Some Foods Don’t Look Normal anymore

a reply to: AOx6179

I've been noticing this one on fresh vegetables.

The red dye they put into many types of snack foods are ( in my opinion ) cause learning disabilities in everyone. Doritos is an example of many. Try not to buy snacks/cereal with red dye.

Research also suggests that some people are sensitive to food dyes such as Red #40 and may experience a variety of adverse reactions such as these below.

Skin rash
Migraine headaches
Hyper-activity
Joint pain
Respiratory problems

SKIN RASH
MIGRAINE HEADACHES
HYPER-ACTIVITY
JOINT PAIN
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS
DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS
LIFE-THREATENING ALLERGIC REACTION (ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK)
DIZZINESS
Modafinil online
FASTER PULSE AND A DROP IN BLOOD PRESSURE
INSOMNIA
AVOIDING RED DYE CAN BE TRICKY AS RED DYE CAN ALSO BE HIDDEN BY GOING BY DIFFERENT NAMES, SUCH AS: RED, CRIMSON LAKE, CARMINE, CARMINIC ACID, NATURAL RED 4, “UNDEFINED COLOR” AND MORE. BE SURE TO READ ALL LABELS ON YOUR PACKAGED PRODUCTS TO BE SURE TO SAFELY AVOID PRODUCTS MADE WITH RED DYE.
www.viteyes.com...#:~:text=Be%20sure%20to%20read%20all%20labels%20on%20your,that%20it%20has%20%E2%80%9Cno %20artificial%20colors%20or%20flavorings%E2%80%9D.

Well, I hope this helps you. That very colorful cereal you've been feeding your child is NO GOOD.

a reply to: musicismagic

Well, I hope this helps you. That very colorful cereal you've been feeding your child is NO GOOD.

I’m sensitive to red dye so I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Carmine is crushed up red bugs, I watched a documentary on it and it was gross!

a reply to: Vroomfondel

I stopped buying Fillet mignon roasts and steaks years ago. They are overpriced and may be very tender, but I prefer a cut that has more flavor. I also used to buy thick ribeye steaks at least 3 times a week. when I could get them for $5 each. Thick, choice grade. I do like Ribeye, more then fillet. Ribeye are also far too expensive for what you get. I do splurg on choice skirt steaks though. I marinate them and cut them, twirling them into pinwheels, sometimes stuffing them with peppers, onions, and feta cheese. They soak up marinade like no other steak.

Someone told me years ago that the London Broil and Chateaubriand were the same cut, and I should have checked for myself. Thanks for the info. The London Broils we have here are very tender if marinated and not over cooked. I usually marinate them in 2 parts Soyvay, and 1-part frozen orange juice concentrate (no water added) for at least one day, and sometimes two days. I barbeque them over charcoal, searing both sides first, then taking the internal temp up to 140 degrees, pulling them off the grill and allowing the temp to creep up a bit while covered for about 10 minutes. I then thin slice across the grain. Super tender and wonderful flavor. I keep it in the coldest part of the fridge, bringing it out to slice for homemade tacos, Vietnamese style Pho, Steak sandwiches, and real quick beef stroganoff.

I had a steak sandwich for brunch and tonight is beef Pho, with rice sticks, slices of onion, cilantro, Thai basil, mung bean sprouts, rooster sauce, Hoisin sauce, and fresh squeezed lime juice. Are you hungry yet? LOL

dp

I've noticed the same thing. The expiration dates on Milk aren't as far out as they used to be. Even then they tend to go bad before the date. We stopped buying our Chicken at Safeway. It started to have a weird texture and taste. It just wasn't cooking the same. We have since switched to Costco and its much better. No texture or taste issue. Plus it is already divided up for us. We save money on ziplock bags. Even the dates at Costco aren't as far out as I would like. Maybe I'm just going to Costco at the wrong time. Someone else also said that things aren't tasting like they used to, and I agree. Everything just seems a little less tasty, and I can't blame it on Covid because I haven't had it. Everything costs WAY more, is smaller quantity and the quality has gone down hill.

originally posted by: ZenTam
I've noticed the same thing. The expiration dates on Milk aren't as far out as they used to be. Even then they tend to go bad before the date. We stopped buying our Chicken at Safeway. It started to have a weird texture and taste. It just wasn't cooking the same. We have since switched to Costco and its much better. No texture or taste issue. Plus it is already divided up for us. We save money on ziplock bags. Even the dates at Costco aren't as far out as I would like. Maybe I'm just going to Costco at the wrong time. Someone else also said that things aren't tasting like they used to, and I agree. Everything just seems a little less tasty, and I can't blame it on Covid because I haven't had it. Everything costs WAY more, is smaller quantity and the quality has gone down hill.

This sounds very far fletched, but I posted a while back about how Fukushima has done something to the sea salt we eat. It just doesn't taste the same. And yes, I live in Japan and we buy Japanese sea salt, but we also sell sea salt from Mexico. Been a while since I bought it. I also understand restaurants and food processing plants are using a lot more salt in their products.

We don't have Kroger, Costco, Safeway... Up here it's pretty much Walmart, Target, Price Chopper, or Hannaford. Price Chopper and Hannaford are easily twice the price of the other two for most things. The thing about it is that nothing seems different from place to place. Everything in the way of meat and dairy is.... Gross is the only way to put it, I suppose. Less flavor, different textures compared to even a year ago. Walmart is the worst, their meat is only marginally better than Aldi's.

We're fortunate enough, though, to be near a part of NY that most people don't realize even exists. A 15-20 minute drive (or 5 from work) and you're in a sea of farms. Fresh whole milk for $2-$3 a gallon, fresh eggs for $3 a dozen still, fresh meat and poultry for just over half of store prices. One place I found recently lets you pick the livestock you want then butchers it and has it fully prepared the next day (if you're willing to buy bulk, anyway.) Even down to honey, soap, small batch locally made cleaning supplies... Funny how this entire world has only been a few miles away and I never knew it for 40 years.

Anyway, it's well worth it even if it's a bit of a drive to find these kinds of local places. The more I look the more I find. Plus it's nice to know things are going to last significantly longer in the fridge or freezer than flavorless store bought Soylent Green.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Look at meat under LED lights then under an old tungsten light bulb. It looks all wrong with those lights, so do some veggies. Many of the lights in our stores here are now energy efficient LEDs even though the main lighting on the ceiling is still fluorescent lights.

We noticed what you are noticing a while back already but are getting more used to it.

Hams that are cured for extended times are paler, the longer the aging, the paler they seem to be. I prefer the sugardale hams and other cheaper hams that are not aged in the brine as long myself, I have less problems with them causing side effects like headaches and bloating and a weird feeling. Some people like those long aged hams better, let them buy them if they have no problem with them. Also the cheaper less aged bacons are what I go for, less curing in them. I also don't care for the hams and bacon cared with celery powder, that is high in eugenol which dumbs me down.

Food quality is directly linked to how it is produced. It's not rocker science. Tasteless tomatoes are created by farmers who know that their produce is low quality. But it's what pays, because there is a market for the cheap and tasteless.

If your cattle are pumped full of steroids and the beasts never see the light of day on their diet of soya and protein, you can be sure the meat will be cheaper and less tasty than meat from an animal that has led a natural life.

If your carrots are doused in chemicals and grown out of deteriorated soil, made fertile by constant addition of more chemicals, then your carrots will be cheap and tasteless, compared to carrots grown in less intensive ways.

I eat good food, because I know where it comes from, and where the welfare standards are high. Organic meats and mostly organic vegetables and fruit that are in season, where possible. If you buy crap, then it'll taste like crap.

originally posted by: paraphi
Food quality is directly linked to how it is produced. It's not rocker science. Tasteless tomatoes are created by farmers who know that their produce is low quality. But it's what pays, because there is a market for the cheap and tasteless.

I eat good food, because I know where it comes from, and where the welfare standards are high. Organic meats and mostly organic vegetables and fruit that are in season, where possible. If you buy crap, then it'll taste like crap.

Oh give me a break. You are talking about a different discussion.
YES of course farm organic, and humanely raised meat is totally different. NOBODY is going to argue about that.

What we ARE talking about are the foods that used to be acceptable just a year or so ago and now they have changed even more. YES maybe they were pumping them up the whole time, maybe they are pumping them more.
Maybe the carrots are grown in water now and not soil. Something distinctly changed. The fact is some of these foods were decent, and good and now they are changing more.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Oh give me a break. You are talking about a different discussion.

Just adding a different perspective. Sorry to have triggered you. I'll go elsewhere.

a reply to: SouthernGift

It's because it's all the previous years product(2021)... weren't you guys paying attention? The shortages aren't noticable until everything turns rotten.. (which i've said before) would be the end of winter.. Before this last year's products(2022) hit the market.

All products sit and process for about a year before they hit the shelves. so bread spoiling in a day or two will be normal as the crop from last year reaches its 'end of life'. The cows/chickens/pigs etc is feeding on last(2021) years products, again that food might be going bad sooner due to crops reaching the end of life cycle and that's what they are feeding the animals. So of course it would have an effect on their products like eggs, milk and butter, even meats. These animals in winter do NOT have access to fresh grass like they did throughout the year. So as they try to keep everything within an age limit it's more then reasonable to consider that the meat your consuming is from the 'winter harvest'. As meats too go through similiar processing and often sit in warehouses for longer. Most kept in a frozen state (unless you buy the 'never been frozen' and then it's just 'aged' meats - which undergo a different process that allows the meats to age safely).

It's not that it isn't safe, it's just that last year's(2021) product is on the end of it's life cycle. This year the food shortages are going to become very very apparent.. as that stuff should be hitting the stores by spring. As they start the next planting cycle. That food will is suppose to last until the end of winter, with 'seasonal' produce being available mainly from local smaller farmers (these are supplemental, and are more prone to conditions like drought, and are far more limited in supply).

If an area has a lot of 'local farms', they won't experience the same thing to the same extent as an area like a big city when it comes to fresh produce, with no farms near by. As a lot of smaller local farmers sell their products after harvest.(Unlike the big farms owned by nestle/del/etc) It's the big/majority stores that often use last years products/reserves. Which makes up a good 80-90% of the food supplied to the market.

As an example for the year 2022 we were using food planted in 2021. In 2023 we will be using food produced in 2022 (which was where the huge shortage happened). Then in 2024 we will be using food that gets harvested this year. As all of that stuff needs to get inspected, processed, etc. Things like apples get dipped in wax(example), wheat berries gets processed into flour as needed. Foods that go bad sooner like strawberries get split between baked goods, dehydration, and preserves, etc.. Not all foods follow this pattern but a good 90% do, you have shorter lifespan foods like bananas but often those are picked early and then left to ripen a few months before they hit the shelves. These get delayed by restricting oxygen access to the stems, and that can prolong a harvest of bananas before they ripen a good 4-6 months. They often get put out on the shelves within the last couple weeks or so of ripening. Which is why often they are still greenish when you buy them but ripen quickly on a counter.

Newayz hope that helps explain why quality drops every year around winter.. As for the sizing decrease it's bound to happen as they are trying to extend the food from 2021 for as long as they can because of the upcoming shortages.

a reply to: paraphi

First off, the US actually banned steroid use on animals for feed, as we haven't had 'growth hormone steroid' beef or milk since the 1980s. As no farms actually use it any more because it wound up COSTING MORE MONEY not just for unness drugs but for 'upkeep' of the animal! (They also banned overuse on anti-biotics do to resistances - which means it's only as needed.) Secondly, your way way off topic. They were asking why the quality was suffering, and I took the liberty of answering it correctly. It has nothing to do with 'organic' or non-organic foods.

Poor quality foods comes from lack of nutrient in the environment that that plant is grown. It has nothing to do with 'organic' anything as the fact is organic vs non-organic all contain the same amount of nutrients - and those vitamins and minerals are literally what gives the food taste. (I could get into the fertilizers and pesticides/fungicides/herbicides, but that's not what the post is about so i'll stop there).

But either way, your answer is 100% incorrect and completely off base.

The correct answer is: Because the food currently in stores is on it's last leg: Considering that the food being sold was harvested in the year 2021(To be sold in 2022), and is suppose to last until the end of winter. When they do the crop change into 2022 products. 2023 products will become available in the year 2024, as they always use last years products while waiting for 'this' year's products to grow. This also means that meats flavor/quality changes. Based on the season in which it was harvested and/or what it was consuming at the time of production - aka old crops.

Farming in the year 2021 had it's own problems with all the lock downs, droughts, fires, lack of workers, etc. So the crop already wasn't 'the best' in the sense that it wound up missing a lot of things it needed during its cycle to actually be good for longer. Some of the products wound up getting harvested later then they should of, and droughts can actually age a product by cutting off it's development. Same with lack of nutrients can also stunt product development.

a reply to: JAGStorm

This might sounds ridiculous, but I get concerned they are going to start soylent greening us at some point.

archive.org...

Went grocery shopping and something really stood out to me. Ham doesn’t look like ham anymore. I don’t care for ham one way or other but I know what it “normally” looks like. Now it looks super pale and fake. Eggs are terrible, they are watery and don’t have the same binding power they used to. Ground beef is off. The smell and flavor seems to be the same but the texture of the beef seems slightly off to me. When I cook it, it feels different. Regular beef seems fine. When you have been cooking for a long long time, you just notice these things. I am also not talking about just a bad weekly batch. These are things I’ve noticed lately. My guess is that feed that was once given to pork and chickens have drastically changed in the last year. It could be because of the Ukraine conflict, it could be just higher cost all around, but something, for sure has changed. My guess is that the nutritional quality of these items have gone down too. I’ve noticed scent and viscosity changes in a few cleaning products. Guess companies are trying to scrimp in every way possible….

I second the milk thing. Used to get 7-10 days on it yet in the past year suddenly I’m picking up jugs of milk with an expiration date four and a half weeks in the future and some alcohol free eggnog I bought at Christmas time has like, a seven month expiration which I don’t get. How can milk, yolks, and spices last that long!? Oh and I always have strawberries in the fridge. Always. But just over the last two or three weeks I just can’t choke them down because they taste yummy and fruity when I put them in my mouth, but just one or two mastications into it, I get an overwhelming taste of something like soap, fresh-cut lawn clippings, chlorine, metallic-chemical kind of overpowering taste in my mouth.

My grocery cart is fine. Maybe you’ve changed? Watery eggs?

a reply to: JAGStorm

in saskatchewan and other provinces we have CO_OP's....most produce and meats and some cheeses come from locally sourced farms that can be vetted by any discerning customer due to co-ops transparency and "locally grown" monikers. places and meats like burns and schneiders i can take you to the slaughter house for tours. sausage makers, i can take you to the hometown where they are made. same for cheese makers.

potatoes, i can take you to the actual field they are picked and bagged from. the bread i can show you the fields of wheat where they are milled. the fresh fish in the cases have a fished-on date, not a packaged date.

i do agree with the milk complaints though...especially 3%
and hamburger im careful on that also

good thread

Ive notice the last year my guinea pigs will not eat store bought vegetables. They eat food obviously as much as they can, they smell any veg they start wooping. But every time i buy veg from supermarkets they wont even sniff it

a reply to: JAGStorm

I just bought a bunch of eggs at costco, the yolks look very light yellow and have almost no flavor. Noticable because the ones I have bought in the past were always very good. It does seem that some food manufacturers are changing ingredients to cut costs. I rarely eat at Mcdonalds but did a couple weeks ago and it was horrible, inedable.