Fortified Foods

Food is just not food any longer. When I was a boy cereal was fortified with "essential" vitamins and minerals. There was even a cereal called Vitamin King! Many foods are now created with more than just taste in mind. Breads, juices and cereals, to name a few, all contain what their manufacturers hope will entice us; additives that are supposedly good for us. Much of these advertised benefits are not what they appear.

More foods now offer things like whole grains, fiber and calcium than ever before. The myriad of items that proclaim these health benefits are based upon two premises. One is that companies will increase sales as they cater to health-conscious consumers. Two is that people are not receiving these benefits as a part of their daily diet. It is true in many cases that we must get what we can wherever we can find it.

The question becomes whether or not these foods are truly beneficial? My wife has tried orange juice that contains large amounts of calcium. According to her it tasted weird. Much of the whole grain bread I have eaten has also tasted different due to its texture. A daily calcium pill is more than enough for most of us. Even though whole grain bread is healthier it really does not taste very good.

Differences in taste and texture aside some companies have gone too far. The FTC has cracked down on corporations that imply that certain health benefits are gained via the consumption of their products. Some have said that your cholesterol will be lowered or certain physical ailments will be reduced. There is no basis to claim that everyday food products will cure anything whatsoever.

The issue that the FTC has concerns food products that purport to act as medicine. Certain benefits that are implied on the box, in reality, can only be gained via a tablet prescribed by your doctor. To suggest that a consumable offers any miraculous health benefits hearkens back to days of yore and snake-oil salesmen. Offering pills, food or liniments that falsely claimed to "cure what ails 'ya" is the reason the pure food and drug act was enacted in the first place.

Do not kid yourself. Eating less fat, sugar, salt and calories are still the best routes to better health. Food producers, no matter how well-intentioned, will never create food that replaces what we should otherwise be giving to our bodies. Even if their food does offer some benefits there will always be purer sources that we should ingest. Manufacturers grab our attention with pretty words and pretty pictures. Dare to pull aside the curtain of deception and you will discover that snake-oil is only water. Remember though that sometimes even water can be poisonous.