3 ms·

I'd say it is a testament to its quality, because the less preservatives the food is stuffed with, the better it is for the consumer. US regulations are close t

I'd say it is a testament to its quality, because the less preservatives the food is stuffed with, the better it is for the consumer. US regulations are close to none today, as the food industry manages to lobby for their wallets time and again by raising the bar of what's ok to put in food. I'm happy that I live in Scandinavia and not in the US. addendum: it's entertaining to see the rabid downvoters in action on this and the post below me. I think it speaks a loud and clear message.

ig1 16y ago
Saying preservatives are bad is like saying fats are bad. Yes some preservatives are bad for you, but equally well some are good for you. It also depends on the quantity. Also you need to consider that unpreserved food costs a lot more (delivery, spoilage, etc). Using preservatives means that people from low incomes can often afford healthy food products which would otherwise be outside of their price range. Avoiding food with preservatives for these groups would often mean a far more restrictive and unhealthy diet. Repeating urban myths about foods (like "preservatives are bad") are dangerous because "popular knowledge" is often decades behind scientific research and can cause people to adopt behaviours which are actually bad for their health. If you want to say "x is bad" then make sure you actually have the research (ideally a randomized trial or a Cochrane meta-analysis) which backs up what you're saying.
- hackermom 16y ago
  You are leaping to conclusions here about my statements in order to make your points seem stronger. No one here said that fats are bad, and I never implied that I was in blissful ignorance of the reasons behind adding preservatives to food. Really..... I am willing to make a good bet that you have no nutritional studies what so ever behind you, whereas I, being half a "health freak", have a total of a bit more than 2 years of dietary studies, of which 1 full year had metabolical context. And, please, no vacuous remarks or accusations of being zealously blindsided just because of my use of the term "health freak".
  - ig1 16y ago
    You'd make a stronger counter argument if you provided evidence of your claim ("the less preservatives the food is stuffed with, the better it is for the consumer") rather than just saying people should trust you because you studied diets for 2 years. Vitamin C is a preservative, are you arguing that it's bad for you ? Or are you saying some specific subset of preservatives can be bad for you ? - in which case you should be specific about which preservatives you're talking about rather than talking about them in a generic way.

ig1 16y ago

Saying preservatives are bad is like saying fats are bad. Yes some preservatives are bad for you, but equally well some are good for you. It also depends on the quantity. Also you need to consider that unpreserved food costs a lot more (delivery, spoilage, etc). Using preservatives means that people from low incomes can often afford healthy food products which would otherwise be outside of their price range. Avoiding food with preservatives for these groups would often mean a far more restrictive and unhealthy diet. Repeating urban myths about foods (like "preservatives are bad") are dangerous because "popular knowledge" is often decades behind scientific research and can cause people to adopt behaviours which are actually bad for their health. If you want to say "x is bad" then make sure you actually have the research (ideally a randomized trial or a Cochrane meta-analysis) which backs up what you're saying.

hackermom 16y ago
You are leaping to conclusions here about my statements in order to make your points seem stronger. No one here said that fats are bad, and I never implied that I was in blissful ignorance of the reasons behind adding preservatives to food. Really..... I am willing to make a good bet that you have no nutritional studies what so ever behind you, whereas I, being half a "health freak", have a total of a bit more than 2 years of dietary studies, of which 1 full year had metabolical context. And, please, no vacuous remarks or accusations of being zealously blindsided just because of my use of the term "health freak".
- ig1 16y ago
  You'd make a stronger counter argument if you provided evidence of your claim ("the less preservatives the food is stuffed with, the better it is for the consumer") rather than just saying people should trust you because you studied diets for 2 years. Vitamin C is a preservative, are you arguing that it's bad for you ? Or are you saying some specific subset of preservatives can be bad for you ? - in which case you should be specific about which preservatives you're talking about rather than talking about them in a generic way.