It’s a daunting fact that a lot of people don’t know, but thousands of food items that you commonly find at the grocery store are actually produced by a handful of giant multinational corporations. As you can imagine, these companies are not in the food industry to improve the overall health of the population or educate people about eating right. No, the only thing these 4 or 5 food giants care about is, you guessed it, making money, making a ton of money.

The way these food manufacturers are able to make so much money out of fake food is by adding a bunch of preservatives so the food lasts a really long time in store shelves and by adding a lot of additives that in the end will make the consumer addicted to the food. I know this sounds crazy, but let me take you step by step on how the process works:

Let’s say that that one of these huge food companies wants to come out with a new food product (as if they need anymore, right?). The first thing they will do is commission their food chemists to come up with two versions of said food product. The instructions are simple:

-Make sure the food product has a long shelf life.

-Make the food products as desirable as possible to every individual across the board.

So how exactly do the chemists complete these two requests? Well, first they load the product with a bunch of preservatives and test them out to see which one does the best job of holding the product up through a series of aging procedures. Then, to make the food product “desireable,” which is another way of saying “make it addictive,” chemists experiment with food additives like trans fat, caffeine, MSG, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial flavors, etc. Now something you should keep in mind is that these kinds of food additives alter your brain chemistry. That’s why you become addicted and begin to gain body fat. They also function in a way that you can binge on them and yet not feel super full, so you continue to eat the food product. And lastly sweet food products, for example, can actually alter your tastebuds, thus making you crave sweets more than your body really wants them.

So once the food chemists come up with their best concoction, the food manufacturer then focus on luring consumers through attractive, yet deceiving marketing that will undeniably pull in buyers. Once the food product versions are ready, the food manufacturers then test them with consumer groups and figure out which version of the commissioned food product is most addictive, and will in turn make consumers buy it no matter what. Sound evil enough to you? The end result of this process: consumers have yet another unhealthy treat to binge on and food giants continue to deepen their already deepened pockets.

I know this is a horrible reality to take in, and if this is new news to you I am sorry to break your bubble. But it’s important we educate each other of the unfortunate realities that are taking place in the food industry. We are so used to massive food production that we don’t realize what we are putting in our bodies. I bet there are a lot of food products in your house that you may think are healthy, but unfortunately are tapping into the criteria I just mentioned. So please do me a favor, go home and discard any of these kinds of food products. They are everywhere from sweets, lunch meats, prepared foods, and the list goes on. It’s time you retrain your brain, your tastebuds, and your body and cut the unhealthy addiction these food giants have introduced you to! Also, watch the movie Food Inc and continue to learn about this topic!