The Federal Loophole That Allows Food Companies To Decide What’s Safe for You To Eat

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. – Fifteen-year-old Tiara Channer was 13 when she was diagnosed with prediabetes — a condition 1 in 5 American kids faces that causes an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. She and her mother, Crystal Cauley, blame her diagnosis on a poor diet.

“[Tiara] actually had to have a neurological consult, because she felt the tingling and the different sensations,” Cauley said. “And it was all linked to prediabetes. So it was a wake-up call, but she took the challenge to do better.”

By transitioning from a diet of ultra-processed foods to healthier whole foods and getting more active, Tiara overcame or shed her prediabetes diagnosis — and lost 50 pounds in the process. But it wasn’t an easy journey for her, given the challenge of understanding what’s healthy and what’s not.