That depends on the manufacturer. A few companies do manufacture nutritious brown rice cakes, no dangerous sugars and corn syrups added.

Anyway, most packaged foods are junk. For instance, the packaged, yucky cereals so many people have for breakfast are nothing but a dangerous pile of preservatives and additives with no nutrient content. Few people take that into consideration and keep buying them like they were going out of style. Canned (tinned) foods are almost as bad or even worse, but they are advertised as *good n' healthy* and the masses keep on buying.

Waxes used to preserve fruits like oranges are believed to be cancer producing. The list is endless and so is the food industry's greed.

Bertha

Blueberries- especially organic ones - contain a rich amount of vitamins, antioxidants and bioflavonoids and they are delicious. I buy them frozen and like to eat them frozen too so I thaw them only 5 or ten minutes before serving.

As I also am much into juicing, I often add a handful of frozen blueberries to my morning juicing ceremony.

Bertha  

Originally written by Nichole Barlow on November 20, 2008 4:49 PM Now I want a rice cake with almond butter.  They are a lifesaver for those that can't tolerate wheat.

They sure are! I eat organic rice cakes, and they taste pretty good. They are not cookies, no...

Have you tried a crispy apple cut into slices and then you dip the apples slices into the almond butter. A real treat!

Nanna, another celiac

Since we are at it, would anyone give me a good substitute for cool-whip topping?

I use to top my fruit with non-dairy coolwhip topping but I would like to throw it out the window because it contains *corn syrup*, *high fructose corn syrup* and *hydrogenated oils* and I want to stay away from those. Any tips?

Bertha

Originally written by Bertha S. Deffenbaugh on November 20, 2008 4:01 PM Anyway, most packaged foods are junk. For instance, the packaged, yucky cereals so many people have for breakfast are nothing but a dangerous pile of preservatives and additives with no nutrient content. Few people take that into consideration and keep buying them like they were going out of style.

Well now, that is something that Barack Obama could tackle - change the way Americans eat. My wife and I spent nearly 2 years in the USA, traveling about, living in hotels and eating in restaurants the whole time, and we had to leave in the end and return to Germany because the food was making us sick.

The worst thing of all was the meat. We both got chemical tenderizer rash. Even good restaurants told us that the meat was delivered to them already chemically tenderized. Eat enough of it and it tenderizes YOU!

Then there is the completely synthetic breakfast, as you say, Bertha, the cereals are dangerous. For example:

THE RAT EXPERIMENTS
Paul Stitt wrote about an experiment conducted by a cereal company in which four sets of rats were given special diets. One group received plain whole wheat, water and synthetic vitamins and minerals. A second group received puffed wheat (an extruded cereal), water and the same nutrient solution. A third set was given water and white sugar. A fourth set was given nothing but water and chemical nutrients. The rats which received the whole wheat lived over a year on this diet. The rats that got nothing but water and vitamins lived about two months. The animals on a white sugar and water diet lived about a month. The company's own laboratory study showed that the rats given the vitamins, water and all the puffed wheat they wanted died within two weeks---they died before the rats that got no food at all. It wasn't a matter of the rats dying of malnutrition. Results like these suggested that there was something actually very toxic in the puffed wheat itself! Proteins are very similar to certain toxins in molecular structure, and the pressure of the puffing process may produce chemical changes, which turn a nutritious grain into a poisonous substance.

Another unpublished experiment was carried out in 1960. Researchers at Ann Arbor University were given 18 laboratory rats. They were divided into three groups: one group received corn flakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the Cornflakes came in and water; the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats eating the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. The rats receiving the Cornflakes and water died before the rats that were eating the box! But before death, the Cornflakes rats developed schizophrenic behaviour, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves of the spine, all signs of insulin shock. The startling conclusion of this study is that there was more nourishment in the box than there was in the Cornflakes. This experiment was actually designed as a joke, but the results were far from funny. The results were never published and similar studies have not been conducted.
The Consumer Health Organization of Canada -
http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=20011005222648 

Although the cereal contains less than 3 % fat and is high in added nutrients such as 6 essential B vitamins, vitamin C, D, and iron, one of the main drawbacks in the industrial production process of such cereals is the accumulation of acrylamide - a carcinogenic chemical classified as a probable human carcinogen in 1994. This was discovered in 1950 and although the accumulation of this chemical has been reduced, so far manufacturers have failed to find a way of totally eliminating this substance from appearing in the production process. Although some other processed foods contain much higher doses of acrylamide, tests by the UK's Food Standards Agency a few years ago suggested that a serving of breakfast cereal could contribute about nine micrograms. Those eating 40 micrograms of acrylamide a day are thought to be twice as likely to get cancer of the ovary or womb as those who have lower intakes.
Cereal Junk Food - part 5 (Kellogg's Corn Flakes)
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/food/kellogg-s-corn-flakes/1115646/

I just cannot figure out how you guys back there survive! But it does explain a lot about the way you all behave as a nation, by golly!

Derek