The Big Experiment

 

Fanta Lemon pop from Crete.

The Big Experiment

By Cynthia Bergsbaken, March 20, 2025

 

I’ve been realizing lately that it seems the USA has been placed in a big experiment. Why?

 

Recently I had the chance to travel to the UK. My first visit was to England and then to Crete and Athens, Greece. What beautiful countries! Many parks, really nice old/ancient buildings, beautiful scenery, great cultures, and great travel infrastructures!

Anyways, while I was there, I shopped at the local grocery stores and such. I noticed the English and Greek brands and then I started noticing the USA brands. I’m so familiar with the USA brands just by their pictures. One tends to reach for what they are familiar with.

 I picked up various USA brands. And as a habit, I always read their ingredient labels to make sure they haven’t started to add any artificial trans-fats or other junk ingredients.

The first thing I noticed was the size differences!

 In both Greece and England, the sizes are much smaller compared to the USA.

A pop (soda pop) bottle in the UK and Greece is around 4-5 oz. and in glass bottles and aluminum cans, mainly. This would include the USA brands as well. The USA brands are sold as 12, 16, 20 oz. bottles! Most bottles in the USA are plastic and aluminum cans (12-16 oz.) instead of glass.

Then I started looking at the ingredients. WOW!!! What a difference.

In the UK, the pop (Uk brands and USA brands) is made from simple, more natural ingredients such as: sugar, carbonated water, and natural flavorings.

Where as in the USA, the USA brands are made with a lot of not-so-good for you stuff and extra sweeteners!

 Here is a comparison of Fanta Lemon pop I had in Crete.

The Greek Fanta pop was in a glass bottle and was a 4 oz. bottle. The ingredients are: Water, sugar (about 22.5 grams), lemon juice (7%), carbon dioxide, citric acid, sodium citrate, potassium sorbate, ascorbic acid, and natural flavors of lemon. (Sources-bottle/ https://www.e-fresh.gr)

The USA Lemon Fanta pop (12 oz can or 12 oz bottle) contained (discontinued in USA):  Carbonated water, high-fructose corn syrup (73 grams), citric acid, natural flavors, sodium benzoate, modified food starch, and glycerol ester of rosin, yellow 6, and red 40. (https://www.coca-cola.com/us)

After seeing this, I can see why obesity is a problem in the USA.

·       Size differences 4 oz (Greek) vs 12 oz (USA)

·        Bottle material aluminum/glass vs aluminum/ plastic

·        The amount of sweetener used in the USA-made is over triple the amount as in the Greek version.

·       The sweetener used in USA most times is High Fructose Corn syrup vs sugar in the UK.

·       The ingredient lists. This Fanta product and other products in the UK, whether USA-made or UK made have simpler, old-fashioned ingredients compared to the USA versions sold in the USA.

·       Sugar (UK) vs High Fructose Corn Syrup (which may contain mercury, added invisible ingredient.) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

·       Colorings used in USA-made can be quite detrimental to people. Example Red dye 40. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/red-dye-40

 

The difference in foods between the UK and the USA is due to the European restrictions on certain chemicals! UK has identified and eliminated the “bad” stuff in their food and drink helping their citizens to be healthier, where- as the USA has not! (https://foodbabe.com/food-in-america-compared-to-the-u-k-why-is-it-so-different/)

In the USA, the FDA banned artificial trans-fats. Due to be taken off shelves as of 2018. But if you look closely at many foods, artificial trans-fats are still being used. Instead, the FDA allows for food makers to still use it and if it is under a certain amount, it can be stated on the container of food that it has 0 grams of artificial trans-fats even though it has trans-fats. (Look in the ingredients list to find if the food has this type of fat in it. You’re looking for: hydrogenated oils, hydrogenated fats, fully hydrogenated oils/fats, partially hydrogenated oils/fats. Also, reminder that all deep-fried foods have trans-fats as well.) As of 2025, I still easily find foods with artificial trans-fats in them. Buyer beware!

https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/us-bans-artificial-trans-fats/#:~:text=It's%20official%3A%20Artificial%20trans%20fats,deadline%20of%20June%2018%2C%202018.

 

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/final-determination-regarding-partially-hydrogenated-oils-removing-trans-fat#:~:text=Final%20Determination%20Regarding%20Partially%20Hydrogenated%20Oils%20(Removing%20Trans%20Fat),-Trans%20Fat%20Main&text=In%202015%2C%20FDA%20released%20its,levels%20in%20other%20edible%20oils.

 

Fanta pop is one of many food/drink items that are sold in the UK in a healthier version compared to the same brands in the USA whether it is by weight and/or by ingredient list.

 

This reminds me of some of my college years. Back in the day, we’d sign-up for our classes, expecting exactly what we signed up for. But I soon found out that even if we signed up for a classic Calculus class or a classic whatever class, we could be surprised! When I took my first course in Calculus, I was told the first day of class that our class was chosen to be an experimental class. When I heard those words for the first time, I thought, “O.k. this will be o.k. then.” But by the end of the course, I realized I did not learn a thing about Calculus! How could I advance without knowing Calculus??? How could I take other classes that were linked to knowing Calculus? Do you remember in the film  "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" where Dolores Umbridge teaches the dark arts class by theory alone from a book? Well this sums up my Calculus class.  Impractical.

Throughout my college years, I had maybe three courses that did this, announced it was an experimental course to see how students learned the subject. After my first course like this, my heart sank every time I heard those words in a new class.

 If one country has banned many chemicals due to toxicity, it is wise to look closer and follow suit across the world. Learn from each other’s findings, protecting people throughout the world.

A giant experiment of trying new things, new ways, and new stuffs. Maybe to find out the simple ways were the healthiest and the easiest to grasp. Maybe to see if a country will listen to another country’s facts and wisdom. Or maybe it's all in the name of progress. No need to protect health and well-being.

All the new drugs on the market! All the new electronics on the market! All the new clothing synthetics on the market! And all the new ways to mass produce foods without food spoilage!

All of these things come at a cost.

Taking drugs instead of doing the hard work of finding out why you need the drug. With drugs comes side effects, many are pretty dangerous to one self. What are the long-term effects of any drug? (Example, Obesity drug vs looking close at yourself and understanding why you’re gaining weight; addicted to foods, hormone unbalance etc.? Changing habits up.)

Electronics are fun and great way to learn stuff. We have cell phones, computers, radios, clock radios, TV’s, headphones/pods, stereos, computer watches, and much, much more. But at what cost? EMFs are invisible and toxic to one’s body. Toxic to one’s well-being. The more we are around them and/or use them, the more radiation we take in. At what cost? Your health?

ww.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/electromagnetic-fields-fact-sheet#:~:text=Electric%20and%20magnetic%20fields%20together,x%2Drays%20and%20gamma%20rays.

Synthetic clothing materials/polyesters/ no-wrinkle clothing treatments/water-proofing treatments and plastic food/drink containers are the new norm. Good for moisture wicking, good for keeping clothing dry in the suitcase, durable, makes life easier, keeps food longer. But again, at what cost?

Polyester material and other synthetics are plastic! Food containers are plastic! All plastic has an ugly side whether providing your body with Endocrine disruptors or polluting Earth for 20-500 years!

 Picture this; 400 years from now our children’s, children, children, children, children will be digging in the Earth to plant a garden. Only to start digging up, shovel after shovel un-decomposed plastic! These same children in the future may go fishing only to find they caught un-decomposed plastic.

 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-chemicals-in-plastics-impact-your-endocrine-system/

https://www.un.org/en/exhibits/exhibit/in-images-plastic-forever#:~:text=But%20when%20does%20plastic's%20life,just%20gets%20smaller%20and%20smaller.

Creating enough food for people of the world by using: GMO (foods with pesticides in side their DNA) and pesticides. What are the long-term effects of GMO and pesticides on people? They sound good, but there is no longterm studies.

https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/agricultural-biotechnology

https://www.epa.gov/regulation-biotechnology-under-tsca-and-fifra/overview-plant-incorporated-protectants

Creating food that will last longer on the shelves of stores by using: preservatives, fungicides, artificial trans-fats, and synthetic chemicals. 

Again, at a cost to our health and well-being?

It feels like the USA is in a giant experiment to see what will happen to people's health and well-being.

 Disclaimer by Reiki in the Prairie LLC and Cynthia Bergsbaken copyright 2015

I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or medical doctor.  These articles I have written, are from reading and experiencing them.  Many of these articles are my own experiences with my own inventions to heal as well.

If you have a medical condition-physically/mentally/emotionally, please see a qualified medical doctor.  Do not substitute my articles for proper medical care.  You are too important to the world.

I have used all procedures I have written about and have found them to be helpful as tools to help myself become a better person.   I am sharing them with you because used as a tool, they are helpful in Shadow working on ourselves.  (Shadow working is healing our inner shadows that are unconscious or subconscious.  Inner shadows are our belief systems, our thoughts, our behaviors, our life experiences.)

I created this blog for my Reiki clients originally.  Combining these tools with Reiki creates a happy, healthy person.  These tools, when used alone are also beneficial!

 

***All original content is copyrighted by Cynthia Bergsbaken, Perceptive Blogger & Reiki in the Prairie LLC.

Reiki in the Prairie LLC is a legal Entity under law, 2015.

April 11, 2020

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