Nominate Me For Queen Of The Nutrition Label!

When I am promoted to be Queen Of The Nutrition Label, I know exactly what I will do. I will create a separate ingredient list for the chemicals designed to extend shelf life, make food look pretty, enhance the texture, and artificially amplify the taste of foods. This ingredient list will be separate from the actual food ingredients, and will be promoted to the headline, above the nutrition label. We should KNOW what we’re putting in our bodies.

Today, the chemical components found in ultra-processed foods are listed together with actual food ingredients, beneath the nutrition label. It’s as if these chemicals are real foods that are grown on local farms. Far from it. Maltodextrin is hidden behind yeast, xanthan gum is tucked away after the eggs, and DATEM (also known as Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Monoglycerides) is listed as casually as if it were salt or pepper. Ultra-processed foods have been linked to diabetes, heart disease and increased mortality. In other words, these ingredients are killing us.

Food manufacturers happily list all of the chemical ingredients underneath the nutrition label, where they languish, unobserved by all, save the most tenacious food sleuths. Do you wonder why the almond milk is shelf stable for months? Check that ingredient label and you’ll see the chemicals that make it possible. Are you curious about yogurts, bars and drinks so flavorful that they make a honey crisp apple taste bland? Read the ingredient list and watch for those chemical names… 

Some might think we only need to worry about “junk foods,” such as chips, candy or soda. But increasingly, we find these ultra-processed ingredients in our every day foods, from cereals to soups. Take a look at this ingredient list for an Egg McMuffin: 

PASTEURIZED PROCESS AMERICAN CHEESE (Milk, Cream, Water, Sodium Citrate, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Color Added, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Acetic Acid, Enzymes, Soy Lecithin.), CANADIAN STYLE BACON (Pork Cured with Water, Sugar, Salt, Sodium Lactate, Sodium Phosphate, Natural Flavor (Plant Source), Sodium Diacetate and Sodium Nitrite (Preservatives)), EGG, SALTED BUTTER (CREAM, SALT), CLASSIC ENGLISH MUFFIN (Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Yeast, Degermed Yellow Corn Meal, Contains 2% or Less: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Soybean Oil, Salt, Dough Conditioners (Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate, DATEM, Ascorbic Acid, Tricalcium Phosphate, Enzymes, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Stearate), Wheat Gluten, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Citric Acid, Calcium Citrate, Wheat Starch, Baking Soda.) - Via Fooducate

Shout out to McDonalds for this shining example of the ingredient list from their Egg McMuffin. Yikes. What if instead we just ate a couple of eggs and a piece of whole grain toast? Let’s choose a simple bread with ingredients like whole grains, water, yeast and salt. Maybe half an avocado too? No problem to add a little salt and pepper. Now that’s a breakfast that will start your day off strong! 

So, until my coronation as Queen Of The Nutrition Label, I implore you to read all the way to the bottom of that ingredient list and make sure you recognize everything you’re putting into your body! 

Thanks for listening, and I wish you the best of health.