Humanised Trufood

I've recently heard a viewpoint I hadn't considered before:

Processed food is created by nutritionists, biologists, and medical professionals, all with doctorates. It is manufactured according to strict health and safety regulations to ensure its purity and fitness as a foodstuff.

Organic food is whatever someone found on the ground.

Processed food - well, hyper-processed food is what you're thinking of, merely processed food includes bread and cheese - is created by multinational companies with only the bottom line in their sight. Any doctorate involved is in economy or law. Biology and medicine have little or nothing to do with it.

Your assessment of "organic" food is correct, though. I know someone who sells "organic silicon medicine for pets". Yes, organic silicon. Sand. For dogs and cats.

Nutritionists are quacks; the ones you want to consult if and when you need to are dieticians, which is a protected title. Anyone can call herself a nutritionist, and many ones do.

Biologists and doctors - of any kind - would advise you to take decent ingredients and learn to cook. So would I, for another reason: it's a load of fun to make something nice and serve it to your friends.

Phideaux, it seems you have gone trolling, realize it or not. I'll play along. "Strict health and safety regulations" sounds really good. I wonder how much the FDA is captured by the industry it's supposed to regulate, and those regs have been written by the food companies.

"Natural flavorings"? Wow.

Virtual -- I wasn't really trolling, as such. It's just that I like things which oppose the norm, and the more outrageous (while still being true and logical), the better. I was just sharing this bit of weirdness.

Three people in my high school class ended up in the industry (two got doctorates in medicine (research, not the kind where you see patients), the other's doctorate was in biochemistry). I don't know when I'll see them next, but I'm glad to have this alternate viewpoint to present, just to see their reaction.

It's my observation that the big companies want proper food safety regulations based on actual science. Being able to point to independent studies upon which the regs are based, and the government inspection records showing the regs were followed, defuses a lot of lawsuits. Frivolous lawsuits cost companies much more than the cost of following safe procedures. (There is no such love for OSHA's regs, but that's understandable.)

Funny thing about 'natural flavorings' -- I tried my hand at growing Alpine strawberries. One year, my crop was big enough I shared some with friends. A couple thought that, because of their small size and really strong and distinctive flavor, they were manufactured candies, and the factory had put too much flavoring in that batch.

Richard, if you think dieticians are more trustworthy than nutritionists, take a look at this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/04/03/diet-culture-nutrition-influencers-general-mills-processed-food/

@ges: as far as I can read that - it's behind a paywall for me - that's a really disingenuous article. Anti-diet is a very different thing from pro-junkfood; crash diets do as much damage as hamburgers and microwave meals do.