What’s in a name….

….as consumers have become more health-conscious, the nation’s food producers have responded.  But not the way you may think.

Instead of making their products better, they’ve changed their labeling to make it seem better.  And the USDA, FDA and the rest of the government from the White House down have been their willing accomplices.  What we used to call “the natural food” sector, until Big Ag co-opted that term, too, is only an infinitesimal part of the total picture.  But it’s existence at any level is apparently considered a threat that the Big Guys and the Government (including our Virginia state government, by the way) are determined to stamp out.

There’s a new booklet out by Animal Welfare Approved entitled Food Labeling for Dummies that exposes some, but by no means all, of the deceptive labeling going on.  Here’s just one example:

“Let’s consider a package of meat labeled ‘All natural Angus beef.’  Looking at this label, you might assume that this cow has spent every day of her life on lush grass in beautiful countryside.  But the reality is that from six months of age it lived on a feedlot, where it was routinely treated with antibiotics.  It never saw another blade of grass for the remainder of its life and was fed a grain-based diet until the day it was slaughtered.

“To top it all, the cow actually had no real Angus heritage in the first place–she simply had a predominantly black hide, which is all that was needed to qualify the farmer to use this term.  In fact, the only true word in the ‘All natural Angus beef’ label is that it was beef.”

Actually, that may not be true either.  When you buy something labeled “Certified Angus Beef” at the store….or one of the Angus burgers at McDonald’s….you’re buying an amalgam of beef shipped in from all over the world and chopped together with fat scraps from something and spiced with hormones, antibiotics, and artificial flavoring and coloring.

And the government agencies that you and I pay to protect us think this is all just fine.

Incidentally, you can read “Food Labeling for Dummies” by going to www.animal-welfareapproved.org.