I spend hours in the supermarket, more than any other person I know. It's not that I just like hanging out in the air conditioned mall - it's because I read product labels carefully. I also observe the buying habits of Filipinos. I noticed that the majority never bother knowing what they are ingesting. They just buy what's cheap and tastes good. People don't know that whatever their ailments are, it probably came from the food they ate. Lifestyle diseases like cancer and diabetes are very prevalent these days, so much more than in our grandparent's time. The popularity of fast food, instant snacks and the like are causing people to eat bad things. Among the things most Filipinos buy that's not good for them: instant noodles(has many artificial ingredients), polished rice, refined sugar, canned or processed meats, pork products, artificial drinks  - all are cheap and in good supply. Even cosmetics and lotions are not spared, most contain harmful substances too.

Did you know that some food additives that were banned elsewhere are being sold with our food? For example BHA, which was banned in other countries, yet I found this in margarines, cheese hotdogs, and many other items. Then there's Sodium Nitrite, this is linked to cancer yet it's in the hotdogs and canned meats kids love. There are many more such things including BHT, MSG (locally known as vetsin), and artificial sweeteners like saccharin, acesulfame-k, aspartame, - too many to list everything here. Some of these artificial sweeteners are actually claiming to be healthy substitutes!

Most doctors are not much help in the area of advising  people what to eat. I've seen many doctors and most lack knowledge when it comes to nutrition. I knew one that even said smoking was good for you :-( And another that said that these poisons won't affect you when taken in small quantities! Then there are conflicting studies that say they are harmless. Come on, who can predict each individual's body tolerance? Why do we gamble with people's health just to make a buck? Are we to wait until we have a terrible disease before we act?

If we read our Bibles, you will notice that God even advises us what to eat and not to eat (also Deut 8:8). And these do not include artificial and chemical ingredients. Some would debate that these verses are obsolete because Jesus "cleaned" all food - Read your Bible friends - God never takes back any fact he says. The error comes from an out-of-context reading of Acts:11 and Mark 7:19 . Anyway, the point is, let us be responsible (even religious) in what we consume. More so with what we feed our children. I can't blame people for buying these things specially because of the economic difficulties (since healthy food tends to be much more costly), but we must stop and think - what's more expensive? eat the right foods now or be hospitalized (or dead) later?

Further reading from CNN
also here 

Excuse the bad pic it was taken in the supermarket :-)