Food Marketing Lies

By: J.A., Writer for Hope Instilled 

The Food Industry Doesn't Care About Health — Just Profits

Let’s explore some of the marketing LIES we have all been led to believe for so many years.

The food industry is extremely powerful! They get away with way more than they should.

Food Industry Problems

The food industry is slowly poisoning us!

Marketing’s job is to sell you on a product. And some people will use whatever twisted lies they can conjure up, and even bribe people to create deceitful information in order to get you to buy their product. The only end result they care about is profits. No one really regulates the lies spread through food marketing, as long as the food product doesn’t cause immediate harm, often there is no disciplinary action that happens either. The FDA doesn’t do enough to regulate the food industry.   

Some lies are so powerful that they last for decades, and then some!

Here are some of the larger misconceptions and lies told by marketing, which should help us to make better and more informed decisions in the future.

The Sugar Industry Tricked Us for 50 Years

One of the biggest lies being that FAT is the reason for obesity, heart disease, and so on, when the real culprit is SUGAR! The sugar industry paid scientists (Harvard Researchers) in the 1960s to play down the link between sugar and heart disease and promote saturated fat as the culprit instead. This research spread like wildfire and for many years people were taught to eat less fat, but very little emphasis was placed on watching sugar intakes. And because of this obesity and diabetes numbers grew and continue to grow.

Coca-Cola considered one of the largest in the sugar beverage market, gave millions of dollars to fund researchers in an effort to play down the connection between sugary beverages and obesity. Read here How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat.

The Milk Industry Has Lied to Us for Decades

We have been brainwashed by the milk industry to think that cow milk should be an essential part of our diet, that milk = calcium = healthy bones. Cow’s milk contains hormones, antibiotics, and more that are actually detrimental to your health according to massive amounts of evidence. But, these are LIES the dairy industry got away with by getting politicians on board along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which is supposed to be in charge of nutritional guidelines).

If we were not socialized into thinking it was healthy food, we probably wouldn’t consume much of it at all. Humans were not designed to drink cow milk. Plus, we can get twice the amount of calcium from leafy greens and broccoli, which are easier to absorb and digest. Additionally, 60-70% of people can’t properly digest dairy milk. Oh and not to mention the government has been supporting the milk industry providing millions of dollars of taxpayer money to help with the overproduction of milk and other milk products. Read the details on either of these sites:

Got Conned? How Big Dairy and Big Brother Have Duped You for Decades

How We Have Been Tricked Into Thinking Milk Is Good For Us

The Tobacco Industry Lied to the Public for Decades

The tobacco industry’s goal was to make cigarettes as addictive as possible. They deliberately lied and manipulated people with their advertising and promotional campaigns. There isn’t one true professional doctor or scientist now that denies smoking kills. In 2017, federal courts finally got tobacco companies to create ads sharing the dangers of smoking. It took nearly 11 years of appeals by tobacco companies. The tobacco companies had no interest in telling the truth or providing any healthier options. Read more on how Big Tobacco finally tells the truth in a court-ordered ad campaign.

Organic vs. “Natural” Labeling on Packaging 

The whole “natural” label on the packaging is misconceiving because there are literally no rules or regulations for companies to abide by when using the word “natural.” Personally, I do often choose products that have the word “natural” on them simply because the labels typically have fewer ingredients than the non-natural alternative. However, the organic option is quite often the better choice. A company does have to actually meet certain standards in order to obtain the Organic Certification, you can view these on the USDA site. Organic foods have been grown or farmed without the use of artificial chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified organisms.

I think another thing to consider is whether a brand only sells organic foods. Whereas a brand that has a big name and sells both organic and regular products with many chemical additives is just trying to compete in the market space and is more likely to try and get away with something. Where a brand that is solely organic would more likely have chosen to be organic because they genuinely care about putting out good quality food products.

Just because it is “Organic” Doesn’t Mean it is Healthy

Whether it says “raw organic cane sugar” or just sugar it is still the same thing! Junk food is still unhealthy since it has higher calories, sugar, salt, or added fats. Being healthier shouldn’t mean replacing all your packaged foods with organic foods. Instead, the aim should be to just eat more whole, natural foods.

Honey and Syrup Products often contain NO actual Honey or Syrup 

Most honey contains no traces of pollen, which the FDA would say it can’t be called honey then, but yet it is. Most brands will filter out most to all of the pollen, and then add corn syrup and artificial sweeteners to it. Syrup also contains a lot of artificial junk and added sugars, oftentimes with very little syrup. Your best choice is to buy from farmers in the area, though you can find real honey and maple syrup in a store, you just have to make sure to read the labels. Why You Should Think Twice Before Buying Grocery Store Honey

Even Liquor Can’t Be Trusted! 

Many times Rum drinks, and other spirits are mixed with other cheap alcohols making them not completely Rum, or whatever the spirit might be. Many wines and beers have a ton of pesticides and other things such as GMO Corn, GMO Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and so on…view The Shocking Ingredients in Beer. Ingredients are typically not listed on the label. Sadly, the best thought process here is the more you spend, the better quality you get. Otherwise, try to buy from local distilleries for hard liquor and find local beer, or/and try to find either organic wine, beer, or spirits, or/and pick a brand or even country you know has high standards.

Food Pyramid Lie 

The food pyramid in of its self is a joke. It is completely inaccurate that we should be consuming more grains than anything else, especially fruits and vegetables which provide the healthiest nutrients (which our ancestors relied heavily on). Grains mostly turn into sugar in the body, sugar is the cause of many health issues. The whole pyramid was created with no real evidence or clinical trials. Yet school textbooks taught kids that this was the proper way to eat. One of the positive results of the pyramid was fat consumption was reduced, however, obesity and diabetes have exploded. WHY WAS THE CURRENT FOOD PYRAMID INVENTED?

Health Food Bars

They are marketed as being a healthy thing so they must be healthy. Wrong! No matter who is marketing them or where they are being sold, always look at the ingredient list. Some contain high amounts of sugar, some have GMO’s, some contain artificial ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. They are not necessarily healthy choices.

Here is a review of THE 5 BEST AND WORST NUTRITION BARS

Other Lies

Margarine was sold to be a better alternative to butter! Many believed for a long time it was and were tricked into eating something significantly less healthy (processed oils). Sugar-free equal chemical additives, fat-free isn’t what it appears to be, and the list goes on…

The NEWEST Health Craze is Fake Meat (a highly processed substitute for meat)

No this is not a healthier alternative! Just the fact that it is processed should be enough of an indicator. Read more about fake meat here: The Promise and Problem of Fake Meat.

These are only a few of the many lies the food industry has sold us on, and are currently selling. Whether you are buying meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, or packaged snacks, there are always unsafe and toxic choices. So it is super important to think through your purchases, maybe do a little research, but any step in the right direction is great. Having a stress attack and throwing out your whole pantry isn’t absolutely necessary unless of course, you can afford to, and it truly makes you feel better.

How do we even begin to eat healthier food? 

1. READ LABELS for EVERYTHING you buy! (look at ingredients, carbs, sugars, fats, and try to pay attention to where the staple foods that you buy all the time are coming from, local is often a better option).
2. USE EWG APP because they have done some homework for you, on how toxic many products are.
3. Also, take a look at my past blog: How to Lessen Your Exposure to Toxins (Part 2: Foods) it provides some detail on why all of this is so important, and how to go about eating healthier to live your best life.

You have to decide where you want to save money at the grocery store or at the doctor’s office?

I personally would love to just pay more for groceries, and not have to pay all the doctor bills, high costs of supplements, and high grocery bills. But, due to reasons beyond my control, I don’t have that choice. However, because I’m doing all these things, someday my focus will just be on maintaining, instead of continually fixing my health.