What We Eat
This will be the first enty in a series to put a preverbial microscope on the processed foods we eat. The thought came to me about a year ago as I munched on a candybar and was reading the ingrediants list and I thought to myself.. "What the heck is this stuff?"
So to begin I think we need to talk about the rating system we use in regards to food. Most common reference I think we all know are the food coloring numbers we see on so much of our processed foods like Red #7, Yellow #5 (Which btw does NOT make you steril), and Green #8.
Almost all food products, organic or processed, are rated by the Codex Alimentarius, Latin for "Food Code"/"Food Book". Basicly defined as "a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety under the aegis of consumer protection".
The Codex is regulated and overseen by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The codex is an internationaly published text and can be found in almost every major country in the world. The text is published in 5 languages; Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish. The Commission's most recent session was in July of 2005 at which they determined the regulation of Vitamins and Minerals as used in Suppliments. The end result was a published text entitled "Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements". The text has caused many issues in a number of countries because they consider Suppliments as therapeutic goods or pharmaceuticals, not as food.
The commission is comprised mostly of member from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Nutrient Risk Assessment Project.
As with all major comissions that regulate what we can/cant/will use it is sometimes seen as puppet organization for drug companies. Speculation as to rulings such as the use of Aspartame as a sweetner even though its been known to cause cancer in some cases has lead to a rise in the questioning of the comissions validity.
The Codex is meant to regulate 7 major parts of processed foods:
Food labeling
Food additives
Contaminants
Pesticide
Risk assessment
Food hygiene
Methods of analysis and sampling
More specificly it watches and regulates:
* Meat products (fresh, frozen, processed meats and poultry)
* Fish and fishery products (marine, fresh water and aquaculture)
* Milk and milk products
* Foods for special dietary uses (including infant formulae and baby foods)
* Fresh and processed vegetables, fruits, and fruit juices
* Cereals and derived products, dried legumes
* Fats, oils and derived products such as margarine
* Miscellaneous food products (chocolate, sugar, honey, mineral water)
For more detailed information about the Codex and Commission feel free to check out the following links:
CodexAlimentarius.net
Health Freedom USA (Anti-codex site)
a anti-codex google video
Next "What We Eat" entry subject will be an item found in about 99% of all processed foods:
Modified Food Starch
What the heck is it? and is it really the devil?!
So to begin I think we need to talk about the rating system we use in regards to food. Most common reference I think we all know are the food coloring numbers we see on so much of our processed foods like Red #7, Yellow #5 (Which btw does NOT make you steril), and Green #8.
Almost all food products, organic or processed, are rated by the Codex Alimentarius, Latin for "Food Code"/"Food Book". Basicly defined as "a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety under the aegis of consumer protection".
The Codex is regulated and overseen by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The codex is an internationaly published text and can be found in almost every major country in the world. The text is published in 5 languages; Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish. The Commission's most recent session was in July of 2005 at which they determined the regulation of Vitamins and Minerals as used in Suppliments. The end result was a published text entitled "Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements". The text has caused many issues in a number of countries because they consider Suppliments as therapeutic goods or pharmaceuticals, not as food.
The commission is comprised mostly of member from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Nutrient Risk Assessment Project.
As with all major comissions that regulate what we can/cant/will use it is sometimes seen as puppet organization for drug companies. Speculation as to rulings such as the use of Aspartame as a sweetner even though its been known to cause cancer in some cases has lead to a rise in the questioning of the comissions validity.
The Codex is meant to regulate 7 major parts of processed foods:
Food labeling
Food additives
Contaminants
Pesticide
Risk assessment
Food hygiene
Methods of analysis and sampling
More specificly it watches and regulates:
* Meat products (fresh, frozen, processed meats and poultry)
* Fish and fishery products (marine, fresh water and aquaculture)
* Milk and milk products
* Foods for special dietary uses (including infant formulae and baby foods)
* Fresh and processed vegetables, fruits, and fruit juices
* Cereals and derived products, dried legumes
* Fats, oils and derived products such as margarine
* Miscellaneous food products (chocolate, sugar, honey, mineral water)
For more detailed information about the Codex and Commission feel free to check out the following links:
CodexAlimentarius.net
Health Freedom USA (Anti-codex site)
a anti-codex google video
Next "What We Eat" entry subject will be an item found in about 99% of all processed foods:
Modified Food Starch
What the heck is it? and is it really the devil?!