Sugar and Salt Infiltrate “Healthy” Snacks
March 15, 2010
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
Many children’s snacks marketed as healthy alternatives are actually full of unhealthy ingredients like sugar, salt and fat, according to an analysis conducted by the consumer watchdog organization Which?.
“Parents should be able to pick out healthy products for their kids’ lunchboxes, but what you see isn’t always what you get,” said the group’s Martyn Hocking.
“Many [products] declare that they don’t contain additives, but don’t mention they’re also full of salt or sugar – giving the impression they’re healthier than they are,” the report reads.
For example, while Dairylea Lunchables Ham ‘n’ Cheese Crackers are advertised as providing half of the recommended daily calcium for a child, nowhere on the label or in promotional materials does the company acknowledge that the product is high in fat, saturated fat and salt — containing 1.8 grams of the maximum daily recommended 3 grams of the latter.
The report also singles out Kellogg’s Frosties Cereal and Milk bars, which the company promotes by saying, “”Fortified with vitamins, iron and calcium, now you can give your kids a great tasting snack that you can be sure won’t come back from school in the lunchbox!” Yet the company does not explain that the bars contain seven different sugar ingredients and thus are nearly one-third sugar by weight.
Other supposedly healthy products that are actually high in sugar include Robinson’s Fruit Shoot orange juice drinks, with nearly five teaspoons (23 grams) or sugar in a single 200 milliliter bottle; Fruit Factory fruit strings, with 13.7 grams of sugar in a 24 gram product; and Munch Bunch Double Up fromage frais, which contain only 2.25 grams of fruit puree but more than two teaspoons (12.4 grams) of sugar.
“The best way to beat the lunchbox baddies is by checking the nutrition and ingredient information,” Hocking said. “We’d also like to see the rules on health and nutrition claims made tougher, so there’s less confusion on the supermarket shelves.”
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Women Put 515 Chemicals Onto Their Faces Daily
December 29, 2009
Natural News
By E. Huff
A study published by Bionsen, a company in the United Kingdom that sells aluminum-free body products, found that the average woman applies 515 chemicals to her face a day. Makeup, perfumes, lotions, mascara, and other beauty products all contribute to the toxic brew that is causing health problems for many women.
The study revealed that the typical woman uses about 13 different beauty products a day. Most of these products contain at least 20 ingredients and additives, many of which can have a detrimental effect on the body and skin. Perfumes alone were found to contain up to 400 different ingredients.
Other products that were tested include lipstick, body lotions and mascara which contained an average of 30 ingredients each. Aside from aluminum, many of these products contain other harmful ingredients like synthetic dyes, fragrances, and parabens. When applied continually, the many beauty products that women use are exposing them to wide range of carcinogens.
The perpetual advent of new and innovative beauty products has led to a massive increase in product usage over the years. What was once a basic cleansing protocol has turned into a lifestyle of trying the latest and greatest products in an effort to maintain youthful beauty. As a result, women are exposed to more toxic carcinogens from beauty products than ever.
An Environmental Working Group (EWG) study from 2006 found that less than one percent of all cosmetic products are made from ingredients that have all undergone safety assessments. The great majority of products contain known carcinogens, reproductive toxins and various other harmful chemicals that cause serious diseases like cancer.
The EWG study found that the average person uses up to 25 personal care products per day. Among these, about 200 different chemicals will have been added to scent, preserve, synthesize and stabilize them for consumption. Many of these ingredients will end up causing hormonal disruption and immune dysfunction. In younger people, developmental problems are likely to result from excessive product use.
Makeup usage among younger girls has also increased. About 90 percent of 14-year-old girls now use makeup, according to a research study conducted by Mintel Internation Group in 2004. Sixty-three percent of girls as young as seven are now using lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow and mascara.
As consumers are becoming more aware of many beauty product ingredients and the harm they are causing, product manufacturers are beginning to remove many of them from their formulations. Those concerned would do best to purchase only products that have minimal or no toxic ingredients. Greatly reducing one’s cosmetic arsenal is the next best option.
Click here for the full report.
How Many Chemicals Do You Put on Your Face Daily?
November 20, 2009
Telegraph
By Alastair Jamieson
A survey found women typically use up to 13 products, most of which contain more than 20 ingredients, including additives.
Perfumes contain an average cocktail of 250 ingredients, the study found, with some containing as many as 400.
The study, published by company Bionsen which makes deodorants it says are ‘aluminium free’, said some of the additive ingredients in other products have been linked to cancer, hormone problems, skin conditions and allergies.
Lipstick contains on average 33 ingredients, body lotion 32, mascara 29, and the purest product, hand moisturiser, 11, it found.
Charlotte Smith of Bionsen told The Sun: “Beauty regimes have changed dramatically from a simple ‘wash & go’ to daily fake tan applications, regular manicures, false lashes and hair extensions.
“The new ‘wonder treatments’ contain more chemicals to be able to achieve better results, which means that women are more at risk.”
Earlier research found one third of women under the age of 25 are regularly applying products meant for the over-40s, potentially exposing themselves to unnecessary damage through treatments designed for older skin.
Eczema patients who use products that are too greasy often suffer from a condition called occlusive folliculitis – sweat cannot escape from behind clogged pores, causing itchy red lumps.
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New Cranberry Technology Tackles Tartness
September 15, 2009
FoodNavigator-USA.com
By Caroline Scott-Thomas
A Wisconsin-based company claims it has developed a method to significantly reduce cranberry acidity without using chemicals or additives, which could lead to low- and no-sugar cranberry products.
Cranberries can cause problems for food manufacturers due to their high acidity, which can interfere with the leavening process in bakery products or leave very tart and bitter flavors. Where cranberries are used, the tartness usually needs to be offset by large amounts of sugar.
Jonathan Smith, president of Alpine Foods and developer of the acidity-reducing technology, told FoodNavigator-USA.com that he has developed a way to tackle this problem, using temperature, pressure, vacuum and quick freeze technology. This process, claims Smith, retains most of the juice, while eliminating much of the acidity.
“I use the cell wall as its own molecular sieve,” explained Smith, who has three patents pending on the technology.
Berry Bits is the first product to use this method, moving away from the company’s established realm of instant quick freeze berries.
Applications
Alpine Foods said the low-acid refrigerated or frozen sliced berries can be incorporated into a wide range of food applications, including yogurts, bakery, sauces, ice cream, meats and cheese.
Smith said: “The most promising areas are yogurts and dairy applications like ice creams because you get the flavor without the bite.”
Berry Bits, which can be eaten without extra sweetening, contain about five percent added sugar, which – together with the sugars that occur naturally in cranberries – brings the total up to about 14 percent.
Sweet and savory
However, they do not have to be sweetened at all for some applications. Smith said: “We made use of a jalapeno infusion for a Mexican cranberry pie and to be incorporated into a meat product. We are also getting into the savory as well as the sweet. We can infuse with garlic, or with barbecue sauce…The appeal that I see is that most people are using the sweetened dried cranberries that are about 75 percent sugar. Ours are about 14 percent.”
As for their potential uses in sweet products, Smith said it could be possible to ditch the sugar entirely.
“We could take it out completely,” he said. “We are helping a company make a sugar-free one right now, which is really neat.”
The company currently has production capacity of about 12m pounds a year, although Smith said that if he sold that much, he could quickly expand production.
And there may well be other applications for the technology, including tart cherries and blueberries, although he said that this may be “ten to 20 years down the road”.
Click here for the full report from FoodNavigator-USA.com
Popcorn a Hidden Source of Antioxidants, Study Says
August 19, 2009
ABC News
By Joseph Brownstein
Popcorn, the movie-accompanying favorite snack, can also be a good source of fiber and antioxidants, says a new study presented Tuesday.
In addition to the finding that cold, oat-based cereals provide the best source of morning milk-bowl-spoon-based antioxidants, the researchers found that popcorn provides more of the dietary fiber and antioxidants than any other snack food, according to findings presented at the meeting of the American Chemical Society.
“It’s a whole grain, people don’t think of it that way but it is,” said Keith-Thomas Ayoob, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York in response to the study’s findings. “It’s a different form of corn, but it’s definitely a whole grain.”
Joe Vinson, a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and the study’s lead author, said there are a number of reasons for popcorn’s nutritional value.
“The more processed the grain is, you’re losing nutrients and antioxidants,” he said. “The closer you can get to the plant, the better off you are.”
In the case of popcorn, he explained, the antioxidants are protected from the sun in the drying process, and the corn loses only a little bit of them when it is popped. Additionally, through the whole process, the fiber provided by the whole grain is not removed.
“If you can air-pop your popcorn and then add a minimal amount of salt, you’d have the best popcorn,” Vinson said.
But while popcorn may have the potential to be a healthy addition to the diet, there are some obstacles.
“Eating plain popcorn is like eating cardboard, and therein lies the problem,” said Andrew F. Smith, author of “Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America.”
While popcorn could be healthy, he said, “It isn’t, because most of us, including myself, love salt, love butter, and love everything else about it. Most people don’t make it right.”
While he doesn’t feel popcorn presents a healthy snack option, Smith expressed disappointment that popcorn manufacturers haven’t created a healthy, yet tasty version of their snack.
“They haven’t done so. I wish they could. I like popcorn,” he said.
Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, confirmed Smith’s sentiments.
“The real issue with popcorn is what gets added to it, and frankly that’s often an issue with foods in the modern food supply,” he said. “If you add a lot of butter and salt to popcorn, it merely becomes the delivery vehicle for a lot of bad stuff.”
Problems in the Food Chain
“Whole grains are what you want to get from a snack or a cereal, so you’re looking for whole grains as the first ingredient,” Vinson said.
He noted, however, that the advisory doesn’t tend to match the reality on store shelves.
“We do consume what the government wants in terms of the amount of grains, but we’re only consuming a third of them as whole grains,” said Vinson.
He noted that of the grains people consume, at least half — and ideally all — should be whole grains. But for a product to be labeled “whole grain,” he said, a simple majority of the grains it contains need to be whole, not all of them.
When it comes to the nutrients themselves, he said, “They are somewhat removed when you refine grain.”
A similar problem to that of popcorn happens in tortilla chips.
“Tortilla chips, which are becoming very popular, that’s made with whole grain corn but it’s alkali-processed, so it destroys a lot of the antioxidants,” Vinson said.
Katz expressed some optimism that popcorn could be made to fit those standards.
“Like most other whole grains, it’s an excellent source of fiber, and fiber is typically deficient in the average American diet,” he said. “Essentially what you’re looking for … is either just popcorn that you can then lightly salt, or popcorn where the only additions to it are other healthy items. Some of the microwave popcorn has minimal additives to it. Lightly salted is fine.”
Katz said that a little olive or canola oil could also be added for taste.
Taking Back Snack Time
“One of the nice things about popcorn is that it’s a ‘fun food,’” said Katz, noting that it presents an enjoyable food that can also provide nutrition.
But both he and Ayoob noted that fruit — when served in a form where it is presented as finger food — can provide a healthier option.
“Any fresh fruit is going to trump most other things,” Ayoob said. “In the time it takes you to pop the popcorn in the microwave, you could also cut up some fruit instead.”
Ayoob noted that popcorn could also be used as a healthier snack because of its volume rather than just any nutrition it might provide.
“It’s one of those snacks that’s filling, and since it’s light … it’s going to take you a little longer to plow through seven and a half cups of popcorn,” he explained, referring to the volume provided by a bag of microwave popcorn from his desk.
“It’s got more fiber than most other snacks, and it’s going to take longer to eat. The time factor means you’re going to get full,” Ayoob said. “In the same time, you could consume a lot more calories in chips.”
Click here to continue reading the full report from ABC News
