You touched on many interesting topics in one comment, about which I could write several posts.

But studies have shown that processed food causes various health problems

I agree with you. But everything depends on specific cases. For example, thermal processing of food, which has been used by mankind for a long time, can also harm health. Boiled food is known to be safe, while roasting food over an open fire makes it tastier but not healthy. If we ate only baked food for a certain time, then we would also have health problems.

Processed food can be different and it is worth getting to know the processing methods in more detail. For example, butter manufacturers always try to replace some of the animal fats with vegetable fats. This makes the products cheaper, but changes the taste characteristics. If there are a lot of vegetable fats, then it is no longer butter, but a spread. People avoid buying a spread, considering it a terrible chemical. But vegetable fats are much easier absorbed by the human body, and the spread was invented in the USA specifically for athletes.

increasing cases of cancer

There is a lot of manipulation in this matter. There is truth here, there is competition between manufacturers, and there are lies. It's hard for me to tell you anything about this, but there are definitely a number of chemical compounds that have no place in the human body.

how to literate ourselves about bad ones?

Here, unfortunately, there is no other way except self-education.

Niacin and Retinols are the buzz words in the industry. Are they safe?

Niacin (Vitamin B3) is definitely a very necessary chemical compound for the body. But there is a nuance. Vitamin B3 is found in significant quantities in rye bread, buckwheat, beans, meat, liver, and kidneys. It is absorbed in the small intestine by simple diffusion. From the enterocytes, it enters the blood, where it is transported to the liver and other organs. This is the way of assimilation of vitamin B3 by the human body. So it's a mystery to me if it actually does any good when you put it on your skin.

Retinol is vitamin A. In its pure form, it is unstable, so in the means you are talking about, it must be in the form of other compounds. It is also an extremely necessary compound for the body, but it is also absorbed by the digestive tract and I do not know anything about its absorption through the skin. I know for a fact that vitamin A has a beneficial effect on the skin, but only if it is taken internally.

high amount of mercury

Mercury is a liquid metal that has no place in our body. You are right, it is a carcinogen and a poison.

Organic is the new trend too

There are different sections of chemistry. The largest of them are inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry. The word "organic" became a trend recently, and organic chemistry has existed for more than a hundred years. Organic chemistry studies complex compounds based on carbon, which are also components of our body, and hence got its name. Organic chemistry has nothing to do with health benefits. 🙂