The manner in which your food is processed, packaged and delivered can leave harmful chemical residues that subsequently enter your body. One example are the recent studies demonstrating that the liners in food containers can leech high levels of dangerous industrial chemicals into your foods. The increase in BPA levels in people consuming just one can of soup per day was an astounding 1200 percent. BPA Spikes 1,200 Per Cent After Eating Canned Soup.
Over the past several years many scientists have raised concerns about BPA entering the human bloodstream and the myriad problems that result from its consumption, from obesity, to behavioral problems, heart disease and diabetes. Click HERE for further details or read this aptly titled article “There’s no such thing as a chemical free lunch.” HERE. However, most of the attention has been focused on disposable plastic water bottles and baby bottles. The new studies show clearly that while there are some controls in place for known toxins such as mercury and lead, the oversight committees are not looking closely enough at other post-production chemical residue levels which can be very harmful to human health.
Many countries around the world with more sound oversight require testing on products AFTER production to ensure that the manufacturing and packaging processes have not added unwanted toxins to the food product. However, in many cases we do not have the same requirements. An excellent example of this is the residues of hexane gas that can be found in processed Soy Protein as a result of the separation process. Click Here for further details on the Soy Protein. In independent, post-production testing, levels of Hexane gas were more than twice the amount allowed in other countries, but no testing is required here. Recent revelations that 10% of all fruit juice sampled and tested contained arsenic again demonstrates the need for more rigorous post production testing. Click here for more detail.
The moral to this little story is that food processing and packaging can be harmful to your health. Unless you are eating organic, whole foods, you can’t be sure that the chemicals used to process your food are not still present in the food in some form. When we educate ourselves and demand clean products, industry will deliver them. Just look at the number of small, independent, Organic food companies that have been coopted by large industry. They recognize the power and value of the organic consumer and as we demand more from them, they will deliver. But when it comes to harmful chemical residues in our foods, I say “LEAVE THEM OUT.”