There’s a lot you might not know about what really goes on at big snack food companies. Source: Supplied
FOOD, glorious food. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry we’re all obsessed with. But how much do we really know about what we shove in our mouths? Here are 10 things the big snack food companies aren’t telling you:
1. They spend big bucks to reach your kids
The growing prevalence of obesity, diabetes and other food-related health problems has arguably made us more aware of what we eat. But the snack-food industry remains a major economic force. Over the past five years, the industry has grown at an average annual rate of 3.8 per cent and it will rake in an estimated $36.7 billion in sales this year, according to research firm IBISWorld. In Australia its worth around $3.3 billion annually and employs more than 7000 people with annual growth of 2.2 per cent.
MORE: What’s really in your hot dog?
One key to snack food makers’ success: Ubiquitous and effective marketing — especially in campaigns aimed at children. Nearly $2 billion a year is spent marketing to children in the US alone, with $1 billion of that directed to children ages 2 to 11 and the rest to adolescents ages 12 to 17.
Research suggests that these messages work. A study published in 2012 in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that for every hour of television that children watch, they are 18 per cent more likely to eat candy and 14 per cent more likely to eat fast food (and interestingly, also 8 per cent less likely to eat fruit).
It’s no coincidence snack food companies schedule their ads during family friendly programs. Source: Supplied
2. Their ingredients have a big ick factor …
Consumers often don’t realise what’s in their snacks — and sometimes those ingredients are rather unsavoury. One ingredient that’s surprisingly common: The carcasses of ground-up, boiled beetles, which are often used to create those lovely shades of red, purple and pink in fruit juice, ice cream and candy.
“It’s a common colourant,” physician James Baldwin explains. In rare cases, the crushed beetles can cause anaphylactic shock — but in general, they’ve been approved and deemed safe for use in foods. That said, you won’t find the word “beetle” anywhere on food labels; instead, you’ll likely see the less cringe-worthy “carminic acid” or “cochineal extract.”
MORE: What your biscuit says about you
And the beetle remains are big business. Peru, the largest exporter of cochineal extract in the world, produced more than one million pounds of the dyestuff last year, substantially more than it did a few years back, according to historian Amy Butler Greenfield, the author of “A Perfect Red,” which examines the history of the product.
Beetles aren’t the only I-dare-you-to-eat-that items you may have unknowingly noshed on. Vanilla-flavoured snacks like cookies and cakes are sometimes flavoured with castoreum, a secretion from a beaver’s behind (technically, from a sac near his anus called the castor sac), explains nutritionist Mira Calton, the co-author of “Rich Food Poor Food.”
You don’t even want to think about what’s producing that gorgeous red velvet. Source: Supplied
3. … and some are banned in other countries
Some ingredients commonly found in snack foods are banned in certain countries — where health advocates have persuaded regulators that they’re potentially harmful.
Azodicarbonamide, or ADA, is found in roughly 500 packaged foods made by more than 130 brands, according to the Environmental Working Group, a food-safety and environmental advocacy organisation.
Food makers use ADA in snack foods like cupcakes, biscuits and crackers to improve their texture — but it’s also used in yoga mats, flip-flops and other plastic products. The product is banned in Australia and the European Union but is legal in the US. Sandwich giant Subway announced plans to remove it from their bread in the US earlier this year after a campaign from a food blogger.
Food in some parts of the world contains the same chemicals as yoga mats and thongs. Source: News Limited
4. Expiration date? Who cares?
We’ve all laughed over the urban legend that a McDonald’s cheeseburger will stay fresh forever. Turns out, that’s not so far-fetched. Highly processed foods can remain edible well beyond the expiration date on the package, says Karen Duester, president of the Food Consulting Company, which advises companies on food labels.
In fact, if the product is well-sealed, kept away from light, and has a low-fat and dairy content, it could last for years. That’s particularly true for canned and bottled snacks and foods. Foods like highly processed crackers and biscuits (put them in the toaster if they seem stale) or fizzy drink could last far past posted expiration dates.
“Best by” dates are provided voluntarily by the manufacturer. Why do they even bother? It encourages retailers to restock — and reorder — the product more often, says Duester. Plus, an expiration date pegged to, say, 2018 isn’t exactly appealing to customers.
Expiry? Whatever, one expert says it’s all a plot to get stores to order more products. Source: News Limited
5. Our factories could be filthy
Each year, thousands of people get sick, are hospitalised and even die from consuming contaminated foods and beverages. A number of these incidents are the result of filthy conditions in food manufacturing plants.
Snack foods aren’t immune to these problems. Peanut plants — whose products are used to make peanut butter and peanut- flavoured snacks — have been especially troubled lately, with two major factories in the US in the past two years facing legal problems and shutdowns related to salmonella outbreaks and unsanitary conditions.
6. ‘Caution: Contains arsenic’
Extensive exposure to arsenic has been linked to cancers of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidneys, nasal passages, liver and prostate. But few people realise that the substance can be found in many snacks, even some considered healthy.
The toxin, which occurs naturally, is absorbed by plants from soil and water. It is present in trace amounts in many grains, fruits and vegetables, but it appears in particularly high levels in rice — which is replacing wheat in some snacks as manufacturers offer more gluten-free options.
All natural? Don’t be so sure about that. Source: News Limited
7. That energy bar may exhaust you
Ads for energy bars often feature athletes in top shape. With brand names that evoke strength, well-being, and the great outdoors, the products cultivate what food experts call “a health halo.”
But read the ingredients list, and many popular energy bars start to look anything but healthy — and instead look more like garden-variety chocolate bars. They often contain ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and fructose — all sugars — plus chocolate, rice crispies and caramel. “They are highly-engineered sugar delivery systems,” says Dr Sean C. Lucan at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Eating such a snack is likely to give you the kind of immediate burst of energy — also known as a sugar rush — that you’d get from a candy bar. And then you’ll crash, often feeling more tired than before you ate the bar, Lucan says. (And maybe you’ll reach for another energy bar.)
After all the sugar and chocolate, you might as well just have a Twix. Source: Supplied
8. ‘Natural’ is naturally meaningless
Varied interpretations of what is ‘natural’ mean the word has essentially lost all meaning.
Often you’ll see the term “natural flavour” on your snack package, but it doesn’t actually mean “directly from nature.” Chemicals produced in laboratories are more likely responsible for the flavour, Lucan says. “While the same chemical compounds may be found in nature, the ones that end up in your food usually come from a chemical plant — not a living plant,” he says.
Still, natural sells, since many consumers these days are willing to pay a higher price for foods they deem healthier.
Doritos aren’t kidding anyone with that shade of orange. Source: News Corp Australia
9. When we say ‘enriched,’ we mean processed
Snack foods like pretzels, biscuits and doughnuts often prominently advertise enriched wheat flour as an ingredient. But “enriched” isn’t necessarily good. The term means that vitamins and minerals have been added to the food, but usually only after they’ve first been removed.
The typical food manufacturer’s refining process strips some vitamins and minerals out of the food; enriching it puts back some of the nutrients that were stripped away. “Enrichment really ought to be called ‘partial restoration,’” says Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-advocacy organisation that focuses on health and nutrition. And although the enrichment process adds back nutrients like thiamine, niacin, riboflavin and iron, it doesn’t always add them back in the same amounts; it can also cut out a good deal of fibre, Jacobson says.
Enriched often means nutrients that have been stripped out are replaced. Source: News Corp Australia
10. You may be overpaying for chocolate.
Consumers’ love of all things chocolate isn’t disappearing. Global demand for the sweet stuff is rising, up 24 per cent in the US alone in the last four years.
While sweetmakers say rising sales are a result of high demand, grocers and other retailers have accused manufacturers of illegally colluding to keep chocolate prices high.
MORE: The major companies accused of price fixing
Since 2008, grocery chains and retailers have filed multiple lawsuits making that allegation. In the US, a federal judge in February dismissed grocers’ claims of price collusion. But in Canada, several manufacturers agreed last year to pay roughly $23 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging price-fixing. (The manufacturers have denied wrongdoing in both countries.)