Two grocery stores

[Raptured]

I used to enjoy Italian bread that I could pick up at the grocery store.  Over the last two years, if I eat that bread I get terrible intestinal distress.

I had stopped eating white bread from the grocery store, because of similar problems. After I switched to potato bread all that stopped.  But Italian bread is a special treat for me so it was disappointing when it started affecting the same as white bread.  I had thought it was the bleaching of the flour... but it may be some other aspect of "industrialized" baking and whatever their "ingredients" are.

I noticed that it may be time to worry about bread that doesn't go stale... until you open the packaging... 

It's a shame that they "Add" stuff to the bread to make it easier to sell old bread.  But it seems in keeping with the pitiful excuse for fruit and vegetables shipped by the ton...  hard, thick-skinned, anemic-looking fruit ripened by chemical exposure in the shipping container... garbage that would never sell at the point of production.  Tiny avocados, dry citrus fruits, melons with skin like leather... 

And of course there's the irony of paying more for food stuffs with less "stuff" in it.  "Organic" is just an excuse to economically punish the consumer further for not eating the garbage they dispose of in 'commercial' food items.

Ugh! Now I'm in a funk.    
Excuse me.

man, sorry to hear that.  I'm not a huge bread eater but I know very well how negative reactions to something you enjoy is a total buzzkill.  (beer, for me).

On a related note, since the world went to shit (COVID-influenced price gouging), I shop mainly at ALDI for my everyday stuff.   They have an Italian bread that boasts "Made with only 4 ingredients" which of course is Flour, Water, Salt and Sugar iirc.
It's quite good and surprisingly, goes bad within a week easy.  That speaks volumes to me.  Shelf-stable store bread scares the shit out of me.  If it can sit for weeks or even months and still remain soft and non-moldy, imagine what the additive that manages that does to your insides when consumed.  No thanks!

[CCoburn]

Most bread no longer seems to get stale, but seems to grow mould almost immediately.

Intelligent mold. Staking out the bread; waiting for it to be opened.

[UltraBudgie]

I found this article from RealClearInvestigations to be interesting and somewhat informative:

America’s most famous fast-food fan may be an unlikely candidate to make America healthy again, but Donald Trump seems willing to tackle the eating habits that have led to skyrocketing rates of obesity. The junk food industry is not lovin’ it.

RealClearInvestigations has learned that representatives of companies that make snack foods, sugary beverages, and cooking oils are already meeting to discuss how to thwart the reform agenda of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former consumer rights attorney Trump has said he will nominate to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Their response provides an early example of what experts predict will be a massive effort by D.C. lobbyists to position their clients in response to Trump’s pledge to change how Washington does business.

[...1700 words omitted...]

Invariant is one of many lobbying firms in the middle of the conflict. The firm not only represents highly processed snack producers, corn refiners, and fast food establishments like McDonald's, but also Campbell Soup, McCain Foods, and the American Beverage Association, the lobby group for sugary sodas.

The lobbyists at the firm shared a memo outlining additional steps. Clients in the “food and agriculture space need to continue both defensive efforts – including legislative and regulatory efforts – while also considering offensive approaches that engage positively in the broader health focused debate.” The offensive approaches, however, are yet to be seen.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/...73264.html

Of course reaction could be predicted. And I doubt it matters, to an extent. The problems are just so broad and widespread. For example, yellow dye #5. It's banned in much of the world, but not in the USA. Research and health impacts are ambiguous (see: troll armies and politicized science). Okay. I imagine for every one thing that can be found, researched, proven, and improved in commercial processed food, there's perhaps hundreds of things that we just don't know about. It's almost a guarantee that 20 years from now people will look back and say "yikes I can't believe we ate that", all the while chomping down on things they're grandchildren will shake their head at.

No winning it, I suppose. Just eat what makes you feel healthy, mentally and physically. Be aware of what you swallow. I suppose this applies to food as well as media and politics and everything else.

It may save time and be cheaper to buy processed and premade food, but is it really, when you take into account medical bills and disability due to an unhealthy lifestyle? Besides, cooking is fun.