Last Updated on 07/09/2024 by Arun jain
see CBS reports documentaryUltra Processed: How Food Tech Is Consuming the American Diet” in the video player above.
HENDERSONVILLE, NC – Fifteen-year-old Tiara Channer was 13 when she was diagnosed with prediabetes – a condition that affects 1 in 5 American children that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. She and her mother, Crystal Cauley, blame a poor diet for her diagnosis.
“[Tiara] Actually had to get a neurological consult, because she was experiencing tingling and different sensations,” Cowley said. “And it was all related to that. Pre-diabetes. So it was a wake-up call, but she took the challenge to do better.”
By transitioning from a diet of Ultra processed foods By eating healthy whole foods and being more active, Tiara overcame or shed her pre-diabetes diagnosis — and lost 50 pounds in the process. But it was not an easy journey for her given the challenge of understanding what is healthy and what is not.
“It’s kind of hard when you’re young, you’re trying to figure out what kind of lifestyle changes do I want to make? Like, how can I help myself? How can I benefit myself? ?” Kishore said. “It was a little difficult, because learning nutrition is not that easy.”
Ultra processed food Uses the country’s food supply with its low cost and high convenience. These foods now comprise half of the average American adult’s diet and two-thirds of the American child’s diet.
Sen. Lawmakers like Bernie Sanders say the FDA, the agency that regulates 80% of the nation’s food, has not done enough to protect consumers from the poor health outcomes associated with these unhealthy foods. Ultra processed food
“I think the FDA has been negligent,” Sanders, a Vermont independent, told CBS Reports, “and I think we want to make sure they’re more aggressive in reviewing products that come on the market.”
Estimated 10,000 food additives Only 411 is approved for use in the US as opposed to the European Union. FDA Commissioner, Dr. Robert Califf said this is partly due to cultural differences.
“Different societies have different degrees of tolerance for uncertainty, and different laws that dictate what regulators can do when substances are added,” Califf said. “America is a country that generally favors individual choice and access. And I think our laws reflect that kind of national spirit.
About half Approved food additives In the US it falls under a category known as GRAS — generally recognized as safe. The designation was created in 1958 to waive FDA review of common, time-tested ingredients such as vinegar and baking soda. Companies can petition the FDA to add a substance to the GRAS list through FDA review and approval.
But in 1997, the FDA loosened the protocol to conserve resources and created a “voluntary notification” system. It allowed companies to declare substances GRAS, without the need to notify the agency of the designation.
Nonprofit Environmental Working Group Of the 766 food chemicals introduced between 2000 and 2021, 99% avoided FDA scrutiny by using the GRAS designation. But this number is likely even higher because it does not include unreported declarations.
Experts like Emily Broad Leib, director of Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic, say GRAS has become a loophole that gives companies a temporary green light to put new additives in food.
“Thousands of substances have entered the food supply using that method,” Broad Leib explained. “The FDA can always say later that something is no longer generally recognized as safe. They have done it with synthetic trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils. But there are a lot of substances that, you know, are really, I think, challenging given the resources. The FDA really should be on top of that all the time.
The FDA told CBS reports it is committed to monitoring it Safety of food supply and takes action when new research shows additive causes of harm. It is also working on updating its system to assess food chemicals as part of this Big project To enhance food safety measures. But Califf said the FDA can only do so much.
“The FDA is like the referee like the owner of the team,” Califf said. “Laws are written by Congress and enacted by the executive branch of government. And what the FDA does is take those rules and then apply them to make decisions based on the rulebook. … The FDA really has to modernize. But again, we can’t go beyond the rulebook.
Sanders is trying to address some of these issues in a bill he is co-sponsoring with Democratic senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Peter Welch of Vermont, called Childhood Obesity Reduction Act of 2024. The bill would, in part, direct the National Institutes of Health to “expand, intensify and coordinate” research programs on nutritional science, including chemicals self-certified by manufacturers as generally known to be safe.
“There is a growing awareness in the medical community and in the general public that we cannot continue to allow our children to become addicted to processed foods and get sick and die earlier than they otherwise would,” Sanders said. So the movement is with us. We take on very powerful special interests, but we’re reaping the benefits every day.
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