Devils In Our Food - 2nd Edition

Devils are lurking It’s a contradiction in terms of putting the words devil and food together, and why is this? The word devil conjures up fear, is not reasonable to be associated with, and is associated with all bad things. The word devil makes us uncomfortable, ill at ease, or not want to go near.Food, conversely, means nourishment, good for the body, brain, and mind, comfort, health, well-being, longevity, and many other well-meaning associations.The original word food may have come from the word: fode or fude (Middle English), from foda (Old English or from fodo (Proto Germanic).[1] Food is meant to keep us healthy regardless of the word’s origin. In the last 200 years, food has moved far from that.We are now in the 21st Century, and we are still recovering, food-wise, from the Industrial Revolution that began in the 18th Century. Small agricultural societies became more industrialized, and small communities moved into towns and cities, especially in England and Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution provided work for the masses, and food was needed to keep them working in the newly developed factories and sweatshops; these establishments later spread to other parts of the world.Mechanisms and machinery took over food production to feed the masses and keep the price affordable so that factory workers and their families could be fed.Baked bread from many bakeries in the Victorian era was known for its limited flour input, with the bulk of the bread being made out of wood fibre. As recently as 1985, the New York Times identified a commercial bakery in the United States of America using wood fibre in its commercially baked bread.[2] Considering our latest knowledge, some food manufacturers have made little progress in their choices about the ingredients, additives, and impurities they put into their products.We may have moved on in some areas of food choice. However, the ’Devils’ in the foods we eat are now more cleverly labelled, and the use of scientific names combined with new branding and marketing techniques all help us become more confused than ever about what to eat and what is healthy.The devil is indeed in the deed, and it’s time to uncover the true meaning of the word ’food’ and what is being sold under this label!This book guides you through the minefield of food and drink additives using the traffic light system: Green is for Safe, Amber is for Caution, and Red is for Avoid. It includes the additive numbers and a full description of what the additive is made from, as well as whether it has a past record of causing health concerns and dangers, and whether it contributes to long-term illness and eventual death.