Author Archives: Christy

What the Heck is “Hexametaphosphate” Doing on Your Pancakes?!

Posted on by

Raise your hand if you like pancakes and syrup! Now, leave your hand up if you can name the ingredients in your syrup without grabbing the bottle from your cupboard….

What?! Ingredients in pancake syrup?! Isn’t syrup just syrup…like from a tree? Well, it should be, but most syrups available at typical grocers are far from it!!! In fact, if you take a look, chances are that your “syrup” says something like “pancake syrup” on the front of the bottle, not “maple syrup”…and that’s because there’s no real maple syrup in there!

Why? Because it’s cheaper for the manufacturer (and the consumer) to make fake syrups from corn syrup, fake coloring and additives, than to harvest the real thing! (Did you know that it takes about 43 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup!)

Alright, so here are some examples of various syrup choices you might find at your typical grocer (click images to enlarge and read the ingredients for yourself)…

First, the example from above. See how it says “syrup” on the front with no mention of maple? That’s your first clue. But ALWAYS check the back for an ingredients list. Ah, there’s the “Hexametaphosphate” (and lots of other goodies like carmel color, etc.) Yum!?
Next we have good ol’ Mrs. Butterworth – a staple in my family’s pantry when I was growing up. (Although, I never ate it – I always hated even the smell of syrup so I stuck with just butter on my pancakes. Hmm…maybe my taste buds were just smart!). No wonder she talks in those commercials…it distracts us from asking about her component parts which happen to include High Fructose Corn Syrup, Flavorings, Colorings and our good buddy Hexametaphosphate!

Getting hungry, yet?! Alright, so maybe you’re convinced about the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup, so you select this brand which brags about not containing it! But wait….better check the ingredients! Just because a company brags about one thing on the front doesn’t mean there aren’t other things to worry about on the back. And this one doesn’t look much better than the others, really.

Speaking of ignoring claims on the front of packages….this one is a great example. It screams at you from the shelf that it’s “All Natural,” so that’s a good thing, right?! Yes, natural = good (but only when something is truly natural). The word “natural” is not regulated by the FDA, so any manufacturer can use the claim to mean whatever they like. A truly “all natural” syrup would be pure maple syrup from a tree in nature. But a quick read of the ingredients list on this product reveals that’s only 4% of what’s in here!

Alright, so pure maple syurp is what we’re looking for, but before we get there…I have to show you this last one that truly takes the cake. I was laughing out loud in the grocery aisle when I saw this one! This brand actually brags on the front label that it contains a whopping 2% pure maple syrup!!! OH….MY…GOSH!!! I am absolutely stunned at this marketing tactic! If anything, I would think it just draws to people’s attention that 98% of the product is….well, something else. And, from my experience, most folks already incorrectly assume that any syrup is pure maple syrup, so this company may be doing itself a disservice (don’t get me wrong….that’s fine with me!).

Whew! Anyone else exhausted?! Ok, so here’s an example of what you do want, and it’s likely sitting on the top shelf of the syrup section at your regular grocer. It says “pure maple syrup” on the front, and when you double-check the ingredients on the back (as I always require), it reveals the same. Just one ingredient, as it should be. Is it more expensive? Yes, of course! Does it taste better? Absolutely! Better for you? You guessed it!!

Here are a couple money-saving tips to help you offset the cost of your new real maple syrup expenditures:

1. Only use what you need! Don’t let the kids pour 2 cups of syrup all over their plates and then dump 1 1/2 cups down the sink drain 😉

2. Don’t eat syrup foods very often. Most breakfasts that require syrup (e.g., pancakes) really aren’t good for you anyway, so start serving them more as a special treat rather than standard breakfast fare. 🙂

3. Buy in bulk. This picture is a pretty small container, but larger containers are available at lower (per ounce) prices.

For more great additive-free shopping and cooking tips, be sure to SUBSCRIBE  to my blog!

And check out my book (and e-book), “Eating Additive-Free” – Natural Cookbook & Grocery Shopping Guide, too!

Happy shopping!!!

 

Make Your Own Veggie Wash!

Posted on by

Confession…Until recently, I was guilty of not washing most of my produce. Sure, I rinsed the dirt off, but that was about it. A client mentioned to me the other night that she keeps a spray bottle of vinegar by her sink for washing her fruits/veggies. (Thanks, Nancy!) Because this was the second time in a matter of weeks that this idea was mentioned to me, I decided I’d better get with the program!

Regular white, distilled vinegar is a proven anti-microbial; it kills most bacteria, molds and viruses. So no need to buy those veggie washes they sell at the store. Just get a spray bottle (I found this one at Lowe’s for about $2) and some regular ol’ white vinegar and mix them together in a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. (Don’t worry, your food won’t taste like vinegar, just be sure to rinse with water afterward!)

My client also mentioned that she uses the solution to spray down her sink from time to time, and I know others who use it for everything from countertops to toilet bowls.

I’ll be using these tips, as well, because I cannot stand the smell of most cleaning products. And, as far as household cleaners go, it doesn’t get less toxic than cleaning with something you can eat!  (Don’t worry, the smell dissipates quickly!) And with a cost of about $2 per jug, vinegar is way less costly than veggie wash and most cleaning sprays!

Photo Tour of “Certified Organics” at Costco

Posted on by

Not a day goes by without someone asking me where I do my grocery shopping. And most folks are surprised to hear that I do the bulk of my shopping at our local Costco store. I don’t eat 100% organic all of the time, but Costco does carry many certified organic products at very reasonable prices. To ease your curiosity, I took a bunch of pictures while I was shopping this week so you can see what I mean…This is not the entirety of their organic selection, and some products do change from week to week, but this is a fairly good sampling of what I found today…(Click photos to enlarge.)

 

A Buyer’s Guide to Avoiding Hidden Additives in “Fresh” Meats

Posted on by

It was a devastating day when I realized that there are sometimes ingredients in store-bought meats. And I don’t just mean in hotdogs, lunchmeat and bacon….I’m talking about ground beef, steaks, pork chops and fresh chicken!!! And, while many meats do contain a “salt water solution,” salt is not the ingredient I’m referring to.

I buy most of my meat directly from farmers, so it wasn’t until I started helping some friends and family members sift their way through the meat section at local grocery stores, that I realized….Ahhhhh!!!! There’s “junk” in the meat!! (And, unfortunately, there’s “junk” in all sorts of foods that you may not suspect – it’s not just the meats! So be sure to check out my complete shopping guide here!)

One particular friend picked up a package of ground turkey only to find that the package had an ingredients list on the back. Huh? I had to check with my own 2 eyes, but there it was in black and white: “Ingredients: Turkey and natural flavor“!! (And I can only imagine how many folks are selecting ground turkey in an effort to be healthier. Unfortunately, we are being misled. Ughh!!)

I wish that I could assure you that ground turkey is the only suspect, but an inspection of the ground chicken breast package revealed the same…”natural flavor.” I’m not saying this is automatically true of every brand, but be on the look out.

Unfortunately, there’s more bad news. While assisting a friend with her shopping at a local grocery store that doesn’t have an in-house butcher, I discovered that every meat package that I flipped over contained a solution of all sorts of mysterious words…even the ground beef and the steaks! Wild!

I have since learned that, especially when a store doesn’t chop their meat on site, a preservative solution must be added when the meat is processed in order to extend shelf life because by the time it is shipped and reaches the store (often from several states away), the pre-cut/pre-ground meat wouldn’t have much shelf-life left; and that’s not good for business.

Even so, it’s not as simple as just making sure that your grocer has a butcher. Much of what their butcher is chopping may still be filled with solution. Look at the front and back of the package. If it says nothing, then ask the meat department manager just to be certain because sometimes the meats that are packaged at the store don’t list the ingredients on the label.

Think you’ll just play it safe and buy the “fresh” stuff directly from the meat case? Think again. At least in my town, the 2 major chains that have fresh meat cases are selling solution-filled meats in those cases, and you wouldn’t even know unless you ask. The key here is to ask the butcher (or even better, the meat department manager). And ask often because things do change.

I hate to name names because other unmentioned stores may be just as good/bad as any example I give here, and stores may change their processes and void any examples I give here, but I know people are going to ask me, so as of Spring 2011 here’s the scoop for stores in Omaha, NE…

–Amana beef (sold at HyVee) is just meat, no additives.

–Bare Naked Chicken is just chicken, no additives.

-Most Smart Chicken is just chicken; check the label

–Hormel Pork is injected with a “patented solution”. It says so on the label, but if you buy pork from the fresh meat case at HyVee, for instance, this is the meat you are getting and it won’t necessarily have the ingredients listed. (There used to be a sign posted at the meat counter that listed the ingredients of this “solution,” but I’m not sure it’s still there, so here are the details from their website: “Solution Ingredients: Water, Potassium Lactate, Sodium Phosphates, Salt, Sodium Diacetate.”)

-No Frills & Bag N Save both offer tons of meat products with no other ingredients…even their pork products from Farmland’s Best (but not Hormel) are “clean” of added ingredients.

-All chicken and beef products in the refrigerated cases at Costco are just meat. The pork contains a solution – this was not indicated on the package; I asked the butcher!

And Tyson Chicken takes top prize for Best Label Confusion!!! I was under the impression that their chicken was free of added ingredients…and it does say “All Natural” on the package, which brings me to my next point…ignore all claims made on the front of the package. It’s the ingredients list that matters, and words like “natural” are not regulated by the FDA, so companies can make whatever claims they’d like! But I digress.

So I had advised my friend to purchase Tyson chicken because their ingredients label read “clean.” A few months later, I noticed that the meat contained “up to 15% natural broth.” A quick check of the ingredients list revealed that the chicken contained: “chicken, chicken broth, sea salt and natural flavor.” The 2 packages looked exactly the same, except for that little phrase in small print in the purple box that reads, “up to 15% natural broth.” Strange.

Upon further research, I learned that Tyson has 2 varieties of “All Natural” chicken. As their website explains, one is “marinated” (i.e. “natural broth”) and the other is not. But boy do those packages look the same otherwise. From what I have seen, each grocery store tends to sell just one version or the other; so you’ll have to re-check at each store you frequent. And I had actually seen the 2 different packages at 2 different grocers.

At last check, No Frills & Bag N Save carried the unmarinated version that’s just chicken, and Baker’s carries the marinated version. I went back to the 2 different stores to bring you these photos because I just couldn’t believe how similar the packaging looks for 2 totally different products (Note: the package colors are actually exactly the same; they just look different in these photos because I used 2 different cameras.) Anyone else find this deceptive???

    

Several of my family members shop locally at Fareway and every time they’ve asked they’ve been assured by the butcher that their in-house meats are free of additives. I don’t have a Fareway near me, so I haven’t been there personally. But, again, always double-check….even with what I’ve posted here because companies sometimes change their practices and stores can change suppliers/brands, etc.

Obviously, the specific examples listed here do not represent an exhaustive list. This blog is just intended to give you the tools you need to ask the right questions at your meat counter. If you find particular examples that you’d like to add, please comment below 🙂

In closing, I offer you the following disclaimer:

I am not a fan of store-bought meats at all, and I do not support the way most of those animals are raised or fed. Unfortunately, even if you buy the “cleanest” meat available at most stores, you are still most likely getting much more than just meat (e.g., antibiotics, hormones, corn-fed), but if you must purchase at the store, hopefully this helps you make some more informed decisions.

To access our complete Additive-Free Shopping Guide, purchase a copy of our e-book, “Eating Additive-Free“!

WANT MORE?!
We write frequently here about natural health and happiness topics!
Be sure to email subscribe for FREE updates from us, so you don’t miss a thing!!

ringbinderstanding