Social & Economic Factors Affect Health: Processed Foods and how they effect our health

In the early 1900s processed foods became available. After WWII it was an era known as a

culture of convenience. Processed Foods was fast and required less preparation usually from the female of the household. This was portrayed to be a great thing because more and more women was entering the work force. Instead of being typical "Stay at home moms." Things like my favorite Oreo cookies, bread, Kool-Aid, popsicles, and Velveeta Cheese hit the market. Until the 1930s where people had to make due with whatever scrapes they had because of The Great Depression. This was when a man named Colonel Heartland Sanders created a blend for fried chicken known today as Kentucky Fried Chicken aka KFC. Other food chains began to pop up too. Like Dairy Queen and McDonalds.

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Processed Foods are any foods that are not in its natural state. Meaning that they have been mechanically or chemically altered. However the processed foods that I am referring to are those that have been chemically altered. Typically chemically altered processed foods has extra added ingredients like salt, sugar, fat, high fructose corn syrup, flour, corn starch, artificial flavors and or colors. This is nothing more than a chemical storm. Not to mention the main culprit of them all .................
When I think of processed foods. The first thing comes to mind is Genetically Modified Organism.
In America 95% of Sugar Beets, 88% of Corn, and 94% of Soybean contain traits of insect or herbicide resistance modified by the Monsanto Co. It all transpired after a scientist named Andrei Nikolaevich Belozersky first isolated DNA. There was a demand for more food. So scientist began to get creative and figure out ways to meet that demand. Fertilization and irrigation played a major role in making this possible. To create things faster than nature intended also has disadvantages too. Foods that are processed has a decreased amounts of nutrients in which they contain. This is due to the original food being striped so much of its initial content and replaced with additives like those named above. This is a perfect example of how to make a dollar out of fifteen cents. The capitalism American way of doing things. By the 1950s processed foods was massive. In 1958 companies had to prove that the food additives they used was safe. Diet soft drinks, and Sweet n Low was on a rise by this time. In the 1970s red food coloring was banned. However generic breeding was unregulated. So most of the GMO products are what makes up the ingredients in processed foods. As well as what many animals are feed and that animal is later consumed for human consumption.

In 1994 The Flavor Savor Tomato was the first to be genetically engineered crop sold. It was produced by a California company Calgene. By the 80's Aspartame entered the market and tomatoes was considered a fruit. 1975 approval of aspartame was put on hold until 1980. It was then ruled that aspartame hadn't proved to be safe for human consumption. Not until 1981 when president Ronald Regan forced Dr. Gere Goyan the FDA chairman at the time to step down.

"The history of Nutrasweet’s approval by the FDA:

When the FDA was presented with aspartame research, they assigned a public board of inquiry the task of deciding if it should be allowed for human consumption. In 1980, the doctors on that board unanimously ruled that aspartame should not go on the market. An internal FDA panel concluded the same thing in 1980.
The FDA Chairman (Dr. Gere Goyan) was forced to step down the day Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. His replacement? Dr. Arthur Hill Hayes, hand-picked by Donald Rumsfeld for this position. In 1981, Rumsfeld was CEO of the company that owned the patent on aspartame (the G.D. & Searle company).
But even with a friendly new FDA Chairman in place, the agency still rejected aspartame for approval by a 3-2 margin. So Chairman Hayes added a sixth member to the approval board, one who had promised to vote in favor of aspartame. Then, with a 3-3 tie on the issue, Chairman Hayes himself broke the deadlock with his own vote of approval for aspartame. Shameful, but that’s what happened."

The consumption of processed foods and none certified organic meats, dairy, and eggs etc would mean 9/10 GMOs are also being consumed. From the information I've gathered the ingredients used to make such processed foods also has an effect on ones health. Those effects being obesity, cancerous tumors, diabetics, gastrointestinal issues like IBS, Celiac disease and gluten sensitives.