Titanium dioxide, azodicarbonamide, potassium bromate. No, these are not the elements of some wicked science experiment, but rather ingredients commonly found in grocery stores across America that are banned in Europe.
My name is Jean Darbo. I am 15 years old and recently I wanted to start eating healthier and feeling better. I asked my dad to take me to the grocery store and what I found left me speechless. Every option for foods ranging from cereal, to bacon, to bread was infested with ingredients I couldn’t even pronounce!
The next day I attended school and noticed how people constantly complained about how tired and unmotivated they were. Now of course, high school teenagers being tired and moody is nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but it got me thinking about my experience in that grocery store.
My peers were eating chips and candy filled with unhealthy and unsafe chemicals to get them through a seven-hour day of school.
I quickly realized, this wasn’t their fault. Healthy food options are steadily becoming harder to come across. Snacks and candies commonly containing titanium dioxide are unfortunately the only affordable food option for some families.
Upon further research, I found there is a scientifically proven correlation between the quality of food we eat and general mood, strength and happiness. Food is fuel, after all, and if we want to feel good we need to eat well.
Healthy foods and snacks should never break the bank, especially when they fuel the next generation and make such a big impact on general well being.
We must demand more from our elected officials to ban these kind of toxic ingredients and ask ourselves this simple question:
If we can’t pronounce the ingredient, should our kids be eating it?
Jean Darbo
Valencia
