One example I found yesterday....I got an email about a new cookie. It talks about how there are
no nuts
no butter
no margarine
no eggs
no milk
no flour
no added sugar
High in fiber
Extremely Low in Fat
Soft, Moist and Delicious
This is their ingredient list -Ingredients: Base cookie is 100% NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN. We use Oats, Maple Oat blend (see below), dried apricots, dried cranberries, golden raisins, fat free granola- (see below) vanilla and a touch of Splenda. Here is what the manufactures of those ingredients claim on their labels:
So they use the two ingredient list below in their cookies.
100% NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN OATS. Maple & Brown Sugar Oat blend WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, OAT FLOUR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, GUAR GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SOY LECITHIN, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, SUCRALOSE, NIACINAMIDE*, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE*, RIBOFLAVIN*, THIAMIN MONONITRATE*, FOLIC ACID*.
Low Fat Granola Whole grain oats, sugar, corn syrup, oat bran, rice, contains 2% or less of honey, modified corn starch, soy grits, molasses, soluble wheat fiber, natural flavor, corn flour, acacia gum, salt, soy protein isolate, oat fiber, evaporated cane juice, malt flavoring, BHT for freshness. Golden raisins California golden raisins, sulfur dioxide added as a preservative. dried cranberries ,dried apricots, preservatives (sulfur dioxide and potassium sorbate)Vitamins and Minerals used to preserve freshness:Niacinamide, reduced iron, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12. Splenda CONTAINS MILK AND SOY INGREDIENTS.
I want to break down the ingredients for you- I'm going to go through the Natural whole grain oats, maple and brown sugar blend- I am going to pull the definitions from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted from another web site. This is likely to get boring, but I seriously want you to take a few minutes to see what goes into processed foods. I mean non foods! Some food ingredients but lots of chemicals too. Grab a hot cup of tea and relax for a few minutes.
Whole grain oats- Whole grains are cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.
Whey Protein Isolate- A whey protein isolate (often whey isolate) is a dietary supplement created by filtering milk protein. Whey is a by-product of the cheese-making process.
Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide that is used as a food additive. It is produced from starch by partial hydrolysis and is usually found as a creamy-white hygroscopicspraydried powder. Maltodextrin is easily digestible, being absorbed as rapidly as glucose, and might be either moderately sweet or almost flavorless. It is commonly used for the production of sodas and candy. It can also be found as an ingredient in a variety of other processed foods.
Natural and Artificial flavors- took this information from squidoo.com
The Flavor Industry: What are we eating?
* The American flavor industry now has revenues exceeding $1.4 billion.
* Some flavor companies also manufacture popular perfume fragrances by the same process. Since our taste relies heavily on our olfactory sense, the compounds can be manufactured in the same factories.
* Specialists are called "flavorists," and generally what flavor they put in what product is top secret since it is such an important part of differentiating similar products, like snack chips.
* The FDA does not require that flavor companies disclose ingredients as long as all the ingredients are considered "Generally Regarded as Safe." This policy allows flavor companies to protect their secret flavor formulas.
More detail can be found on pages 124-127 of Eric Schlosser's bestselling book "Fast Food Nation."
Artificial v. Natural: What's the difference?
Some surprising facts.
* The difference in how the flavor is classified is based on the METHOD in which it is derived, but ultimately the chemical composition can be nearly identical.
* Surprisingly, artificial flavors are simpler in composition and potentially safer because only safety-tested components are used. And because natural flavors require a natural source instead of one that is developed in a laboratory, they can be more costly and deplete natural sources. (Gary Reiniccius, Food Science and Nutrition, U. of Minnesota)
Salt-Salt
Oat Flour- Oat flour is simply oats ground up.
Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan. It is primarily the ground endosperm of guar beans. The guar seeds are dehusked, milled and screened to obtain the guar gum.[1] It is typically produced as a free-flowing, pale, off-white-colored, coarse to fine ground powder.
Caramel color or caramel coloring is a water soluble food coloring. It is made by a carefully controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates, in general in the presence of acids, alkalis, or salts, in a process called caramelization. It is more fully oxidized than caramel candy and has an odor of burnt sugar and a somewhat bitter taste. Its color ranges from pale yellow to amber to dark brown (see Color, below).
Caramel color is one of the oldest and most widely-used food colorings, and is found in almost every kind of industrially produced food, including:batters, beer, brown bread, buns, chocolate, cookies, cough drops, dark liquor such as brandy, rum, and whisky, chocolate-flavored flour-based confectionery, coatings, custards, decorations, fillings and toppings, potato chips, dessert mixes, doughnuts, fish and shellfish spreads, frozen desserts, fruit preserves, glucose tablets, gravy browning, ice cream, pickles, sauces and dressings, soft drinks (especially colas), sweets,vinegar, and wines. Caramel color is widely approved for use in food globally but application and use level restrictions vary by country.[
Soy Lecithin is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues, and in egg yolk, composed of phosphoric acid, choline, fatty acids, glycerol, glycolipids, triglycerides, and phospholipids (e.g., phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylinositol).
Acesulfame potassium is a calorie-free artificial sweetener, also known as Acesulfame K or Ace K (K being the symbol for potassium
.Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric.[3] In the European Union, it is also known under the E number (additive code) E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose (table sugar),[4] twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3 times as sweet as aspartame. It is stable under heat and over a broad range of pH conditions. Therefore, it can be used in baking or in products that require a longer shelf life. The commercial success of sucralose-based products stems from its favorable comparison to other low-calorie sweeteners in terms of taste, stability, and safety.[5]Common brand names of sucralose-based sweeteners are Splenda, Sukrana, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren and Nevella.
Nicotinamide, also known as niacinamide and nicotinic acid amide, is the amide of nicotinic acid (vitamin B3 / niacin). Nicotinamide is a water-soluble vitamin and is part of the vitamin B group. Nicotinic acid, also known as niacin, is converted to nicotinamide in vivo, and, though the two are identical in their vitamin functions, nicotinamide does not have the same pharmacologic and toxic effects of niacin, which occur incidental to niacin's conversion. Thus nicotinamide does not reduce cholesterol or cause flushing,[1] although nicotinamide may be toxic to the liver at doses exceeding 3 g/day for adults.
Are you still with me friends?? Hang in there.....just a few more to go.
Iron (/ˈaɪərn/ eye-ər-n) is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element (by mass) forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core.
Iron (/ˈaɪərn/ eye-ər-n) is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element (by mass) forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core.
Retinyl palmitate, or vitamin A palmitate, is the ester of retinol (vitamin A) and palmitic acid, with formula C36H60O2.
Palmitate is the major component of palm oil. The word "palmitate" is from the French "palmitique", the pith of the palm tree.
Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2 is an easily absorbed micronutrient with a key role in maintaining health in humans and animals. It is the central component of the cofactors FAD and FMN, and is therefore required by all flavoproteins. As such, vitamin B2 is required for a wide variety of cellular processes. It plays a key role in energy metabolism, and for the metabolism of fats, ketone bodies, carbohydrates, and proteins. It is also used as an orange-red food colour additive, designated in Europe as the E number E101,[2]
Thamine mononitrate is a synthetic form of vitamin B1.
Folic acid (also known as vitamin B9,[3] vitamin Bc[4] or folacin) and folate (the form naturally occurring in the body), as well as pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, pteroyl-L-glutamate, and pteroylmonoglutamic acid[5] are forms of the water-soluble vitamin B9. Folic acid is itself not biologically active, but its biological importance is due totetrahydrofolate and other derivatives after its conversion to dihydrofolic acid in the liver.[6
Ok, j here again. I know that was very boring but it had to be done. As I read through the ingredients one at at time, it is quite an eye opener. I won't go through the low fat granola that way but I will highlight some things........
Low Fat Granola Whole grain oats, sugar, corn syrup(sugar), oat bran, rice, contains 2% or less of honey(sugar), modified corn starch, soy grits, molasses(sugar), soluble wheat fiber, natural flavor(chemicals), corn flour, acacia gum(also used to make glue), salt, soy protein isolate, oat fiber, evaporated cane juice(sugar), malt flavoring(why not just malt, why chemical flavoring?), BHT for freshness(also used in Jet fuel) . Golden raisins California golden raisins, sulfur dioxide added as a preservative. dried cranberries ,dried apricots, preservatives (sulfur dioxide and potassium sorbate)Vitamins and Minerals used to preserve freshness:Niacinamide, reduced iron, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12. Splenda CONTAINS MILK AND SOY INGREDIENTS.(note they say it has no milk but the low fat granola says contains milk)
Do you notice how many forms of sugar is in this granola? And it is also stated that there is no added sugar. Sure they aren't adding it but they are adding the low fat granola that has tons of it. I do give them a lot of credit for putting the ingredient list out there so I can make an informed choice. However, after reading the nutrition list, I feel like I am being misled. This is what bothers me about these food companies. Be honest with us up front!!!
Remember just because you are eating something low fat does not mean it is healthy. They usually add sugar and other chemicals to make up for the missing fat.
The best thing to do friends is to read what is going into your mouth! Don't believe what the outside of the package says. Better yet, make your own cookies so you know what is going in them!!! Here is a peanut butter cookies recipe for those peanut butter lovers out there. You can also find the recipe here...Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Craving-Killing Cookies!
Do you notice how many forms of sugar is in this granola? And it is also stated that there is no added sugar. Sure they aren't adding it but they are adding the low fat granola that has tons of it. I do give them a lot of credit for putting the ingredient list out there so I can make an informed choice. However, after reading the nutrition list, I feel like I am being misled. This is what bothers me about these food companies. Be honest with us up front!!!
Remember just because you are eating something low fat does not mean it is healthy. They usually add sugar and other chemicals to make up for the missing fat.
The best thing to do friends is to read what is going into your mouth! Don't believe what the outside of the package says. Better yet, make your own cookies so you know what is going in them!!! Here is a peanut butter cookies recipe for those peanut butter lovers out there. You can also find the recipe here...Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Craving-Killing Cookies!
Ingredients
- 2 Egg whites
- 2 scoops vanilla, choc or unflavored whey protein powder
- 1/3 cup Stevia In The Raw
- 1/2 cup almond meal (can make your own with almonds or find almond meal at Kroger- Red Mill brand)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1- 1 1/2 cups (depending on taste) all natural peanut butter
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a large bowl, lightly beat egg whites. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well
3. Form little balls with a spoon or your hands and place on a lightly greased or lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Balls will puff up and lightly brown. Cool for a few minutes before eating.
These are really good with chocolate whey protein!
3. Form little balls with a spoon or your hands and place on a lightly greased or lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Balls will puff up and lightly brown. Cool for a few minutes before eating.
These are really good with chocolate whey protein!
Calories: 70, Total Fats: 5 g, Saturated Fat: 0.5 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Sodium: 45 g, Total Carbs: 3 g, Dietary Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 1 g, Protein: 4 g
These cookies would be a healthy snack after a workout to replenish protein in the body!!!!
Keep Clean Friends!
Hope and happiness,
j
Eeek! Just look at the NUMBER of ingredients in that list! I'm not a saint when I eat, but I DO try to keep it clean-er. These cookies? So not clean! Thank you for the info!
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