Furious NYC Rail Moms against toxins in Foods for Children

Tara Ferrara’s 7-year-old daughter began to suffer from a worrying mixture of symptoms four years ago-nausea, stomach pain and sudden, intense panic that struck without warning.

While dozens of doctors worked to determine the cause, they placed the girl on a strict low diet in highly processed and gluten -free foods, dairy, corn, soy and histamine.

For Ferrara, 39, realizing what her daughter could eat was sure to try to understand a foreign language.

“Sometimes I feel like I can’t work because literally I need to research food,” Ferrara, a pathologist of the word and language from Brooklyn, told The Post.

Processed ultra foods (UPF) make up nearly 70% of calories in American children’s diets-a new White House report warns that they can promote nationwide growth of chronic childhood diseases.

The Make America Healthy (Maha) commission report marks the first major push of the Trump administration to face what calls a “crisis” affecting more than 40% of young people across the country.

“We will pursue the truth wherever it leads, support strict science, and lead brave policies that first establish the health, development and future of every child,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on Thursday.

Two mothers of New York raising children with chronic health issues told the post that it could be an uphill battle to keep their children’s diets clean in a place where UPF prevails supermarket shelves.

Were explained upf

While there is no single, universally accepted definition, UPFs are generally packaged, ready to eat products undergoing extensive industrial processing to enhance their aroma, structure and rack life.

They are often loaded with added sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and refined grains – and filled with preservatives, artificial colors, aroma, emulsifiers and stabilizers that are not commonly used in home cooking.

UPF usually contains little or no fruits, vegetables or whole grains and are usually low in fiber and other essential nutrients.

Researchers estimate that about 70% of 300,000 plus food products in grocery stores fall into this category.

Food warfare

Two years in the strict diet, Ferrara is still navigating the minefield-and the slides have serious consequences.

“[Food] Indeed, it really affects it and can cause a ignition where it is so unpleasant bold and wise from the brain that it cannot go to school, “said Ferrara, which co -owned the social city, which offers social support services to children.

A last mistake? Gluten -free, milky -free pancakes, her daughter eats every morning. It turns out that they contain a corn-derived supplement, called Maltodexrin-what Ferrara only discovered after calling the manufacturer.

“It was one of the ingredients my eyes just passed because I don’t know what this is,” she said. “Without knowledge, every morning I was giving these gluten -free, milky -free pies, which actually have something that is very inflammatory and ultra processed.”

Maha report warns that more than 2,500 food additives can be pumped into UPF – all to improve the taste and structure and extent of shelf life.

Some additives have been linked to serious health concerns, including behavioral disorders, metabolic issues and even cancer.

Take 40 red, for example. This nutritional coloring is found in foods known as skittles and doritos, as well as drinks like Pepsi. Hasten to increase hyperactivity and irritability in children, especially if they have ADHD, and can cause allergic reactions in others.

In the meantime, research shows titanium dioxide, found in everything, from sweets to sauces, can damage cells and even DNA.

Then there are artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucrose and sacarin, which some studies suggest that they can disrupt the intestinal microbioma – a major player in metabolism, weight control and blood sugar regulation.

Ferrara’s youngest daughter, 4, has no food sensitivity – but maintaining her pure diet is still a challenge. At school, games and other places outside the home, dumping is almost impossible to avoid.

“She is not directly touched after she eats, but I know she is harming her for a long term,” Ferrara said. “Just because it doesn’t fully tell about any single person does not mean that you are not doing the same damage inside.”

According to the White House report, processed ultra-found grains-found in cakes, cookies, bread and snack foods-children’s diets. These products are stripped of their bran and germs, removing essential fibers, vitamins and minerals.

“Moving these ingredients can lead to blood sugar rivets, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes,” the report said.

The sugar situation is just as gloomy. Processed ultra sugars can be found in 75% of packaged foods. The American average consumes 17 teaspoons of sugar added a day – reaching a 60 -pound a year.

This overload of sugar-especially from high fructose corn syrup and other additives-are playing a “significant role” in increasing the overweight of childhood children, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to the report.

But it’s not just the ingredients – it’s what industrial processing does to them.

Maha report warns that processing changes fiber content, caloric density and solubility in ways that can grab hunger hormones, short -circuit saturation signals and damage the intestinal microbioma.

“It doesn’t have to be so hard to protect your family,” Ferrara said. “They need to be more transparent with what is in food, but also how it is processed.”

Toxic

Mom Astoria Carissa Serralta has always tried to nourish her children a healthy diet-but it was not until one of her newborn twin daughters was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, McAD deficiency, that she saw how much flooded food stores are with ultra-processed junk.

The condition prevents it now 2 years old, Mila, to properly metabolize fats from seed oils such as palm trees, coconut and avocado.

“Eighty to 90% of the brands you see on the shelf that she can’t have,” the Post Serrralta told her. “It can be somewhere from pasta in Tortilla to Cheez.”

This became a nightmare when she couldn’t produce enough breast milk – and realized that almost all the baby’s formulas in the market were loaded with seed oils.

“They say breast is best, but if you have no milk for your baby and have no choice but to give them formulas, and the formula has bad ingredients, what do you do?” She withdrew. “Your baby should be fed.”

Doctors told the serrals to give Mila small doses of seed oils to build the formula tolerance – but it led to ruthless diarrhea per month.

The Maha report notes that seed oils have flooded food supply to the US, overcoming animal -based fats such as butter and layers in American diets over the past century.

Finding safe foods has become “a full -time job” for serrralta. Many of the items her daughter can eat are not available in the country, forcing her to buy online or cook everything from scratch.

If Mila accidentally eats seed oil, it means an upset stomach, which Serralta said is painful but manageable. She is grateful is not more severe like a peanut or gluten allergy.

The White House report points out that childhood food allergies have increased 88% since 1997, while celiac disease in children has jumped fivefold since the 80s.

The diagnosis did not just change what Mila eats – it transformed the rest of the family eating habits. The Serralta trembles from the opinion of her eldest son who previously eaten ultra -processed snacks.

“Almost almost a scary thought because I was not aware of this before I had the Gemini,” she said.

And while she is not a fan of the current administration, Serralta said she welcomes any attempt to expand access to healthier foods.

“Less processed foods should be made available to all children-should not only be online where people with lower income cannot access it,” she said.