From Beer to Panera Bread: Changes in the Healthy Food Movement

If you're a beer drinker, you might be more concerned about your "brand' than what's in the bottle. But since beer companies are not required to list ingredients, do you really know what you're getting?

If you truly knew, you might decide to switch to a different form of alcohol.

Mom blogger and leader of Mamavation, Leah Segedie, is back on Naturally Savvy to share more about what's going on in the beer industry, as well as other hot topics in the world of healthy eating.


Label Our Beer!

A new petition by Vani Hari, the FoodBabe, asks beer companies Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors to label their ingredients. A whopping $85 billion of beer is sold in U.S. alone, and it's all completely unlabeled.

This is concerning, considering that your beer may contain everything from artificial dyes and MSG to fish kidneys.

The petition is not asking for these companies' formulas or anything crazy like that; it simply requests full transparency so you, the consumer, can make informed decisions. Women, especially, need to be a part of this conversation because even though they may not drink beer, they're typically buying it.

SynBio: GMO 2.0

If you thought GMOs were limited to corn and fish, you need to know about a new effort called synthetic biology (or SynBio for short). This involves creating scents and flavorings from genetically modified yeast. The resulting smells have been used in certain household products, but there is mention of adding the flavoring aspect to ice cream and other food products.

The process started as an effort in bio-fuel, but when it was discovered there was no profit to be made, SynBio took a turn in this direction.

But consider this: products that contain these elements are not labeled, nor are they regulated. Also, since it's manifested as a "scent" it is also airborne... which makes the incresing use of SynBio even scarier.

Panera Bread Vows to Remove Artificial Ingredients

In a move following in the direction of restaurants like Chipolte, Panera Bread has vowed to remove all artificial ingredients (additives, preservatives, colors, etc.) from their foods by 2016.

While they're not removing GMOs quite yet, they are working towards that movement.

Companies like these are starting to realize that healthy is profitable.

In fact, Chipolte saw a huge stock increase when they announced they were going GMO-free.

As a savvy consumer, you can make a difference by choosing where you spend your dollars and influence other restaurants to follow in the same direction.