Let’s talk about Bone Char.

Bone char is calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and activated carbon. It’s also the bones of dead animals. Dead animal bones that are usually from Pakistan, Argentina, India and Afghanistan to be exact. That’s right. There is an international trade for the production of bone char. This is less surprising when you consider that it takes about 8,000 cows to produce enough bones for one commercial filter and the cattle used has to be BSE-free. Since we can’t quite claim to be 100% free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in this country, we buy cattle bones from other places to use in the production of bone char. The char itself is created by cleaning the bones and then heating them at extremely high temperatures in a limited amount of air. In this almost-vacuum, the bones become charcoal.  Ok, so that’s the production of bone char, but what kind of commercial filter? What is a filter made of the bones of thousands of cows even good for? Surprisingly, sugar. 

Have you ever wondered how sugar processing resulted in that bleached white color we associate with basic sugar? If you’ve ever cut open a sugar cane or seen one cut wide on a documentary, you know that the inside is a pulpy light yellow-tan color and the juice is similarly colored. If you’ve ever gone to Panera and used their raw sugar packets in your coffee, you may have noticed that that sugar is also tan-brown, like the plant. How then do we get that ghostly white sugar we use to bake or make icing out of? By straining it through an 8,000 cow, cow scaffolding sieve. This process bleaches out the sugar as aminos and other components bond to the carbonate in the char and are leached away from the sugar, leaving it that well-known bright white color. 

You might already be wondering if brown sugar might be excluded from the process. After all, it’s brown, not white. While raw sugars that just happen to be brown may in fact be totally spared this process, typically brown sugar is just white sugar that has had some of the molasses removed during processing added back. So, to recap. Brown sugar is processed just as heavily as white sugar but then molasses, which is a by-product of the sugar producing process is added back giving it its color and slightly gooey texture. This is also good to know if you need brown sugar for a cookie recipe and are out. If you happen to have a little molasses in the back of the pantry, you can quickly wipe up your own. Anyway, unless it’s natural, organic, raw sugar, brown sugar gets the same char treatment as white. 

There are a number of sugars that don’t undergo this process at all. Beet sugar for example is bone char free. Raw and organic sugar as we mentioned are also char-free most of the time. Additionally, a number of companies have made the arguably expensive move to switch to other methods of processing that don’t require or include bone char. Even Domino, one of the most recognizable white sugar brands around, is making a slow crawl towards a bone-free future. Right now, lot numbers starting with 1, 4, or 6 are apparently bone char-free. 

Until they reach that goal, it’s good to be aware of where your sugar has been. Particularly for those who are vegan, knowing that thousands of cattle corpses were used in the production of the spoonful of sugar is pretty important. Included in the resource below is a list of sugar companies that are char-free. Enjoy!

Resources:

Bone Char - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

https://www.vrg.org/blog/?s=bone+char

Is Sugar Vegan? Bone Char Filtration, The Industry's Dirty Secret

bone black | Description & Components | Britannica

AP-42, Section 9.10.1.1: Sugarcane Processing

https://vegfaqs.com/bone-char-free-sugar-brands/

Are animal ingredients included in white sugar? | PETA.

Food Fraud Versus Food Safety

Food safety and food fraud might seem similar at first glance but a closer look at these two issues quickly reveals that they are two very distinct issues requiring equally unique solutions. 

Food safety in this country is generally an understood issue that requires knowing where our food is sourced and catching contaminations as quickly as possible. It mostly involves a system of tracking a particular food to the source and then issuing warnings regarding that specific food. The recent salmonella outbreak that we talked about in a previous article is an example of a food safety matter. These outbreaks are usually directly connected to a pretty immediate public harm. Salmonella leads to a pretty serious sickness. E. coli and other dangerous contaminants directly cause sickness and even death to the consumer. This is often a product of neglect or lax methodology versus intent. 

Food fraud on the other hand is usually purposeful and designed by someone attempting to make a greater profit in an underhanded method. An example of this would be adding water to wine or saying that a product came from a location that would justify a higher price point than its actual place of origin. It isn’t usually a mistake but a planned deception. This is part of the reason why a system like block-chain, which might be successful in preventing a widespread food safety violation, might not be very successful in combating food fraud. The human element in food fraud negates a lot of the benefit of a documentation system like blockchain. 

Though different, food fraud can also cause personal harm particularly if someone is procuring a particular food for the purpose of medical supplementation. If you are taking an herb for blood pressure for example, it would be pretty awful if you later found out that the capsules you’d been faithfully taking were filled with cornstarch instead. This maybe isn’t as immediate as getting sick from E coli contaminated spinach but there is still a serious amount of harm. We’ve mentioned before  situations where peanut oil could be subbed into expensive olive oil and besides the financial deception, if someone is allergic to peanuts, this fraud could have serious and even deadly consequences. 

We recently interviewed Mitchell Weinberg who runs a food investigation firm called INSCATECH. You can check out that podcast here. In that interview Mitchell expressed the belief that the best way to combat food fraud is to monitor the production of our food from the source, even if that source is a farm overseas or requires watching to see exactly how a beekeeper is feeding his bees. His firm travels around the world doing exactly that. Short of running this type of organization or partnering with one, what can we as individuals do? 

According to Mitchell and what we already know, the best way to prevent food fraud is to get up close and personal with the sources of your food. Shop local. Meet the farmer, meet the beekeeper, visit the vineyard, support a coop or local butcher shop. We’ve been saying it all along but this is truly the best way to combat food fraud. Build a relationship with those responsible for growing the food you eat. Grow some food yourself! The closer to the source you can get, the fewer opportunities for deceit to enter into the equation. Have you had any good experiences shopping local? Share your hints below!

Wheatgrass 101

Occasionally a food fad will sweep through in a summer and is gone before most of us truly understand what all the hype was about. Sometimes, though, when the “fad” seems to be a little more substantive, it graduates to a higher status in our minds, shared with other accepted parts of alternative or holistic medicine. Frequently, this tends to be the case when the remedy or practice is actually well-known and even commonplace in another part of the world but has only recently made its way into American culture. Such a path seems to be the case with the wheatgrass phenomenon. A few summers ago, wheatgrass seemed to explode into the smoothie and juicing market. Almost overnight, juice bars and health food stores nudged the charcoal over to make room for this bright green contender in the limelight. It’s been a few years and wheatgrass doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. So, what’s all the fuss about? 

Wheatgrass is the young grass of the common wheat plant Triticum aestivum. It is very high in chlorophyll, flavonoids, and an assortment of vitamins and minerals. It’s also known for its iron, calcium and amino acid content. It can be frozen but it’s usually juiced and taken in smoothies or in “shots” of a few ounces at a time. It’s reputation for being anti-cancer and generally healing seems to come from its high chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll is thought to have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Fans suggest uses from drinking it to cleanse the liver to rinsing with it to eliminate a toothache. 

Some of the claims of wheatgrass users may be a bit of a stretch but what we do know is that drinking wheatgrass does seem to induce synergistic benefits to chemotherapy and might assist with the mitigation of chemo side effects. There is also evidence that the anti inflammatory properties may help with arthritis, diabetes, colitis and other inflammatory diseases. Also, while a shot of this might contain a lot of the nutrients you need from a diverse helping of veggies, it will not replace the phytochemicals and complete nutrient profiles you would get by eating a variety of veggies. There are also a few drawbacks. If you have a gluten allergy or are pregnant, it is recommended that you avoid wheatgrass. The first group for obvious reasons and the second group because this supplemental food is unregulated and you could be exposed to contaminants and unexpected toxins. 

At the end of the day, it looks like wheatgrass may be healthy and even helpful though not a replacement for a balanced diet. Some of the claims are not rooted in the facts but other benefits are pretty straightforward. If you decide to try wheatgrass as a way to improve an inflammatory disease,  remember that it is supplemental and not meant to be in place of regular care. As also, we do not intend the information here to be used in diagnosis for prescription purposes but only to inform as you make your own dietary decisions. Buy local (sometimes you can even grow this at home yourself) and if we can help you in your product research, don’t hesitate to reach out!

RESOURCES:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26156538/

https://thechalkboardmag.com/50-benefits-of-wheatgrass

https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-wheatgrass#2 

https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.14224 

https://www.organicauthority.com/energetic-health/benefits-of-wheatgrass

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner?

You may be aware of the Salmonella Epidemic here in the U.S. that started in 2018. What you may not realize is that it is ongoing and the most recent chapter in the development of this widespread, food industry disaster was documented just last month. 

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that includes over 2,600 serotypes and normally causes severe food poisoning that typically lasts about a week. The symptoms include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps though some strains can also cause infection in the bladder and urinary tract, the blood stream, joints and the nervous system(spinal fluid and brain). Severe disease can develop causing up to and including death. Each year, about 1.35 million people get sick from salmonella and roughly 26,500 people are hospitalized. While the number of deaths are relatively low, around 400 per year, the number of people left with debilitating conditions like severe arthritis and IBS is much higher.

The current outbreak is tied to chicken and the CDC have claimed that this particular outbreak is over. The facts unfortunately seem to show that cases of infection are still ongoing and may even be growing. This strain of salmonella has also been very resistant to the usual types of antibiotics salmonella is normally treated with and is known as Infantis Pattern 1080. A detailed report of the development of this outbreak was documented by ProPublica and will be linked to this article below. 

In this country, our main regulatory body for Food Safety, the USDA, has the ability to monitor and check for salmonella in a population of chickens and to even note if the level of the bacteria is above their health regulation but, they don’t have the power to do much more beyond engaging with shareholders and encouraging a reduction of violations for the public good. Beyond that they can take legal action against a company and perhaps fine the company but their enforcement power is pretty limited when it comes to outbreaks like this one. The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that it will be “mobilizing a stronger, and more comprehensive effort to reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products.” Their current goal is to “support future action” and move closer to the national target of a 25% reduction in salmonella illnesses. They’ve admitted in a press release this past month that their current policies are not working and it may be time to rethink their approach. 

The inability to control this growing problem in the poultry industry is startling and disappointing but there are things we can do as a consumer to safeguard ourselves and our families. Some guidelines you can follow at home include isolating your raw meat during food preparations and washing your hands often when you prepare any raw meat. Also, cook your meat until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 165F throughout but especially in the largest, thickest parts of the meat. Also, check the Salmonella rates of the plants that source your chicken. We are including a resource for that last step below. While you never know the state of the kitchen when you eat out, it’s also a good idea to check the inspection ratings of your favorite dinner spots. Lastly, as always, if you know or find a local chicken farmer or responsibly sourced butcher shop, support them with your business! Chances are you will have a much easier time talking to them about their health practices than gaining traction with a commercial plant.

Resources:

https://www.propublica.org/article/salmonella-chicken-usda-food-safety#

https://projects.propublica.org/chicken/

https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/10/19/usda-launches-new-effort-reduce-salmonella-illnesses-linked-poultry 

Listen to this episode:

Food Brands and the Illusion of Limitless Choices

Fig. 1.1 Oxfam Food Brands Visual Wheel

You’ve likely heard the term Big Pharma to refer to the pharmaceutical industry as a whole, but have you heard of Big Food? Many haven’t but when you look into who makes your favorite brands and who owns them, you might be surprised to find that you often come up with the same 11 names. The somewhat obscured truth is that most of today’s food market is owned by a handful of mega sized corporations! You will almost certainly recognize the names that make up big food but few realize the overwhelming reach of each company 

For example, you walk into a grocery store to buy a drink and decide to go with a healthier choice so you pick up a Smartwater instead. Would you be surprised to find that you are still buying a Coca-Cola product? Maybe not but perhaps you would find it interesting that Coca-Cola makes Dasani and Vitamin water, too. Interesting when each of those companies claims to value different things in an effort to encourage the consumer to buy one over the other.  If you are a new parent, you may have done quite a bit of research on picking the best diaper for your child. Luvs and Pampers are two of the leading brands and a 30 second search will yield a dozen articles giving you all the reasons you should pick one over the other. The material sourcing, the company’s reputation, the environmentally responsible practices of one versus the other. You probably guessed it but yes, they are owned by the same umbrella company. The same with Oral B and Crest or Gain and Bounce. In fact, all six of the brands just mentioned are made by the same Big Food player, P&G. 

So, what’s the problem with the market being dominated by a few big brands when we, the consumers, seem to still be getting exactly what we want? First, you might have seen a simple but important problem with these examples which is the illusion of getting a deal or a better quality product when you compare between two brands you thought were in direct competition. Take away that element and there is nothing driving up the standard of production or ensuring that we are getting a fair price. If one company is setting the cheaper option’s price and the more expensive option’s price, then the whole range is nothing more than a constructed illusion devised to give us the appearance of a bargain. Additionally, it removes the balance of competition which prevents one company from setting prices that are ridiculously high for a specific item. Another issue is that it is harder for the consumer or even a large group of consumers to hold a company accountable for producing a low quality product when it is setting the industry standard. Only buying a certain type of product might influence one of the Big Food monsters to produce more of the more popular items but you will barely be affecting their bottom line. 

So what can the consumer do to push back against these monster companies? First, shop for as much as you can outside of these beasts of commerce. Shop as locally as you can and for everything else, don’t be swayed by the comparison of the brands but buy the quality you need and pay less attention to who appears to make it. Get what you need and don’t buy into the illusion! 

If you’d like to learn more about a specific brand and how they are doing with their global, ethical responsibility, here is one resource you can use!