Ep. 204: Mel Weinstein - What Are You REALLY Eating?! Fast Food Secret Ingredients Revealed

Today, we dive deep into the world of fast food ingredients and their impact on health. Our guest for today is Mel Weinstein, a former food chemist who has spent decades studying industrial foods and additives. Mel and Rip discuss a variety of eye-opening topics related to fast food ingredients, how they end up in our food system, and the impacts they have on our health.  You'll learn about: Mel’s personal journey to food chemistry, vegetarianism, and eventually veganism All cornfields are not the same! How field corn, or dent corn, differs from the sweet corn we buy at grocery stores. How this dent corn is grown and processed to create various products and components like starch, oil, protein, and fiber. The government's role in regulating the food industry and how this later influenced the creation of dietary guidelines. What the food manufacturing companies did to resist these recommendations and drastically alter the food industry (and our health).  The rise of fat-free products loaded with sugar and the unintended consequences of Olestra, an indigestible fat-like substance, as a response to the government's push to reduce fat in foods. Why it’s difficult for consumers to know what they are eating when dining out in restaurants. The ridiculous amount of ingredients found in common meals at places like Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut.  Mel’s Processed Food Index (PFI) and what makes something lightly processed vs. extremely processed, or industrialized. What are some of these “Ingredients” commonly found in food products, such as azodicarbonamide, natural flavors, hydrogenated soybean oil, methylcellulose, pea protein isolates, and soy protein isolates, and do they get the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” from Mel? What about carrageenan, alternatives like xanthan gum and enzymes, wheat gluten, and the industrialization of citric acid? Should we "fear our food?!"   We know fast food is, for the most part, crap, but what we didn’t realize is just how bad some of it really is. Not surprisingly, the food industry doesn’t want us to know what’s really in that fried chicken or juicy burger, but thanks to Mel we’re inspired and educated to drive right on past that drive-thru.   Episode Resources Episode Webpage Watch the Full Episode on YouTube Order Fast Food Ingredients Revealed Food Labels Revealed Podcast To stock up on the best-tasting, most convenient, 100% PLANTSTRONG foods, including our all-new pancake and waffle mixes, check out all of our PLANTSTRONG products HERE. PLANTSTRONG Meal Planner - use code: STARTFRESH to receive free two weeks Join our PLANTSTRONG Sedona Retreat - October 9-14, 2023 Give us a like on the PLANTSTRONG Facebook Page and check out what being PLANSTRONG...