Americans Eat More Rubbish Says UK Study

Might explain a few health problems

The Daily Mail, a British Newspaper with a reputation for printing hyperbole, has conducted its own research comparing UK brands with US brands of the same products.

Their reporters reached the conclusion that North Americans eat more rubbish — because the processed food sold in the USA contains a lot more additives than similar products in the UK.

The Daily Mail reported: “Whole grain bread in the US, for example, contains nearly three times the amount of ingredients as a similar equivalent in Britain.

“Meanwhile, condiments made by the exact same brand vary vastly between the two countries, with the American version having more additives, sugar and other harmful substances.”

They selected six popular food items in both countries and looked at the ingredients in each. If the same brand was available in both countries, they did a like-for-like comparison.

Many additives that are legal in the USA are banned in Europe, which might explain some of the discrepancies.

Bread

They compared a US brand of wholemeal bread with a common UK one. The US loaf contained 33 ingredients, compared to the 13 ingredients in the British loaf.

More ingredients typically means more additives and preservatives, some of which are considered unhealthy, or even potentially harmful. That’s why they are banned in Europe. So generally, if an item has fewer ingredients, that’s considered to be a good thing.

Kettle chips

According to the Daily Mail, a leading brand of Kettle Chips has more than 20 additional ingredients in packets sold in the USA compared to the UK version of the same brand. The implication is that those additional 20 ingredients probably aren’t very good for you!

Ketchup

The same brand of tomato ketchup contains more sugars in the US than in the UK. The number of ingredients is similar, but the fact that there’s more sugar in the US version suggests it’s been adapted to cater for those with a sweet tooth.

Shredded cheese

A US brand of ‘shredded cheese’, which I assume means grated cheese, had colouring and mould inhibitor added in the USA, while the UK version contained only milk and potato starch. The colouring and mould inhibitor are probably not all that healthy.

Pizza

The same brand of pizza had 27 ingredients compared to 6 in the UK version. That really goes to show how much more heavily processed some things appear to be in the USA.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that more ingredients typically means more additives and chemicals, so those people who are concerned about the impacts of these things on their health, might want to pay more attention to the ingredients labels.

An ingredients list of 5 or below is considered to be lightly processed. It may be healthier than a product with many more ingredients, but obviously, it really depends upon what those ingredients are!

Source: The Daily Mail

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