Do you ever wonder?

I used to love to watch Andy Rooney's segments at the end of "60 Minutes." He would usually have a practical perspective or question things we just sometimes give little thought to in our daily lives.

One of his great lead in lines was: "Do you ever wonder ...?" and then he would pontificate on the topic of the week.

I thought I would emulate him this week with some things I think about.

When you are walking down the supermarket aisles where they have the bleach, household cleaners and rat poison, do you ever wonder why that place has a funny smell? Are the containers off-gassing toxic chemicals? Is this good for me or for my children to breathe?

I wonder how healthy this is for the employees who work there and are being exposed to these fumes for long periods of time.

Are these chemicals getting into my food on the next aisle? Do I want to buy my food where I can also buy rat poison? Are the same hands that touch and stock these hazardous products then touching food items and leaving residual chemicals behind that I or my child may be exposed to?

Do you ever wonder why food with lots of ingredients tends to last a long time without getting moldy or breaking down?

Four weeks ago, I purchased a sandwich from a grab-and-go section at a chain store in Colorado. I was in a hurry and unfortunately did not look at the ingredients before buying it.

But before taking a bite out of this presumably innocent roast beef and Swiss cheese sandwich, I started to read the ingredients list. Are you ready for this? This 6-inch sandwich has 168 ingredients!

Granted, the bread had hydrogenated oil and it was listed several times for different parts of the sandwich — but 168 ingredients? How can this be?

My body would not have known what to do if given such a smorgasbord of chemicals all at once. So I threw the specimen in my bag and brought it back to Yuba City. I wanted to know how long I could I keep this sandwich, unrefrigerated, before it would start to break down.

Please do not call the hazmat team on me. It took four weeks before the bread started to get moldy. The meat and cheese, however, still look the same as when the sandwich was in the store.

I wonder how much nutritional value do foods like this sandwich really provide to our bodies if they take this long to break down. Are we just eating empty calories, which sail right on through us and are potentially making us sick?

I want my food to break down and fuel my body. I want my body to be nourished with natural ingredients, not artificial man-made ingredients.

Do you ever wonder what's in the food you're eating?

Kevin Cotter is managing general partner at New Earth Market in Yuba City.