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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 9, 2024

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I believe that most American food, even seemingly normal food, is full of weird chemicals.

Brown bread with seeds that goes stale in a few days is better than the kind of cheaper, longer-lasting white bread. Why is white bread so much cheaper and longer-lasting? Because it's full of strange ingredients. I don't know what kind of bread you're getting of course but just look at what Walmart puts in theirs. This was the first American bread that came up in my search: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-White-Round-Top-Bread-20-oz/10315355?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1200

Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Sugar, Yeast, Soybean Oil, Salt, Vital Wheat Gluten, Dough Conditioners (Mono- & Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Ascorbic Acid), Calcium Propionate (to Retain Freshness), Soy Flour, Encapsulated Sorbic Acid (Sorbic Acid, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Mono- and Diglycerides) (to Retain Freshness), Yeast Nutrients (Calcium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Soy Lecithin.

Likewise, there's cheese and there's cheese. Cheese can be minimally processed or intensively processed.

Some common ultra-processed products are carbonated soft drinks; sweet, fatty or salty packaged snacks; candies (confectionery); mass produced packaged breads and buns, cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes and cake mixes; margarine and other spreads; sweetened breakfast ‘cereals’ and fruit yoghurt and ‘energy’ drinks; pre-prepared meat, cheese, pasta and pizza dishes; poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’; sausages, burgers, hot dogs and other reconstituted meat products; powdered and packaged ‘instant’ soups, noodles and desserts; baby formula; and many other types of product. See table 1, below

Industrial breads made only from wheat flour, water, salt and yeast are processed foods, while those whose lists of ingredients also include emulsifiers or colours are ultra-processed. Plain steel-cut oats, plain corn flakes and shredded wheat are minimally processed foods, while the same foods are processed when they also contain sugar, and ultra-processed if they also contain flavours or colours.

It all depends in what's in those corn tortilla chips. I reckon it would be processed, even ultra-processed depending on ingredients.

Based on the search results, here are the ingredients commonly used to make corn tortillas in the USA:

Masa Harina: A type of corn flour made from nixtamalized corn, which is dried and ground into a fine powder. Brands like Masienda, Maseca, and Bob’s Red Mill are popular choices. Water: Warm water is used to rehydrate the masa harina and “bloom” its flavor. Salt (optional): Some recipes include salt to bring out the flavor of the corn. Some store-bought corn tortilla brands in the USA may also include additional ingredients, such as:

Cellulose Gum: A thickening agent used to improve texture and shelf life. Guar Gum: A thickening agent used to enhance texture and prevent drying out. Amylase: An enzyme used to break down starches and improve texture. Propionic Acid: A preservative used to extend shelf life. Benzoic Acid: A preservative used to prevent spoilage. Phosphoric Acid: A preservative used to maintain freshness.

I just made myself dinner. I went through the ingredients, this is far and away my most common meal and I make this or a slight variation on this for probably 60% of my meals in a year. Butter - Cream(milk), Salt. Ground Beef - Beef, Barilla Brand Pasta - Semolina (Wheat), Durum Wheat Flour, Pasta Sauce - Water, Tomato Paste, Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Onions, Basil, Black Pepper, Oregano, Dried Basil. Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I also added up the calories, the whole thing comes out to almost 4000. I normally make this for lunch, eat half of it, and eat the other half for dinner. It should be obvious to anyone why this combined with a sedentary life style will result in my becoming very fat without the need for any weird chemicals (Although maybe Semolina is full of weird chemicals?).

I think it is highly unlikely that these chemicals are very important in the broader picture of American obesity. These chemicals are just as common in all of Latin America, who do about the same as most of the EU on obesity, and Japan (who does better than basically everyone on obesity?) also puts this junk in all their, enormously popular, convenience store bread products.

Although maybe Semolina is full of weird chemicals?

Semolina is coarsely ground durum wheat (as opposed to "durum wheat flour" which is finely ground durum wheat). No more weird chemicals than any wheat.

I mean, all the ingredients and cooking seems perfectly fine here.

As a fellow food enjoyer, the obvious problem seems to be portion size. You're going to eat everything because it's delicious, so just make less of it.

Latin America, who do about the same as most of the EU on obesity

? Latin America is a very fat region. Mexico is literally the fattest country in the world, moreso than the US. And in any case, a region where food insecurity is an actual problem that needs to be worried about(albeit not the normative experience) is not a fair comparison to the second richest region in human history.

But to your point- yes, if you eat 4k calories a day before accounting for breakfast, drinks, snacks, and desert, it does not take 'chemicals' to explain obesity. I will make a similar dish to what you do and eat leftovers for lunch for an entire week(with sides, of course).

Also, I don't eat breakfast, snacks, desserts or drink anything other than water(but I would eat desserts if I kept them in the house).

I just looked at the Wikipedia list of countries by obesity. Mexico is 36% of adults with obesity, Hungary (hah) is a slightly higher 36, Ireland is 30, El Salvador is 29, Germany is 24, Colombia is 23. It is possible this data is wrong or misleading though?

Mexico at 36% just seems shockingly low to me.

Hmm, well, I guess I consider this good counter-evidence against my theory.