We often hear our friends say, “is it real?”. It is 
amazing what can be done in movies and it looks so real. You only know it is fake because it is so over the top and outlandish. But have you taken another look at the food you eat? Maybe, that item you picked up for lunch has a dark secret and is not what it appears to be!
Okay, before we get started let’s lay some ground work. How about defining what the word “fake” means? According to one online dictionary “Fake” is defined as – a thing that is not genuine; a forgery or sham. Good definition. So, we can say fake is – “something that appears to be that which it is not.” Great so let’s get started.
People tend to trust food sellers/vendors. When I was a kid I remember hearing that jingle, “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun”. This was a major advertising push for the Big Mac from the mid 1970s. It was catchy and we used to see how fast we could recite it. Maybe this is a little corny, but it was fun. Notice it starts with, “two all beef patties”.
Fast forward to today, an interesting DNA researcher Matt Harden at Trent University’s Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory got the idea to test the poultry in six popular chicken sandwiches. Yup, he was going to pull a CSI-like look at the food many eat to see just what is there. Cool, right?
The base idea of the investigation goes like this. A piece of chicken should be made up of 100% chicken DNA. Any seasoning, preservatives, or fillers would bring that percentage down. To be fair he tested the chicken parts without any added sauces or condiments.
Matt’s Team Tested:
- McDonald’s Country Chicken – Grilled
- Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich
- A&W Chicken Grill Deluxe
- Tim Hortons Chipotle Chicken Grilled Wrap
- Subway Oven Roasted Chicken Sandwich
- Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki (chicken strips)
Now the fun starts, after testing these samples the results were about what one would expect, near 100% chicken DNA (except for two of the items tested).
- A&W Chicken Grill Deluxe averaged 89.4% chicken DNA
- McDonald’s Country Chicken – Grilled averaged 84.9% chicken DNA
- Tim Hortons Chipotle Chicken Grilled Wrap averaged 86.5% chicken DNA
- Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich averaged 88.5% chicken DNA
The samples from Subway came back with much lower results. So low that a retest was done with five samples of the oven roasted chicken pieces and five new examples of the chicken strips.
The results were startling.
- Subway Oven Roasted Chicken Sandwich, 53.6% chicken DNA
- Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki (chicken strips), 42.8% chicken DNA.
Hold on that means you are paying for a chicken product but only getting half of what you are paying for! What was the other half? The test came back as the DNA of Soy. And with all the controversy about soy do you really want to be eating that? Soy: The Many Dangers
Subway is not the only one that has been caught trying to stretch its meat budget with fillers. Taco Bell had a lawsuit against it in 2011, which claimed that the meat mixture used in its products was only 35% meat. The remaining ingredients were; water, wheat, oats, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent, and modified corn starch.
Modern Food Science
How can this be? It sure looked and tasted like chicken and, in the case of Taco Bell, beef. Enter what the food industry calls, “restructured products”.
Restructured products are made with smaller pieces of meat, bound together with other ingredients. It is not uncommon to find that these meat products are made up of nearly 50 different ingredients. Some of these ingredients have been found to be in running shoe soles. Kinda lends to that saying I am so hungry I could eat my shoes, hmmm….
Also, these produced products often contain over 10 times the sodium of the natural food item. Frequently the added ingredients are different forms of salt or sugar. This will add to the carbohydrate level of the food, making your body to deal with more sugar, when a piece of chicken should be sugar free!
We will not even begin to go into all the chemicals added to glue it all together, bring the taste back, and preserve the food.
I know we’ve just touched on meat here, but sadly fake food can be found pretty easily in other products as well. Subway, along with others are also known for using yoga mat chemicals in their breads and rolls. Ewww! Who would want to munch on a yoga mat?! This may be one reason to make your own sourdough bread and other baked goods at home, it’s easier than you think.
Make Your Own Sourdough Bread…
Avoid the Yoga Mat Chemical
What Can You Do To Beat Fake Foods?
So what do you do? Who can you trust? The only way past these fake foods is to take things into your own hands. Remember that saying, “If you want something done right you have to do it yourself”.
The food vendors and processors just don’t have your best interests at heart. They are concerned with their bottom line and making as much profit as possible, not your health. I am not being mean, just truthful. Honestly, would you have even thought of mixing chicken and soy to make a chicken strip?
Look to real foods. What are real foods? A piece of chicken cooked up on your own stove – real chicken, not frozen chicken nuggets or patties. Or make your own tacos with real ground beef, and all the fixings. And for the love of Pete don’t use that spice packet from the store (who knows what’s in there), make your own Homemade Taco Seasoning… it’s so easy.
Even if you don’t consider tacos a health food, they will be much better for you without all the fillers and chemicals.
Fresh vegetables are wonderful as part of a meal. In all my food consulting with people I continue to see that most people eat little or no vegetables. Just look at how small that section is in the market compared to the many aisles of processed, pre-packaged foods.
Make Fermented Food At Home – Easily
Start Here!
You have to admit those fake foods take a toll on a persons health. An easy way to start eating real foods is to make just one meal at home a week. I know this sounds like so little, but that one meal will lead to two meals and more each week.
For some meal ideas take a look at the healthy recipes section of the website at the top left of this article. Rather have a cookbook in your hands? Checkout, Cooking God’s Way – Daily Recipes. These recipes contain nothing strange, just good home cooked meal recipes!
Take your lunch to work. Did you know everyone used to do this until the last 20 to 30 years. Get yourself a neat retro lunch box and make it a fun experience. Tell the truth a superman lunch box would be a great conversation starter at work!
Make Veggies for Sides and Snacks… Ahead Of Time!
Remember that I mentioned people have issues getting vegetables into their daily diet. Here is a trick. Make them ahead of time.
Fermented vegetables such as fermented carrots, sauerkraut, and pickles can make great sides for meals but they also make quick easy-to-grab snacks. Making them ahead of time, and keeping them stored in the fridge, allows the to be ready for when you n100eed them. When that snack urge hits don’t reach for that bag of chips or box of crackers or cookies… instead you can reach for the fermented vegetables.
These vegetables are super charged with enhanced vitamins, minerals and nutrition. Don’t forget the great amount of pro-biotics in every bite full. Read more, Secret Of How To Eat Fermented Foods Daily.
Start today by making your plan to add fermented foods into your daily meals.
Need to understand how to easily make fermented foods checkout our Ultimate Fermenting Kit, the low price may surprise you. It contains the video classes, all the hardware you need, and a cookbook with many more recipes for fermented foods. Remember, we’re here for you and always stand behind our products. Honestly it can’t get much easier than that.
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