A most interesting discussion the other day around the topic: 'You Are What you Eat' disturbed me and left me thinking for days afterward about what labels on our food say, what they don't say, and how the truth is presented in a fashion that isn't honest at all. Later, walking down the aisle in a grocery store, I started to randomly pick up products to read their labels and it was quite an alarming exercise. I have done it before of course, to check for this coloring, or that nasty preservative, but never have I read through the whole list and thought about what label is actually saying.
For example, on a box containing serving packets with oats, blue berries, peaches, bananas and strawberries I found that actually, there were no strawberries, blueberries or peaches inside that box and the 'banana' was in the form of 'banana flake powder'. Imagine that? Strawberry oats with no strawberries - even though it says Strawberries & Cream on the front of the box. So what did it have? Dehydrated apple, artificial strawberry flavor and red 40 lake coloring. The peach and blueberry oats had dehydrated apples or figs, artificial flavors, red 40 coloring, blue 2 lake coloring or annatto color.
The other thing that struck me is how much sugar is in everything. And they are clever about it too, they don't put 'sugars' and lump them all together - oh no! Then it would appear too early in the list of ingredients and people wouldn't want to eat it, so they separate them in out - the same box of oats contains sugar, corn syrup solids and dextrose - all sugars. Another product, Worcestershire Sauce contains molasses, high fructose corn syrup and sugar (and anchovies, but that's another blog).
A popular Italian olive oil is a product of Italy, Spain, Tunisa and Turkey - and a 'healthy' cooking oil promoting 'healthy cholesterol' is a 'natural blend of canola, soy and olive oils'. Natural. How natural is GMO canola and soy? It's not natural at all, it's Frankenfood. And while we are on the topic of NATURAL, let's just agree that every Tom, Dick and Harry are adding this word to their branding to capture some of the conscientious shopper market but regrettably, there are no enforced guidelines for the use of this word. You can put it on anything.
I don't know how you feel, but I get frustrated and upset that making good choices for our families is made so hard. I get tired of all the cloak and daggery and carefully worded and presented brands and marketing ploys. Just tell me what I am eating! Somebody said last week: we shouldn't be labeling food that is GMO free, or Organic. That is food in its truest form. We should be labeling everything else - the front label (not the back small print) should say Contains GMO's, Not Organically Grown, or Made With No Organic Ingredients or how about Contains Three Types of Sugars. Maybe then as a nation we will be empowered to make healthy choices instead of being empowered to choose foods that promote weight gain, heart disease or diabetes!
