Originally published December 13 2005
Health officials and food industry executives debate over processed food
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The distinction between real and processed food is one that is becoming markedly less clear, as proponents of junk food industry question the methodology and definitions of the health community.
It's a phrase repeated like a mantra by the food industry (indeed, by half the people interviewed for this supplement) -- but what does it mean?
"You need a certain amount of fat to survive and, if you look at the nutritional content of a Turkey Twizzler, it conforms to the Hungry for Success guidelines" (the Scottish benchmark used for processed school meals until new government guidelines are issued in December).
It's a vexed question -- and one that is exercising the minds of dieticians, biophysicists, governments, food manufacturers and education authorities as they struggle to halt the galloping trend towards obesity, poor nutrition and the confusingly named metabolic syndrome (which in practice refers to the combination of Type 2 diabetes, abnormal blood lipids and high blood pressure that is expected to affect 31 million Europeans by 2010).
Last year, 25 laboratories across Europe began work on the EC-funded LipGene project: Diet, genomics and the metabolic syndrome: an integrated nutrition, agro-food, social and economic analysis.
While one group of scientists grapples with the idea of making improvements on nature, another is looking at ways of making processed foods healthy without making them less desirable.
That is certainly the view of the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), which is galvanising the meat industry to make low-fat, low-salt versions of products -- especially for schools -- while putting out a broader dietary message.
Its CD for public sector caterers, 'Getting the Balance Right', provides full nutritional analysis of recipes, advice about the role of specific nutrients and a section about cultural diets, such as halal.
"The UK spends �0.5 billion a year on pork sausages," Goodger says, "and they range in quality from pretty poor through to gourmet.
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