A former executive for Nabisco fights processed food -- and shares what he learned on the inside.

[marmar]

from Grist:



Confessions of a former Big Food executive

by Andy Bellatti
2 Nov 2011 7:25 AM


A few weeks ago, I learned of a relatively new blog about food industry deception, but with an interesting twist. The blog's author is Bruce Bradley, who spent over 15 years as a food marketer at companies like General Mills, Pillsbury, and Nabisco. He has since, in his words, "become more educated about the risks and environmental impact of eating processed foods," and is now a CSA enthusiast.

....(snip)....

Q. On your website you write that you've "seen some disturbing trends in the food industry over the past 20 years." What have you found most insidious?

A. The landscape has changed dramatically since I started my career at Nabisco in 1992. In response to Wall Street profit pressures and the growing power of retailers like Walmart, the food industry has undergone a tremendous wave of consolidation and cost cutting.

This has hurt our food supply in many ways. First, huge, multinational food companies now dominate the landscape. Wielding far greater lobbying power and much deeper pockets, these companies have been very successful in stagnating food regulation. Second, cost savings have been a key profit driver for the industry, but they've had a devastating impact on both food quality and food safety. Think factory farming and GMOs, just to name a couple of examples. Third, as consumers' health concerns have increased, processed food manufacturers have become even more aggressive in making dubious health claims or co-opting fad diets to market their brands and develop new products.

The net impact of this transformed landscape has been disastrous from a public health perspective -- with obesity rates skyrocketing and a never-ending flood of food recalls. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/food/2011-11-02-confessions-of-a-big-food-executive

[Luminous Animal]

1. K & R and a link to Bruce Bradley's blog...

http://www.brucebradley.com/

[redqueen]

2. All in the name of profits.

K&R

[seafan]

3. Meet the 'Wendell Potter' of Big Food, Inc.

----"Corn sugar" and "sugar" are all th' same, dontcha know.----- Keep smilin'! Signed, Big Food.


Welcome aboard, Mr. Bradley. Looking forward to seeing you in interviews on Olbermann and Maddow.

[dotymed]

10. If you don't believe it, just watch the tee vee commercials.

They have commercials to convince you that there is no difference between cane sugar and "corn sugar." Which I assume is just high fructose corn syrup that is dried out. I could not believe it when I first saw one of these commercials.

"Your body doesn't know the difference between the two." If that is the case, why would they need to spend millions on commercials to convince people of this.

Climate change is a lie. :sarcasm:

[BadgerKid]

4. IMO, low income and emotional eaters are esp. screwed. n/t

[arikara]

8. That thing about low income

is so especially unfortunate. I went through a time years ago as a single parent where I barely made enough to cover rent and we lived on simple whole foods rather than processed. A bag of oatmeal for porridge is way cheaper and healthier than boxed cereals for breakfast, staples such as rice and beans, fresh fruits and veggies that are on sale and my daughter never went malnourished. I feel so badly for the kids who grow up on this modern diet of boxed food like substances and soda pops, they just don't have a chance to reach their potential.

[CoffeeCat]

9. Very astute point about emotional eating...

Our society is so saturated with stress and worry. I think many people use food to medicate themselves and
to reduce stress. It's very common.

I think this is a huge issue in our society and much of the obesity epidemic is probably due to people trying
to deal with emotional issues--with food.

Many people may be addicts and have a full-blown addiction to medicating with foods. Then, there are others who
every once in a while find themselves comforted by junk food--and they eat the bag of potato chips or the box
of brownies.

The problem is--this food is so poisonous--it's so full of processed sugar, fat, salt and a horrendous amount
of chemicals that are added in processing and as preservatives.

Even if you binge once or twice a week--your body is polluted.

I can be an emotional eater--and if I'm not eating healthy for even a couple of weeks--my entire appearance changes. Junk
food and processed food seems to cause damage and swelling inside the body and out. I'm sure it wrecks havoc on our
internal organs. Conversely, when I eat healthy--I look so much better and like a different person. I've noticed this
in others as well. People actually look like shit after eating bad food.

Processed food is also horrible for mental health. It seems to cause lethargy and stress--which can lead to anxiety and depression. Then, some
use food to quell the emotions that are stirred up during these binges.

It's just awful.

[housewolf]

5. Very informative

Thanks for posting

[DCKit]

6. How many of those ingredients are coming from factories in China?

Just wondering.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. All Nabisco products are made of HFCS and other crap

They are one of the worst. None of their products are suitable for human consumption.

[underpants]

11. Kiucking - thanks for the link to this blog

much appreciated.

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. Kick

thanks for posting this