I’m kind of a lunatic when I find a new REAL food that comes in a package a.k.a. convenience for a busy mama! Last week, at the grocery store, I discovered So Delicious pulled the carrageenan out of their coconut milk. Yahoo!!! You should have seen me. I literally screamed at the top of my’ lungs and catapulted into the air!! It was as if I won the dang lottery or something.
In fact, I did win the lottery. The MOMMY lottery. Buying coconut milk in the refrigerated section that’s already mixed will save me loads of time. It’s nice to find REAL food that comes in package because let’s face it: I can’t make everything we eat from scratch. Since I do need to rely on packaged foods occasionaly, it boils my blood when I read see a ridiculously long ingredient label on food marketed as “natural” or “organic.”
But, the situation is rampant – junky, FAKE ingredients lurk in food products marketed as “healthy” and good for your family. Fortunately, thanks to the work of food ingredient sleuths like Food Babe, Lisa Leake from 100 Days of Real Food, Environmental Working Group, Cornucopia Institute and more, the food manufacturers have been cleaning up their products. But, the junky ingredients still lurk in unexpected places. Masked by promising health claims on the package, many products with gross, FAKE ingredients are still finding their way into your pantry.
The FAKE ingredients in our favorite convenience foods are linked to a host of health issues facing our children from allergies and asthma to diabetes and attention and mood disorders. The worst part – manufacturers sneak junky ingredients into “healthy products” that are marketed to kids!! I’m not talking Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Goldfish which are clearly not REAL food. I’m talking about products we grew up trusting. Products we think are wholesome and healthy for our families. Like oatmeal, low sugar cereals, yogurt, cheese, whole wheat or whole grain bread and crackers, granola bars and more.
You may have heard about the FAKE additives below, but did you know they’re in America’s favorite wholesome products:
Artificial colors like red 40, yellow 6, blue 1
Linked to asthma and allergy response
Find them in kids’ yogurt, frozen yogurt, cereal, OTC medicines, fruit snacks
Preservatives like trisodium phosphate, BHT, potassium sorbate, sodium diacetate, sodium citrate, calcium
propionate and more
Linked to attention disorders, asthma, allergies, cancer and more (varies by preservative)
Find them in taco shells, oatmeal, low sugar cereal, 100% beef hot dogs, oatmeal, whole wheat bread and crackers, kids’
yogurt
Artificial flavors
Linked to attention and mood disorders, allergies and thyroid dysfunction
Find them in oatmeal, fruit juice, fruit snacks
Highly processed, genetically modified oils and partially hydrogenated oils like canola, sunflowers, and soybean
oils
Linked to increased risk in heart disease, obesity, diabetes and more
Find them in cereal bars, whole wheat bread and crackers
Ugly FAKE ingredients in your wholesome packaged foods are lurking, you just need to look on the ingredient label to find them.
Which “healthy” packaged foods you’ve discovered contain unhealthy ingredients? Let’s share what we’ve learned so all of us can benefit!