                                                       
There is not a lot of awareness in food safety in general public. People rarely pay attention to what is the actual ingredients of the food the process of how the food is made. Food manufacturers tend to exaggerate their advertisements to draw the attentions of its potential consumers. Consumers more often than not get distracted by the "health facts" the company's labeled on the fancy packages with the perfect graphic design. Doing a research on food safety issues would not only provide a more persuasive point of view with the supporting sources, it also allows us to look at this issue in a larger scale. When I walked into a grocery store, I couldn't help but see the "gluten free" and "organic" products. Merchants put the "health facts" on their products for better prices. However, non-wheat products such as juices or animal products that self evidently contain no gluten do not make it more "gluten free." Determined to become a chemist, I have paid a lot of attention to food safety issues and the ethics of chemical usage. It is important to know what is in the food we eat and be aware of the influence it has to our body. After all, we are what we eat. 


The article provides the evidence of why gluten-free food is not necessarily healthy, rather it could be toxic and triggers inflammation and leaky gut as well. Gluten free food normally consists of the following 4 types: cereal grains, soy, industrial seed oils, and sugar (especially high fructose corn syrup). These foods do not have gluten but they still have similar proteins to protect themselves, which are not human digestible and will not work better for Celiac patient. 

The author questions the so called "gluten-free health diet" and provides the evidence to break the illusions. The truth is if one is not allergic to gluten, gluten free food does not make it healthier. In fact, gluten free food is never healthier. Looking at the capitalism aspect, a company against the "gluten philosophy" is likely to be blackmailed by the manufacturers if influential enough. On the other hand, website like SCD Lifestyle that provokes food safety usually doesn't get many sponsorships from advertisements. They need to be truly willing to contribute to the society to publish this. However, they could receive a lot of profits for the "SCD diet" business.  

Jordan Reasoner is a Celiac patient himself. He now works as a food engineer to help others suffering from Celiac. He has been helping people with Celiac and have received a big success. 

 

      

   


The survey gives statistical evidence of the consumer habit in terms of food choice. 

The result indicates more than half of the Americans are confident and satisfied with the current food safety regulations. Over three quarters of Americans receive food safety information form media and advertisement. Most Americans reported their preference for hearing "what to eat" instead of "what not to eat." Almost all American consumers reported to pay attention to the food labeling but very few would look at the health symbols. 

Food Insight dedicates to providing food information to consumers. They work with health professionals, government agencies, researchers and academic experts in higher educational institutions. Food Insight see themselves as science based information media. 

Food Insight, unlike most website, is noncommercial and does not receive any sponsorships from advertisements or food manufacturers.

The survey was done by Cogent Research of Cambridge, MA. It was an online survey containing 113 questions. The data were weighted against the US Census projections. The percentage error is +3% at 95% confidence level. The research is compared with the past surveys from the results of last 3 years. 


Almost all of the agricultural products in the US have been genetically modified. Recently, FDA has approved GMO animals for human consumption. The House of Representatives passed a law against GMO labeling. Monsanto and large food manufacturers such as Coca-Cola and Nestle are responsible for this result. 

Eco-Watch dedicates to environmental information and sustainability. Their main goal is to raise awareness of sustainability and encourage people to adopt an eco-friendly practice. Their main profits come from advertisements and sponsorships from social media. 

Eco-Watch serves as environmental supervising media to create a platform where we can watch the governmental movements and commercial behaviors of large enterprises in terms of sustainability features. In 2013, EcoWatch was certified to work with more than a thousand companies to deal with social and ecological issues. By 2014, EcoWatch further increased in size and obtained more than 1% of the companies in the world to form an alliance cooperating to make a healthy sustainable land to live.  

 

Conclusion:

According to the survey of consumer behavior, most consumers are not very aware of the food safety issue we've been facing. Consumer behavior and profits are all the manufacturers care about. Food companies manipulate the mentality of consumers to label their products. Moreover, they are trying very hard on influencing the government regulations on food labeling to hide the health facts from the consumers. Ironically, research shows consumers want more detailed food labeling while very few pay attention at the health labels.

The worse part is most media are not willing to raise the visibility of this issue because it's boring and not profitable. They might even create their potential hostility from the manufactures. When I did the sources research, I tried to find the related research so that I can guide it to the direction I want, the argument I have. I might add some more details to the questions and try not to make the sources I find next time distract my main idea.


