Showing posts with label McDonald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McDonald. Show all posts

Friday, October 3, 2014

Tens of Millions Now Employed In US At Sweatshops

Photograph taken in a 'sweatshop' c.1890
Photograph taken in a 'sweatshop' c.1890 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sweatshop Defined:  A place where people work long hours for low pay in poor conditions.

B:) A shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions.


From Wiki

More recently, the anti-globalization movement has arisen in opposition to corporate globalization, a process by which multinational corporations move their operations overseas in order to lower their costs and increase profits. The anti-sweatshop movement has much in common with the anti-globalization movement. Both consider sweatshops harmful, and both have accused many companies (such as the Walt Disney CompanyThe Gap, and Nike) of using sweatshops. Some in these movements charge that neo liberal globalization is similar to the sweating system, arguing that there tends to be a "race to the bottom", as multinationals leap from one low-wage country to another searching for lower production costs, in the same way that sweaters would have steered production to the lowest cost sub-contractor.


Today we see a new format emerging throughout the entire United States. With ObamaCare however, the hours are not long on a single job as corporations downsize how long they will allow workers to actually work during any given week.  The conditions in the work environment may be clean, but the wages are ridiculously low and not in the least bit a living wage.  More and more workers are depending on two, three and even four jobs just to try and scrape by anything that resembles a living and are still barely clinging on.

  McDonald's, Wal Mart, K-Mart, Sears, Burger King, Lowe's, Home Depot, and plenty of other places can now be considered modern day sweatshops as not one of them pay the majority of their workers anywhere close to a living wage.  Most of the workers in these locations are part time, little to no benefits, making barely above minimum wage which comes no where close to a living wage.

A living wage allows for a person to pay their rent or mortgage, car payment, insurance, medical expenses, clothing costs, food, utilities,  furniture expenses, and also allows for entertainment expenses and money left over to put into savings for a rainy day.  For a single person in the US today, the average income, outside of major metropolitan areas is around $45,000 per year and rising in order to be making a living wage.  Again, that is for one person.

Recent complaints in raising the minimum wage to anywhere between $10.00 or $12.00 per hour falls horribly short of coming close to making a living wage.  What difference does it make if you pay a person $25.00 per hour if all you are going to work them is 20 hours a week?  That is only $500.00 per week before taxes.  Rent in most areas throughout the US anymore is going to eat up half of the monthly wages leaving very little left for anyone to try and survive with.

The days of the 40 hour work week are for most, a buried memory, left in the dust of yesteryear.  Businesses are paying less and less of the benefits for employees and paying low wages to boot.  It's a mix that simply does not work.  That makes Wal Mart, Target, Subway, Chick-Fil-A and others the new modern sweatshops and tens of millions of people are stuck in the rut of these new deals.  
It's time for some new thinking about.....well.....every aspect of modern society.

English: Walmart Home Office, the headquarters...
English: Walmart Home Office, the headquarters of Wal-Mart - Bentonville, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Monday, March 10, 2014

Gloucester, VA Animal Control On Patrol?


8:25 AM Monday, March 10th, 2014.  Animal Control vehicle number 72 driven by Laura Dickie, Senior Animal Control officer for Gloucester County, Virginia stopped at 7-Eleven for breakfast on the run.  Using a county vehicle for personal use while on the clock.   (She came from behind the shopping center main building where Animal Control has their Animal Shelter).



There she is coming out of 7-Eleven now.



She had some trash from other stops where she has done the same thing as she is throwing away a McDonald's bag and other trash that was in the truck.



Here is yet another shot of her getting rid of trash.  Truck must have been stuffed.



There she goes.  Time to head in to the office and check in.  Hope she got enough for everyone.

We started posting about Gloucester County employees using county vehicles for personal use back in April of 2013.  It all started with Animal Control.  Here we are one year later and we still see Animal Control continuing to break county employee rules.  This is an officer sworn to uphold both county and state laws.  Plus to add insult to injury, the Animal Control truck she is driving does not appear to have proper ventilation on the back bed for animals that need to be transported.

  Since Steve Baranek has taken office as the Chief Animal Control officer, we have now reported that each member of his staff has seemed to violate a number of county and state codes.  Again, these folks are sworn to uphold laws, not break them.  What gives?

  We are in budget time here in Gloucester County.  We would suggest that the Board look this department over as possibly being bloated with more employees than really needed.




Now the above is the latest monthly report coming out of Animal Control and it shows pretty much all of their number are down.  How are they justifying such a large department?  Here is something for the board to consider if they do not wish to cut this department.  To seriously reduce or eliminate overtime and weekend calls, create two shifts and a weekend shift.  With two shifts, there are no after hours calls in most cases.  Work the staff from whatever hours they presently have and stagger them until 10 or 11 o'clock at night.

  With a weekend shift, there are no overtime calls for weekend calls.  That can save a pretty substantial amount without changing anything else.  Right now, Animal Control has at least 4 full time staff on Monday through Friday from 7:30 until 4:00PM?  One part timer that comes in during those same hours for a total of 5 on during this short shift.  Not very cost effective.

  Or just eliminate all but one full time person and cut expenses way down and put that money to better use.  We do not need dog catchers that cost us $600.00 per doggie incarcerated when one can save a life for under $500.00.   Just something to consider and there are substantial savings when county employees are not using county vehicles for personal use, violating codes and laws and just making everyone look bad.
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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Gloucester, VA County Truck Number 67 At McDonald's Again



































Parks and Recreation truck number 67 was seen again at McDonald's this past morning, Monday, December 16th, 2013 at about 8:15 AM.  This is the same truck that was here last week on Monday.  Below is the county employment code from the county's own website.  Chapter 13 of the employment code.

Section 13-27: Use of County Vehicles

County vehicles are provided for the use of employees and authorized
volunteers in conducting official business of the County. Personal use of County
vehicles is prohibited. Certain employees are required or allowed to take a County
vehicle home at night, as they are required to respond to the needs of the County
outside of normal business hours. Take home vehicles must be approved by the
County Administrator who shall maintain a current record of all authorized take home vehicles.

Operators of County vehicles should practice “defensive driving” and
anticipate and observe the actions of other drivers and control their own vehicle in
such a manner so as to avoid an accident. Operators of County vehicles and all
passengers therein shall properly use seat belts at all times. Injury resulting from a failure to wear seat belts may constitute gross negligence on the part of the individual and upon case review may jeopardize an employee’s eligibility for relief normally provided under the worker’s compensation or disability claims.

http://www.co.gloucester.va.us/HumanResources/PersonnelPoliciesandProcedures/tabid/1112/Default.aspx  

Above is the link to the information so everyone can verify this for themselves.  We don't make this stuff up.  For 8 months we have been reporting this abuse.  For 8 months the abuse continues with nothing being done about it.  It would seem fair to say that Brenda Garton, county administrator and Ted Wilmot, County Attorney are not doing their jobs but are instead failing to do their jobs in protecting the county, the taxpayers and the Board of Supervisors from waste, fraud and abuse as well as increased costs and expenses as well as increased liabilities.  We have filed a complaint form with human resources about this employee who is very clearly in violation of the above policy.

  Since it is clear that neither the county administrator nor the county attorney are capable of doing their jobs, they should be termed for cause without any further form of compensation whatsoever.  One also has to question the department heads as to why they are unable to properly communicate to their own employees what the policy states and then make sure that the employees maintain this agreement.  The above employee driving truck 67 has already been reported and nothing has been done about it.  Employees continue to use county vehicles for their own personal use all the time with no regard for employment policies and the county officials are letting them?




Gloucester County Sheriff's Deputy at the drive through of Hardee's courthouse area at about 7:15 AM this past Monday, December 16th, 2013.  Catching breakfast just after getting on the clock?
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Monday, July 29, 2013

Government Truck Seen At Hardee's, Photo ID.





















This is a full size picture of Gloucester County government vehicle number 600 seen at the Hardee's today, July 29th, 2013 at 10:45 AM, in Hayes.  If you look to the far left, you can see the corner of the Taco Bell sign across the highway.  We cropped the other picture for vehicle identification purposes.  This is the same vehicle seen at the Hardee's at the courthouse area at 7:05 AM this morning.

  Anyone care to bet that the employees all go to McDonald's or Burger king for the rest of the week?  Maybe even Sonic's?  Send us your pictures of wherever you see them using government vehicles for personal use.  We will be happy to post them.  We can give you photo credit or keep your name off the information altogether.  Which ever works best for you.  Government employees are not supposed to use government vehicles for personal use.

 

Hardee's
Hardee's (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 
The classic Taco Bell logo used from 1985 to 1...
The classic Taco Bell logo used from 1985 to 1994. It is still in use at many older Taco Bell locations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Toilet Water Safer Than Fast Food Ice In Your Drink

English: Cover of the book Take Control of You...
English: Cover of the book Take Control of Your Health by dr. Mercola. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If the thought of drinking toilet water makes you cringe, you will probably be none too pleased to find out that ice served at many fast food restaurants contains more bacteria than the water found in their toilets. As reported by the featured article:1
“Scientific tests have shown that ice from branches of McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Starbucks, Cafe Rouge and Nando’s all had higher levels of bacteria than samples of water taken from their lavatory bowls.
Experts say it could be due to them being cleaned more often than the ice machines... The Burger King result suggested the cause was human contamination, likely to be from a staff member failing to wash their hands.”
While none of the samples presented an immediate health risk, four of them contained high enough levels to be considered a “hygiene risk,” the laboratory warned.
And, while the study was carried out in restaurants in the UK, the results can be expected to be about the same in the US as the issue relates not to the water itself, but rather the bacterial growth that can occur in the ice machine, and/or lack of hygiene on the part of the workers.
This revelation is similar to an investigation done on lemon wedges served in restaurants, back in 2008. At that time, two-thirds of all restaurant lemon wedges were found to be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria -- including fecal bacteria. In all, 25 different, and potentially dangerous, microorganisms were discovered on the wedges.
The fact that people are not keeling over from foodborne pathogens en masse is proof that your body is equipped to handle these types of infectious assaults, but that certainly does not mean there’s no health risk.
Children, the elderly, and anyone with a poorly functioning immune system are among the most vulnerable. Ironically, regularly frequenting fast food restaurants and drinking lots of sweetened beverages is, in and of itself, a factor that will take a toll on your immune function, which could render you more susceptible to experiencing health problems from contaminated ice.

Are You Ready to Ditch Sweetened Drinks Yet?

I’ve been warning you of the many dangers of soda and sweetened drinks ever since I started this site over 17 years ago. Americans in particular get a majority of their daily calories from sugar, primarily in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in soda and other sweetened beverages. Half of the US population over the age of two consumes sugary drinks on a daily basis,2 and this figure does not include 100% fruit juices, flavored milk or sweetened teas, which means the figure is actually even higher.
Fructose (and especially HFCS) has been identified as one of the primary culprits in the meteoric rise of obesity and related health problems—in large part due to its ability to turn on your “fat switch.”
The HFCS found in sweetened beverages and most processed foods is also highly processed and has been found to be frequently contaminated with mercury. Add to that the fact that most HFCS is made from genetically engineered corn, and you have a recipe for poor health, regardless of whether you’re ingesting it from a can or a meal...
Please note that freshly squeezed fruit juices also contain fructose, which will have the same detrimental health effects as HFCS when consumed in excess, but at least it’s not processed from GE corn...
Ditching sodas and other sweetened drinks and replacing them with pure, vitalized structured water, I believe, is one of the most powerful actions you can take to improve your health and lower your risk of disease and long-term chronic health conditions.
Especially when you consider that just one can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year, and increases your risk of diabetes by 85 percent! Fructose is also a likely culprit behind the millions of U.S. children struggling with non-alcoholic liver disease, which is caused by a build-up of fat within your liver cells. Fructose is in fact very hard on your liver, in much the same way as drinking alcohol.

How Much Sugar Do You Consume Each Day?

Around 100 years ago, the average American consumed a mere 15 grams of fructose a day, primarily in the form of whole fruit. Today, 25 percent of Americans consume more than 135 grams per day (that's over a quarter of a pound!), largely in the form of soda and other sweetened beverages. Just one 12-ounce regular soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar. Similarly, one eight-ounce glass of orange juice has about eight full teaspoons of sugar, and at least 50 percent of that sugar is fructose.
Fructose at 15 grams a day is unlikely to do much if any harm and may even be beneficial for some. But at nearly 10 times that amount it becomes a MAJOR cause of obesity and nearly all chronic degenerative diseases.
As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise keeping your total fructose consumption below 25 grams per day, or 15 grams a day if you are insulin resistant, obese, or have high blood pressure, high uric acid levels, diabetes or heart disease. To get to that low a level, you would essentially need to eliminate processed foods and sweetened beverages from your daily diet, and make sure everything you put into your mouth is a whole food. You might need to limit your whole fruit intake as well. For a list showing the amount of fructose contained in common fruits, please see this previous article.

Sugary Drinks Linked to 180,000 Deaths Annually

In 2009, the American Heart Association (AHA) issued a scientific statement3 about sugar intake and heart health, pointing out that there is evidence for a relationship between the two. According to the abstract:
“High intakes of dietary sugars in the setting of a worldwide pandemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease have heightened concerns about the adverse effects of excessive consumption of sugars. In 2001 to 2004, the usual intake of added sugars for Americans was 22.2 teaspoons per day... Between 1970 and 2005, average annual availability of sugars/added sugars increased by 19%... Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the primary source of added sugars in Americans’ diets. Excessive consumption of sugars has been linked with several metabolic abnormalities and adverse health conditions, as well as shortfalls of essential nutrients...”
The postulated relationship between sugar intake and heart disease is undeniable at this point. Hundreds of excellent scientific articles have linked insulin and leptin resistance to cardiovascular disease much more strongly than cholesterol, and they are in fact at least partially responsible for cholesterol abnormalities. For instance, insulin and leptin resistance result in "small dense" LDL particles and a greater number of particles, which is much more important than your total cholesterol number for evaluating heart disease risk. Insulin and leptin resistance in turn are directly caused by excess fructose and other sugars in your diet.
As I reported back in April, research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions suggests sugary beverages alone are responsible for about 183,000 deaths worldwide each year, including:
  • 44,000 heart disease deaths
  • 133,000 diabetes deaths, and
  • 6,000 cancer deaths
Among the 35 largest countries in the world, Mexico had the highest death rates associated with sugary beverage consumption. There, the average consumption of sugary beverages was 24 ounces per day. The US ranked third, with an estimated 25,000 annual deaths4 from sweetened drinks.5 (Many might have expected the US to come in first place, but remember that American processed foods contain far more sugars than other nations, so Americans also consume a lot of “hidden” sugar in products other than beverages. This factor was not addressed in this study.) Interestingly, and quite disturbingly, the death rates associated with sweetened beverages were highest in those under the age of 45.

What’s the Healthiest Beverage You Can Drink?

Your body requires a constant daily supply of water to fuel all the various waste filtration systems nature has designed to keep your body healthy and free of toxins. Your blood, your kidneys, and your liver all require a source of good clean water to detoxify your body from the toxic exposures you come into contact with every day. Clearly, the most efficient way help your body both avoid and eliminate toxins is to provide your body with the cleanest, purest water you can find. This is easily done by installing one or more types of water filtration systems in your house.
A whole house water filtration system is ideal, as water contaminants can be even more hazardous to your health when absorbed through your skin into your blood stream, bypassing your gastrointestinal tract. I've written a large number of articles on the hazards of tap water, from fluoride to dangerous chemicals and drugs, to toxic disinfection byproducts and heavy metals, so having a good filtration system in place is more of a necessity than a luxury in most areas. There's just one water line coming into your house, so putting a filter on this is the easiest and simplest strategy you can implement to take control of your health by ensuring the water and the air in your house is as clean as possible. To learn more about different types of water and water filtration systems, please see my special report on this topic.
One of my new passions is structured water as pioneered by Victor Schauburger. Vortexing appears to be one of the best ways to produce this and I'm currently doing some research to help define this better.
Another option to consider is to bottle your own water from a gravity-fed spring. This may be one of the highest quality waters and may not require vortexing as the water is already highly structured and full of H3O2. The web site FindaSpring.com6 can help you find natural springs in your local area. As an added boon, most of these spring water sources are free. Just remember to bring either clear polyethylene or glass containers to collect the water so no unsafe chemicals can contaminate your water, and be sure to wrap them in towels to keep them from breaking during transport.

Ditching Sweetened Drinks Is the First Step Toward a Healthier Life

Remember, sweetened beverages (including flavored milk products, bottled teas, and “enhanced” water products), whether sweetened with sugar, HFCS, naturally-occurring fructose, or artificial sweeteners, are among the worst culprits in the fight against obesity and related health problems, including diabetes, heart and liver disease, just to name a few. Ditching ALL of these types of beverages can go a long way toward reducing your risk for chronic health problems and weight gain.
So what should you drink? Your best most cost effective choice is to drink filtered tap water. The caveat though is to make sure you filter your tap water. Nothing beats pure water when it comes to serving your body’s needs. If you really feel the urge for a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water with a squirt of fresh lime or lemon.
If you struggle with an addiction to soda and other sweets, try Turbo Tapping. It's a simple and clever use of the Emotional Freedom Technique, designed to resolve many aspects of an issue in a concentrated period of time.
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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Flintstone Vitamins Killing Our Children?

English: Cover of the book Take Control of You...
English: Cover of the book Take Control of Your Health by dr. Mercola. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As a parent, one of the best gifts you can give your child is a strong nutritional start. The first years of life represent a time of rapid development, during which your child's language, cognitive, social and motor skills are developed.
During the first three years of life, the brain also grows at its fastest rate, and this represents a crucial window of development during which proper nutrition is essential.
If your child does not get healthy foods (and ideally breast milk) during this time, his future intelligence could be impacted.
A 2010 study1 revealed just how big an impact a poor nutritional start can have on your kids. Those who ate a predominantly processed food diet at age 3 had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured increase in processed foods, participants had a nearly two point decrease in IQ.
As you might suspect, the opposite also held true, with those eating healthier diets experiencing higher IQ levels.
As a parent, it is important to carefully consider the types of foods you give your child at home and in restaurants, as research has shown that repeated exposure builds taste preferences very quickly.
Potentially reduced IQ is not the only health risk your child faces if he eats a diet consisting mainly of processed foods and snacks.
A junk food diet can also set the stage for obesity, asthma, eczema, and a variety of allergies, behavioral problems—from hyperactivity to aggression—as well as inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases. In fact, many of the top diseases plaguing the United States are diet-related, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
The National Institutes of Health even states that four of the six leading causes of death in the US are linked to unhealthy diets.
So the importance of proper nutrition simply cannot be overstated. Yet despite all this knowledge, food and beverage companies and even supplement makers are foisting products on children that are FAR from health-promoting, making your role as an educated parent all the more important...

Girl Scolds McDonald’s CEO

At a recent shareholder meeting, nine-year old Hannah Robertson had some pointed questions for Don Thompson, CEO of McDonald's Corp2.
"Something that I don't think is fair is when big companies try to trick kids into eating food that isn't good for them by using toys and cartoon characters," Hannah told the attendees at the meeting.
"If parents haven't taught their kids about healthy eating then the kids probably believe that junk food is good for them because it might taste good... I make cooking videos with my mom that show kids that eating healthy can be fun and yummy.
We teach them that eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies makes kids healthier, smarter and happier because that is the truth... Mr. Thompson, don't you want kids to be healthy so they can live a long and happy life?"
Thompson’s reply? "... [W]e don't sell junk food, Hannah," he saidHe also denied marketing to children. His response left her unimpressed, and rightfully so, if you ask me. Children are clearly a primary market for McDonald’s. In fact, America’s 52 million kids under the age of 12 represent one of the most powerful markets for American businesses, influencing adult spending worth $700 billion a year.
Children age 2-11 now see an average of more than 10 television food ads per day, and 98 percent of food advertisements viewed by children are for products that are high in fat, sugar or sodium, like McDonald’s and other fast food joints.


Absurd Lies Told By McDonald's CEO

A related article3 pointed out the many lies spouted by McDonald’s CEO during this shareholder’s meeting, including but not limited to:
  • Claiming “chicken nugget Happy Meals and fat-free milk” are healthy...
  • Chicken McNuggets contain roughly 30 ingredients, including: sodium phosphates, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate and calcium lactate. The “fat-free milk” Thompson touted numerous times is actually chocolate milk, containing 10 grams of added sugar...
  • “We provide high-quality food, we always have. It’s real beef, it’s real chicken, it’s real tomatoes, real lettuce, real fruit, real smoothies, real dairy, real eggs.”
  • Really? The “real eggs” in an Egg McMuffin are “ prepared with” the following: Liquid Margarine: Liquid Soybean Oil and Hydrogenated Cottonseed and Soybean Oils, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta Carotene (Color).
  • “Globally, we follow guidelines on responsible marketing to children.”
  • ... Just last month, McDonald’s was fined $1.6 million by the consumer protection agency in Sao Paulo [Brazil] for violating local laws on targeting children... A report from Yale University found that... “Although McDonald's pledged to improve food marketing to children, they increased their volume of TV advertising from 2007 to 2009.” Preschoolers saw 21 percent more McDonald's ads and older children viewed 26 percent more ads in 2009 compared to 2007...
  • “And we are not marketing food to kids.”
  • Two words: Happy Meals.
The author, Michele Simon, a public health lawyer specializing in industry marketing and lobbying tactics, suggests adding your voice by signing the petition created by Corporate Accountability International, urging CEO Don Thompson to stop marketing McDonald’s to children.


What’s in That Big Mac?

A cross-sectional study of 1,877 adults and 330 school-age kids who regularly ate at fast-food chains revealed that meals consumed at these restaurants were very high in calories, and that both children and adults underestimated the amount of calories their meals contained. As reported by Time Healthland4:
“The investigators collected receipts from the participants in order to calculate how many calories the participants consumed from their meals. They also asked the volunteers to estimate the number of calories they had just ordered. At the time of the study, none of the restaurant chains included calorie information on their menus, as many now do.”
On average, each adult fast-food meal came out to 836 calories, teens’ meals were about 756 calories, and kids consumed a whopping 733 calories in one sitting. But it’s not all about calories per se, because a calorie is NOT a calorie. What matters most is the source of those calories, and this is where fast food fails miserably. The ingredients used simply cannot be compared to whole, unprocessed foods.
As a general rule, "food" equals "live nutrients." Nutrients, in turn, feed your cells, optimize your health, and sustain life. Obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and heart attacks are hallmark diseases associated with a fast food diet – a CLEAR indication that it does not provide the appropriate nutrition for your body. And, if lack of healthful nutrition isn't enough of a deterrent, perhaps the fact that some fast foods have been found to be impervious to decomposition, even after more than a decade, will get you to reconsider feeding it to your children.
Thompson denies McDonald’s sells junk food. However, looking at the lists of ingredients in McDonald’s meals, I find this to be an undefendable stance. When you consider the fact that a large number of the ingredients in a fast food meal exist nowhere in nature, but are rather concocted in a lab, it’s just not ‘real food’; it's junk. As just one example, what kind of bread can lie out for years on end without developing so much as a trace of mold? According to McDonald's website5, their hamburger buns consist of:
"Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzymes), water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, wheat gluten, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide, soy flour), calcium propionate and sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin."
Interestingly, analyzing this list of ingredients offers clues not only for how these buns remain unblemished for years on end, but also to some of the health ramifications you may experience when eating a McDonald's hamburger. For example, if you've ever felt it just "sitting" in your gut like a brick, perhaps the plaster of Paris, aka calcium sulfate6 isn't quite as digestible as you'd hoped. Or if you've had to run to the bathroom shortly after your meal, perhaps the ammonium sulfate and the ammonium chloride are to blame. Both of these chemicals cause gastrointestinal irritation with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Processed Food Contains Many Potentially Dangerous Ingredients

Fast food hamburgers are not the only type of heavily processed food that is questionable in terms of whether or not it should be considered real food. The following are just a few more examples, but you get the idea – any time a food is heavily processed, it typically ceases to be beneficial for your child’s health. Many processed foods also contain dangerous MSG, to give the otherwise bland mixture some flavor.
  • Chicken McNuggets, for example, have made it into mainstream news because of the potentially hazardous additives they contain.
  • Soda can contain any number of health harming substances, from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to benzene andaspartame.
  • French Fries are loaded with the worst types of fat on the planet -- typically highly refined and genetically modified omega 6 oils, such as corn, canola, and soybean oils.
  • Breakfast cereals are little more than disguised forms of high fructose corn syrup and many are loaded with genetically engineered grains.

Diet Soda Found to Be as Bad as Meth or Crack Cocaine for Your Teeth

A recent article in the New York Daily News7 highlighted study8 findings that a steady consumption of diet soda can result in the same type of tooth decay and erosion as that caused by methamphetamines and crack cocaine:
“The report, which was recently published in the journal General Dentistry9, found that a woman in her 30s who drank two liters of diet soda every day for three to five years had eroded teeth similar to those of a 29-year-old meth addict and a 51-year-old longtime crack user. ‘You look at it side-to-side with 'meth mouth' or 'coke mouth,' it is startling to see the intensity and extent of damage more or less the same,’ said Dr. Mohamed Bassiouny, a professor of restorative dentistry at the Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia.
Diet and regular soda are highly acidic, like methamphetamine and crack cocaine. Paired with poor dental hygiene, the citric and phosphoric acid in soda can lead to substantial damage and decay, Bassiouny said.”
The American Beverage Association (ABA), which represents soft drink manufacturers, issued a statement noting that the woman did not receive dental health services for more than 20 years, and that “To single out diet soda consumption as the unique factor in her tooth decay and erosion — and to compare it to that from illicit drug use — is irresponsible.” The ABA also stated that these findings do not justify never drinking soda again; rather you should be aware that soda is highly acidic, and that you should rinse your mouth after drinking it, and brush your teeth twice a day.
I disagree. Soda, whether regular or diet, has no positive place in a healthy diet. There’s simply no reason to ever give your child soda. To learn more, please see this previous article, where I review my many reasons for this hardcore stance.

Why Do Kids' Vitamins Contain Aspartame, GMOs, and Hazardous Chemicals?

Another industry that is shockingly irresponsible when it comes to children’s nutrition is that of dietary supplements. Take Flintstones Vitamins, for example, which is marketed as the "Pediatricians' #1 Choice" of supplement for kids. A recent article by GreenMedInfo.com10 reveals several of the horrid ingredients in this well-known kids vitamin—ingredients that can have adverse health effects severe enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.
Flintstones Vitamins is produced by the pharmaceutical company Bayer. I’ve revealed some of the many skeletons in Bayer’s closet in the past -- including their numerous drug-related lawsuits and intentional selling of AIDS-infected drugs in Europe and Asia. With that in mind, perhaps it’s not so surprising to find that their wildly successful kids vitamin contains some shockingly unhealthy ingredients, including:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/12/children-foods-supplements.aspx  Please read the rest of the story over on Mercola.com   There is a petition there that you can sign to help stop the madness.


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