Do you ever just feel completely mind boggled when reading food labels?
Okay, wait let me back up.
Do you ever read food labels? Well, you should!!
I want to talk today about the gobbledygook found in the "Ingredients:" list of packaged foods we may pick up while shopping at our local grocery store.
I mean it gets to the point where you feel like you are on an episode of Are You Smarter Than A 5th grader.
Mrs. Watrous....what is monocalcium phosphate?
Uhhhhh............ I don't know.
Well, how about methalparaben, or xanthan gum, or hydrolyzed vegetable protein?
Are you kidding me, my spell check doesn't even recognize these words.
(and yes, I checked... I am spelling them right!)
I have always been told, "If you can't pronounce it, then you probably don't want to eat it." Well, I gotta tell you after doing some research, that really doesn't seem to be an effective gauge.
I can read and pronounce BHT and BHA just fine, and these are both preservatives which in lab tests have shown to be cancer or tumor causing! Ok, that is kind of a lame example but I think the point is easily made. It is not the pronounceability that should convince us, but knowledge of what a particular thing is.
{Listen, I gotta tell you the information I will be writing today from here on out is based on where I am in my eating healthy journey. I imagine that at some point I may choose to be even more conservative than I am now and my choices will change. I will not however get more liberal on this subject, not after reading all that I have. You are where you are and have to choose for you and your family. I am just reporting information for you to read over and make informed decisions with!} Disclaimer over...on to the info!
By the way, I put those two above on my naughty list!
Yes, I am making a list and have checked it more than twice. These are the things that if on the ingredient list; the item will go right back on the shelf. Yes, that has meant giving up some of our favorites. Yes, that has meant finding or cooking substitutes, or just doing without. Yes, that has meant jeers and tears from the crowd.
I looked at about 800 websites that catalog this information and this one is my favorite. Okay, to be honest it wasn't exactly 800, but 800 is my favorite "I am gonna exaggerate" number. Now on to the....
Naughty List
BHA
BHT
High Fructose Corn Syrup
MSG, or monosodium glutamate
Olestra
THBQ
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils = trans fat
Aspartame
Artificial colors or flavors
Sodium Nitrate or Nitrate
Acesulfame-K
Potassium Bromate
Sulfites
Sulfer Dioxide
Tetrasodium Phosphate
Methylparaben
Now I don't want you getting all depressed when you find out which cereals and chips and canned goods have so many of these ingredients in them. What am I talking about, you are gonna get depressed! Just count on it.
I still remember with great sadness the day when I picked up that comforting black labeled can of Appetite Pleasin' Ranch Style Beans and read to my horror....partially hydrogenated soybean oil right there on the ingredient list. I am pretty sure I did one of those big long "NNNNNOOOOOOOooooooooooo" screams as I slowly put the can back on the shelf. You know the kind I am talking about.
I just love Ranch Style beans and have used them for years in recipes. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend.
But, partially hydrogenated oils are trans fat by another name! Just check it out. Here is a common thing these sneaky food companies do. They mark a food with this
0 trans fat *per serving ahhhh see that right there in tiny little print that they hope you won't notice. *Per Serving is your clue to flip that puppy over and read the ingredient list. If hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated is on that list at all, then it means that one serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat they just don't have to list it as such. Pay close attention here.... the recommended daily allowance of trans fat by the American Heart Association is less than 2 grams.
So, let's just say for example you grab a chewy granola bar as you head out the door in a rush. Then, with your lunch you have a handful of buttery crackers with your tuna salad. Okay, now... you know we get hungry in the afternoon, so how about a bag of microwave popcorn to see ya thru. While none of those items has a large amount of trans fat on it's own, add them all together and you plunge right over the edge of too much.
Does that mean all granola bars and crackers are "naughty"? Nope it sure doesn't! Does that mean no more popcorn? Well, maybe unless you are willing to invest in an air popper, or cook it on the stove. (It takes less time to air pop than microwave pop by the way.)
I want to encourage you to consider making at least one Ingredient list change this week when you are shopping. Eliminating trans fat is a great place to start!
So, if there is a naughty list, we must have a nice list to balance the scales right? Okay fine, after all I wouldn't want all of my research to go to waste.
There are ingredients that are hard to pronounce that just cannot be included on the bad list. Most of these are additives that come from natural sources, or really fancy names for vitamins.
Not Naughty List ( I hesitate to call it my nice list for so many reasons)
Monocalcium phosphate
maltodextrin
Xanthan gum
Guar gum
Citric Acid
Lecithin or Soy Lecithin
Acetate
Ascorbic acid
Tocorpherols
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacin
Biotin
Folate
At this point in my journey, I did not find any information which made me totally opposed to these added vitamins. Read more about that here. It is a website about vitamin supplements, but has great concise information about vitamins and what the different names may be. This website also had a fair amount of information to sort through and read about food additives as well.
Well, if anyone made it to this point in today's blog, then I want to say...
I know I got all serious on you today. Just why do you think I buttered you up with that great cake recipe...to get you to come back of course, so I could lecture you on the evils of trans fat. I really don't want it to come across as a lecture, but an opportunity to gain more knowledge which may change how we think about the foods that we buy. I put both of my lists here, if you would like to print that out to take it as a cheat sheet when you go shopping.
I promise that at another time we will discuss a home recipe for ranch beans to help aid in our struggle to eat better. And, I am working on a fail proof homemade pizza dough for you as well. Be patient with me, these things take time to perfect!
{Additional disclaimer: The information in this blog today was written by a flawed individual in search of knowledge and by no means is meant to be taken as nutritional, medical, or professional advice. She is really just hoping she got all of her links right!}
