Boca Foods is owned by Kraft. Morningstar Farms? Kellogg. Spectrum Organic? That’s owned by Heinz. Horizon Organic Milks? That’s Dean Foods. Gardenburger? Kellogg again.

Brands that have become dietary staples for consumers who actively choose a healthy lifestyle are owned by mega-corporations.

It is a slightly discouraging reality that the healthy choices we make create profits for some of the largest food companies in the world.

The fact Odwalla is now a brand under the Coca-Cola banner and Naked Juice is just another product in the Pepsi Co. line are realities most of us have been aware of for years. We have made individual decisions about those companies and, to what extent, we buy their products. But what about these other companies? Dean and Conagra are brands most people don’t know much about.

Dean Foods is the combination of two giant dairy companies, Dean Foods and Suiza Foods, which merged in 2001. Some of Dean’s well-known brands include Berkeley Farms and Land O’ Lakes. As a company whose core business is dairy, the public’s use of alternatives like soy and almond milk has the potential to undermine their business.

Dean consolidated several smaller family dairies and now milks about 20,000 cows at facilities in Colorado and Texas. A company whose focus is on healthy alternatives is going to invest more money, knowledge and time into non-dairy alternatives. But Dean’s focus on dairy makes its ownership of alternatives not for the better of mankind – but rather to simply to catch business that falls away from its core brands.

You might not expect a company that houses brands like Act II (popcorn), Bumble Bee (tuna), Campfire (marshmallows), and Swiss Miss (hot chocolate) to produce health brands. But ConAgra, one of the largest grain companies in the country, owns those products and a number of others. Like Dean, there is a similar concern about the business’ focus. ConAgra is a business that has the consumer’s health as its focus –  its core business is grain, beef and poultry. Like Dean, healthy alternatives are a threat to most of the brands they market.

If you wish to stay away from brands with competing interests, the best choice for consumers is probably to buy local – frequent local farms and farmers markets. If you live in an area where that isn’t an option — do your research. Green America is a great source of information, as are the websites for many of the brands you buy.

This article is part of ConsumerBell’s Food Undressed week, detailing healthy, socially, and environmentally-responsible eating habits and food safety.