Thousands of years ago, natural foods were hunted, picked, gathered, and farmed. In modern times, with the advancement of technology and the thirst for higher profit margins, food manufacturers are developing creative ways to manufacture, market, and distribute a variety of foods as cheaply as possible. Some of these methods are ingenious, but they also may have deleterious health effects and unintended consequences.
The following food facts are not meant to scare you into avoiding certain foods, but to create awareness for how some food is made and distributed. The more aware and knowledgeable we are, the more we can make informed decisions about the foods we eat, which fundamentally affects our health and well-being. While not always feasible, supporting organic and locally farmed foods may be ideal for optimal nutrition.
Food Fact #1 | One Beef Patty Can Be Made From Over 1,000 Cows
Originally, burger patties were made from leftover scraps of one cow – slaughtered locally, ground up, then distributed. However, due to an increase in demand, huge slaughterhouses became the primary source of ground beef; they produced ground beef from an amalgam of different cuts from different animals. 1 One tiny patty can have anywhere from fifty-five to over thousand cattle from five different countries.
Food Fact #2 | Orange Juice is Flavored Using Flavor Packs Produced by Fragrance Companies
Most people know that OJ is produced by extracting juice from oranges. What they don’t know is that this juice is then pasteurized and stripped of oxygen, causing it to lose its original flavor, but allowing it to be stored for up to a year. When the juice is ready to be sold, flavor packs are used to give the orange juice back its flavor. 2 These flavor packs are a mix of chemicals that are derived from the oranges. Each company has its own specific chemical mix, explaining why orange juice from one company tastes the same no matter what bottle you open.
Food Fact #3 | Due to Selective Breeding, Chickens Reach Slaughter Size in Half the Time
Contrary to popular belief, it is illegal to give chickens any growth hormones meaning that all chickens and eggs are actually hormone-free.3 However, they’re not exactly all-natural: broilers (chickens raised specifically for meat production) grow to slaughter size in about 6 weeks because they’ve been selectively bred to have very fast growth rates/ high feed conversion ratios (feed consumed/body mass gained). Compared to poultry in the 1950s, the slaughter houses can obtain double the meat in half the time. To give you an idea of this original timeframe, free range or organic chickens take about 12 to 16 weeks to reach slaughter size.4
Food Fact # 4 | Soy Was Not Consumed, But Used As Fertilizer In China
Often touted as a health food, this term actually applies only to fermented soy. Originally, the soybean was used as fertilizer in China.5 The Chinese did not consume soy until fermentation techniques were developed and foods such as soy sauce and tempeh were produced. Soybeans are high in phytic acid, which binds to important minerals such as calcium, iron, and zinc, preventing the body from absorbing them. Soy also contains goitrogens, substances that reduce thyroid function by interfering with iodine absorption. Furthermore, soybeans contain isoflavones, which are chemicals that are estrogen-like in nature. As if that wasn’t enough, soy is one of the most allergenic foods.6
Food Fact # 5 | Whole Corn Consumed By People Is Less Than 1% of All Corn Grown
Corn that we don’t consume is used a feed for livestock (which usually isn’t good for the livestock and the nutritional profile of the meat that is produced) and processed into ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Like HFCS, many ingredients processed from soy are also found in the foods we eat, from condiments to peanut butter even to tuna 7 (check the labels on your tuna cans). Done by analyzing a form of carbon that is found in corn, we’re actually able to determine how much corn is in our diets by testing a strand of our hair. The typical American diet will have 69 percent of the carbon coming from corn! 8
Food Fact #6 | Many Baked Goods Claiming to Contain Fruit Don’t Have Any
Many baked goods and cereals that are believed to contain fruit such as blueberries and pomegranate may not contain any real fruit. People buy these products thinking they are getting the health benefits of consuming the high anti-oxidant fruits when in reality they are only consuming a mixture of corn syrup and food coloring made to resemble the fruits. 9 Manufacturers try to cover this up by listing ingredients such as “blueberry flavored crunchies.” Some products enhance their small amount of actual fruit by adding the concoction of corn syrup and food coloring, which is still far from what they claim to include.
Food Fact # 7 | Wood Pulp Has Become A Popular Additive to Foods
Added to many foods as a thickening agent, cellulose gives texture, boosts fiber content, and reduces the need for more expensive ingredients like flour and oil.10 While the cellulose comes from wood, it is the same structure as the cellulose found in foods like celery and just like the cellulose found in vegetables, it serves as a source of dietary fiber.
What do you think of these food facts? Any others you would like to mention that were not included?
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7 Surprising Food Facts You Don’t Know!,
Hey Peter, you really outdid yourself with this article. Thanks for putting in a substantial amount of time and effort to bring us these interesting and relevant facts about common foods we eat.
Absolutely mind blowing. Thanks for sharing BL team!
I wish we could go back and eat, get, make food the real way, the way it was found in nature. I think going to the all natural/ health store is much better for your health then the grocery store but you should still read the ingredients to see if it’s actually a real ingredient ,not some fake extract.
I think a good film to watch is Food, Inc. It is about this article Here is the Wikipedia link for what it is about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food,_Inc.
When I’m older I am going to try to buy everything organic unless I don’t have the money.
Peter , you said go to local farmers, but might they still use chemicals?
@Seb – Local farms may certainly use chemicals, but many local farms are completely organic. May be a question worth asking in case you buy at a local grocery market, or a Farmer’s Market.
Great article. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. The fact on soybean is what I’m interested in the most. I’ve heard about it before but never really encounter such article on soybean. By the way, what do you think of coffee? Some people consider it as unhealthy but I believe that coffee is good for health after looking out on several research done to identify the health effects of coffee. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for answering my questions Marc. Ok got it.
Hi Peter,
Thank you for the great article. I have substituted organic soy milk for cow’s milk in my diet given the amount of antibiotics and hormones present in cows raised in the US. But it seems that soy milk is not particularly healthy either, albeit for different reasons. What would be the best healthy substitute for cow and soy milk?
Thank you.
@John – That’s a great question. One popular milk substitute that has been used on many recipes on BuiltLean so far has been Almond Milk, which has both sweetened and unsweetened varieties, the latter having less sugar. Coconut milk is another option, but it may take some getting used to.
Does this mean we should avoid all these types of foods (unless they are specifically labeled as all natural)? And should we avoid soy all together? I love the article. What are the real life implications? Thanks so much.
@Aleks – I think you are getting to the crux of the article. It’s tough to say what the long term implications are for eating foods that are not natural. There are simply not enough studies to conclude for sure that a certain food is very dangerous for human consumption. If a certain food was very dangerous, it wouldn’t be on our shelves in our grocery stores and approved by the FDA (for better or worse, we put a lot of faith in the FDA). I’m sure some people would disagree with that assertion. With that said, eating organic, natural foods is ideal in my mind. This article was meant to be a starting point for discussion and exploration. We do plan on adding more articles on this topic for sure, along with simple ways to make eating natural foods more convenient.
Very interesting article. 2 questions:
1) Is Wood pulp good for you since it does provide you with an additional source of fiber?
2) Does it matter if your burger meat comes from 1 or many different cows? Could one argue that your are protecting yourself from bad meat by having it come from different cows?
3) I’m a big fan of OJ, particularly Tropicana and Freshly Squeezed. For the additional flavor packs, are you only referring to frozen orange juice, juice from concentrate, juice not from concentrate etc …? A bit of clarity would be helpful.
Thanks again Builtlean.com for another insightful article.
@Julian K.D. – Thanks for the questions. Please find some answers below:
1) I’m sure the argument could be made that’s it’s “good” for you because it provides fiber and may aid in digestion, but how I look at it may not be completely bad for you because it is approved by the FDA. Of course, eating natural foods is ideal.
2) I think it’s just the opposite. All it takes is for one cow to be contaminated for the burger patty made up of over 1000 cows to be contaminated. That’s scary. one cow that’s grass fed/organic is much safer.
3) I will double check with Peter on this, but when we sat down and discussed this article, he mentioned to me these flavor packs did included companies like Tropicana, which is how they can keep such remarkable consistency across their juices. It looks like @Lisa agrees with this as well. Think about it, every carton of tropicana tastes just about exactly the same! I used to be addicted to Tropicana, but when I realized how much sugar is in them and how little fiber, I decided to opt for whole fruits for breakfast instead (i.e. berries, oranges etc.). My current favorite is grapefruit. Very filling, not very high in calories, tastes awesome, and some studies show it can help control cholesterol/blood sugar levels and also appetite.
I appreciate the way the article is written without a “preachy” angle. It presents facts, and lets us decide what to do with it. Although, truth be told, these facts are pretty disgusting! It doesn’t really need a preachy angle to be effective.
@Zesty – That was our goal, thanks for noticing and commenting!
Isn’t it crazy the things we have been misled and deceived about our whole lives… Very informative post! Good stuff
Great article! I actually found all this out about 5 months ago. We are constantly fed misinformation about health that I deciced to do some research on my own. It has now been 4months since I had meat and dairy. I was always afraid to make this move because I was convinced that I would lose muscle or lack protein to build them. Fortunately this wasn’t the case. I Still have my muscular/athletic build and working out like a always did.
@christain – thanks for sharing!
hi Marc
very interesting and shocking article.
hidden truth behind healthy foods which i did not know before.
thanks Marc for this useful information.
I just have a question on the soy been article. In lots of protein bars and powders it is common to see soy listed, if it has estrogen like properties why is it in there? Is it different and should I look for a non soy protein powder ?
@Caleb – The idea is that soy is in A LOT of products, from fast food burgers to protein bars. Soy is used so widely because it’s relatively cheap to produce. I don’t think all soy is evil, but over-consumption is probably not a great idea. I learned recently of an interesting fact about how The Israeli health ministry issued an advisory that babies should not get soy formula and that children under 18 should eat soy no more than once a day, three times a week. Adults should exercise caution due to the adverse effects on fertility and increased breast cancer risk. This advisory was created because several babies had life threatening issues with beriberi and brain damage from soy infant formula that was deficient in vitamin B1. We will certainly tackle these specific debates in more detail on certain foods, but for now you can check out this Scientific American article on soy. My guess is the Israeli recommendation on soy consumption is sensible.
Thanks for sharing this information. I knew all of them but the wood cellulose!! Doesn’t surprise me. The unfortunate thing is we as consumers vote with our dollars and the general population continues to put their money into food-like substances….NOT real food. I go to the farmers markets every week…I buy organic or from pesticide/herbicide free farms. When you talk to the farmers you get a feel for what they really believe in. I’m not a vegetarian so only buy certified, grass finished beef and organic…run-around-the-farm chicken. I do buy canned tuna and salmon but buy from Vital Choice who only practice sustainable farming. I don’t spend money on “things” but I spend money on good, real food.
@Julian – For the last 30 years, the citrus industry has used flavor packs to process what the FDA calls “pasteurized” orange juice. That includes top brands such as Tropicana, Minute Maid, Simply Orange and Florida Natural, among others.
Lisa – I agree 100%. I think your comment “we vote with our dollars” is extremely powerful. When I first heard that line said by the CEO of Stonefield in the Food Inc. documentary, it really stuck with me. In my opinion, that’s the only real solution to large scale change of the food industry if there is a massive economic shift to more quality, natural foods. Right now, processed foods are cheap and easy to access and money will continue to flow into them. And thanks for helping out Julian with his question!
I’m interested in the one about orange juice as well – especially considering orange juice where the ingredients simply state “orange juice.” Do they really all follow the practice you describe?
@Luke- Please see my comment to Julian as well as Lisa’s comment. The answer appears to be “Yes”.
Is Food Fact #3 pointing to a potential health issue or simply a fact to consider? I don’t really see any dangers of eating a chicken that was the result of selective breeding.
@Jason – It was pointing to a fact to consider.
Hi Mark, I learnt about you first from your Dad, who is my colleague . I have enjoyed reading your emails. On a serious note, my 17 year old son is a real “health food freak” but I do not think he eats a balanced diet. He is athletic. works out in gym and plays intense tennis. He is 5’10″, weighs 144 ibs. He has lost weight in the last three years as he has reduced carb intake . I wish I could get him in touch with you so you can guide him . He buys some canned protein puddings [30 gms of proteins] , protein bars, etc to give you an idea, for his protein intake.
@Dr. smita parikh – thanks for participating and being a newsletter subscriber! I certainly went through a phase when I had protein everything such as protein pudding and certainly protein shakes sometimes 2-3x per day. I think there is a lot of marketing towards these young guys from supplement companies which leads them astray unfortunately. When I go to fitness conferences, all these top models are hired by supplement companies to pitch their products. I guess it’s an interesting article topic for another time. I do hope he considers the importance of veggies and also starchy carbs like potatoes as an active adult.
So does this mean that you should not drink soy milk if you don’t have to?
I’m not lactose intolerant, but I dislike the taste of skim milk, so have been drinking soy for years as an middle ground substitute between skim/low fat milk and full cream.
@Vanessa – After replying to several comments about Soy, it sounds like soy is a quite polarizing topic! As I stated in my question to John and also in response to Calab, in my mind some soy is likely fine, and you can consider almond milk, or coconut milk as a dairy alternative as well.
Hey Marc, this was most educational as always. My family and I have over the years, tried to move away from processed foods etc, but what I am most concerned about is the soy bean facts. I must admit this was the first detailed article I read on this matter, and we do consume a fair amount of soya products, especially on certain days when we are not allowed to consume meat products due to reliogious reasons. My question is, can you or anyone out there recommend natural, vegetarian sources of protein. We have transitioned to legumes, beans, chick peas etc, any other suggestions? Thanks Don
@Don Pillay – I would consider adding Quinoa and nuts/seeds to your list of vegetarian sources of protein. If you are concerned with your protein intake, I’ve heard Sun Warrior Protein is a pretty solid all natural vegetarian protein powder supplement. I’m not a major fan of protein powders, but thought I would mention it.
I suggest if you are interested in the soy ‘facts’ that are presented here in this article, first read the reference, which is actually a cut and paste of another article (but posted to the website cited here as the reference and without acknowledgement at that website of the source) which does not list its references.
These supposed ‘facts’ regarding soy have been debunked at some point in time or another – and the original source of these so-called facts is none other than a meat-industry sponsored organisation. No, I”m not going to name it here because I have no desire to drive traffic to its website.
Please review Pub-Med for articles on soy nutrition, and please check who has paid for the research to be done.
Disclaimer – long term vegan/vegetarian elite athlete who eats generous quantities of soy, as well as other legumes, in non-fermented forms. I also lived in a number of countries in Asia for many years and can attest to the quantities of soy, and smaller quantities of meat that constitute the traditional diets of Asian people.
@Ginsling – Peter did not “cut and paste” from the article, and the only part of the article he referenced was the fact about soy consumption in China, which is accurate. Check out the Wikipedia reference on Soybean right here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean which corroborates the information Peter included in the article. Finally, one of the research studies that Wikipedia references states the following, which is in line with it’s history of being utilized as a fertilizer:
“For human consumption, soybeans must be cooked with “wet” heat to destroy the trypsin inhibitors (serine protease inhibitors). Raw soybeans, including the immature green form, are toxic to humans, swine, chickens, and in fact, all monogastric animals.” – Circle, Sidney Joseph; Smith, Allan H. (1972). Soybeans: Chemistry and Technology. Westport, CT: Avi Publishing. pp. 104, 163. ISBN 0-87055-111-6.
This is all this article was stating, that soybeans ideally should be fermented to be considered a health food. The issue is really over-consumption of soy, which may lead to problems. I think it’s worth exploring the topic of soy in another article to offer both sides of the story in a balanced way.
Great article! I’ve come across a good portion of the info through personal research. However, your content is always so well put together and concise that it’s a pleasure reading about new facts and refreshing on the old. Thank you!
Please keep up the good work. You guys are the best weekly subscription by far!
@Victoria Navarro – Thanks! That means A LOT! We are working VERY hard to continue bringing you helpful articles and videos!
Fantastic article, my sister send this to me and I was completely blown away. I really appreciate the information that you shared.
Thanks, Marc for the kind words!