The Danger Lurking in Middle Grocery Store Aisle

The simplicity of knowing what you are getting when you shop the meat and produce aisles at the grocery store is lost once you move into the center aisles. That's the domain of the processed food industry where food is disguised.
​

How can consumers really know what's in the syrups, gravies, flakes, powders, and creams? I mean really. A label is just words. In the middle aisles, words are traded for real, identifiable foods.
 
Food magicians with their bevy of marketing and label cosmeticians are skilled at convincing consumers that what lies within is "value-added" and far better than what can be found at the meat and produce counters, or harvested out of the backyard garden. Words and pictures are also a lot cheaper than real nutritional merit. Deception is not so easy with an apple, a bundle of lettuce, or a lamb chop, which are clearly what they are.
 
True, all foods are regulated, but no government official watches over what goes into every package, nor are they qualified to determine true health merit. We hope there is honesty and health skill in the food industry, but the lure of $ can skew ethical judgment. This is not to mention the nutritionally vitiating effects of processing itself.
 
With regard to pet foods, in particular, unlike almost everything in grocery stores that is just intended as components, condiments, or recreation (a lot of that) for human menus, pet foods are pushed as "100% complete" meals. Nobody knows what "100% complete" is with certainty. So the claim is deceptive and dangerous for those who believe it and feed the same food meal after meal. (The claim is actually mandated by regulators--a travesty of regulatory authority--and embraced heartily by producers who want consumers to feed their food relentlessly.)
 
This is not to say that processed foods cannot have merit, even a lot of merit. But discerning that requires some study and thought not only about the products, but the people who are producing them. Even then, packaged foods should never totally replace real fresh foods found at the perimeter of the grocery store.