processed food

Happy Birthday to the Twinkie, which turns 77 this year. I'll admit that growing up, I was a huge fan of this cream-filled spongy yellow cake, but I know now that it's made with a whole bunch of junk.

Steve Ettlinger saw the list of 39 ingredients and didn't think much of it until his daughter asked, "Daddy, what's Polysorbate 60?" So he set out to discover the answer and also figure out what all the other strangely named ingredients were, such as calcium sulfate and cellulose gum. On his journey, he found out some surprising news about the ingredients in tons of other processed foods, where they come from, how they're made, and why they're used. Ettlinger learned the number of ingredients in Twinkies that are more closely related to rocks and petroleum than to any major food groups! Gross. If you're curious to find out more details about the Twinkie and the weird ingredients in the foods you eat, he shares his findings in the book, Twinkie, Deconstructed ($19).

To see a video about Steve and what's in a Twinkie read more

The Corn Refiners Association has been hard at work trying to change our perceptions about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but they may have a new public relations battle on their hands. Two new US reports found mercury in both commercial samples of HFCS and products that listed high fructose corn syrup as the first or second ingredient.

Almost half the commercial samples of the corn sweetener tested positive for mercury, and almost a third of the tested food and beverage products contained detectable levels of the heavy metal as well. The products include beverages and foods manufactured by Quaker, Hershey's, Kraft, and Smucker's. The highest levels of mercury were detected in dairy beverages like chocolate milk, dressings, and condiments (BBQ sauce), followed by snacks and desserts, including cereal bars.

To see how mercury ended up in this corn-derived sweetener, read more

Since the FDA is considering regulating sodium in processed foods, I have been hearing more and more about the reasons why. Here are five things to ponder about the sodium content in your diet.

• Seventy-five percent of the salt we consume comes from processed food and food from restaurants, not from the salt shaker.
• Your tongue cannot adequately discern how much salt is in your food. If the salt is on the surface of the food, like a potato chip, it will taste salty. However, when the sodium of a serving of frozen mac-n-cheese is 500 mg chances are your tongue will not register that this portion of food contains 25 percent of your RDI (recommended daily intake) of sodium. You really need to read the nutritional label on processed foods to know.
• Processed foods in the US generally contain more sodium than the same product in the UK. McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets is a great example – in the US they contain more than twice as much sodium as the United Kingdom version. Breakfast cereal is not exempt either – Kellogg’s Special K (advertised as "super healthy") has 58 percent more sodium per serving in the US version than the UK cereal.

There are two more reasons so read more

The health food nut's arch enemy has been in the news a lot lately. Yep, I am talking about processed food. In this day and age, with our busy lives, it is hard to live without some processed foods. Here are three news stories that might just sway us to make a little more time when it comes to food and nutrition.

• A microwave popcorn enthusiast was diagnosed recently with "popcorn lung" - a rare life threatening disease with the medical name broncheolitis obliterans. The diagnosing doctor believes the onset was caused by inhaling fumes of the extra buttery flavored microwave popcorn that contains the chemical diacetyl, which has been linked previously to the disease. The man ate two, and sometimes three, bags of the popcorn daily!
• Just a caution, especially if you are looking to sleep, citrus flavor sodas can have more caffeine than colas. The consumer groups involved in a recent study are not anti caffeine; they just think caffeine content should be listed in the packaging.
• This really comes as no surprise, but a new British study found food additives may make children more hyper active. The culprit here is artificial food coloring and preservatives. Although the study was not conclusive and is being questioned by some experts, the U.K. Food Standards Agency, which funded the study, has already revised its advice to parents about what to feed their children.

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