Grandma, Can I Have Some BHT?

Today's food disappointment comes in the form of Grandma Utz's Handcooked Potato Chips. I normally make a great deal of effort to stay away from the snack machines at work but sometimes the call of salty fried potatoes is too much to bear and I cave. Armed with a dollar bill and resolve to not get anything with artificial ingredients, I headed to the kitchen. The two items I normally have to choose between are Frito's Corn Chips (corn, oil salt), and Lay's Original Potato Chips (potatoes, oil, salt). I don't like corn chips all that much and the potato chips looked juuuust far enough back in their row to be left dangling instead of falling within reach. So I perused the display again and saw them: Grandma Utz's Handcooked Potato Chips. Perfect! These should be just like the others, except the ingredients should read: "thicker potatoes, oil, and salt". Not so.

"Whole fresh potatoes, sliced and cooked in lard, with salt added. TBHQ and BHT added to help protect flavor. This is a Gluten Free Food."

Now before you go patting yourself on the back, Grandma, be reminded that ALL POTATO CHIPS ARE GLUTEN FREE. Why? Because potatoes do not have gluten. Unless you are still eating those crazy Pringles which have added wheat (and between 8 and 11 other ingredients in the "Original" flavor alone),  you don't need to worry about potato chips and gluten sensitivity. So that last sentence, "This is a Gluten Free Food", does not, somehow, make up for the fact that Grandma has used two preservatives in these chips. Let's discuss.

TBHQ

TBHQ stands for something that I can't pronounce, Tertiary Butylhydroquinone, and is a controversial additive in dog food. That's right, safety groups are concerned about feeding TBHQ to our pets in their daily meals (pets who, mind you, are genetically designed to scavenge for their food and digest all manner of "leftovers" after actual predators have had their way). From the Natural News website: "Consuming high doses (between 1 and 4 grams) of TBHQ can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and vomiting. There are also suggestions that it may lead to hyperactivity in children as well as asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. It may also further aggravate ADHD symptoms and cause restlessness. Long term, high doses of TBHQ in laboratory animals have shown a tendency for them to develop cancerous precursors in their stomachs, as well as cause DNA damage to them. It is also suggested that it may be responsible for affecting estrogen levels in women."

BHT

Another tongue twister here, BHT is short for Butylated hydroxytoluene; it is most likely used in these chips to prevent the lard/fat from going rancid too quickly. BHT went out of fashion back in the 1970s due to health concerns - it may be toxic to both the nervous system and the liver.  Like many of our Grandma's, Ms. Utz must just be a little behind the times.

The Week in Food News (and a NIBBLE Update)!

This week I've come across some nuggets in the news and learned something interesting in Real Life.   News: if you have a bigger shopping cart you are very likely going to buy more stuff.  Maybe that's intuitive, but less so is that the larger your fork at a restaurant, the less you eat.  Real Life Discovery: While there is always a line to the door at Chipotle at 9:45pm, there is not one person there at 5pm.  Does that mean older people (early-bird special types) don't enjoy cilantro-infused rice?  Below are a few other recent tidbits in food news.


Favorite Quote So Far
The author of a New York Times article about a farm in Iowa humanely raising pigs was captivated by the farm, the health of the animals, and the fabulous taste of the pork they produced.  He wrote that it was easily the best he had ever eaten.  Lucky for us non-Iowans, Chipotle is doing it's part by buying all of the pork shoulder this farm offers them.  My new favorite quote comes from this article:

“Food isn't just a pile of stuff to be measured by weight and volume, and there’s a reason industrially produced meat is just a little more expensive than garbage."

Meat Eater's Guide To Climate Change + Health
The Meat Eater's Guide is really well done.  They studied the complete life cycle of many animals and vegetables that we eat and evaluated their contribution to greenhouse gasses in the environment.  If everyone in the U.S. followed "Meatless Mondays", it would be the equivalent of driving 91 billion fewer miles, or taking 7.6 million cars off the road.  They found that 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions from raising and producing cattle come from meat that just gets thrown out, so when you do buy it make sure you only buy what you can realistically use. Oh, and lentils are awesome.


It's important to know that the study only looked at farming using conventional methods (feedlots, antibiotics, etc), and not traditionally farmed, grass-fed animals.   People's biggest complaint about the humanely raised animals is that their meat is more expensive, but the guide addresses this by noting if you eat less of it you can afford to buy meat of a higher quality.  In Howard County, Clarkland Farm is my favorite place to buy grass-fed beef.     


Gojee
I was going to do a whole post on food websites and technology, but that's taking too long so here's my favorite new recipe website.  Gojee let's you put in an ingredient that you already have and suggests recipes that use it.  It's a visually stunning site, and the creators have personally reviewed all the recipes. Recipes have come from some of the best food bloggers, so you're definitely going to find something special.  While sites like AllRecipes have 5000 different recipes for chocolate chip cookies, Gojee has about 5000 unique and inspiring recipes in total.  

In NIBBLE News...

I cheated.  Once.  It was Tuesday, and I was starving (blame the marathon training). I had been thinking about candy for 4 or 5 days and I caved.  I didn't overindulge, and I haven't gone back so I'm still claiming success overall.

The NIBBLE Project: Week 1

The first week of NIBBLE has gone well.  I haven't had any treats at work other than what I bring in my own lunchbox although I think about getting some every day!  I guess that means I really needed to do this.

Tuesday was unusually stressful and was a really tough day NIBBLE-wise.  This week Dan and I had dog obedience school, there is a rehearsal dinner and wedding to attend tonight and tomorrow, training runs to complete for the Baltimore Marathon, my car needs to get serviced, and all that in between being gone for 8.5 hours every day to work.  With all that looming in front of me, I had a hard time staying away from the candy jar but thank goodness this blog holds me accountable.

I'm optimistic for Week 2!

The NIBBLE Project

I have a problem.

It started at the office about 5 years ago.  A well-meaning co-worker brought in a bag of Hershey Kisses.  They found out I liked Hershey Kisses very much.  They brought in more, I ate more - dozens each day.  And the cycle began.

My addiction to chocolate in the office has become so bad that I start craving it the moment I sit down at my desk.  The candy supplier has changed, and the stash has evolved into milk chocolate M&M's, but the point is the same.

How can I [attempt to] write this blog about eating natural and healthy foods when I can't even follow my own rules?  My meals are pretty healthy and have lots of fresh, whole ingredients, but stressful time or boredom at the office is filled with artificially colored candies.  

That is why I'm beginning The NIBBLE Project.

N - Nothing
I - In my
B - Belly
B - Besides
L - Legitimate
E - Eats

I will do my best to break this habit and eat only what I bring in my lunchbox, or if I must have something, to make sure I recognize all of the ingredients in that item.  NIBBLE starts today.  I'll post periodic updates about how I've done and how much I miss my colorful little treats.

Goodbye, "Yellow 5"!


M&M's Ingredients:
Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Skim Milk, Milkfat, Lactose, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Artificial Flavors) Sugar, Cornstarch, Less than 1% Corn Syrup, Dextrin, Coloring (includes Blue 1 Lake, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2)Gum Acacia.