Out here in the Pacific Northwest, most of our grocery chains have set up a section for “health food” - a couple of aisles with packaged foods, frozen items, green cleaning products, etc. Because every store I go in seems to be adopting this strategy, I have no doubt about whether this is a lucrative idea. But here’s the catch, many of the things in this “health food” aisle aren’t too healthy.
For the most part, my complaints aren’t all that sophisticated. Many of the low-fat packaged foods replace the lost flavor with extra salt. Organic frozen packaged foods are nearly as nutritionally bereft as their conventionally-grown counterparts.
But then there’s this. I see this product in pretty much every grocery story I go to (and I’ve got about 5 in heavy rotation). It is made from a soil fungus noted for its toxicity. I have been aware of complaints from consumers for nearly a decade, and pretty much since it came on the market. And it is still being sold as a health-food alternative to eating meat.
I’ve been a vegetarian for more than 15 years, and I’d probably still rather have fast-food hamburgers before eating soil fungus burgers.