other choices on the market. Their labels tell the consumer that their products:

  • come from animals and birds receiving no antibiotics, no hormones
  • are gluten and casein free (the proteins found in wheat and dairy that are highly irritating and indigestible to those who have digestive problems and sensitivity)
  • are low-fat
  • are “humanely raised”

For some years, I thought this brand was a better alternative than some. Unfortunately, there are times where I  will buy the Applegate organic variety of meats.  I either buy their bacon, or we don’t have bacon.  Because we only have it once a week or so, it’s a compromise. But I don’t like it.

Where I live (Boise, ID), there are no better alternatives for traditionally cured meats such as ham, bacon, or salami.  None of the local farmers around here are able to produce these meats without using some type of nitrate.

So, is Applegate really changing anything, or is it just an illusion?

What Dr. Weston A. Price learned about real food and healthy populations

One of the things many modern food companies – and the mainstream health system – try to convince us of is that we need less fat, cholesterol, and calories.  If you look at the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, author of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, he discovered in the 1930s by traveling the world that all healthy populations consumed TEN times the amount of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K2) from sustainable-raised animals and birds, raised in natural environments with no chemicals, pesticides, hormones or GMOs. People in these populations consumed a lot of animal fat – fatty meat, poultry, and fish, butter, lard, tallow, ghee, dairy products.

So, even though modern doctors and health experts tell us to avoid fat and cholesterol, this is false information. And the truth is coming out about this big lie; current research shows why health authorities have been wrong about this all along.  Fat and cholesterol are extremely important for good health.

Dr. Price found no successful plant-based societies.  Dr. Price never said vegetables weren’t good for us, just that there were no healthy societies that avoided meat or animal fat and thrived on plant-based foods. Dr. Price discovered the healthy populations consumed animal products and they also consumed properly prepared foods that were soaked, sprouted, fermented, and soured. That includes grains, dairy, nuts, soy, vegetables, meats, fish, and other foods. By and large, we don’t eat food like this today. It’s no wonder we have health and digestive issues that are so rampant.

Compare what Dr. Price found in the 1930s with how meat is raised today. Most meat comes from feedlots and factory farm environments. Are Applegate meats and poultry raised in feedlot environments? We don’t know for sure. But, even as the labeling goes, it’s possible to discern that Applegate isn’t as natural as they claim to be.

This post on Mark’s Daily Apple touches on this subject and mentions that an individual on the Paleohacks site contacted Applegate to learn more about their grassfed meat claim on the label, only to discover that when grassfed is not available from one of their farms, they use grain-fed beef.

Most grain-fed cattle are housed on feedlots. So the likelihood of the meat coming from a factory farm is definitely not out of the question. Even if those cattle spent the previous period of their lives on pasture, the fact that they were on a feedlot anywhere from 90-120 days before slaughter diminishes health benefits significantly.

Vegetarian fed

Animals and birds slaughtered for Applegate products are “vegetarian fed” (excluding the “grass-fed” hotdogs and roast beef lunch meat, although we have no proof that these are actually grassfed and grass finished).

Vegetarian fed means the animals or birds consume soy, corn, and grains. Cattle are ruminants and are not designed to eat anything but grass, and a very SMALL amount of grains, if any, that might grow naturally in the pasture or field. When cattle eat these substances, it causes an acidic environment in their digestive tracts, creating inflammation and illness.

Cows, pigs, and poultry birds need open access to grazing, foraging, sunshine, and vital nutrients found in the outdoors from sun and eating grasses, plants, and for birds, eating worms and insects. This is why meat from healthy sources is so much higher in nutrients and in particular, the fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K2 – essential for all aspects of health including bone, cardiovascular, brain and nervous system, immunity, and digestion.

Many farmers use antibiotics, to “prevent” disease. But antibiotics don’t prevent disease. In fact, they make matters worse by weakening the immune system and causing yeast overgrowth and other problems. They also cause antibiotic-resistance. So, even though Applegate meats don’t contain antibiotics, the animals and birds are still fed inflammatory and disease-causing feed.

Pigs, chicken, turkeys, and other animals that are vegetarian fed – even if it is organic, are still eating soy, corn, and possibly some grains. The U.S. currently grows and cultivates a huge amount of grain, soy and corn crops for the purposes of feeding livestock.

GMO-sourced feed

Many of  the crops grown for animal feed come from GMO sources. There are currently no labeling laws for GMOs.  Some Applegate products are not organic, and many of them are labeled “Natural” even though they are fed GMOs.  Residue from these feeds are passed from animal to human when you consume feedlot meats (dairy and eggs too, for that matter) from these sources.

Even if GMOs didn’t exist, animals and birds fed soy, organic or not, are not going to be healthy. Soy is highly processed, contains a lot of estrogen, is a goitrogen (thyroid and hormone damaging), and is a nutrient inhibitor and pulls or leaches minerals out of the body due to its phytic acid content. These kinds of diets, coupled with not enough exposure to the outdoors and sunshine cause a nutritional imbalance in the meat and poultry. These meats end up with higher Omega 6 fatty acids – currently what people in developed countries such as the U.S. have too much of in their diets. This causes inflammation and disease in the body of animals or birds, and those consuming their meat, and subsequently, those consuming it.

MSG

Most Applegate Meat products contain hidden MSG. Carageenan, another name for MSG used by the food industry, is a highly processed food additive that comes from seaweed, but by no means resembles the naturally occurring glutamate that occurs in plants. This substance is formally classified as a potential carcinogen to human beings by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the World Health Organization).

Read this post The ingredient allowed in organic food that can cause cancer from The Healthy Home Economist about carageenan.

Hidden nitrates

Nitrates and nitrites are used by the industrial food industry in meats to “cure” and preserve them, for longer shelf life and prevent the development of Clostridium Botulinum, the bacterium which causes botulism. Applegate  packaging claims to have “no nitrates”, and yet they use this ingredient in many of their meats such as hotdogs, turkey, bacon, and ham.

Celery root or celery juice powder, used in Applegate products, is still a nitrate even if it’s not the synthetic sodium nitrate. Plant concentrates of natural nitrates are even higher than the synthetic, because they are compounded and isolated in a laboratory to include more nitrates than you would naturally get from just eating a stalk of celery. Do you know how many stalks of celery you’d have to eat to get the amount of natural nitrates in an Applegate serving of meat? A lot! You’d never eat that much at once.

Here’s what Weston A. Price Foundation has to say about natural nitrates/nitrites:

“As far as your body’s chemistry is concerned and for the curing process, a nitrate is a nitrate is a nitrate. It doesn’t matter if it is a chemically produced nitrate or nitrate from celery juice powder. So the notion that uncured bacon has no added nitrates or nitrites is completely false advertising; on the contrary, they are loaded with nitrates.

Now here’s where it starts to get a little crazy. There is no way to gauge how much nitrate is in celery juice powder. Conventional bacon production uses chemical nitrate so they know exactly how much is added to the pork for curing, based on parts per million. In fact when chemical nitrates are utilized the FDA and USDA mandate how much the processor can put into the bacon, how little they can put in and how much is left over. However because celery juice powder is considered a natural additive, there are no restrictions or mandates to follow. It’s as though the nitrates were never added. When it comes to how much nitrate is being added to uncured bacon with celery juice it’s a complete crapshoot. It’s a loophole that gives the meat producers one less inspector looking over their shoulder but leaves the door wide open for possible health issues.

In 2010, Cook’s Illustrated tested different types of bacon and found that two brands of “nitrate-free” bacon had significantly more nitrates than their conventional counterparts. The residual levels in the “uncured” bacons tested were all above the allowed levels in the conventional way of processing. So the very same nitrate level that everyone is trying to avoid by purchasing the uncured bacon is above, sometimes well above, that contained in the conventional brands.”

If the meat cures for long periods of time – such as salami and other cured meat products that cure for anywhere from a month up to a year, over that time, sodium nitrites convert to harmless nitric oxide (NO). This leaves only residual amounts of nitrites. With uncured meats, no extended curing process occurs. When you eat uncured meats, you receive a full dose of of sodium nitrite because these meats go from the processing facility to the grocery store and then to your kitchen.  Higher amounts of nitrates are naturally found in uncured bacon via celery juice powder. So what is actually happening is that you consume large and dangerous amounts of sodium nitrites.

Some people have experienced an adverse reaction called cyanosis. Cyanosis occurs when a lack of oxygen in the blood is present. Symptoms include a bluish tint to the skin, feeling as though you cannot breathe, and even feelings of death.  Unless there is some underlying issue such a blood clot or related problem, after eliminating the suspected cause of the problem – bacon or other meat with the celery root powder in it – people’s symptoms disappear.

From Naturally cured meats; Quality, Safety, and chemistry:

“Cyanosis caused by ingesting sodium nitrite or nitrite containing food has been reported throughout medical literature (Aquanno, Chan & 8 Dietzler, 1981; Bakshi, Fahey & Pierce, 1967; Barton, 1954; Bradberry, Gazzard & Vale, 1994; Harvey, Cave & Chanwai, 1976; Oppé, 1951; Simon, 1966; Walley & Flanagan, 1987; Wilson, 1976).”

A similar thing occurs when you drink a glass of juice. You are getting the juice of 8-10 oranges, but no nutrients, it’s all sugar. When you eat Applegate meats with natural nitrates (celery powder), you are getting the effect of  compounded nitrates that you’d eat from a lot more celery than you’d ever consume at one time. This is not natural, and the food industry persists in using these tactics to fool consumers into thinking they are doing something better for themselves by eating these products instead of others on the market which are probably about the same. In this case, the compounded nitrates from celery powder are actually worse.

Here’s a New York Times article about celery powder used in preserving commercial meats. While I don’t agree with some of the commentary in this article about salt or saturated fats, I do agree with their overall assessment that nitrates in any form are harmful to human health. Apparently, some of the companies in this article (Organic Prairie) attempted to sell the same product to people without any nitrates or celery juice powder and no one wanted them.

The best way to cure meat is with salt, the traditional method that has been used for thousands and thousands of years by many populations on the planet. These meats are delicious and people have consumed them for a long, long time with no ill effects.

Don’t let mainstream food producers fool you with slick marketing and label claims. Applegate  claims to be a more natural choice, but when you look at their ingredients and realize just what’s in their products, it becomes plain that their food is just as processed and unnatural as many other products on the market.

If you want to learn more about how to find good, local foods from sustainable producers, read Questions to Ask Your Farmer – Know What’s in Your Food!

More Deceptions in the Food Industry topics:

All-natural

Lean meats

Low-sodium and no salt added

Omega 3s

No MSG

 

 

 

76 replies on “Deceptions in the Food Industry: Applegate Organic & “Natural Meats””

Thank You Raine for this article!

I wonder if the vegetable juices consisting of celery and carrot in the GAPS diet would also be high in nitrates also.

By the way, The Weston A Price Foundation did mention about Applegate’s bacon having nitrates in their June Information alert page:

“Q. Nitrates: It is confusing that WAPF has always advised against using meats cured with nitrates but then they highlighted an article about bacon by The Naughty Nutritionist which contradicts that advice.
A. Answer from Kaayla Daniel, PhD We are learning! And the article exposes the myth that the celery salt-cured bacons found at Whole Foods are nitrite free. They are not. It appears the old fashioned method may be preferable for all the reasons discussed in the article. And nitrites in the presence of Vitamin C do not convert in the body to nitrosamines.

Given the fact that hardly any true, old-fashioned traditionally made bacon from pastured pigs is available, we will continue to recommend bacons such as Applegate etc in our Shopping Guide as “good” because they are preferable to regular commercial supermarket bacon. However, regardless of what it says on the label, “no added nitrites” does not mean nitrite free. Indeed the nitrite content could be quite high,”
http://www.westonaprice.org/2012-action-alerts/june-2012-information-alert

Raine, do you have any info on Coleman meats? They are hormone, antibiotic, and nitrate free, but, after reading this article, I wonder how good they really are. Thanks for sharing all your good research!

Erica – thanks for posting that updated information from the WAP Foundation. I appreciate it! Not sure about GAPS, maybe it would depend on how much celery, carrots, and other nitrate containing vegetables you used for juicing. I personally never used more than one or two stalks of celery or carrots at once, along with all the other veggies/fruits I put in the juicer.

Hi Heather – I do know about U.S. Wellness Meats, and have ordered from them before. I like their products, but find that I don’t usually have the budget to order $75 worth of meat at once. We used to buy sides of beef and pork from local producers to save money and get all our meat local that way, but in the last few years we’ve had to discontinue doing this due to finances. I hope sometime in the future to be able to do this again! Thanks for mentioning them though, I sometimes don’t think them since I haven’t bought anything from their company in a couple of years.

Oh the problems of modern day America. Meat used to be a food what only rich Americans eat. Ham was eaten on Easter and Christmas and that was a big deal. Producers have managed to find ways to make the meat cheaper. They feed the animals with cheaper products, use preservatives so they can last longer and mass produce it. Now everyone has decided that these practices are the devil, but they still want cheap meat! At the end of the day, any preservative measure that producers take makes the meat cheaper and more available to the masses.

Scientists dislike pesticides and herbicides. Our systems are not able to handle these foreign chemicals. They cause cancer. They’re not good for you. So what did we do? We made GMOs. These GMOs are getting a bad rap because they’re “not natural.” What they actually are additional proteins. We make RoundUp Ready corn and agriculture. These vegetables basically express an additional protein. This protein breaks down RoundUp. RoundUp is the most efficient weed killer that is by far the most environmentally friendly herbicide that we have ever found. It breaks down in the soil and causes the least amount of damage. Bt Toxin is another protein. It can ONLY work within cells and only at high pH. Insect guts have a high pH. The Bt Toxin, when folded correctly binds to receptors in the stomach and make the insects sick. The insects either stop eating or they die.

Why am I telling you all of this? You’re against GMOs. Fine. They’re not natural, they’re man made. But they are SIGNIFICANTLY better for you than pesticides and weedkillers. And chemicals that you can’t pronounce. They’re a scientific solution to chemicals that we should not be ingesting. They’re protein. First and foremost, heat denatures protein. Cooking food denatures both the enzyme that cleaves roundup and the bt toxin. Ever cook an egg? Going from runny to solid is what happens when you denature protein. Same with cooking meat- you’re witnessing a chemical reaction of protein denaturing. Pesticides don’t denature. We have enzymes in our saliva and in our stomach that chew up proteins. Chymotrypsin, trypsin. The high acidity of our stomachs denature and destroy proteins. These GMO proteins are destroyed. Cows stomachs also destroy these proteins. Our stomachs destroy the cows protein that we then consume. Our bodies have no need for a cows version of hemoglobin. Our bodies chop it up and use the spare amino acids to build our own protein. They don’t do anything to our health. They’re cheaper than nonmodified, nonpesticide treated and weedkiller treated vegetables. They’re protein.

GMOs are not exclusively proteins. If you look at rBST, it is a hormone. There are studies that suggests it is a factor in developing breast cancer because the raised levels of IGF-1 (caused by the rBST and IGF-1 is identical in cows and humans) from drinking milk from cows given this GMO hormone. The FDA found that IGF is NOT denatured through pasteurization.

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/recombinant-bovine-growth-hormone

Which brings me to my next point. GMO crops are modified using bacteria and viruses. These are living things, we really have NO idea how they affect us in the long run, there have been no long term studies. Scientists don’t even know exactly how the bacteria and virus fragments recombine when blasting the genetic material into another species. (I highly recommend “Seeds of Deception” by Jeffrey Smith.) We really don’t know if they are denatured through heat or digestion.

You are right about pesticides but we don’t need GMOs either. They are mostly corn and soy, used to feed animals that don’t normally eat corn and soy. They have taken over a vast majority of our farmland, pushed out mixed used land, and created the drought we have today. (Read any of Joel Salatin’s books for an explanation of how a mix of plants and trees builds the soil and holds the water – as well as CO2. He also describes how a mix of animals creates no need for added fertilizers or pesticides.)

You are right about people wanting meat for cheap, but you get what you pay for. It is encouraging to see more people raise their own meat . It used to be common for people to provide some of their own food and it is become common again. I do understand that not everyone can do this (I am from NYC) but then again, ham should be a special meal, as you say. Bones from healthy animals can go a long way toward inexpensive meals as well.

GMOs are among the most sprayed crops! If you dismiss pesticides and herbicides as inedible, you must therefore also dismiss the heavily sprayed GMO crops. Have you not read about the superweeds that have developed a resistance to roundup? (And corn borers becoming bt resistant?) How are they controlled . . . with increased spraying of chemicals we should not be ingesting.

Jenza – people may want cheap meat, but they simply don’t understand at what cost they are demanding this. It’s been shown by many sustainable agricultural experts that sustainable farming without GMOs can be done.

Rodale has an extensive document on this subject:

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/files/GreenRevUP.pdf

And Joel Salatin speaks about this topic regularly (he’s a successful grassfed and sustainable farmer):

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/12/joel-salatin-pioneers-sustainable-agriculture.aspx

Cattle are not meant to consume grains, corn, or soy. But they consume them because it’s cheap and now biotech companies have figured out how to genetically-modify genes to make them “resistant” to herbicides and pesticides. This is not natural, and because that’s what GMOs are designed to do, they can hardly be described as less harmful than the pesticides/herbicides themselves. When bugs eat the pesticide, it causes their internal organs to explode. Imagine what it’s doing to us!

There are many reasons why GMOs aren’t sustainable and can’t feed the world:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/10-Reasons-to-Avoid-GMOs

Did you know the mark of a sustainable food system is that it can regenerate itself? Monsanto has lied repeatedly about its products. It says co-existence is not a problem with non-GMO seeds. Then, the company engages in repeated lawsuits with non-GMO farmers who have neighboring fields to GMO farmers because the seed has blown over into their fields. This makes no sense.

Did you know that Monsanto is has also developed the “Terminator” seed which cannot regenerate at all? Do you know what that means? If that seed gets out and cross-contaminates with other seeds, pretty soon no one will be able to grow their own food AT ALL. And Monsanto will have won because they will own the rights to all food in the world. If you agree with this concept, there is something inherently wrong with you. If you accept that GMOs are “just fine” or “not as bad as pesticides” you clearly have not grasp of what is going on and are not understanding the grave consequences of what is at stake.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/suicide-seeds/

Even without the terminator seed – which Monsanto denies they have developed or ever will develop – use of GMOs is currently helping to wipe out the ecological balance of soil, water, and many other components which comprise a healthy system that is capable of producing nourishing food to feed a large population. Dr. Donald Huber of Purdue University has done extensive research on this subject, and has observed how GMO technology is actually altering the soil bacteria to a condition that is allowing for the growth of pathogenic bacteria. This bacteria is attaching itself to the digestive tracts of human beings and altering our physiology and DNA. Do you understand the consequences of this?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/10/dr-don-huber-interview-part-1.aspx

Raine- I think I understand more about GMOs than you. Basically, the pesticide that you’re referencings is pH sensitive. Bugs have a basic stomach. We have an acidic stomach. The “pesticide” protein is quickly degraded in our stomachs.

Second, Monsato does control a lot of the corn; however, the sterile seeds are actually more in line with your beliefs. They’re not going to “contaminate” other sources and magically make everything sterile. They just don’t have the genetic information to produce viable seeds. A lack of genetic information isn’t a virus. It also means that this lack of genes will prevent cross contamination. If these corn weren’t sterile, then you could a mating between a GMO corn and a non GMO corn. This is what you want to avoid.

Third, how do you think corn is natural? Its not natural. We’ve been breeding it and finding the biggest corn and breeding it to the best tasting corn. Native corn/maize looks like grass and tastes like grass. Bananas aren’t natural. Lawn Grass isn’t natural. Dogs, cows, chickens, again, not “natural.” On top of that, we’re the only animals on the planet who drink milk past the age of infancy. How is this natural? The combination of genes (genotypes) and their respective phenotypes of these animals/food/pets are MAN MADE. You can’t tell me that chickens will survive the wild? Bulldogs can’t even breathe, without an owner they can’t survive the wild. We can breed insect resistant corn. It’ll take much longer and be more expensive, but I’m pretty sure if we screen enough corn mutants that occur “naturally” we can come up with a species and a set of genes that taste bad to insects but good to us. We can then artificially select this corn to breed with the biggest and best tasting corn. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN ADDING A SINGLE GENE?????

Prawda- you’re one of my favorite commenters. You’re right, rBST is a recombinant hormone. Its injected into cows to get them to produce more milk. Also, the golden rice expresses a protein that can create vitamin A from its precursor, so I guess that’s not technically a protein either. I forgot about it because we use it to inject into cows. (the cows themselves aren’t the technical definition of a GMOs). They’ve done studies showing that the contents of the milk of an rBST cow don’t change and that our stomachs break down hormone. If I were to be wary of anything, I think I would be wary of rBST.

Again, you’re also right about how these GMOs are made initially. In order to get the gene in the plant chromosome, you have to either blast it with a DNA gun, use a virus or bacteria. However, once you get the DNA into the chromosome, you have to go through multiple generations of the plant. The researchers can take the seed and plant it away from the virus bacteria, so the second generation won’t be exposed to either of these. The bacteria that they use actually are known to have a symbiotic relationship with the plants. Their effects on the plant are already know and completely natural. The plants also have to have show a single insertion into the chromosome. To get a stable GMO, therefore, takes years of multi-generational studies showing that the gene and protein is stable. Also, we know that it gets denatured in heat- there are very few proteins that don’t and these come from thermophiles or bacteria that live in extreme heat. Since the source of this gene doesn’t, and the researcher have tested it, we know that it gets denatured.

Jenza – well, you certainly make it sound like you know a lot about GMOs, but all the scientific tests in the world don’t answer for all the health issues that are cropping up since the inception of GMOs in 1996. Those events suggest otherwise. Also, please show me the evidence that our digestive tracts degrade this protein in the pesticide. Any study showing a toxic chemical goes through the human digestive tract with no ill-effects is highly suspect. I’d first wonder who funded it, that usually tells you everything you need to know.

In fact, according to Jeffery Smith’s site the Institute for Responsible Technology, “Numerous health problems increased after GMOs were introduced in 1996. The percentage of Americans with three or more chronic illnesses jumped from 7% to 13% in just 9 years; food allergies skyrocketed, and disorders such as autism, reproductive disorders, digestive problems, and others are on the rise. Although there is not sufficient research to confirm that GMOs are a contributing factor, doctors groups such as the AAEM tell us not to wait before we start protecting ourselves, and especially our children who are most at risk.”

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/10-Reasons-to-Avoid-GMOs

Digestive issues such as IBS, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, bowel damage and bowel movement issues such as constipation and diarrhea have been on the rise since then. Follow the money of those funding the studies you are talking about, and you’ll likely find that it comes from powerful entities with a lot of reason to sway studies with outcomes to be just as they want.

These are widely known issues and have been reported on for some years:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5296.cfm

There has been studies done showing that the DNA in these organisms DOES survive the intestinal tract:

http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n2/full/nbt934.html

And as it turns out, 80 percent of human genetic material does come from a virus (this is what Dr. Huber discovered). The virus I was talking about, by the way, is generated in the soil after GMO seeds are planted. If the soil is tainted, everything is lost. Life begins in soil. If that’s not an issue, why are there so many farmers abandoning fallow fields that can no longer produce because of modern, chemical farming? And it does have negative effects as I described. You can read about the extensive work he’s done on this subject. He’s an expert, and has been following this research for many years. If you ignore this and say it’s false, you are ignoring something valid that has dire consequences on everything:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107103621.htm

Here’s another source talking about the way GMOs alter our digestive tracts:

http://www.anh-usa.org/genetically-engineered-food-alters-our-digestive-systems/

My only guess is that if you still don’t believe this, you are working for an entity that has money on keeping GMOs in our food supply or you are just swayed by faulty research that GMOs are not a problem. I’m not sure why.

If cross-contamination is not a problem, why does Monsanto continue to put farmers through litigation and threaten their livelihoods? And this should go without saying, but why are there so many increases in disease and health issues (see above). Seems like an awfully malicious and unethical thing to do to protect their proprietary product. Oh wait, it is. But of course, Monsanto probably is perfectly ethical, right?

I never said corn was natural. Corn is not a grass – it’s a grain, by the way. But it’s certainly true that the corn we have today, even organic corn (which is now cross-contaminated with GMO) is nothing like what it was when immigrants started coming over to this country. But taking a seed and altering it through insertion of foreign DNA and also bacteria and viruses is not natural.

You can say that drinking milk isn’t natural, but people have been doing it for thousands of years since the hunter-gatherer habits moved into agrarian and agricultural status (about 12,000 years ago). Milk may not be absolutely necessary, but raw milk from healthy cows eating grass and out in the sun is one of the best ways to get fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, Omega 3s, CLA, and many minerals. Most of these elements are quite lacking in the modern food supply.

So yes, you can avoid drinking milk, eating cheese, butter, fermented dairy foods, etc. but you won’t find these nutritional components in many of the other foods in our modern food supply (certainly not plants, not in bio-available and digestible form, anyway). Conventional farming has seen to it that the soil has been depleted enough that many nutrients are simply vanishing and not available. If you farm with organic methods and use traditional farming practices that preserve soil integrity instead of polluting it with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, GMOs and other harmful toxins, it can improve and regenerate itself.

Jenza – also, from all the work I do with people, writing, and nutritional coaching for better health through sustainable and traditional foods, I hear reports like this all the time of people who are healing when they take GMOs out of their diets. One of the founders of GMO-Free Idaho whom I know and work with here in Boise is one of these people. She’s only 24 and has had ulcerative colitis for some years, and is getting great results and healing by eating real food and avoiding GMOs. Here’s her healing story on a radio show that’s local in our area. Leslie Stoddard’s is the interview you want to hear:

http://chewonthisidaho.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/healing-stories-leslie-stoddard-and-victoria-everett/

And, here’s an article about it:

http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/dramatic-health-recoveries-reported/

Okay, then why was Starlink corn deadly? The protein may have been denatured, but for some reason it was deadly for some. Yes, this corn was not supposed to have made it into human food but it seems reasonable to say that other varieties of GMOs can be the root cause of escalating rates of chronic allergies to corn and soy.

The real problem I have with GMOs is the ownership issue. Farmers need to buy the seeds each year and can no longer save and try to develop and even bigger and more delicious corn, for example.

It is pitched as altruistic but this so called assistance to (also so called) developing nations is just about a long term financial contract where farmers come back each year to buy more seed. And what will happen if there is a poor crop? Aid will not be paid for by the seed suppliers but by us!

I still remember my grandparents talking (very bitterly) about the forced starvation in the Ukraine under Stalin. In her autobiography (A Mother’s Ordeal), Chi An recalls as a child, being ordered along with all the other schoolchildren, to bang on pots and pans for days on end until the sparrows dropped dead from the sky from exhaustion. (Mao had decided he didn’t like sparrows.) The next crop was almost nonexistant – the insects ravaged them. Mao continued to export the same amount ot rice to keep up the appearance of success in his Chinese modernization campaign, though.

The concentration of power in food is a very real threat. We have fewer companies controlling more food and less division between these companies and the government. The recent trend to patent life is a huge threat to freedom and even survival – control the food and control the people. I would hope my grandkids could go fishing and not have to worry about going to jail because they “stole” a patented fish!! I would hope they could keep chickens and grow tomatoes, too, without wondering when the state would arrive to reappropriate their personal food supplies.

I always bristle at the scientists that are a bit too hubristic, who say, leave it to us, we know what we are doing and you do not. Most pro-GMO scientists are this way. It is too much like a re-education campaign. Not to mention that with nature, no we do NOT know every consequence, and most are probably less obvious than a lack of sparrows to keep the insects in check. I would believe them – maybe – if they were able to admit to less than 100% certainty with the process. I would be more inclined to find them believable if they clearly defined natual selection (among a species) vs. genetic engineering with recombinant cross-species DNA. The latter will never happen spontaneously in nature.

So no links or studies for you today. But maybe you have family from the old world with stories too . . .

Do you know the difference between a chemical and a protein????? A protein can only exist within a cell (such as the cells of corn). Their function depends on the right pH conditions, the right water:salt ratio, a lack of oxygen. The Bt toxin is not a chemical. Its much larger than a chemical. That’s what my point is: this isn’t chemical farming. GMOs aren’t chemicals. They’re better for the soil. Bt Toxin doesn’t even affect the good bugs. They’ve done studies, it doesn’t affect the birds, animals, water supply. Also, our stomachs degrade EVERY protein. They’ve done studies on this particular protein, but the point is our stomachs degrade every single protein.

This link explains Bt in simple terms and links to the research:
http://www.bt.ucsd.edu/bt_history.html

Your point on the increase of diseases being linked to the introduction of GMOs is purely correlative. Its meaningless. Did you know we can correlate the increase in the earths temperature to the decrease in pirates? Does that mean to solve global warming we should bring back pirates? Absolutely not. The increase in the diseases can be linked to an increase in McDonalds, increased intake of sugar, increased cleanliness, etc etc. Hell, even these diseases you mentioned can be correlated to the increase in the earths temperature.

Of course our genome has the DNA that was contributed by a virus. Actually, there has been a huge release in Nature, the Journal of Biology and Chemistry and the Genome journal that has documented that most of the DNA is used for something. Also, these “viral” genes are known as jumping genes and were first discovered in corn. I don’t understand what the point is. The GMOs are targeted specifically to a single bug that invades the area. The protein binds to specific receptors of these specific bugs. It won’t affect the soil.

I’m not paid by anyone. I’m a scientist working at a research university- my pay is actually quite low. I agree with you that science-types like to hide behind their degrees and roll their eyes at nonscientists that are concerned for their health. After ten years of higher education schooling, its frustrating to see blogs like this where the author compares GM food to chemical farming. They’re not the same. I’m sorry about your friend with ulcerative colitis, but it has nothing to do with GM foods. It is more likely to do with improper sugar/processed foods. That’s the thing- I’m against processed foods. I’m against chemical farming. I’m teling you that chemical farming is different from GM farming.

Prawda- Agreed. Monsato controls too much of the food generation. This is going to be a huge problem in the future. While Monsato has very questionable business practices, I don’t think that it changes the argument that GM foods are safe. (I think this argument is a logical fallacy called ad hominem). At the same time, the cost of making and testing the safety of GM corn and potatoes was through the roof. They had to develop new techniques to do it and spent years and years testing them. Then, they have to finance all the litigation that comes with it. In a perfect world, someone would be able to finance this type of research for no profit. They would give away the rights once the research was done. In this world, the only way research like this gets funded is if the people doing the research have a promise of future profit. This is also a major downfall of the pharma companies. I don’t know how to fix this. I’m a scientist, not a politician.

I meant to say a correctly folded functional protein (also known as an enzyme) can only exist in cells. Proteins misfold constantly. Eggs and meats have proteins, but as soon as an animal dies these start to denature/misfold. So the proteins still exist, but they’re not longer functional/folded properly/have the right shape in order to function.

Jenza – yes, I understand perfectly between a chemical and a protein. But what you are failing to acknowledge is that with GMO foods automatically comes pesticides and herbicides – Roundup and other products. Those are chemicals. These are causing health issues in many people. And they are always used with GMOs. Those cannot be separated no matter how much you argue the point. So, it’s actually not just the seeds with the inserted proteins and bacteria themselves that are making people sick, it’s the CHEMICALS in the products

Monsanto sells products Roundup (yes, it’s an herbicide and I know the difference between that and the pesticides they also produce for keeping away pests) to keep their crops from being eaten by pests and taken over by weeds. By the way, nature always finds a way around these chemicals. Weeds are now resistant (and more becoming this way all the time) to the products Monsanto has invented, and now farmers are having to use more herbicides to do the same job that would have required less some years ago (not less herbicides, as Monsanto claims…although I would argue that there is no such thing as a safe amount of any man-made chemical, but I digress).

There are plenty of studies done showing the links between consuming these substances – both the crops themselves and the chemicals sprayed on them, and health issues. To say otherwise is just denying the facts. I’ve already provided ample links and references, so I’m not going to list anymore.

You may not be paid a lot at your job, that’s really beside the point. The money that companies like Monsanto make on their ventures are not going to be shared with many, and certainly not with their worker bees, such as the scientists. The point is that the studies being funded which show favorable outcomes of GMO substances are paid for by the seed companies, their colleagues, and friends. There are many huge corporations helping to fund these studies, among them are companies like Kellogg’s, General Mills, Smithfield, Tyson, and Cargill. Oh, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations. All of these are known supporters of GMOs and commercial farming. So I’m not going to even look at the link you provided because the funding trial will undoubtedly show a tainted funding source. I know because I’ve looked up thousands of these studies to find out who funds them, and guess what? I always find exactly what I expect to find.

I’m afraid that GMOs and chemical farming are becoming one and the same. Why? Because most chemical farming companies now use GMOs in their crops or to feed their animals/birds. Soybeans and corn are two of the most widely produced crops, for all types of foods and also for animal feed. You’d be hard pressed to find a processed food (including commercial meat, eggs, and other animal food) that doesn’t use GMOs in some way. And none of these practices are safe or healthy. So even though you don’t like that I’ve compared chemical farming to GMO farming, they have quite a bit in common. Such as, the basis of their processes uses chemicals and GMO seeds in some capacity – yes, last time I checked, both industries are using heavy amounts of toxic chemicals to get the job done. They aren’t interested in the ecology or preserving the integrity of the soil. The bottom line is the profits, not the health of the consumer or the animals, birds, workers, environment, etc. There is plenty of evidence showing the harms to all of these things from chemical and GMO farming. Oh yes, and of course they both have the putting profit before health motivation as well.

There are many ways to observe outcomes in things going on around us. And yes, there are plenty of studies showing that GMOs harm us and the planet. But to dismiss countless testimonials from people about health issues which are correlating to increases in the use and invention of chemicals in the environment and say it makes no difference because it’s only “anecdotal” is not only bad science, it’s just ignoring basic facts. Just because Cargill didn’t fund a study showing that the use of chemicals or the consumption of GMOs is harming everything doesn’t mean that point is not valid. I wouldn’t expect a company like this to even allow such findings to be discovered. Why? Because it harms their bottom line, profit. Why will you believe a study funded by a big corporation defending the safety of GMOs, but not another study by a third party entity that finds otherwise? This logic doesn’t make sense and it shows where the loyalties are…and for what?

Yes, Monsanto is trying to control the food supply, that’s precisely their goal. If these seeds continue to be used, pretty soon there will be no such thing as heirloom and heritage seeds in the food supply, which farmers have worked for generations to preserve. If GMOs are allowed to continue, one day we won’t be able to regenerate our own food without the permission of seed companies. This is madness. How can you say in one sentence that even though Monsanto has questionable practices it doesn’t make GM foods unsafe? After all I’ve discussed here, it should be obvious what the answer is to that question. You can argue all you want that processed foods are bad while GM farming is good, and that they are not the same. But if you refer to my arguments above about how most chemical/commercial farming uses pesticides/herbicides and GMOs, there’s really no way to refute it.

And, there is no way on earth you will ever convince me nor many people in the sustainable food community – many of which include researchers and authors like myself, nutritionists, doctors, farmers, acupuncturists, Chinese Herbal Medicine practitioners, teachers and educators, and others that these are any better or much different than chemical farming…the lines between those two entities are blurred and fuzzy indeed. This is why I maintain this blog, to break through the B.S. of big agricultural farming methods and science – of which the GM industry is an intrinsic part.

Jenza – Even if what you say were true about the proteins being disintegrated in the human digestive tract – I would still not ever be convinced to consume GMO foods due to the many other issues including the amount of chemicals used to keep weeds/pests away. There has been a mountain of research done which shows the adverse health effects from consuming pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals including endocrine disruption, infertility, brain and nervous system damage. To defend these products is absolutely ludicrous. The GM seeds themselves come with a built in pesticide, so they are even worse because unlike conventional foods, you can’t wash those off. That’s not to say that I’d want to eat conventional foods either, but that aspect of GMOs is definitely worse.

Niether of these GMOs require spraying. The advantage of roundup ready crops is that they can use roundup with is only an herbicide, it only kills weeds. Its the most environmentally friendly and least toxic herbicide to humans on the market.

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/0178fact.pdf

Crops producing Bt Toxin can be and have been made using organic growing methods. They don’t need to be sprayed with anything. So for that argument, you’re wrong. Its greatly reducing the amount of pesticides used. You can use organic farming techniques with crops expressing Bt Toxin and it’ll be cheaper because you lose a lot less crops.

Sustainable farming is a joke. Do you do it? what percent crops do you lose to bugs each year? How many people can you feed? you can’t feed the world on organic. all of the numbers and projections are based on an idealized world where bugs and weeds won’t invade your crop.

Lastly, the fact that you are missing the logical fallacy behind my comment about monsato is not my problem. Ad hominem look it up. Wikipedia it.

Jenza – the pesticide is built into the seed! How many times do I have to say this. There are reams and reams of documented literature about this process and how it causes the internal organs of the insects who try to eat the crop to implode. You can look it up.

I have never, ever heard about organic growing methods use with crops producing the Bt toxin. If that is going on, I’m sorry but that doesn’t classify itself as organic or sustainable, in any sense of the word.

Sustainable farming is not a joke. I don’t do it because I’m not a farmer. But that doesn’t make it invalid anymore than any other process that occurs. That’s a silly argument. 70 percent of the food I buy is local and sustainable because we have a wonderful community here in my area of local, organic and sustainable farmers committed to the same types of principles that Joel Salatin, an expert in sustainable farming, uses and educates about. And I know people all over the U.S. who have similar access to good food…regular people like me who are hard-working at an honest job to pay their bills, and who are on a budget. To say it’s not happening is an absolute lie.

It’s becoming more and more widespread and I provided various links to references about this, including a large document from the Rodale Institute, as well as the Institute of Responsible Technology, which you chose to ignore or discount, or both. It’s a fallacy that you can’t feed the world this way. That’s an untruth propagated by the big agricultural industries whom have convinced the world through pressure, politics, bad science, and clever marketing that their way is the only way that will work. In the Future of Food, there is an important discussion about how the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough food to feed people, but that access to it is a huge issue.

Are you familiar with what the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme have to say about this topic? These are leading authorities on food distribution and their statement doesn’t fall in line with your reasoning at all. “There is more than enough food for everyone on the planet. The FAO neatly summarizes the problem of starvation, saying that “the world currently produces enough food for everybody, but many people do not have access to it.” Food is a lot like money: just because some people have none doesn’t mean that there isn’t enough of it–it’s just spread unevenly.”

http://overpopulationisamyth.com/food-theres-lots-it

There are various reasons for starving populations provided – war, poverty, and not enough access to food. But as it states, “overpopulation isn’t on the list”.

Although there is no definition given in the film on what constitutes “modern farming techniques”, I know for a fact that a lot of land that has been otherwise dedicated and cleared for chemical farming could be reapportioned and used for sustainable farming. Anna Lappe talks about this in her book Diet for a Hot Planet and shows how grass-fed meat farming is not only good for the planet, but works in tandem with the environment and also does not contribute to greenhouse gas increase. There are many other books and sources written on the subject which talk about existing examples of this type of farming and how it yields more than conventional or GM, and how it is helping to rebuild the soil from years of damage by commercial farming.

There is also an enormous amount of waste of food going on, so much that it would blow your mind. Read American Wasteland by Jonathan Bloom for more information on this greatly ignored topic. It’s a well-written and researched account of all the billions and billions of pounds of food that is wasted and discarded each year.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Wasteland-America-Throws-Nearly/dp/0738213640

I am done, and not arguing about this anymore.

No, proteins do not require a cell medium to maintain structure. Many proteins and enzymes exist extracellulary, and maintain quaternary, and even tertiary structure when temperatures are kept under about 37C–though not all. Casein is perhaps one of the most notable, as it maintains its structure even after being exposed to extreme temperatures (pasteurization?). It is used as a binder in glues, and even in “milk paints.” Pepsin is found extracellularly, and can survive intact in a very acidic pH. Please do not spread misinformation about biochemistry.

Thousands if not millions of people buying Coleman Natural Foods packaged as Whole Foods,Trader Joes,Haufbraus and many others are all poison!..To increase self life they fill there meats with preservatives at 2 times the law allows.This increases self life,decreases bloating so they look pretty and pink on the store shelves and in the deli.Meat that spoils on trailers waiting to be unloaded or not refrigerated properly sometimes in 70 degree coolers for 3 days will be treated with chlorine washing and mixed with fresh product and pour in the preservatives.These preservatives are proven to cause cancer.So people that have and continue to buy these products will become sick one day and say well it may be hereditary or from chemicals at my job.No one could ever know they are sick and possibly death is caused by that high priced organic food sold by Coleman Natural Foods and the stores they supply with there meats.I have been there when managers would instruct employees”Add More Mix” meaning add more preservatives.Q.A is supposed to control amounts added to there products but do not.There are not any audits on how many pounds where ran and how much “MIX” was used.I have also been there when higher ranking managers would tell supervisors and superintendents “You are going to kill somebody putting too much mix”..Mix sounds safe doesn’t it?? When product was bloating in there packages in stores after 13 days the answer was we have to get 23 days self life.Add 5 more pounds of mix per batch recipe.All those pink meats are sealed with C02 gas and Nitrogen for chicken and Nitrogen for pork.It keeps the color and bacteria wont grow in these gases but the bacteria is there and starts growing when packages are opened.Wash and cook well but the bacteria is already inside the meats.Sausages are the most dangerous besides there MDM.MDM is all the left over meat on the bones that get separated from the bones into a brown goo.Now these are ran in 5 thousand pound baths that have 50 pounds or even 150 pounds of MIX added depending on the age of the product.Ground Breast people love Ground breast!!It is separated by maching the meat off of deboned breast bones.That product is ran in hot room temperatures and left sitting for 30 minutes to hours in there machines.USDA requires if meat sets for 15 minutes all machines have to be washed and sanitized.Never happens.I feel bad for people that buy these products not knowing they are risking cancer and food poising.Whole Foods and others should know these things by now with all the bloating issues and food poisoning complaints.There are so many other things,I could write a book.This is just a tip to let you know the truth.Other company’s produce high quality meats that are safe and are really organic.Coleman does what it can to save money by skipping on refrigeration,sanitation,fresh product,facility safety,cooler alarms and temperature tracking and not caring to lie knowing the public safety is at risk.These products are from there Georgia facility’s shipping all over the US.Just because you don’t see a Coleman sticker doesn’t mean it is not.The lines run the same products and only change over the stickers.Dont be fooled by the Inspected By USDA.The USDA inspectors are only in those plants maybe 40 minutes at start up at mid day and maybe at the end of the shift.They only look at QA paperwork check lists never at the meats.In there coolers and freezers the organic meats and bloody box’s of thigh meat or tubs of bones are all stored together that includes all the ingredients too.Cheeses,Bazil,peppers,beer,cranberries everything is cross contaminated.To save money you always make only 5 to 7 pounds more batch than you need so if you loose meat on the floor or its contaminated you will have enough TO FINISH THE ORDER.So sometimes if they need a extra pound or five guess what add more “MIX”I know all the ones that run these plants this way and have been there when they ordered add more “MIX”I will stop now.I don’t even want to go into the allergen free products.It surprises me how all the food safety issues are no where for consumers to be informed or there customers continue to buy from them.Just because the growers follow all the rules doesn’t mean its not changed when it leaves the farms to be processed.I know the organic,antibiotic,steroid free chicken,pork and cattle are safe.Those growers believe and really care about what they are doing.Maybe Pardue will stop the poisoning since they have bought Coleman Foods.I say buy Field ale….

Great article. What I got from your article is that eating Applegate bacon is no better than eating bacon regular bacon, because they both are going to have nitrites, just the regular bacon you know how much nitrite will be added and the applegate you can’t really tell because they use celery powder?

Kristen and Max – bacon from a local, sustainable farmer is the best kind to buy – one that doesn’t use any nitrates whether they be “natural” with celery juice powder or synthetic nitrates. Typically it should be cured with salt and some type of safe sweetener such as non-sugar beet sugar or honey, also some processors use molasses or maple sugar, or some other. These are not easy to find. You have to ask your farmer. If it were me, I’d avoid the commercial bacon as well, because many studies show an increased risk of cancer from consuming these meats. Not just from the synthetic nitrates, but because of how the pigs are raised – on feedlots, given hormones, antibiotics, and fed GM feed.

There is also a good bacon without nitrates sold by U.S. Wellness Meats. Their’s uses no sugar:

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=1186

more deception is meat industry allowing organic to include live viruses being sprayed on the meats without even being labeled, and they don’t have to tell you about it. i am looking for meats made from outside the US now to avoid this problem. very hard to find something.

The article was informative and though-provoking, thank you. One thing I will mention, and this is my own opinion, offering Weston Price and Mercola as references does not do a lot to bolster a position and, in fact, often does more to “unbolster” it. That said, facts are facts regardless of the source and I thank you for giving me some things to think about.

Hello David – May I ask what the problem is with Weston A. Price Foundation or Dr. Mercola?

Thank you Raine for all this wonderful information. I am so new to all of this and would like more information. I am one of those very uninformed people. I am trying to get back to a better way of eating. I have noticed that I just don’t feel good most of the time. Anyway, I would really like to talk to you more.

Hi Lydia – I have a feeling you won’t be uninformed for long, reading and researching is the best way to become otherwise. Thanks for your comments and I hope you can discover some ways to improve your health here! Many thanks! 🙂

Hi, thank you so much. I have been researching food lately and am so confused on what I can do to feed my family better. I have been buying natural meat and poultry and some organic produce for years and just bought some applegate chicken nuggets for my son. After my current research I looked at the details on the packaging and wanted to see if the vegetarian grain feed for the chickens contains gmo or was organic. I searched desperately for the word organic on the package but didnt see it so I turned to the internet. Thanks for the article confirming that the feed has gmo. I live in a big city. Where can I possibly get good meats and poultry for my family that isnt fed gmo grain? Or are we on our way to vegetarians?

Hi, thank you so much. I have been researching food lately and am so confused on what I can do to feed my family better. I have been buying natural meat and poultry and some organic produce for years and just bought some applegate chicken nuggets for my son. After my current research I looked at the details on the packaging and wanted to see if the vegetarian grain feed for the chickens contains gmo or was organic. I searched desperately for the word organic on the package but didnt see it so I turned to the internet. Thanks for the article confirming that the feed has gmo. I live in a big city. Where can I possibly get good meats and poultry for my family that isnt fed gmo grain? Or are we on our way to vegetarians?

Great Article Raine! I liked your rebuttal against the 2 defending GMO’s. Sad about Applegate farms but in depth research like this is a great tool when buying. I tried doing research on stop n shops “natures promise but had mixed reviews. Any idea about it? Ty
Antonio

Wow…very passionate discussion…just consume nothing but raw milk and you won’t have to look at any labels.. Seriously I’ve been drinking raw milk since 1975 and at 63 I’m in perfect shape..it’s the ultimate probiotic so if you must eat bacon, which i do, drink raw milk… or consume only raw milk and nothing else, as has been documented, and live a long healthy life..

Gee – it would be nice if you would both research and make sense. Applegate is a reputable company. Very unlikely that they would risk their Organic certification with mislabeling. Organic certification requires oversight by an outside agency, depending upon the source of the certification.

Applegate Roast Beef is ‘organic’ and ‘grass fed’. this means that to maintain that label the animals are NOT fed any GMO products, and must be 95% grass fed up to the time of slaughtering.

This puts them square in the right corner of meat controversy – this is healthy meat. Applegate also has ‘Natural’ products – often right along side their ‘Organic’ products (for example, they have both Organic and Natural ham).

As far as available pre-cooked meats go, they are one of the best bets around. Get a grip.

No matter what any animal is fed they are slaughtered,processed,packaged,stored and transported.I for one can tell you this.U.S.D.A Inspector’s only do 10 to 14 walk trough’s a day at 30 minutes a time in 24 hour’s.All meat processing plant’s can only control bacteria growth and self life by using spray bar’s keeping the meat soaked in 1 part per million Industrial Bleach and Hydrogen Peroxide.A half pound block of this Industrial Bleach does pre treat a million gallons of water.Another great trick which is against the law is to add a Hydrogen Peroxide drip to there wastewater when releasing to kill ammonia and other thing’s so it is undetectable to City and State Waste water inspectors when dirty water is released to City Water Treatment Plants it is treated and turned loose into creek’s,River’s and Lakes.Meat that is blended to add ingredient’s,spices,wine,beer,ect has a lid that closes to flood the meat with CO2 to take all Oxygen from the meat.No Oxygen no Bacteria growth!Great!!!Here is the wonderful self trick to get 21 to 23 day’s of self life before the packages actually expand and turn’s into a balloon.Uneducated employee’s do as they are taught.Before blending say 2,000 lb’s of product it gets 40 to 80 pound’s of preservatives dumped in along with out of date meat before the blender lid is closed and flooded with CO2.This prevents spoilage,discoloration,bad smell’s,adds weight.Next is to use this toxic meat to make sausage,nugget’s,patties,tender’s,meat balls and so on.All packaged products be it plastic bag’s or see through tray’s have 20/80 co2/nitrogen mix for chicken and 20/80 nitrogen/co2 mix for pork and beef to keep the meat looking very fresh.Then stored in freezer’s that are above 54 degree’s “Hey these company’s can’t waste money on high dollar compressor’s,evaporator coil’s,condenser coil’s,a hourly human checking temp’s nor alarm devices”for 2 day’s to 3 then 1 to 2 day’s in transport.I have seen packaged products stored in the company’s freezer from Friday until Monday with a Freezer temp of 65 to 73 degree’s.The FDA is suppose to monitor,regulate and view log’s of any preservatives purchased,used and all preservatives are to be in a secured locked stainless cabinet which is supposed to be in the Quality Assurance Lab with a log of Supervisor’s,FDA,USDA and Managers that have a key to access the preservatives.The truth is there is no log,no cabinet,no FDA checking of weights and balance,no stainless locked cabinet under strict control.”A Matter of fact i have never seen anyone from the FDA in all my years.This (DEADLY,PROVEN CANCER,PROVEN TUMOR CAUSING,PROVEN KILLER INGREDIENT”Preservative or Batch as Company’s love to call it comes from a pine tree’s bark”IT IS STORED FOR ANYONE TO HAVE EASY ACCESS TOO SO NO ONE HAS TO BE BOTHERED LOGGING AND UNLOCKING ANYTHING) The said part is so many people pay extra money for Organic meat’s from Organic grocery stores when in truth you are buying the exact product that all the grocery stores sell.The difference is it is put in a different bag or tray with different stickers on the tray and the bags have a different name on them.The hidden truth is people are feeding there families and themselves meat today that will more than likely cause many health issues years or decades later never knowing the health issues came from whole meat products or stamped out nuggets,tender’s,patties,boneless wing’s and so on years ago.Our School system’s serve these meat’s constantly since most of these company’s peak times are at the beginning of the school year then production starts decreasing around April toward summer break.I must at this add this other countries including South America will not accept America’s food it is called toxic.Company’s that do not do this to there “MDM” or any meat products are Fieldale Farm’s,Tyson,Perdue Farms,Mar-Jac,Pilgrim’s Pride,Wayne Farms,J&G Poultry Seafood,Victory Food’s and Lanier Food’s.Keep in mind meat packing plant’s which only package finished product does not have a true way of knowing what the foods being packaged may have additives,stored hot,refrozen they only package the products.To be completely safe invest with a co op of friends to feed food grown on the co op farm,slaughter your own Beef,Chicken,Pork even Fish.Package your harvested meat by wrapping in brown paper meat wrap with strips of tape holding your wrapped packages of safe meat together just like not long ago WHAT?Like 30 or so year’s ago.Lastly meat company’s waste nothing.Ligament’s and fat are sold to process into women’s lipstick and other cosmetic’s,Every drop of Blood is sold for $8 to $10 bucks a gallon to be dried,ground up and added back into the next round of animals food”Blood is Excellent protein””Feather’s,beak’s,feet and intestines are also feed back to chickens.(ATTENTION:Fact if a Pig we call Hog’s eat non organic chicken by products blood ect added to there food the Hog’s heart will actually bust.Just food for thought!

You may be attempting to make some valid points, however, if you want the message to be taken seriously, you need to clean up the grammar. Otherwise, it’s appears to be another rant by an uneducated person. “There” is used in places where “their” should be, “where” is used where “were” should be. Some of the more complex words are spelled correctly, you may have used a spell check for that. Additionally, the punctuation is off, no commas or proper sentence breaks, improper use of apostrophes.

And I also could use a proofread, I also made a typo I didn’t catch. It should read “it appears to be another rant” not “it’s appears to be another rant”. Could be another lesson for “haste makes waste”.

I have Frontal Lobe damage,seizures totally disabled.I will never be my once high ranking Management Start.Personally i am proud that i have reached this point of writing as poorly as it is.Two years of being a brick in the wall to this point 4 years later writing trying to gain some self worth back for myself.I am doing ok.I walk as a drunk man from spinal damage so kick me for that.I can understand negative comments to help improve positive out comes.Your a clear cut “Spelled wrong”Narcissist”….

So after reading all this..is there any company that you would recomend we buy our meats from? I thought buying organic neat from costco was doing a good job.

I have a 4 year old and a new baby on the way so eating as clean as we can afford is very important to me. I don’t know how to even start connecting with farmers for meat as you recomended in your article. Idk that we even have that option where I live. So I’mking for a good honest reputable company to buy meats from a grocery store

So, Are you saying Applegate is preaching falsehoods. How would you rate there company, food quality, from how the animals are raised to when there packaged and reach the shelves. ?

This is a somewhat uninformed article. First, not all sodium nitrate is synthetic, Large deposits of natural sodium nitrate exist in Chile and other parts of the world. Second, why are you whining about nitrates at all? Virtually any food product is going to have nitrates in them. Nitrates are an important part of plant and animal metabolism, so virtually NO FOOD PRODUCT IS NITRATE FREE. What on earth is wrong with nitrates, especially natural sources rich in them? For most people, nitrates are actually healthful to consume, though they can cause migraine headaches in some people. It would made sense if this article was targeted at folks who suffer from this affliction, but the word “migraine” is nowhere to be found.

I fully expect next you’ll be warning people about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide -_-

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