America's food supply harbors a disturbing secret – systematic fraud that compromises our health while keeping manufacturers' profits high. Exploring the revelations from Dr. Robert Lustig's book "Metabolical," this eye-opening episode exposes six major types of food fraud affecting consumers daily: dilution/adulteration, substitution, intentional contamination, country of origin fraud, organic fraud, and counterfeiting.
The statistics are alarming. Up to 80% of "Italian virgin" olive oil is neither Italian nor virgin. One in five fish sold undergoes substitution, with expensive varieties like sea bass and snapper mislabeled over 40% of the time. Even "organic" products are frequently fraudulent, as the substantial markup (25-65%) creates powerful incentives for deception. Most shocking of all, American food contains approximately 10,000 chemicals compared to a mere 400 in European countries – perhaps explaining why many Americans feel healthier and lose weight while traveling abroad despite similar eating patterns.
The FDA's "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) system allows food companies to self-certify ingredient safety, resulting in dangerous substances banned elsewhere remaining in our food supply. Ingredients like titanium dioxide (linked to DNA damage), potassium bromate (a suspected carcinogen), and artificial food dyes (associated with behavioral issues in children) lurk in American foods while requiring warning labels or outright bans in Europe.
Fortunately, there are practical ways to protect yourself: download the Yuka app to scan barcodes and identify harmful ingredients; shop primarily at local farmers markets; stick to fresh, unprocessed foods; grow some of your own produce; learn to read food labels properly; and follow Jack LaLanne's timeless advice: "If man made it, don't eat it."
Ready to take control of your health through smarter food choices? Visit our website or email us at crossroadspodcast2023@gmail.com to share your thoughts and questions about navigating America's food landscape.
Good morning, Cross Roads. Today, Mady and I will be discussing the importance of how you shop affects your health. First, I want to say a little disclaimer. Mady and I are not doctors or nurses. We do not diagnose or treat patients. Anything we share on this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. We advise listeners to consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if they seek medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Mady, let's start off with letting our listening audience in on a very concerning problem. We have, right here in America, food fraud, so why don't you tell us what that is?
Mady Killfoil:
Of course, according to Dr Robert H Lustig's book Metabolical. When asked to comment on food fraud, an executive of a well-known food manufacturer said we don't want our company's name on the words food and the words food fraud in the same sentence. Right, don't ask, don't tell. This is the food industry's dirty little secret and they will do anything to keep it that way because all food companies trade on trust. This also means there is no good data on food fraud. We only hear about it when someone gets caught.
Mady Killfoil:
Dr Lustig points out in his book things like is farm-raised salmon really pink or is it the food dye astaxanthin? Is the fish farmed in sewage water? Wow, is the milk powder in a chocolate bar mixed with detergent or melamine? Is olive oil really cooking oil dyed green or even recycled and cleaned motor oil? Is that veal cutlet really veal or that lamb really lamb? We are constantly being cheated without even knowing it. Food fraud is defined as misrepresentation as to the state of the food. Today, we are going to discuss six of them and give you some steps to take in order to make better decisions on what food you buy and where. The first is dilution, slash, adulteration and substitution. I will let you talk about those two, stephen, okay.
Steven Killfoil:
Well, dilution slash. Adulteration means something that has been added to the food to disguise or extend it. Milk is a common vehicle. In 2019, in India, milk was determined to have lower fat levels than advertised because the cows are inadequately fed. Another dilution is olive oil. It is estimated that up to 80% of Italian virgin olive oil is neither Italian nor virgin. Wow Substitution, this one will really make you angry.
Steven Killfoil:
It's common for restaurants or food stands to substitute something of lesser value in an attempt to reap a higher profit. Vendors in New York City got caught selling beef eros or goat eros, advertised as lamb. This occurs more frequently when the meat is shredded and mixed together. Another common substitution occurs in fish sales, where studies demonstrated that 21% of the fish underwent substitution and that one of every three establishments visited sold substituted seafood. Fish substitution is more likely to occur in restaurants, at about 26 percent, than in grocery stores, at 12 percent.
Steven Killfoil:
A common substitution occurs when tilapia containing red dye, which costs about three dollars and 51 cents per pound, is swapped out and claimed to be snapper, which costs about $15 per pound. Of the species tested, sea bass and snapper had the highest rates of mislabeling, at 55% and 42% respectively. Much of the substituted seafood is labeled as quote unquote local favorite, while the truth is it may have been flown from halfway around the world. Maddie springs us to the next point. Why don't you tell them about the next two in the book intentional contamination or concealment and country of origin?
Mady Killfoil:
Yes, In chapter 22, Food Fraud, Dr Lustig describes international contamination concealment by discussing a case that occurred in 2008, where melamine was found in infant formula and other dairy products In China. The milk was being diluted by dairy producers so more of it could be sold. The dilution decreased the amount of protein in milk, so the dairy producer replaced the natural mild protein with melamine, a nitrogen-rich compound used to make kitchen countertops.
Steven Killfoil:
Rich compound used to make kitchen countertops. What you mean, we're eating kitchen countertops.
Mady Killfoil:
Yeah, looks like it. When ingested, melamine causes kidney stones and kidney failure. The melamine meal killed six infants and sickened over 300,000 people in China, but dairy products laced with melamine were exported around the world and made it to our shores. Luckily, no one in the US died. Another example is Parmesan cheese. In 2012, cellulose, a byproduct of wood digestion, was added to several brands. In fact, one brand didn't even have cheese in the product at all. We do not buy anything food-wise from any of the Asia countries. Period, which brings me to the next one country of origin. Many food items are prized because they come from unique places, but what if that place isn't so unique? For instance, beer-battered pollock might come fresh from the waters of Alaska, or it might come frozen from a basin in China. More likely, the reason for this kind of fraud is to avoid paying duty on imported goods such as alcohol. Stephen, you take the last two organic and counterfeiting.
Steven Killfoil:
Yeah, who likes to pay tax on alcohol, right, yeah, okay. Well, just because the wrapping on the package says, quote unquote, organic doesn't make it. So you might think buying organic would save you from food fraud. You would be wrong. The markup on organic is enormous, anywhere from 25% for avocados to 65% for milk. Furthermore, there's a clear economic impetus to mark individual items as organic, as the only way to be caught is through laboratory analysis.
Steven Killfoil:
Through laboratory analysis, one fraudster netted $142 million for faking organic on the label and then spent his ill-gotten gains in Las Vegas casinos and sexual escapades. He eventually committed suicide rather than go to jail. Well good, he eliminated the possibility of him doing it again. Thank God he won't be missed. Then you have counterfeiting. Perhaps the most brazen of all food fraud occurs in the luxury space. Finding out that some high rollers are were duped by the counterfeiting of rare wines and scotches may give you a moment of schildenfrode satisfaction, but this is a very alarming issue. Think about it. If they can do that with something under that much scrutiny, imagine what they can do to you and me. Honey fraud is another very alarming trend that has been going on for a long time now, maddie. Tell the folks out there who think they're buying local honey what they're actually buying if they purchase it from a local store.
Mady Killfoil:
American honey producers are sitting on millions of gallons of honey that they can't sell, because imported honey is cheaper than American honey because it's largely adulterated. If American farmers and food producers can't compete on price, then their businesses fail. The people who buy honey from around the world and put it in bottles are called packers. Most packers blend foreign honey with domestic, but the foreign honey, especially that coming out of Asia, is adulterated. So perfectly good domestic honey is cut with several different kinds of sugar to dilute the product, many of which are not detectable by testing. Others are cleansing honey in such a way as to remove its nutritional components.
Mady Killfoil:
Food fraud is really negatively impacting us economically and environmentally. We just don't know about it because of the forces at play to cover it up. So what can we do about it? First, robert Kennedy Jr is shaking up that part of the world, but that is not enough. What can we do about it personally? Well, first, regarding honey, only purchase your honey from local farmers. We are fortunate to have a bee farm just outside of Crossroads, in Aubrey or Providence Village. We must educate ourselves about making the right decisions about your food when you are in the store. Download the app YUKA Y-U-K-A and scan those barcodes to find out if there are any undesirable chemicals in your food.
Mady Killfoil:
Some of you may remember Jack LaLanne, who used to preach if man made it, don't eat it. When in the store, stick to the outside aisles and buy only fresh produce and meats. Everything that has a label was processed. Stay away from it. Look closely at the meat. If you see a lot of marbling, don't buy it. Look closely at the meat. If you see a lot of marbling, don't buy it. Chances are, if it is full of it's full of growth hormones and other chemicals, not to mention was probably fed with GMO corn. Dr Lustig says that it had metabolic syndrome disease. So you are eating it and you are becoming sick, even if you don't have it. Here is a recording of Robert Kennedy Jr and what steps his organization is going to take to ensure we have a better choice with our food moving forward and in the future.
Steven Killfoil:
Okay, before we play this recording, let's reiterate back on this marbling In the book when you read it, maddie, what more did the doctor say about this meat? What should they look for in the market when they're shopping?
Mady Killfoil:
As lean as possible. I know that the Americans have this idea of oh, if it's marbled, it has fat and it will taste better. He has two pictures. One represents beef meat that is lean, from Argentina and that this is how it should look like, and the other one is from here, from the United States, and he's very marbled and he said that cow had metabolic syndrome, which means that it had a slow metabolism, insulin resistance, all kinds of things that are not good for the cow and for the body, your body. So if you eat that, you are ingesting it and you can become sick.
Steven Killfoil:
Wow, so keep that in mind. Okay, now, from the Department of Health and Human Services, I'm going to play the recording of Robert Kennedy. Here it goes.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
Hi, I'm Robert F Kennedy Jr. I'm the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services. In the final months of the election, president Trump repeatedly called for removing toxins from our food supply. He added his voice to the millions of maha moms who were touting the Make America Healthy Again agenda. The first step is radical transparency, because right now, not even the US government knows what's in our food.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
In 1958, the government created a designation called Generally Recognized as Safe or GRAS, so that we can make common ingredients like salt and baking soda exempt from testing. But today it isn't just salt and baking soda. Food companies and cooperative regulators have enlarged the GRAS exemption so that these companies can decide for themselves whether a substance is generally recognized as safe. No FDA approval is needed. European nations, on the other hand, require that a chemical be proven safe before it becomes a food ingredient. In our country, the grass standard means that every chemical is presumed safe until proven dangerous, and that proof might not happen until millions of Americans are sick with chronic disease. This mass experiment on the American population with grass has, in short, been a catastrophe. We now have around 10,000 chemicals in our food, while Europe has only 400. For example, titanium dioxide, potentially linked to DNA damage and cancer, is banned in the EU. But it's in our children's food Potassium bromate, a suspected carcinogen banned in Europe and Japan. And you guessed it? It's in our children's bread. Food dyes such as red dye 40 and yellow 5 and 6 come with warning labels. In Europe they're linked to behavioral issues in children, but in the US they're generally recognized as safe.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
I can't really blame the food companies. They're just doing what we've allowed them to get away with in a system that's taken on a life of its own. We all agree now that it's time to change the system, and that's exactly what we're going to do. I am today directing the FDA commissioner to start the process of changing the rules to eliminate the self-affirming grass pathway for new ingredients. I'm also directing the FDA and NIH to ramp up post-market assessments of grass chemicals currently in our food so that we can rapidly identify the compounds that are making Americans so sick and so that American consumers and regulators can make informed decisions. This issue isn't going away. Moms aren't going to return to wanting chemicals in our food that are banned in other developed countries. Even industry knows that we have to change. So I promise you I'm going to work with all parties the companies, the moms, the scientists, the consumer, advocates to make American food the healthiest in the world, the way that it was when I was a child.
Steven Killfoil:
That is both disturbing and reassuring at the same time. My parents were the lucky ones in that their generation wasn't as exposed to these harsh, cancer-causing, health-debilitating chemicals in the food supply chain. They had some exposure in their later years because the market was now saturated with harmful chemicals. 10,000 versus only 400 in Europe that number is staggering, incredible and explains a lot. When Maddie and I go to Europe, we eat like kings and we lose weight. When we get back we're having to fight the weight off with a stick. Why is that? We don't eat any different over there, other than only thing I can think of is the food over there doesn't have these harsh chemicals and our bodies love it.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
And they have the older nutrients, minerals and vitamins that our body needs, because we feel satiated after eating breakfast until lunch, and then from lunch to dinner, and we don't even need to snack on something.
Steven Killfoil:
That's right. Well, remember these three things. One the more ingredients, the more risk. For example, salted peanuts, they just have three ingredients. Okay, oreo cookies everybody loves Oreo cookies. They have 11, and most of which you can't pronounce. So guess what? I would avoid Oreo cookies from now on if I were you.
Steven Killfoil:
Avoid highly processed food, just like Jack LaDain said Remember if man made it, don't eat it. Number two made it don't eat it. Number two buying organic may decrease your risk for cancer, but it also increases the risk of fraud, because fraudsters focus on organic due to the higher profit margin. So we're going to give you a little education on how to look for the proper things on that. Maddie's going to talk about that in a little bit. And number three buy from the supplier directly the farmer or the farmer's market.
Steven Killfoil:
All summer long we have Dunn Farming, come out to the park in Crossroads and they have some amazing produce. Maddie and I look forward to them every single year. Plus, we have our own little garden and our herbs in the window and, folks, if you go out and you buy something from them, you could take the seeds from those things and plant them in your little garden and those will be healthy foods because they're coming straight from the farmer, cutting out that middleman Fewer. Middlemen mean fewer entities jacking up the price and people to hide behind, as well as more direct and face-to-face responsibility to the consumer. And you're embracing and helping the farmer, dunn Farman, have a job. Let's just put it straight. I mean support your local farmers. They're going to give you good food, definitely. Okay, well, maddie, we're going to tell them a little bit about this food labeling. So I want you to talk about this egg code and how to crack it.
Mady Killfoil:
Yeah, before that, I just remember something that.
Mady Killfoil:
Dr Robert Lustig says in his metabolical book, in many places the way to stay healthy is eat real food, and he says fruits and vegetables and legumes. They don't have a label, they don't have a nutritional factors label. So look for those, eat those. Stay away from processed foods. Raw, good meats, like Stephen said, from local farmers, will you know, with no growth hormones, no antibiotics, will also help you stay healthy and they have a better taste. I noticed that the moment we switched from the unrealistic pink meat from the store that's cheaper but it's bad for you to the more reddish one that we are paying more right now but it's healthier. I noticed the taste and I told Stephen. I said wow, this is unbelievable, I can actually taste the meat and it's taking me back back home to Romania when I was actually tasting the real food of that meat. So let's talk about correct the egg label code. Egg cartons tell you a lot more than brown or white these days, but some of the claims are just marketing hype. Here are what the egg labels really mean.
Mady Killfoil:
Number one pasture raised and certified humane. Pasture raised is one of the best labels for chicken welfare when it appears with the certified humane seal or the American humane certified label, which has similar standards for pasture. Raised Chicken must have access to a pasture with space to perform natural behaviors such as pecking for seeds and bugs. Organic this seal means eggs were laid by hands, fed grains, growth without synthetic pesticides and not given antibiotics. The birds cannot be raised in cages and must have outdoors access. Number three free-range and American humane certified means the birds aren't kept in cages and have outdoor access, but they may still live in crowded conditions and the outdoor area can be tiny. Number four natural outdoor area can be tiny. Number four natural.
Mady Killfoil:
People often mistake natural for organic, but the two terms are very different. By definition, an egg is a natural food product, so slapping natural on it has no clearly defined additional meaning. Farm fresh All eggs came from farms, even if the farm is a big building where chicken are packed into cages. So this labeling claim has no value. The term fresh generally means the product hasn't been frozen, but eggs in the shell should never be frozen. No hormones by law, chickens that produce eggs and those that are sold for meat can't be given hormones. So eggs with this claim on the package label are no different from eggs sold without it. So learn to read your labels.
Steven Killfoil:
Absolutely. Label reading has become sort of a mantra for Madalena and I, and it is something that we will always be sharing with you as we learn new means and ways of doing it to help you better, make better, healthy choices when you're in the grocery store, when, when you don't have access to a farmer's market. But we encourage you all out there listening, if you're all in this area, definitely peruse the local farmer's markets. There are several of them in our area, up and down on our corridor. Pilot point has an amazing woman who brings out some awesome tomatoes we've bought from her. Uh, krugerville has, uh a late ladies that they sell those little, uh tiny herbs. What are they called? Micro greens? Micro greens go grab some micro greens from those ladies. Amazing crossroads we have done farming denton. They have a natural farmer's market, so we have access to these throughout the year, primarily in the summertime, so make sure that you utilize those when they are around.
Steven Killfoil:
Um, it's very important your health, like I said, you're responsible for it, you know. So everything that we talked about today was very educational and very enlightening and we hope you found some value in it. Don't forget to download that Yucca app on your phone. App on your phone. Educate yourselves. Only you can keep your good health. You are totally responsible for your good health, wouldn't you agree, maddie?
Mady Killfoil:
Yes, I totally agree. Everybody has a choice, and now you all out there have one.
Steven Killfoil:
Absolutely, absolutely okay for local events and meetings coming up. Make sure to check out the town calendar on wwwcrossroadstx. gov Town Council will be having their meeting on Monday, March the 17th, at 6 pm. And let's not forget those ladies the Boss Ladies in our area with their market on the 30th. You don't want to miss that. They have 35 plus vendors out there with some amazing merchandise. A lot of healthy good stuff is out there too. Check it out, don't want to miss that. That would be on March 30th, I believe, from 9 am to 2 pm, so don't miss that.
Steven Killfoil:
We love hearing from you too, so reach out to us on our website, https//crossroadspodcastbuzzsprout. com. On each episode. There is a link in the description at the top. Just click on For Questions or Comments. Send Us a Text Message from your phone, so you'll have to log into the website on your phone to do this. We want to hear from you. We love hearing from you. Or if you're just old school and like to drop me an email, that is fine too. You can reach out to me at crossroadspodcast2023@gmail. com. If you like what you heard today. Drop us a text on the episode. Stay tuned in and until next week we'll see you at the top. Goodbye, bye-bye.
