Packaged foods have become a mainstay in our society. Each of those bags and boxes of “food” are adorned with a label that reads like a chemistry experiment. I am going to share more information to help you decipher your ingredient label and know what to avoid, but first I want to share with you a story.
A few years ago I was asked by the PSA president at our elementary school to be the school’s food liaison. I attend quarterly meetings with reps from the other schools in our district along with the head of the food program at our school. Last year, I requested a copy of the nutrition labels from each of the snacks served in our cafeteria. The amount of garbage offered to our kids was astounding. This one in particular jumped out at me. Check out the label on a seemingly innocent bag of Cool Ranch Doritos:
INGREDIENTS
Whole Corn, Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Buttermilk, Salt, Corn Dextrin, Tomato Powder, Corn Starch, Whey, Corn Syrup Solids, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Monosodium Glutamate, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Skim Milk, Sugar, Dextrose, Malic Acid, Sodium Acetate, Artificial Color (Including Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5), Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Phosphate, Spice, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Disodium, Inosinate, and Disodium Guanylate. CONTAINS MILK INGREDIENTS
The only “food” product on the entire label is corn, and the way that is made in this country, that is barely a food anymore (in another HealthBit we will take a look at Genetically Modified Foods- GMOs). The rest of those chemicals are not meant to be in the human body and contribute to everything from ADHD to cancer.
The Big 10 list of ingredients to stay away from is as follows:
- Monosodium Glutamate / MSG
- Artificial sweeteners
- Sulfites / Sulphur Dioxide
- High Fructose Corn Syrup / HFCS
- Artificial Food Colorings
- Trans Fats / Hydrogenated & Partially Hydrogenated Oils
- Brominated Vegetable Oils (BVO)
- Postassium Bromate / Bromated flour
- Nitrates / Nitrites
- BHA & BHT (E320)
If you want to read a more on why each of these toxic and what they are found in, please follow this link: http://www.chiroholistichealth.com/top-10-food-additives-to-avoid-like-the-plague/
SO what should we buy?
The best advice someone ever gave me about shopping in a grocery store was to shop around the perimeter. That is where they keep the fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs (of which organic, free range and cage free are your best options.) Nowadays it is often where they keep the healthier versions of packaged foods (because nobody is perfect). For instance, Kettle Brand potato chips in their Backyard Barbeque flavor often show up in our house. Not only are they non-GMO but I can identify each ingredient without a manual.
INGREDIENTS
Potatoes, Safflower and/or Sunflower and/or Canola Oil, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Sugar, Maltodextrin,Salt, Onion, Powder, Yeast Extract, Tomato Powder, Paprika,Torula Yeast, Garlic Powder, Chili Pepper, Natural Smoke Flavor, Citric Acid, Paprika Extract (Color), Cayenne Pepper.