"The All-Natural Taste That Wasn't"

"Isn’t it amazing how many additives it takes to make something taste natural?”

--Dr. Gary A. Reineccius

Once upon a time in a lifestyle far, far different than the one I have now, I was addicted to Penguin's.  It was a frozen yogurt joint that boasted the new CarboLite brand of ice creams in the era of Atkin's being all the rage, natural sugar was Satan reincarnated, and artificial sweeteners eaten by the boatload ensured you fit into that coveted size 4 miniskirt.

This addiction was in a time I like to refer to as the 'Dark Ages' of my life, when appearances meant the difference between attracting boys or not, which invariably equated to me believing I was lovable or not.  I was one of those girls who cared about one thing, and one thing alone:  The number on the scale.  And I didn't care about what I had to do to get there.

I would buy a medium-sized dish, which contained 10 oz. of the froyo concoction.  And that's what I would have for lunch.  This was back in the day when eating disorders still had a fast hold on my life and every single decision I made in each and every day was dictated by what I'd allow myself to eat, how my starvation would affect my ability to function in social settings, and how many workouts I planned to cram into the day.  It was an all-consuming obsession that I couldn't escape, but CarboLite was one thing that I felt I could count on - for one thing, I knew it had some protein in it.  But I also knew it was fat free, low calorie, and most importantly, it was one of the most filling things I'd let myself eat all day.

Now, this blog post isn't to resurrect old demons from a life so alien to me that I feel like I am talking about the past of a stranger, not of my own.  But I do have to say one thing:  Not everyone concerned about their weight and fitness is a clean eater.  In fact, the average dieter (who, mind you, often sees much success) follows a low fat / low cal / low sugar plan and disregards the tenets that we follow in terms of avoiding processed foods, preservatives, and artifical crap.  I know SO many people who still eat fro-yo religiously and see it as a healthy option.  Case in point -- this is the first review on the Yelp! page for Penguin's (link HERE):

"Healthy, delicious and reasonably priced."  Perhaps the latter two, but where did the notion come from that low carb yogurt was healthy?  Misconceptions, misconceptions.

CarboLite preceded a slew of other 'frozen fakies', as I call them.  Pinkberry, Yogurtland, and of course whatever other local shop you have around the corner (Menchies, Twist, etc etc etc).  I've been wanting to do some research for a while on the ingredients of these "healthy treats" as they are perceived, to deduce just how damaging that "harmless cheat" really is.  Fact of the matter is, I've developed a bit of a nasty habit with Yogurtland.  I've gotten into the habit of treating myself to it every Sunday.  I probably will still allow myself a little treat here or there (moderation is key!), but I wanted to do the research nonetheless, so I thought I would share it.  It wasn't easy, but this is what I have discovered...





Pinkberry's first store opened in Los Angeles in 2005.  Its famous "tart" flavor attracted a cult-like following for its fresh taste to a palate virgin to sorbets.  There was some controversy not too long ago that Pinkberry was false advertising that it was a Frozen Yogurt chain since scientific analysis of the product concluded that it did not meet the minimum bacterial count required by the FDA to be considered a yogurt.  In any event, the chain thrived and people flocked.

As The New York Times stated in their article The All-Natural Taste That Wasn't (full article found HERE), "[Pinkberry] initially touted its product as healthy, nonfat and all-natural, but did not say exactly what was in it."  Only a class-action lawsuit brought the chain to post the ingredients of it's products on it's website.

Healthy?  All-natural?  According to the same article, the Original flavor at Pinkberry had 23 ingredients, including 3 forms of chemical sugar derivatives and 5 food additives.  Current ingredients for Pinkberry Original Tart flavor include the following:

Nonfat milk, sugar, nonfat yogurt (pasteurized nonfat milk, live and active cultures), nonfat yogurt powder (nonfat milk, culture), fructose, dextrose, natural flavors, citric acid, guar gum, maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides, rice starch

Fructose and dextrose are derivatives of high fructose corn syrup.  Guar gum is the product of grinding the endosperm (seeds) of the Guar Bean.  It forms into a paste of sorts that is eight times more potent than corn starch in thickening water-based products.  Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide, which is a long-chain sugar molecule (poly = many, saccharide = sugar).  But it is also a food additive.  According to Wikipedia, maltodextrin is created via hydrolysis of a starch (in the US, this starch is usually from corn).  A starch is a form of sugar, and hydrolysis is the process of rupturing a chemical bond of a substance by the addition of water molecules.  Essentially, adding water to the starch degrades the chemical structure of the molecules and separates them into an acid and a base component. The result is a much more rapidly absorbed and easily digested sugar-like powder.  While these are all processed components, they aren't ALL that heinous... yet.  Here's where the dirt begins. Monoglycerides and diglycerides are essentially the same thing; they are both "glycerides" formed by the combination of  glycerol and either one ("mono-") or two ("di-") fatty acids.  I reeeeally had to peel back the layers of the onion on this one to understand the chemical formulation of glycerides and their application to the food industry.  The first thing that became apparent was that these are obviously chemical food additives.  Glycerol is used in everything from pharmaceuticals and personal care products to antifreeze.  It has such a wide variety of uses that I won't bother listing them.  For the purposes of food additives, it is used as a filler in low-fat goods like cookies, as a humectant in tobacco products, as a thickening agent in liqueurs, an artificial sweetener in some goods, a preservative in others, and in the case of Pinkberry, an "emulsifier".

So now, what the hell is an emulsifier?  After a little research, this is what I learned (in laments terms):  an emulsifier is an agent that allows two substances to be mixed into a consistent  substance that normally would not be mixable.  For instance:  Oil and water.  They don't mix (they naturally separate).  But add an emulsifier, and it helps the two substances mix into a consistent substance.  So let's bring this full circle:  Glycerol (which, mind you is a main component of bar soap) mixed with a fatty acid (usually vegetable oil) creates a glyceride (either mono-, di- or tri-, depending on how many fatty acids are involved).  And these mono- and diglycerides become the emulsifying agent that keeps the consistency of a mixed food concoction uniform.  It's made in a lab, it is not natural, and it's sole purpose is to hold together all the random shit that is thrown into a food product and preserve it.

You still with me?  Or does Pinkberry still sound healthy to you?  As Dr. Gary A. Reineccius (a professor in the department of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota) said so poignantly in the New York Times article discussed above, "Isn’t it amazing how many additives it takes to make something taste natural?” 

Yogurtland surfaced about a year after Pinkberry's debut, no doubt riding the coattails of the "all natural, healthy froyo" craze, and boasts just as impressive a laundry list of ingredients.

Pasteurized and Cultured Skim Milk, Maltodextrin, Whey, Sorbitol, Polydextrose, Vegetable Mono & Diglycerides, Guar Gum, Cellulose Gum, Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium, Locust Bean Gum, Carrageenan, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color, Yellow 5, Red 40. 

Contains Live and Active Cultures: S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium ssp., L. rhamnosus, L. casei 

Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine

So what's the damage here?  We know what maltodextrin is, as we do mono- and diglycerides and guar gum.  Aspartame is an obvious no-no.  Locust Bean Gum is the same thing as Guar, just a different type of bean.  Cellulose Gum (also known as carboxymethyl cellulose) is a synthetic (read: manmade!) chemical additive.  According to Wikipedia, carboxymethyl cellulose "is used in food science as a viscosity modifier or thickener, and to stabilize emulsions in various products including ice cream." So it's a chemical that keeps things thick, helps keep the consistency stable, and is a tool of "food science."  Don't you just love that??  Oh and to make things better, according to the same webpage, carboxymethyl cellulose is also used in K-Y Jelly, toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, textile sizing and various paper products.  YAY!! :S

Carrageenan is one of the items I've been most interested in researching, because I find it in endless "health" products.  Carrageenan is another polysaccharide extract kind of like maltodextrin, except that this one isn't from corn starch, but rather "red seaweeds". Apparently, carrageenans have been used in China since 600 B.C.  They are vegetarian, vegan, and have been used for hundreds of years as food additives.  Their inherent chemical structure allows the substance to create a gel.  Here's an interesting flow chart showing the process of extracting carrageenan from seaweed:

This is all fine and dandy, but check this out -- Carrageenan has been found to inhibit the transmission of HPV (and possibly HIV) in women when used as a personal lubricant, and further studies have shown that it can cause gastro-intestinal cancers and colon cancer.


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I tried researching the ingredients of CarboLite and other "low sugar, healthy, natural" icey treats, but I couldn't come across a list of their ingredients.   But I don't think it really matters, just from this list I think we get the point.

So, use this information as you please.  Obviously a treat here or there is perfectly fine.  But I think it's important to not dismiss these ingredients and turn a blind eye to them, as they are quite prevalent all sorts of the foods we consume.  Knowledge is power!