The literature available explaining how manufactured food is harmful to human health is enormous. Many studies have been conducted showing how people are afraid of the manufactured foods. In her article titled, “Our Unsafe Food Supply is Killing Us,” Melanie Warner applauds Congress and the president for passing and signing legislation aimed at preventing the spread of foodborne diseases and deaths. She states that over 310,000 Americans are dying annually due to food related illnesses. These damning figures reveal the immense challenge posed by manufactured foods including steroids, antibiotics, food additives, and others. From such data and articles, it is clear that the manufactured food is killing us. This literature review will concentrate on the published documents surrounding the dangers and benefits of manufactured foods. The paper aims at revealing how manufactured food is harming our health.
Food additives are a source of numerous health problems being faced today. According to Farlow, there are very few food additives without side-effects. Most of the food additives used during the manufacturing processes can cause illnesses (Farlow 4). In spite of the large number of people dying from foodborne diseases, the government has very little information about the additives used in food preservation and processing (Warner, “Our Unsafe Food Supply Is Killing Us”). Warner, further asserts that there are over 5,000 food additives used by manufacturers. Out of these additives, a thousand additives are not tracked by the government, and it has no knowledge of their effect on human beings. Further, the government has no concrete data on half of the four thousand other additives. It is under these circumstances that Farlow explains the effects of 800 additives to human health. The lack of information about food additives has led to a general feeling that manufactured foods contain risky food additives (Warner, “Our Unsafe Food Supply Is Killing Us”).
In addition, despite foodadditives.org publishing an article by one of its staff titled “What are Food Additives?” explaining how food additives are manufactured and metabolized in the human body, it is evident that the information is not conclusive and lacks credibility. The article states that additives such as Monosodium glutamate (MSG) are nothing more than sugar found in the sugarcane. However, Allen, in her “How Food Additives Affect Our Health” article stated that MSG causes common allergic reactions. The use of MSG has been shown to cause headaches, chest pain, dizziness, mood swings, and depression. Allen has also indicated the harmful effects of over a dozen additives commonly used in manufactured foods. Her assertions are supported by Farlow, who analyzed 800 additives, rating them according to their destructive health effects. According to prweb.com, there is a growing demand for food additives. The increased demand has resulted in an increase in the manufacture of those harmful toxins. With this increase, there are more deaths and illnesses related to the diet consumed by people (Farlow 6).
Apart from additives, there is a growing concern of genetically modified foods (GMF). Laros and Steenkamp have termed GMF as a “controversial topic” that is on one hand supported by a group of experts while on the other opposed by the majority of the public. The fear is arising from the fact that nobody knows the long-term effects of consuming these foods has led to the slow acceptance of such foods (Laros and Steenkamp 898). According to his 1997 article titled “Food Safety Crisis in the U.S.A.,” Ronnie Cummins predicted that 90-95 percent of foods will come from genetically modified techniques. Despite the fact that simple genetic modification has been widely accepted, there is a huge opposition against the introduction of GMF into the market. This opposition arises from fears generated the discourses and media reporting about the GM foods. The reports allude to numerous uncertainties concerning the safety of the foods. Therefore, it is clear that the public is very concerned about the safety of GMF, as well as other manufactured foods. The risk to health is real and such foods should not be allowed into the market (Cummins, “Food Safety Crisis in the U.S.A.”).
Further, the danger posed by manufactured foods is also evidenced by the legislation established in the country and around the world. According to Warner’s “Our Unsafe Food Supply Is Killing Us,” the legislation will help curb the growing foodborne illnesses. In “Food Safety Modernization Act: Putting the Focus on Prevention,” Hamburg agrees that such legislation will secure the public from the dangers of food additives on manufactured food. In addition, Weiss alluded in “Industry to Improve Food Additives Transparency” that legislations will improve transparency in the food additive industry, which has grown tremendously in the last decade. The enormous support of legislation in regards to the manufactured foods is a clear indication that manufactured foods are harmful to human health. The argument here is that if the manufactured foods were good for human consumption, there would be no need for the outcry and campaigns for legislation. However, since many people have identified such foods as the source of numerous foodborne diseases, they have seen it necessary to have legislation that protects the consumer (Weiss, “Industry to Improve Food Additives Transparency”).
In conclusion, it is clear that manufactured foods are causing much harm to the population. People who are buying such food are constantly at the risk of diseases that are related to food. Therefore, there is no doubt that manufactured foods are killing us.
