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Muffins and ice cream don’t harm your health because they’re “made in a factory.” The advice to cut out these foods is probably good, but I wish they didn’t ti

Muffins and ice cream don’t harm your health because they’re “made in a factory.” The advice to cut out these foods is probably good, but I wish they didn’t tie it to this romantic, appeal-to-nature silliness.

aquafaba 7y ago
The label "processed food" indicates not only that the food was probably made in a factory, but that its also full of preservatives and lacking in nutrients, generally. This article doesn't seem, to me, to be tying their argument to an appeal-to-nature.
- warpedSupplies 7y ago
  I have my own theory behind the propensity for processed food to be linked to debilitating pathologies and shortened life. With factory foods, the production line cuts off any connection between the preparer and the dinner plate, and there's a moral hazard in play, not unlike a middle man recruiter between interviewer and candidate. The middle man plays matchmaker as a volume game, with a tolerance for failed matches. As long as the margin doesn't cut profits too close to the red, some matches can safely fail, and though the failure can spell ruin for affected individuals, the middle man enjoys a handsome payday and healthy career. The agribusiness version of this is that a tolerable percentage of plants and animals can fall well below quality control standards, so long as the general trend is above board. This means that really bad milk gets homogenized with good milk. Then the new batch of aggregate milk endures further processing, and never sees human consumption before being sweetened, further preserved and frozen. Quality control spot checks will catch obvious errors, but lots of subclinical problems fly below radar. So too with meat that is chopped and mixed and becomes completely removed from its anatomical appearance. When you eat hamburger, there's no clue as to which cut of meat you get. So too with sausage. So, just like Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, processing the meat provides cover for low quality samples. Why should the business take a hit if they can make the grade, and pad their volume with a few downers. This may mean that persistent organic polluntants or peaticide contaminations accumulate in consumer populations in line with tolerances that toe the line, and distribution pipelines define where the contaminants land. Maybe radioactive isotopes or heavy metals make it through. Maybe it's a constant mist of toxic chemicals masquerading as colorant, flavor and fragrance. All of it, over time, delivering insults to internal organs in randomized monte carlo patterns, according to preferences and habits of the patient. Some unfortunate test subjects catch the perfect storm and decay into a death spiral. Some win the lottery and live long healthy lives, untouched by maladies. The middle of the bell curve lives in a foggy malaise of languid nutrition, trying to ignore that odd flavor reminiscent of freezer burn mixed with a hint of gypsum board and spackle. Now why would my vanilla ice cream taste like that time I sanded and primed my finished basement? Hmmm, let's see... titanium dioxide for color? ...gonna have to switch brands.
- BubRoss 7y ago
  Or they're just full of sugar. Ice cream isn't unhealthy because it 'lacks nutrients' it is unhealthy because it is basically just shoveling sugar into your mouth.

aquafaba 7y ago

The label "processed food" indicates not only that the food was probably made in a factory, but that its also full of preservatives and lacking in nutrients, generally. This article doesn't seem, to me, to be tying their argument to an appeal-to-nature.

warpedSupplies 7y ago
I have my own theory behind the propensity for processed food to be linked to debilitating pathologies and shortened life. With factory foods, the production line cuts off any connection between the preparer and the dinner plate, and there's a moral hazard in play, not unlike a middle man recruiter between interviewer and candidate. The middle man plays matchmaker as a volume game, with a tolerance for failed matches. As long as the margin doesn't cut profits too close to the red, some matches can safely fail, and though the failure can spell ruin for affected individuals, the middle man enjoys a handsome payday and healthy career. The agribusiness version of this is that a tolerable percentage of plants and animals can fall well below quality control standards, so long as the general trend is above board. This means that really bad milk gets homogenized with good milk. Then the new batch of aggregate milk endures further processing, and never sees human consumption before being sweetened, further preserved and frozen. Quality control spot checks will catch obvious errors, but lots of subclinical problems fly below radar. So too with meat that is chopped and mixed and becomes completely removed from its anatomical appearance. When you eat hamburger, there's no clue as to which cut of meat you get. So too with sausage. So, just like Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, processing the meat provides cover for low quality samples. Why should the business take a hit if they can make the grade, and pad their volume with a few downers. This may mean that persistent organic polluntants or peaticide contaminations accumulate in consumer populations in line with tolerances that toe the line, and distribution pipelines define where the contaminants land. Maybe radioactive isotopes or heavy metals make it through. Maybe it's a constant mist of toxic chemicals masquerading as colorant, flavor and fragrance. All of it, over time, delivering insults to internal organs in randomized monte carlo patterns, according to preferences and habits of the patient. Some unfortunate test subjects catch the perfect storm and decay into a death spiral. Some win the lottery and live long healthy lives, untouched by maladies. The middle of the bell curve lives in a foggy malaise of languid nutrition, trying to ignore that odd flavor reminiscent of freezer burn mixed with a hint of gypsum board and spackle. Now why would my vanilla ice cream taste like that time I sanded and primed my finished basement? Hmmm, let's see... titanium dioxide for color? ...gonna have to switch brands.
BubRoss 7y ago
Or they're just full of sugar. Ice cream isn't unhealthy because it 'lacks nutrients' it is unhealthy because it is basically just shoveling sugar into your mouth.