A few weeks ago, the world was obsessing over the World Cup. I was obsessing over traveling fish.
The moment I heard Norway’s national soccer team was flying hundreds of pounds of fish across the Atlantic, I got weirdly invested. Not in fútbol, sorry to the diehards. I wanted to know why anyone would haul that much seafood halfway around the world when the United States has grocery stores on practically every corner.
The answer was actually pretty simple. They weren’t avoiding American food. They were avoiding change. Along with the fish came familiar foods, their own chefs and a nutrition plan that had already been working. When you’re preparing for the biggest tournament in the world, you don’t suddenly decide to experiment with gas station sushi or a fast food drive-through. Elite athletes know exactly what fuels their bodies, and consistency is part of their game plan.
I already had a suspicion that we play things a little loosey-goosey over here when it comes to food ingredients. What I didn’t understand was how two developed countries could look at the exact same ingredient and come to completely different conclusions. How does one country decide it’s perfectly acceptable, while another says “absolutely not.”
Naturally, I did what I always do. I went down the rabbit hole.
What I found surprised me.
Let’s start with bread.
If you’ve ever looked at the ingredient list on a loaf of bread, you may have seen something called potassium bromate. It’s added to strengthen dough and help bread rise. Several countries, including those in the European Union and Canada, don’t allow it because animal studies raised concerns about its potential cancer risk. Here in the United States, it’s still legal, although many manufacturers have voluntarily removed it from their recipes.
Then I came across titanium dioxide. It sounds like something you’d use to repaint your mailbox, but it has been used to make foods look brighter and whiter in products like candy, gum, frostings and sauces. The European Union no longer allows it because regulators couldn’t rule out concerns about possible DNA damage. It’s still allowed in certain foods here in the United States.
Artificial food dyes are another interesting example. Contrary to what social media would have you believe, Europe didn’t ban every artificial dye. Some are still allowed, but certain products must carry warning labels about possible effects on children’s activity and attention. Many companies simply chose to switch to natural coloring instead. Here in the United States, synthetic dyes are still common in cereals, candies, sports drinks and plenty of other processed foods.
Another ingredient that caught my attention was azodicarbonamide. Yes, I had to sound that one out too. It’s used to improve the texture of some breads and baked goods. Several countries don’t allow it in food. The United States still does.
So who’s right?
Honestly, I don’t know.
Europe generally takes more of a “let’s be safe until we know for sure” approach. The United States tends to leave ingredients on the market unless there’s convincing evidence they’re unsafe at the levels people actually eat. They’re simply two different ways of looking at risk.
Here’s what I kept coming back to: The foods that rarely end up in these debates don’t have ingredient labels that read like a chemistry final exam.
An apple is still an apple. Broccoli has managed to survive without food coloring. A sweet potato has been doing just fine for thousands of years without needing preservatives, stabilizers or ingredients that require Google to pronounce.
I’m not telling you to clean out your pantry when you finish reading this. I’m also not telling you that everything approved in the United States is somehow dangerous. What I am suggesting is that we become a little more curious.
Flip the package over once in a while. Read the ingredient list. Ask questions.
Because if some of the best athletes in the world care enough about what goes into their bodies to fly hundreds of pounds of fish across an ocean, maybe the rest of us should spend a few extra seconds looking at what’s in our grocery cart.
Who knew traveling fish would end up being such a great teaching moment?
