Thursday, April 18, 2013

5 Interesting Websites with Tools for Better Health

I stumbled across these 5 websites the other day & thought it might be worth sharing. I've listed the website and article name as well as my brief synopsis & link to the article. Any interesting articles can be submitted to cornucopiaefds@gmail.com 

With the BuyCott app, a product's history is at your fingertips.
Find out about the quality of ingredients, where the ingredients come from,
research associated with the product and the company producing it
- just by scanning the barcode or searching by name. 


Buycott.com: Buycott iPhone App 
- This app helps to unveil corporate relationships in a convenient family tree chart, i.e. what corporation owns what brand etc. This can be helpful in that mergers are frequent and corporations are not entitled to notify the public. Why is this important? There have been many cases where small companies (that had previously produced high quality goods and provided transparent information in regards to their ingredients & processing techniques) have been bought by larger corporations & although the brand name and package labeling remains the same, lesser quality ingredients were substituted with little to no notification to the consumer. In the US, there are only a handful of corporate conglomerates who produce most our foods- the list will surprise you (Check out Grocery Store Blacklist, below, which identifies which companies are owned by what corporation). The more information you have, the more you can protect your family from companies who are only concerned with their bottom-line, not a quality and healthful product.

http://buycott.com

OrganicConsumers.org: The Grocery Store Blacklist: 12 Food Companies to Avoid (and 95 sneaky alias).
- This was an interesting article to read. Although I admit I do not know very much about Monsanto, the article listed many brands, organic & conventional, and their relationship to other large corporations. It was very revealing to see which brands were actually owned by what companies- even more interesting when you see how many different products (even non food items) these larger companies manufacture. Most helpful is a list at the bottom of great products to support & companies who proudly support labeling GMO products and using quality ingredients while labeling honestly.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27347.cfm
Original article posted at http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2013/04/12/the-grocery-store-blacklist-12-food-companies-to-avoid-and-95-sneaky-aliases/

NationwideBarcode.com: UPC- Where products come from
- Explains EAN & UPC barcodes & how they are used. Tips to read product labels. The following three links make the case that it is not enough to just read labels, but the entire packaging. It might be a pain at first, but once the research is done you know which companies & brands have quality ingredients and can continue to support them.

http://www.nationwidebarcode.com/barcodes-where-products-come-from/


Nationwide Barcode.com: Barcodes Demystified 
- A PDF 30 page booklet explaining products & barcodes. Includes complete country code list to help identify where product might have originated. If you read nationwide barcode's website articles, I suggest reading hoax slayer as well- hoax slayer explains how relying solely on barcodes can be misleading.

http://www.nationwidebarcode.com/Barcodes-Demystified/ 


Hoax-Slayer.com: Product Bar Code Country Identification
- If you are concerned about buying products coming from China or another country, bar codes are not always reliable- especially if its an international brand. Hoax Slayer explains how bar codes can be unreliable, how to read them properly, etc. Good knowledge to know if you are a cautious shopper.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/product-bar-codes.shtml