In US, plant-based diet easier than ever, even at Thanksgiving

Yahoo – AFP, Bob Chiarito, November 26, 2019

US President Donald Trump will "pardon" turkeys Bread and Butter (seen here)
before Thanksgiving, but some Americans do not eat turkey at all on the holiday,
preferring to embrace plant-based diets (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Chicago (AFP) - When Elysabeth Alfano hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for 12 next week at her home in Los Angeles, the menu will be traditional -- with a few key changes that were all but impossible just a decade ago.

For dessert, she'll have the staples that feature on nearly every American dinner table -- pumpkin and apple pie. And the huge number of vegetable side dishes are not unusual.

But the "turkey" -- the centerpiece of the meal -- will be a vegan-stuffed breast made of chickpeas, wheat gluten, tomato paste, mushroom broth, seasonings and red wine.

Her main dish reflects a shift in eating habits in the United States: there are an increasing number of Americans choosing a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. But they're calling it something else.

While still only around three percent of Americans identify as vegan and six percent identify as vegetarians, more and more offerings are being marketed as "plant-based" -- a term which food industry watchers say is more palatable to all.

"Veganism is often linked with some sort of deprivation," explains Michael Robbins, spokesman for the three-year-old Plant Based Foods Association, which represents more than 100 companies including food giants like the Campbell Soup Company.

Pumpkin pies are part of a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but some Americans 

are changing up their menus to accommodate their plant-based diets (AFP Photo/

Olivier DOULIERY)

"Plant-based is generally associated with the general benefits of eating plants" and "has been shown in research to have a greater acceptance to a broader set of consumers," he told AFP.

Indeed, nothing is more mainstream in America than fast food, and the giants are all in -- Burger King is serving meatless Impossible Whoppers, and McDonald's is test-marketing its plant-based burger.

"Just as the horse and buggy gave way to the car and the typewriter gave way to the computer, we are seeing more and more people go plant-based," says Alfano, a chef, coach and lifestyle expert.

"In the first half of 2019, 248 million plant-based burgers were sold, 95 percent of which were bought by meat-eaters. The meat-eaters are the largest segment incorporating plant-based."

Diet vs lifestyle

For decades in America, veganism has been linked to a way of life that transcends food choices.

Practitioners often don't only refuse to consume any animal-based products -- they also don't wear clothes made from animal products like wool or leather.

Eating vegetarian or vegan has become a lot easier in the United States 

in recent years (AFP Photo/Olivier DOULIERY)

Devotees of plant-based diets are generally all about the food, but they are happy to embrace the ethical debate as well, within reason.

Chicago-based artist Tammy Kohl grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin but has gradually shifted her diet, which has been completely plant-based for a year.

"To keep weight off by taking dairy out of my diet made sense. I did vegan cleanses and felt great and that inspired me," said Kohl, who added that anti-animal cruelty efforts made cutting out meat easier.

But she noted: "I still wear leather. If you own leather, you might as well wear it."

Holiday options

Jean Johnson, a sales consultant from Colorado, converted to a plant-based diet for health reasons and shies away from the term "vegan," which she says conjures up an image to which she does not subscribe.

On Thanksgiving, she says she'll stick to eating vegetable side dishes at a friend's home -- and isn't all that worried if she happens to inadvertently consume animal products.

"I'm not so OCD about it where you can't put any butter in the mashed potatoes -- it's such a small portion," Johnson said.

Tofu may feature on some Thanksgiving menus in the United States

(AFP Photo/Olivier DOULIERY)

Alfano, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Chicago, went completely vegan in 2016.

Her Thanksgiving plans are proof positive that the stigma which once surrounded non-carnivores, especially on traditional American holidays, is slowly fading away.

"What we have now that we didn't have 10 years ago is good taste. We have convenience and we have price," she says.

Kohl said she will celebrate the holiday with some relatives who raise beef cattle -- a profession that hardly aligns with her veganism. But another family member is a vegetarian, and everyone gets along.

"I usually bring my own plate and very quietly fill it up," Kohl said. "I'm not one of those preachy vegans."

Fad or trend here to stay?

Johnson believes that her plant-based diet helped her beat cancer, and she identifies another benefit of plant-based diets these days -- she has seen her grocery bills plummet.

Different takes on plant-based burgers are even being offered at the nation's

largest fast food chains such as Burger King (AFP Photo/ERIC BARADAT)

"Meat and dairy, that's not cheap stuff, whereas rice and beans, lentils and potatoes are cheap,” Johnson said.

Alfano agreed, saying it would also help Americans save money if healthier eating meant they could stop taking certain medications such as those to control cholesterol.

"It's really expensive to be sick. If you can get off the pills, you'll really be saving money," she said.

Of course, meat producers are hardly on board for all this, but they're not really worried either.

Hillary Makens, director of media relations for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said vegans and vegetarians constitute a tiny portion of the US market, and her industry has bigger concerns.

"The beef industry has been competing against other proteins for a long time. When you think of chicken, pork, beans, peanut butter, all types of protein, it's not really a new thing." Makens said.

However, consumer research company Mintel said the number of new US food and drink products that mentioned "plant-based" grew 268 percent between 2012 and 2018.

Additionally, in a May 2019 report, Mintel said 38 percent of US consumers report trying to incorporate more plant-based items into their diet.

"Rarely in life do you ever get a triple winner -- where one thing positively effects your health, positively effects your wallet, positively effects the environment and the planet," Alfano says.

US meat producers want a slice of vegan market

Yahoo – AFP, Juliette MICHEL, November 24, 2019

Agri-business giants are branching out with plant-based meat alternatives to
try to capitalize on the new trend (AFP Photo/Angela Weiss)

New York (AFP) - The growing craze for vegetarian versions of juicy burgers and sausages has created such a buzz that even traditional meat producers are trying to get in on the action.

The big players are trying to capitalize on the success of products from companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger.

JBS, the world's largest beef producer, has been marketing a soy burger in Brazil since the summer, which contains beets, garlic and onions and is similar to a rare ground beef.

The largest US meat producer, Tyson Foods, in June launched a new line of plant-based proteins and meat-vegetable blends called "Raised & Rooted."

And competitors Hormel Foods, Perdue Farms and Smithfield have unveiled similar initiatives to take a slice out of this new market.

"Our food culture is changing at a rapid pace," said Bryan Kreske, brand manager at Hormel Foods.

There is an "increasing curiosity and motivation to try great-tasting, alternative protein sources like plant-based proteins while decreasing their consumption of animal-based protein."

Regardless of whether it is the start of a new trend, or a passing fancy, the agri-food giants do not want to miss the opportunity.

Rather than target vegetarians, they are going after the 95 percent of consumers who eat meat.

But unlike the upstart alternative meat companies, which cite the carbon footprint of raising cows and other livestock, traditional players have a harder time using environmental or animal rights arguments to promote their products.

Instead they often focus on health benefits.

"It's more about our clients wanting to get more plants and vegetables into their diet and less about reducing meat consumption," said Eric Christianson, marketing manager at Perdue.

Best known for its chicken, Perdue in September released their "Chicken Plus" products, which include kid-friendly nuggets, made of a mix of chicken, chickpeas and cauliflower -- which they say is perfect for parents trying to get their kids to eat vegetables.

Beyond Meat "Beyond Burger" patties are one of the options for plant-based proteins, 

which now include chicken, shrimp and sausage alternatives (AFP Photo/Angela Weiss)

The company is betting big on this new product: earmarking half of its 2020 marketing budget to promoting it, spending especially heavily in January, "when people are really going to be in the mood to eat healthy," Christianson said.

'Plant curious' consumer

Soy burgers have been around for decades. But Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger have been working for the last 10 years to create products that are closer to the taste, texture and flavor of real meat, thanks to ingredients such as beets.

These products jumped into the headlines this year with their introduction in fast food chains, such as Burger King's Impossible Burger, and with Beyond Meat's spectacular Wall Street debut.

Traditional meat producers quickly jumped on the bandwagon.

At Hormel, the Happy Little Plants brand "moved swiftly from a conceptual idea rooted in the 'plant curious' consumer... to a commercially viable product line in just under 13 weeks," Kreske said.

But while these meat producers have no plans to abandon their main business, Impossible Foods says its mission is to replace animal proteins in the food system by 2035.

That might be overly optimistic. In the market for milk alternatives, plant-based drinks such as soy or almond milk make up just 13 percent of sales.

"For dairy, there's really a health reason" to not consume milk products, including allergies, said Perdue's Christianson.

But for meat, "it becomes more of a lifestyle choice to eat healthier."

Still, the alternative meat segment could become "significant," he said.

Robert Martin, who specializes in food policies at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, said the traditional producers are entering the plant-based meat market "in their own economic self-interest," so they do not lose market share.

He called the trend "troubling" and cautioned "it could have the side effect of stifling innovation and competition."

Even so, he views any plant-based alternative as "a positive step," adding that bigger players can bring "economies of scale" to producing these plant-based products, therefore reducing prices.

"They quit talking about themselves as meat companies, they now call themselves a protein company," Martin said.

Related Article:

Vegetarian Butcher to supply 2,500 Burger Kings with meat-free patties

Vegetarian Butcher to supply 2,500 Burger Kings with meat-free patties

DutchNews, November 12, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Dutch meat substitute company The Vegetarian Butcher has won a contract to supply burgers to Burger King in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. 

The Utrecht-based company, founded in 2007, was bought by Unilever at the end of last year and will now provide the protein for the Rebel Whopper in 2,500 Burger King outlets from Tuesday. 

Financial details were not disclosed. 

In the US, Burger King’s vegetarian burgers are provided by Impossible Foods which, according to the Financial Times, is still working to clear its products for sale in Europe. 

Main rival McDonalds works with new market entrant Beyond Meat

US fast-food giant Burger King launches its meatless burger in Europe, hoping to capture a substantial slice of a growing market https://t.co/z0C4TZJVtS

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 12 november 2019

Do Kraft Heinz's travails signal a reckoning in US food?

Yahoo – AFP, John BIERS, March 10, 2019

As Campbell Soup turns 150, the company is having to rethink the business of soup
due in part to competition from private label companies. (AFP Photo/Jerod Harris)

New York (AFP) - Buffeted by rising consumer taste for fresh ingredients, competition from upstarts and a tricky retail environment, 150-year-old Campbell Soup now finds itself having to rethink the business of soup.

It is a similar tale at Kraft, whose once-popular yellow and white cheese singles are no longer ubiquitous. And at Kellogg, which has seen demand for cereal go soft.

As the travails of these and other companies show, iconic brands that dominated 20th century American supermarkets are having a much tougher time in the Amazon-Whole Foods era.

Kraft Heinz last month announced a steep annual loss following a $15.4 billion asset impairment, partly from writing down the value of the Oscar Mayer and Kraft trademarks.

Some experts see a broader reckoning in the American food industry akin to the shakeout in other sectors, though technology is not really the main culprit in this case.

Many of Kraft Heinz's products are "geriatric brands" that were "created in the early or mid-20th century, at a time when consumers aspired to eat 'American food' and advertising reached almost everyone through television," said Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, author of "Combat-Ready Kitchen," a history of processed foods.

By contrast, today's consumers are more ethnically diverse, health-conscious and food-adventurous, she said, adding that many of the older brands will see market share fall further or disappear entirely.

A huge write-down by Kraft Heinz has sparked questions about a reckoning in

the broader US food business. (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

Saved by treats, snacks

The industry's response thus far has included healthier options that are low-fat, low-sodium or gluten-free items. There are also more flavors of flagship products, with Special K breakfast cereal now available in vanilla and almond as well as blueberry with lemon clusters, among other options.

But these efforts have not reversed the trend.

Major food companies also have popular cookie and snack products that can make up for weakness in other products, although the industry's overall record with consolidation is mixed.

Campbell Soup, which has faced pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb, has offset weakness in soup with solid Pepperidge Farm sales.

The company acquired Pepperidge Farm, known for Milano cookies and Goldfish crackers, in 1961.

But Campbell Soup last year wrote down $748 million mostly on a 2011 acquisition of Bolthouse Farms' refrigerated salad dressings, carrots and other fresh foods it now plans to divest.

Soups, meanwhile, remain challenged, suffering lower US sales in 2018.

Campbell's blamed the decline on the change in promotion strategy by a major retail customer and said retail sector consolidation and the rise of private label competitors could further affect sales, according to a securities filing.

General Mills, maker of Haagen-Dazs, paid $8 billion for a pet food company, 

raising eyebrows (AFP Photo/Denis Charlet)

Campbell's new Chief Executive Mark Clouse said last month he was still developing a strategy for turning around soups but that a "much more holistic and comprehensive" approach was needed.

Targeting Rover

At General Mills, which announced a $193 million write down last year on Progresso soups and two other brands, part of the strategy is to diversify.

Last year, General Mills, which makes Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and Haagen-Dazs ice cream, bought natural pet food company Blue Buffalo for $8 billion, a sum that raised eyebrows with some analysts.

Chief Executive Jeffrey Harmening gave a bullish outlook on the brand during a recent conference call, highlighting wet pet food and treats as two growth areas that have high profit margins.

Treats "are just pet food speak for snacking and we see snacking can trend in human food and we see it in Pet the same way," Harmening said, calling the dynamic the "humanization of pet food."

Times change: In an earlier era, now disgraced actor Bill Cosby marketed Jell-O 

gelatin, a product of Kraft Heinz, which recently announced a big 2018 loss (AFP Photo/

Michael Buckner)

Whither Miracle Whip?

But the dangers of acquisitions were underscored with Kraft Heinz, which shareholder Warren Buffett has said was a case of spending too much.

Baruch Lev, an accounting professor at New York University, said big mergers like Kraft Heinz usually underperformed, undermining the logic of further deal-making by the company.

Daniel Binns, chief executive of Interbrand NY, said some of Kraft Heinz's brands, such as pasta sauce Classico or Philadelphia cream cheese can be successfully updated, while others, such as Jell-O or Miracle Whip sauce, could fade further.

"It's so rooted in another era," he said. "You're not going to create a Miracle Whip for the 21st Century that's going to appeal to the farm-to-table consumer."

But Moody's analyst Brian Weddington predicts leading food companies will adapt to changing consumer needs over time, adding that established brands still have credibility.

"Brands like these still resonate with the core consumer," he said.

"There's no question that more consumers are looking for premium or fresher products, but there will always be a very large market for products that give you consistency and value as well. Everyone can't afford organic products."

Menus with calorie counts now a must in US as Obama-era rule takes effect

Yahoo – AFP, May 7, 2018

The US government now requires thousands of American restaurants and stores
to post nutritional information in a bid to combat obesity (AFP Photo/DON EMMERT)

Washington (AFP) - An Obama-era rule requiring thousands of US restaurants, stores and movie theaters to post nutritional information for items on their menus kicked in Monday, reminding Americans they are what they eat.

The calorie-labeling rules were a controversial provision of former president Barack Obama's signature 2010 health care law -- which President Donald Trump has pushed to dismantle -- and their implementation has been postponed several times.

But the Food and Drug Administration announced last year it would press ahead with the regulation, which requires chains with 20 or more locations as well as grocery stores and convenience chains to post calorie counts for standard menu items.

Many major restaurant chains like McDonald's and Taco Bell are already complying with the rule, but the federal government will now require it.

"National menu labeling could help make a big difference in America's obesity rates, one of our most vexing public health challenges," wrote FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, citing research that menu labeling prompts consumers to order 30 to 50 calories less per visit.

A number of public health advocacy groups as well as the National Restaurant Association have lauded the move, but some industry organizations have lampooned it as inflexible and anti-business.

"Regrettably, FDA's one-size-fits-all approach demonstrates a stunning lack of understanding about consumer preferences and the pizza category," said Tim McIntyre, chair of the American Pizza Community, a coalition of pizza chains.

"Pizza's unique ordering variations create countless combinations making it difficult to accurately deliver information on printed menu boards and costly to maintain," he said in a statement.

But Gottlieb emphasized that the FDA has "worked hard to make sure this new rule can be implemented in a way where the information will be maximally beneficial to consumers and the new requirements will be minimally burdensome to restaurants and retail establishments."

"Firms won't need to deal with a patchwork of different requirements for calorie labeling across the country," he added.

Posters, billboards and coupon mailings are exempted, and supermarkets and convenience stores do not have to post calorie information next to each item in self-service buffets and drink stations, Gottlieb said last November.

More than a third of Americans are obese, putting them at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.

Study suggests link between ultra-processed foods, cancer

Yahoo – AFP, 15 February 2018

Scientists suggested on Thursday a link between cancer and "ultra-processed" foods

Scientists suggested on Thursday a link between cancer and "ultra-processed" foods such as cookies, fizzy drinks and sugary cereals, though outside experts cautioned against reading too much into the study results.

Researchers from France and Brazil used data from nearly 105,000 French adults who completed online questionnaires detailing their intake of 3,300 different food items.

This was compared to cases of diagnosed cancer among the group.

"The results show that a 10-percent increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with increases of 12 percent in the risk of overall cancer and 11 percent in the risk of breast cancer," said a press statement from The BMJ which published the research.

No significant association was found for prostate or colorectal cancer.

Foods on the list included packaged breads, buns, pizzas and cakes, crisps, industrially-produced desserts, sodas, fish and chicken nuggets, instant noodles and soups, and frozen ready meals.

Previous research had linked processed foods high in sugar, fat, and salt to obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but firm evidence for increased disease risk has been "scarce", the team said.

They stressed their research showed no more than a correlation between a diet high in ultra-processed foods and cancer. This could be coincidental, and does not prove conclusively that these types of food actively cause cancer.

Ian Johnson, a nutrition researcher from the Quadram Institute Bioscience in England, said the authors identified "some rather weak associations, of low statistical significance."

"The problem is that the definition of ultra-processed foods they have used is so broad and poorly defined that it is impossible to decide exactly what, if any, causal connections have been observed," he said in comments via the Science Media Centre.

Tom Sanders of the King's College London agreed that the term "ultra-processed food" was "difficult to define".

"The definition excludes many home-made or artisanal foods such as bread, cakes, biscuits, butter, meat, cheese, tinned fruit and vegetables as well as sugar and salt used in domestic food preparation," he said.

"From a nutritional standpoint, this classification seems arbitrary and based on the premise that food produced industrially has a different nutritional and chemical composition from that produced in the home or by artisans. This is not the case."

Related Articles:

Non-stick chemicals common in fast food packaging: study

Kryon Q&A

(13) Question: Dear Kryon, I’m very concerned about the obesity epidemic, particularly in the U.S. Around me I see people getting bigger and more unhealthy, all for the sake of convenience and saving time. You mentioned at one point a famine, and I suspect the famine won’t be from a lack of food, but from an abundance of food that has no nutritional value.

I wonder how we can honor the Earth by eating nothing that comes straight from it? Of course this involves caring for the lands and oceans as part of a bigger issue and making that connection, too. Is this what it will finally take for people to switch to a healthier way of living?

Its amazing how detached people are from the food they eat. We don’t even honor our digestive processes, the way we combine foods. Whatever happened to nutrition? Atkins is no solution; there is no balance in it. Gastric bypass is all about quantity reduction, not quality increase. When will people make the direct connection between what/how they eat and their health? Is a change in diet and lifestyle part of the upcoming shift?

Answer: The shift has little to do with it. It’s a culture-specific problem and has to do with consciousness of health. Go study the cultures on your planet that have very few overweight Humans. Start with the Japanese. They have some of the same western work ethics and live in very sophisticated industrial-based environments. Yet they aren’t overweight. It’s about the core food groups and the combination of them.

(39) Question: Dear Kryon: I've noticed how many children are developing severe allergies to foods (my daughter included). When I've researched this, it seems that most of the allergies are essentially to seeds, grains, legumes, eggs, and dairy. I've noticed that these foods all hold the potential for life, or in the case of dairy, are essentially used to sustain the first stages of life in an animal's baby. My feeling is that because we're not releasing the life force within these foods (that is, sprouting, etc.), they're becoming harmful to us. I would like your impressions of this.

Answer: For thousands of years, these foods have worked for humanity. In these cases you speak about, the main culprit continues to be the way in which these foods are collected and processed. You won't find these allergies in third-world countries, and you won't find them within the children who work on farms, where they eat the foods directly. There will eventually have to come a day when you relax some of your efficiency attributes and go back to the way food was meant to be collected and eaten. And yes... there are effects from how the dairy animals are treated, too. Going back to some basics will help, and so will eliminating some of the procedures that supposedly create a "safer food." These procedures have instead made them begin to look like foreign food to the Human body.

(15) Question: Dear Kryon, please help us understand the increase of allergies. What can we do to heal this phenomenon?

Answer: Reduce the steps in your food chain, which are adding chemistry to fresh food.

McDonalds to limit use of antibiotics in chicken supply

Yahoo – AFP, August 24, 2017

Scientists have for decades argued there is a link between antibiotic use in animals and
the loss of effectiveness of these drugs in human medicine (AFP Photo/MIRA OBERMAN)

New York (AFP) - McDonalds says it will start globally rolling back use of antibiotics in its chicken products from 2018 as part of efforts to curb microbial resistance to drugs and the rise of superbugs.

The decision follows a similar move undertaken in the US market in 2016.

It applies to drugs that are also used in human medicine, called Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials (HPCIA) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Starting in 2018, we will begin implementing a new broiler chicken antibiotics policy in markets around the world," the company said in a statement issued Wednesday.

By 2018, HPCIAs will be eliminated in broiler chicken for the Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the US, and Europe. An exception will be made for the antibiotic colistin for Europe only.

The policy will be extended for Australia and Russia by the end of 2019, when the colistin exception for Europe will be made phased out.

It will be fully implemented globally by January 2027, although the firm said: "Our goal is to have this policy implemented before this date."

Scientists have for decades argued there is a link between antibiotic use in animals and the dwindling effectiveness of these drugs in human medicine.

Industrial-scale poultry farmers often use antibiotics not to treat outbreaks of disease in their flocks but to prevent it from occurring.

Some also use the drugs to help birds gain weight more quickly. Certain antibiotics destroy bacteria in the gut, which means that the chicken can convert feed to muscle faster.

Among humans, causes of resistance include the overprescription of antibiotics and patients failing to take the correct dosage, which allows a residual population of germs to survive and rebound.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least two million people in the US become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics every year, leading to 23,000 deaths.

According to some estimates, drug-resistant bacteria may within decades be causing more deaths than cancer.

The US Consumers Union, a non-profit advocacy group, hailed the decision.

"The widespread use of antibiotics on livestock that aren't sick is contributing to a global public health crisis with potentially dire consequences," said Jean Halloran, director of the organization's food policy initiatives.

She added: "We commend McDonald's for setting these goals and urge all fast food chains to use their market clout to protect public health before it's too late."

The WHO's list of HCIAs falls into five categories: quinolones; third-generation cephalosporins; macrolides and ketolides; glycopeptides; and polymyxins.

These drugs are notably frontline medications in the fight against salmonella, enterobacter and E. coli infections.

Non-stick chemicals common in fast food packaging: study

Yahoo – AFP, February 1, 2017

Burgers, fries, tacos and pastries come wrapped in grease-proof paper and boxes
that often contain non-stick chemicals that may be able to leach into food,
US researchers said (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Miami (AFP) - Burgers, fries, tacos and pastries come wrapped in grease-proof paper and boxes that often contain non-stick chemicals that may be able to leach into food, US researchers said Wednesday.

The study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters tested more than 400 samples from 27 fast food chains in the United States.

Almost half of paper wrappers and 20 percent of paperboard samples -- such as boxes for fries and pizza -- contained fluorine, a marker for highly fluorinated chemicals used in stain-resistant carpets, non-stick cookware and waterproof outdoor apparel.

"Wrappers for Tex-Mex food, desserts and breads were the most likely to contain fluorine," said the report.

The study did not show any specific harm to human health from exposure to these chemicals -- known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) -- in food wrappers.

But researchers warned that exposure to some PFASs has been associated with cancer, thyroid disease, immune suppression, low birth weight, and decreased fertility according to prior studies.

"These chemicals have been linked with numerous health problems, so it's concerning that people are potentially exposed to them in food," said lead author Laurel Schaider, an environmental chemist at the Silent Spring Institute.

"Children are especially at risk for health effects because their developing bodies are more vulnerable to toxic chemicals."

Six of the samples contained a long-chain PFAS called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8, even though several major US manufacturers agreed to stopping using C8 compounds in food packaging due to health hazards, after a 2011 US Food and Drug Administration review.

Researchers also detected some shorter-chain PFAS compounds, which have been increasingly used as replacements for the longer chain PFASs.

"The replacement compounds are equally persistent and have not been shown to be safe for human health," said co-author Arlene Blum, founder of the Green Science Policy Institute.

"That's why we need to reduce the use of the entire class of highly fluorinated compounds. The good news is there are non-fluorinated alternatives available."

About one in three American kids eat fast food every day.

The United States began phasing out certain PFASs in 2000, but other countries still produce them, and they tend to linger in the environment for long periods after being discarded in landfills.

Prior studies have shown that substances in food packaging can migrate into food.

Related Articles:

Kryon Q&A

(13) Question: Dear Kryon, I’m very concerned about the obesity epidemic, particularly in the U.S. Around me I see people getting bigger and more unhealthy, all for the sake of convenience and saving time. You mentioned at one point a famine, and I suspect the famine won’t be from a lack of food, but from an abundance of food that has no nutritional value.

I wonder how we can honor the Earth by eating nothing that comes straight from it? Of course this involves caring for the lands and oceans as part of a bigger issue and making that connection, too. Is this what it will finally take for people to switch to a healthier way of living?

Its amazing how detached people are from the food they eat. We don’t even honor our digestive processes, the way we combine foods. Whatever happened to nutrition? Atkins is no solution; there is no balance in it. Gastric bypass is all about quantity reduction, not quality increase. When will people make the direct connection between what/how they eat and their health? Is a change in diet and lifestyle part of the upcoming shift?

Answer: The shift has little to do with it. It’s a culture-specific problem and has to do with consciousness of health. Go study the cultures on your planet that have very few overweight Humans. Start with the Japanese. They have some of the same western work ethics and live in very sophisticated industrial-based environments. Yet they aren’t overweight. It’s about the core food groups and the combination of them.

(39) Question: Dear Kryon: I've noticed how many children are developing severe allergies to foods (my daughter included). When I've researched this, it seems that most of the allergies are essentially to seeds, grains, legumes, eggs, and dairy. I've noticed that these foods all hold the potential for life, or in the case of dairy, are essentially used to sustain the first stages of life in an animal's baby. My feeling is that because we're not releasing the life force within these foods (that is, sprouting, etc.), they're becoming harmful to us. I would like your impressions of this.

Answer: For thousands of years, these foods have worked for humanity. In these cases you speak about, the main culprit continues to be the way in which these foods are collected and processed. You won't find these allergies in third-world countries, and you won't find them within the children who work on farms, where they eat the foods directly. There will eventually have to come a day when you relax some of your efficiency attributes and go back to the way food was meant to be collected and eaten. And yes... there are effects from how the dairy animals are treated, too. Going back to some basics will help, and so will eliminating some of the procedures that supposedly create a "safer food." These procedures have instead made them begin to look like foreign food to the Human body.

(15) Question: Dear Kryon, please help us understand the increase of allergies. What can we do to heal this phenomenon?

Answer: Reduce the steps in your food chain, which are adding chemistry to fresh food.