006 What's Really in Our Food

From Food Safety to Personal Wellness

Why I’m Speaking Up About What’s In Our Food

My Journey From the Inside

I still remember the onion room—just stepping inside made your eyes sting like grief. It wasn’t just the fumes. It was the intensity, the relentlessness. To this day, I don’t understand how the workers got used to it. That was nearly 30 years ago—the beginning of my journey into food safety, and the first time I realized how much the public never sees.

In food manufacturing—especially in food safety—you’re the front line. You protect the public from contamination, mislabeling, and the countless things that can go wrong behind closed doors. You’re not just checking boxes. You’re holding t

he line between what’s safe and what’s silently risky.

What most people don’t realize is this: if you’re making everyday foods—breads, crackers, deli salads—you almost never see an FDA regulatory inspector. Not unless something goes wrong. Sure, they might swing by once a year, but for the most part, you’re on your own. And when production is racing and product needs to move, being the one who slows things down for safety? That’s a hard road. You’re often seen as the bottleneck, the obstacle. But you’re there to protect what matters most.

The Shift: From Industry to Individual

Somewhere along the way, the work stopped being just professional—it started getting personal. I began noticing ingredients I’d never seen in my own kitchen being added to batches of food. No one questioned it. No one explained it. They were just silently folded in, like routine. After decades in food manufacturing, I began asking a deeper question: What's really in our food?

I remember one moment vividly. I

was working in a facility that produced deli salads, and part of my job was to perform organoleptic testing—using taste, smell, and texture to ensure the product met specifications. One sample of potato salad is forever lodged in my memory. I took a spoonful, tasted it, and immediately spit it out. The flavor was harsh, chemical, almost metallic. Moments later, my mouth started going numb. I was scared.

My boss looked at me and laughed. “I guess they put too many preservatives in the salad,” he said.

That was the day I learned about GRAS—Generally Recognized As Safe. These ingredients are everywhere in food manufacturing. They extend shelf life, simplify processing, and sometimes replace higher-quality ingredients. The FDA designates GRAS substances as safe for consumption under their intended use, but the term is often misunderstood. It sounds reassuring, yet it rarely tells the whole story. Here’s what it actually means. That moment made me ask: Safe for whom? And at what cost?

Why Ingredients Matter More Than Ever

Not all food is created equal—and today, that matters more than ever. Processed foods are being consumed at staggering rates. Parents are working longer hours, often without the time or energy to cook nourishing meals from scratch. And it’s showing. Chronic illness, obesity, and even mental health struggles are rising—not just in adults, but in children too.

We live in an age of information, yet when it comes to what’s in our food, many of us are still in the dark. Ingredient lists have grown longer, more complex, and harder to decipher. In my years on the production floor, I watched this shift firsthand. I saw food additives quietly replace real ingredients. I saw labels stretch into paragraphs. And I saw how little most consumers knew about what they were actually eating.

It’s not about fear—it’s about awareness. Because when you understand what’s in your food, you reclaim a piece of your health—and take a step toward clean eating and healthier food choices.

What This Series Is About

In this blog series, I’ll be breaking down some of the most misunderstood—and potentially harmful—ingredients I’ve seen used in food manufacturing. These are substances that quietly shape the foods we eat every day, often without our knowledge. From chemical preservatives to artificial colorants, they’re added for shelf life, texture, or appearance—but not always for our health.

We’ll start with titanium dioxide, potassium sorbate, and a few other food additives you’ve probably seen on labels but never questioned. My goal isn’t to create fear—it’s to offer clarity. Because when you understand what’s in your food, you can make choices that support your wellness and protect your consumer health.

This series is about quiet truths. It’s about ingredient awareness, food label education, and healing through knowledge. It’s about reclaiming your right to nutrition transparency and knowing what you’re feeding yourself and your family.

A Whisper to Start With

You don’t need to fear food—but you do deserve to understand it.

This series isn’t about shame or restriction. It’s about awareness. It’s about learning to read between the lines of a label, to ask better questions, and to feel more confident in the choices you make for yourself and those you love.

I’m not here to tell you what to eat. I’m here to share what I’ve seen—what I’ve learned from decades behind the scenes—so you can decide what wellness looks like for you.

Let this be your first step toward clarity. I’ll be here, whispering truth with every post.

…,VW