Event Blog 2

 

[Left Image] Zoom registration email

[Right Image] Participation question

For my second event blog, I attended the zoom lecture “LASER: Processed Health” with Hannah Landecker and Patricia Olynyk’s, who touched on the chemicals, production, and processes in relation to food. Landecker’s explanation on this topic shed light on the way that I see food now. Landecker started off the meeting by going through biology, or rather the history of biology, and how it correlates to what we thought we knew in relation to food. One notable thing I kept thinking about during the meeting was the amount of foods that contain various different chemicals. The National Library of Medicine explains that “more than 2,500 chemical substances are intentionally added to foods to modify flavor, color, stability, texture, or cost.” We often see nutritional facts or small captions that explain some of these chemicals, but what about the chemicals that are not advertised? This “advertising” of chemicals is another point that Landecker brought up in her discussion. These chemicals alter foods, and we are not always aware of what we are eating.

Event Image 1: Processed Foods Chart

Similarly, it is important to understand what kinds of foods there are, more specifically what kinds of processed foods we eat on a daily basis. Above are some of the examples of unprocessed foods, processed ingredients, processed foods, and ultra processed foods. I know that when I first looked at this chart, I was unaware of the different types of processed foods. Lendecker highlights the importance in knowing these differences as many of these foods can contain emulsifiers, which are substances that can mix foods together which normally would not mix with one another. Lendecker explains how some of these food-containing emulsifiers can cause diseases in some cases. Alysa Hullet, however, says that some emulsifiers are normally “considered safe by the FDA,” but can be harmful in larger quantities.

Event Image 2: Emulsifier, Gums, and Clouding Agents in Food

These types of additives found in foods are not always highlighted when we are purchasing or consuming these foods. Although they may not be immediately harmful to us, it can be a long-term issue. Another example, and topic briefly touched upon by Patricia Olynyk was microplastics and how they affect the foods we eat. Allyson Chui explains that microplastics were found in over 90 percent of protein foods during a test study. There is no avoiding it, unless we are able to understand how and where these chemicals, and additives, are found.

Works Cited

“Food Additives, Contaminants, Carcinogens, and Mutagens.” Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer: Directions for

Research., U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216714/. Accessed 14 May 2024.

Chiu, Allyson. “Which proteins contain the most microplastics?” The Washington Post. 12 January 2024.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/01/12/microplastics-fish-chicken-tofu-protein/ Accessed 14 May 2024.

Hullett, Alysa. “What Are Emulsifiers? And Are They Safe?” Healthline, Healthline Media, 22 Jan. 2024,

www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/what-are-emulsifiers#examples. Accessed 14 May 2024.