CRUZ: US grocery stores make it impossible to eat healthy
Column: One Million Percent
As the weather gets warmer and the days grow longer, more people are beginning to take action to achieve their ideal physique. Online articles and videos across social media platforms are already promoting different diets and exercise plans that will help you achieve your "summer body" just in time for beach season.
Building the courage to start living a healthier lifestyle is already an arduous task, but this difficulty is exponentially increased by the number of unhealthy products displayed all across grocery stores. You cannot solely blame yourself as these stores' sly tricks tempt you to buy things you do not need.
From product placement to the maze-like layout, supermarkets worldwide utilize different tactics derived from consumer behavior studies to convince shoppers to purchase unnecessary items.
The science behind consumer behavior has been studied and improved upon for decades. For example, a 1982 study found that even background music can impact buying decisions.
It is especially easy for businesses to influence consumers by presenting them with thousands of options. Nobody enjoys spending an excessive amount of time walking around the supermarket, looking for specific items. The longer you search, the less you care about whether a product is healthy, which is precisely what these companies count on.
Fourty-three of the food and drinks located in the most prominent areas of a grocery store, like near entrances or on the ends of aisles for shoppers to notice immediately, are excessively sugary, according to the Obesity Health Alliance, an organization based in the U.K.
It is psychological ploys like these that explain why essential grocery items are spread far apart from each other. Fruits and vegetables usually are at the front of a grocery store, while dairy products are at the opposite end, separated by aisles of confectionaries and other distractions, desirably packaged and waiting to be bought on impulse.
You would think that being privy to these marketing tactics would make it easy enough to stay away from unhealthy products and become a smarter shopper. Unfortunately, there is more than just the obvious junk food to worry about in the supermarket.
Outside of the obvious bags of chips and packages of cookies, it can come as a surprise to learn just how many other foods that people regularly buy are actually bad for you and even banned in several other countries, especially ones that are marketed as healthy choices.
It is common for people to use fish and chicken as an alternative to red meat when dieting. Despite this switch, though, it appears that people may be ingesting chemicals and bacteria even worse for us than red meat.
Salmon has remained one of the country's top-selling seafood items despite its price increase over the last year. Farm-raised salmon are fed antibiotics along with other unnatural additives in their diet. The salmon are then given the chemical compound astaxanthin to artificially create its pink color.
As delicious as that sounds, other countries seem to think otherwise, as consumption of that chemical is banned in Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, according to The Soil Association, chicken is washed with chlorine to reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses.
Yes, the same chemical that keeps your pool clean also keeps your chicken fresh and ready for you to eat. But it turns out that might not be so accurate after all.
Southampton University conducted several tests which revealed that salmonella and other bacteria can still live on chicken even after chlorine washes. The chlorine essentially only helps to prevent the bacteria from being detected in a lab. Due to this, chlorinated chicken is banned in the U.K. and the European Union (EU).
Even the one fruit meant to keep the doctor away is untrustworthy.
American apples are banned from the EU due to the use of diphenylamine, or DPA, a chemical that keeps the fruit from turning brown. In 2012, the European Food Safety Authority banned the chemical after finding links to cancer.
A similar trend is found in many other products sold in the U.S. The most prevalent issue is the overuse of food dyes and colorants, most notably Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 40. This trio of additives may have potential contaminants, and these chemicals are also known to cause cancer.
Nearly all of our guilty pleasures have some combination of the three in their list of ingredients. These include Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, Pop-Tarts, Lucky Charms, Sunkist Soda, Raspberry Jell-O and Skittles, according to the Chicago Tribune.
This information is not meant to discourage anyone from embarking on a healthier lifestyle. But just like anything else, doing proper research on what is truly beneficial for your body (and your wallet) will reap more benefits than simply taking everything at face value.
Brandon Cruz is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in journalism and minoring in digital communication, information and media. His column, "One Million Percent," runs on alternate Thursdays.
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