Many supposedly health-conscious consumers who choose products with labels like “BPA-Free” or “non-GMO” may be getting less than they bargained for. Not only are many of the scary sounding ingredients perfectly safe, but in their eagerness to meet consumer demand, manufacturers sometimes substitute ingredients or processes that prove to be inferior or actually harmful.
Food production behemoths General Mills and Post Foods reformulated their iconic Cheerios and Grape Nuts cereals, respectively, so they can label the products as free of “genetically engineered” ingredients. Their regrettable substitution is the elimination of certain added vitamins from their products because they cannot obtain them from sources certified to be non-genetically engineered.
Thus, we have food producers trying to meet a perceived consumer demand but supplying products that are more expensive and inferior—inferior in having reduced nutrients (vitamins).
Similarly, two of the United States’ largest producers of baby food, Heinz and Gerber, responded to intimidation by anti-technology activists by shifting to non-genetically engineered ingredients for their products–even if these are nutritionally inferior or less safe than those made from genetically engineered plants.
The blame lies mainly with activists and the news media fanning unwarranted public fears, but a recent academic study demonstrates how product manufacturers themselves may perpetuate spurious product concerns and drive consumers to take greater health risks.
Read full, original article: The Mischief Of ‘Regrettable Substitutions’
