Have you noticed the never ending ways “BigFood” tries to get you to buy their products, with labels like “hormone free,” “all natural,” “vegetarian fed,” “cage free,” etc. Today’s newsletter comes after visiting the farmer’s market. I was talking with an organic chicken/beef farmer and he was telling me that the majority of “BigFood chicken farms” now mix OTC medications into the feed for several reasons:
- Americans won’t buy meat from animals raised on hormones
- Americans wont’ buy meat from animals raised on antibiotics
- Americans are clueless to other medications used, and they will buy meat from animals raised on Benadryl, Tylenol, Aspirin, etc.
Chickens with seasonal allergies? Cows with headaches? No.. farmers are now using these OTC meds because Benadryl has a “sedative effect,” i.e., it calms the chickens down and Tylenol and aspirin are anti-inflammatories which help to calm down pain from arthritis and other joint-related issues most animals have due to their high corn diet.
It’s now becoming nearly impossible to know if your food is clean, specifically free from medications! Thankfully, we have a new tool that helps us more deeply explore how much we can trust specific food labels commonly found on supermarket meats, dairy and egg products.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) points out that the most reliable certifications follow these practices:
- No antibiotics given to healthy animals
- No synthetic growth hormones
- No cages allowed and outdoor access required
- More space to allow for natural behaviors
- Strong third-party verification
- Frequent on-farm inspections (every 12 to 36 months)
Another issue with food labeling is the amount of meat, dairy and egg labels that fall into a “gray area” – i.e., what sounds like a promising feature of the food products. Most notably these are the labels to watch out for due to minimum scrutiny and lack of federal standards:
- American Humane Certified
- Farmed Responsibly
- rGGH/rBST Free
- Farmed Fish
- Antibiotic Free
- Grass-Fed
- Vegetarian Fed
- Organic Seafood
- No Beta Agonists
- Pasture Raised
- USDA Verified
- Sustainably Sourced
- Lean/Extra Lean
- No Nitrites Added
- Omega-3 Fortified
Grass-Fed: This is no longer a term that holds much weight simply because any cow raised on grass for the majority of its life can have a “grass-fed” label applied. If the animal is “finished” meaning the last 90-120 days of its life before slaughter is on corn/corn solids, then the animal will have a complete switch as far as fatty acid ratios and inflammatory markers just as if it has been eating corn its entire life – yet it can still be labeled “grass fed” legally in the US.
It is for this reason that a new label “Grass or Green-Finished” has been created to denote 100% of the time the animal was alive it ate grass, wild grasses, herbs and or hay.
Vegetarian Fed: While it may sound healthy (because most of us think a vegetarian diet is ultra healthy) all cows are vegetarians by nature and chickens do eat grass along with a host of insects (ants, spiders, worms, snails etc). Vegetarian fed often denotes the animal’s diet has been subsidized with a feed that is often corn and/or soy based. No chicken or cow is designed to consume these foods, and as such, they always have an inflammatory reaction to them (much like you do!).
Organic Seafood: This one is quite new and it makes me smack my forehead every time I see it. The phrase “Organic” was originally used to denote produce (fruit or vegetable) that avoids the use of man-made fertilizers, pesticide or herbicide. It was taken into the livestock arena when it denoted that the livestock feed was organic (the corn/soy etc). Once you see the word “Organic Seafood” you might as well stamp the label “Farm Raised” because no seafood found in wild nature stumbles across a corn or soy based food.
Wild Caught Shrimp/Scallops/Lobster: Don’t be fooled by this one either. The phrase “wild caught” is used to denote if a fish was caught in its natural environment via net or line as opposed to factory-farmed fish, which are raised in tanks or netted regions of the ocean and fed a vegetarian feed. The challenge with shellfish is they are all bottom feeding ocean cleaners (i.e the garbage men/women of the sea – full of ocean toxins and other fish wastes). To say they are “healthier” because they are wild caught is a misnomer.
Some Final Thoughts on Food Labels
An analysis of the latest government data looking at superbugs in supermarket meat found nearly 80 percent of samples tested contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the conventional meats and lunch meats sold at conventional grocery stores (Harris Teeter, Walmart, Publix etc).
Antibiotic resistance is created by antibiotic abuse used in industrial farming and in healthcare.
The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focusing on improving human and environmental health, released a label decoder to help consumers quickly identify meaningful labels (and deceitful ones to avoid.)
The best food labels have strong third-party certification with regular inspections and accountability. Some of the most meaningless food labels include: “Natural or All Natural,” “Humanely Raised,” and “No Hormones Added.” When dealing with small, local farmers who may not have certifications, ask specific questions like, “How much time do your chickens spend outside?” “Do you feed your animals directly? Is it organic feed” “Do your animals ever receive any antibiotics or other medications?”
It doesn’t hurt to call and ask – its your health after-all!
