FOOD FREEDOM is an interesting site, proclaiming that people should Decentralize, Grow Your Own and Buy Local — which makes great sense. There's a report by Miriam Reimer, originally posted on The Street, "15 Food Companies that Serve You ‘Wood’". Yep, wood, like pine trees.
Chief among those concerns is the use of cellulose (wood pulp), an extender whose use in a roster of food products, from crackers and ice creams to puddings and baked goods, is now being exposed. What you’re actually paying for – and consuming – may be surprising.
Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption.
Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption.
“Most consumers would be shocked to find these types of filler products are used as substitutes for items that they believe are more pure,” Yoshikami said. “We would expect increased disclosure to follow increased use of cellulose and other filler products as the practice increases in frequency.”
Finger-lickin' good!
H/T to le grand chef Daniel
This comment is via email from a reader. The original information source is a retired senior civil servant.
ReplyDeleteWhen Wonderbread was attempting to ship their bread into Canada in the 70's, Lorne Nystrom, NDP MP for Sask. had his researcher call them for the content and specs on ingredients. Wonderbread thought the NDP was a Canadian Government dept. so was forthright with the information including the results of their research on cellulose on human health which revealed cellulose affected the growth and size of the male penis resulting in reduction in said penis size. NDP news release headline: "WOODEN BREAD BAD IN BED". (My sis was Nystrom's researcher.)
Yours,
Spitting in the Wind
sugar frosted too!
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