Thursday, June 14, 2012

Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip: A Clean-Eater's Nightmare

I'm at that stage in my clean-eating journey where most people have accepted the simple fact that I am a changed person - this is no longer just a passing phase or a temporary fad; it is a whole lifestyle renaissance.

As such, I routinely have people consult me about questions they have, particularly "which is healthier?" type questions.  Suddenly, I have renewed sympathy for all of those parents out there who have a 12-month old child and are suddenly sought out as an authority on child-rearing by the next wave of preggers mamas.  I've been eating clean for only 21 weeks… is that enough to be an authority?  I definitely will say no, but if I can stray from the topic for a moment, I can't believe how much I have learned in such a short period of time!  I am no expert, but I am well on my way to developing an all-new intuitive sense toward foods and products that makes checking labels less tedious, as my 6th Sense of Food Avoidance is reaching maturity rather nicely :)

In any event, I had one of those moments where I wanted to beat my head against a concrete wall when a friend of mine - who eats pretty healthy most of the time, and is active, and who I would have considered a clean eater prior to my starting this journey and learning all that it entails - approached me with a great smile on her face.  You see, she had decided she wanted to start eating clean "like me" too, and was holding on very tightly to the couple of rules of thumb I had taught her about clean eating.  In particular:

1) Shop the perimeter of grocery stores and avoid the middle aisles
2) Nothing canned, boxed or processed, when possible.
3) If you are buying something with ingredients, make sure there are 5 or less and you understand what each ingredient is.

In any event, she proclaimed to me, "Look what I found! This stuff is DELICIOUS and it's CLEAN!"

I took one look and knew something was askew.  I asked her why she thought it was a "clean" food item.  Her response?  It only had "three ingredients".  Here is a picture of the product she was showing me:
Bacon.  Cheddar.  Ranch.  Was there ever a time prior to my clean-eating mission that I thought these three words somehow equated to only 3 ingredients in a processed and packaged dairy product?  Good grief.

FAUX PAUS NOTICE:  For all of you newbie clean-eaters, do not let the title of the product fool you for the ingredients of it.  What are the ingredients of this seemingly 3-ingredent product?  Here, let me share the PARAGRAPH with you:
As can be scene in the picture, there are a minimum of eleventy hundred ingredients in this product.

Now, here's what makes matters worse, and intermediate clean eaters must beware:  this is a Trader Joe's product.  Back in the beginning, when I just started out with clean eating, places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods could do no wrong in my eyes.  I thought everything on the inside of their fancy establishments, with wood floors and earthy tones, was clean, healthy, and organic.  And while that is more the case than other stores, it doesn't necessarily mean ALL of their products are clean.  Expeller-pressed canola oil,  xantham gum, "savory flavoring", cultured dextrose…. what even are any of these?

According to Wikipedia, "Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide, derived from the bacterial coat of Xanthomonas campestris, used as a food additiveand rheology modifier,[2] commonly used as a food thickening agent (in salad dressings, for example) and a stabilizer (in cosmetic products, for example, to prevent ingredients from separating). It is produced by the fermentation of glucose,sucrose, or lactose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum.[3]"  


So… a processed byproduct of bacteria and sugar. Awesome!

As for the expeller-pressed canola oil bit, check out this free streaming 15-minute podcast about canola oil and why it (and other Omega-3 fatty acid oils) are bad bad baaaaaaad to cook with, especially after they have been thru the "expeller" process.  VIDEO LINK HERE.

As for "Savory Flavorings", one can only guess.  Even "natural flavorings" aren't neessarily safe! See this TODAY.com article which discusses "natural flavorings".  Specifically, 

"The definition of natural flavor under the Code of Federal Regulations is: “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (21CFR101.22).

Certainly a mouthful!"

As for "Cultured Dextrose", this is a pre-digested sugar exposed to a certain bacteria, which results in chemical byproducts that serve as anti-microbials.  They may not be laboratory chemicals, but a preservative is a preservative.  Clean eating is all about NO PRESERVATIVES.

Not to put Trader Joe's on blast or anything, but this short blog entry is just to serve as an extra reminder to be very wary of what foods you buy, even when at health stores.  Taken from Trader Joe's very own website, they describe this product as such: 

"Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip is just what it claims to be: a sour cream based ranch dip with plenty of cheddar cheese shreds and ample amounts of uncured applewood smoked bacon (please see above). Most commercial Ranch Dips are loaded with MSG – not ours. Ours is made with no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, including MSG. The sour cream and cheese are made with milk from cows not treated with rBST, and the bacon is free of added nitrites or nitrates. You could almost call it health food. Almost."

Sorry to get technical, but this statement is false.  According to LIVESTRONG (source HERE), foods containing cultured dextrose CANNOT be labeled as preservative-free.  In my research, I came upon many other cases of "health foods" claiming to be preservative free, while still containing cultured dextrose.  Example:  "Don't Get Fresh(er) with Me" where the author writes about a Trader Joe's hummus and says, 

“Cultured dextrose (for added freshness).” I’m sorry, what? I need something to “add freshness” to my       hummus? As far as I know, you can’t add freshness. And check out what’s right above it: “No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.” OK, so what is cultured dextrose if not one of the above, a natural preservative perhaps?"

Of course, a by-product to being religiously strict with a clean diet is that eventually, it all becomes common sense.  Even if that package were to say "Ranch Dip" only, I would expect to see at least 20 ingredients, of which at least a couple were on my Most Wanted (or perhaps Least Wanted????) list.

All of this to say, be mindful of your labels until you feel confident with your 'health radar' and your own knowledge of the safety and acceptability of certain ingredients, based on your needs and dietary guidelines.  DO NOT just blindly trust stores, or product labels, to educate you on just how natural, organic, or preservative-free your foods are.  Only you can determine the validity of that.






No comments:

Post a Comment