Research: Orange Juice – What people are looking for
Orange Juice is another popularly compared food category on FoodEssentials.com with 8583 comparisons in the last 6 months – or 1.34% of all comparisons – which if you consider there are over 1000 food categories – is a fair bit of attention.
We have 86 products categorized under the orange juice food category and below we will explore what people are looking for when comparing different orange juice products.
Top 5 Comparisons:
If I had to have at a guess as to the top variable that were compared in the orange juice category I would say probably, calories and sugar. The table below outlines the top food variables that people are choosing when they compare orange juice. Sugar (16%) is in the top 5 with a significant share of the comparisons, however the most compared variable is suprisingly Colors (26.2%) and Preservatives(12.9%) follows up in 3rd place. Read more
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What are BHA and BHT?
by Shereen Jegtvig
Food manufacturers add things to their products to keep them from going bad before we eat them. When you look on the package for the ingredients list, you might find BHA and BHT listed there. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are preservatives that keep fats from going rancid.
Both BHA and BHT protect fats from oxidation damage caused when the fats in the food product are exposed to oxygen. Actually, they work in a similar way as vitamin E (although that similar action doesn’t mean BHA and BHT are good for you). BHA and BHT are often added to potato flakes, dry breakfast cereals, enriched rice, and foods containing animal fats and shortening. Read more
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Bisphenol A (BPA): Tainting Our Food?
by Shereen Jegtvig
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound used to harden plastic that some experts fear may be hazardous. You’ll find BPA in some hard plastic baby bottles, water bottles, hard plastic microwavable cookware, plastic storage containers and lining aluminum cans. In large amounts, BPA is toxic and exposing those plastic items to heat increases the amount of BPA released. The BPA can be absorbed into the food and the liquids stored in the containers. Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration decided that the amount of BPA that we are normally exposed to every day is not enough to cause any harm.
Some experts have been concerned about the potential danger of this chemical because lab animals exposed to BPA develop health problems. The evidence supporting the notion that BPA is dangerous is mounting, but not all research in conclusive. A human study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a correlation between the amount of BPA found in the urine and the likelihood of also having heart disease and diabetes. The University of Cincinnati published an article entitled BPA May Cause Heart Disease in Women, Research Shows. But I think the title is a bit misleading, since the actual research had nothing to do with human females – the researchers exposed cells extracted from the hearts of female rats directly to BPA. Read more
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Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin
Mother nature gave us the ability to form Vitamin D simply by sitting in the sun. It’s the only vitamin that is made in our body without us consuming anything, and this is great news for those of us who live in sunny climates, or spend a lot of time outdoors and so can easily obtain enough sunlight most days.
However, as more Americans are lathering on the sun screen and spending more time indoors, their Vitamin D levels lowering, which in turn is resulting in a growing health problem. Additionally, as we turn to soft drinks and juices to quench our thirst we are drinking less and less milk, which is good source of Vitamin D.
Recent studies have showed that between 50 and 75 percent of Americans have less than optimal levels of Vitamin D, this is concerning because low levels of the sunshine vitamin can raise the risk of weak bones and, possibly, heart disease. In fact, worryingly, America is seeing a return of rickets – a disease caused by lack of Vitamin D. The figures show that 7 out of 10 of American children have too-low levels of Vitamin D putting them at huge risk of developing rickets. Read more
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Using FoodEssentials as Part of a Healthy Lifestyle
by Shereen Jegtvig
Studies show how following a healthy lifestyle reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease (the leading cause of death in the United States). The important lifestyle behaviors include getting exercise, not smoking, light consumption (or less) of alcohol, and of course, eating a healthy diet.
Changing your diet usually means you have to eat more fruits and vegetables and whole grains while reducing fat and sodium. Sounds easy enough, but some of those food manufacturers sneak extra fat and sodium (along with artificial colors, flavorings and preservatives) where you don’t expect them. You can spend hours at the grocery store sifting through the information on the food labels to be sure you’re buying healthy foods. Or you can use the FoodEssentials tool to do the work for you. Read more
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Staying Awake with Energy Drinks
by Shereen Jegtvig
You’ve probably seen beverages like Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar and other energy drinks. They’re hard to miss – in their brightly colored, hip’n happening cans – usually sold close to the check out lanes or prominantly displayed at gas stations and convenience stores. They promise to keep you awake, alert and energized so you can live a high energy life and feel like a rock star or an athlete. So what makes them so popular? Probably great marketing to be honest, but they’re really not any better than a cup or two of coffee…maybe even worse?
Energy drinks are usually heavily caffeinated, just as much or more than coffee. They often contain herbs such as ginseng or guarana, and sometimes a combination of B vitamins and amino acids such as taurine. And sugar, usually lots of sugar or artificial sweeteners. The caffeine is a strong stimulant and is the main reason energy drinks will perk you up. The vitamins aren’t any different than what you’ll get from your foods and the dosage of herbs may not be strong enough to do anything. The reason for using taurine in Red Bull escapes me completely – it’s actually more of a depressant than a stimulant in larger doses – so it probably doesn’t do anything at all. Read more
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Top 10 Good Reads – July Week 2
Hi Everyone,
Congratulations – We have all hit the middle bump of the week – we’ve reached the summit (debatable), and the worst is now behind us. I believe it is always important to celebrate the small victories in life, and in my life, that includes getting through to Wednesday intact!
So, in celebration I have gathered a couple of excellent little articles to share with you all. As part of my job (and for interests sake) I tend to subscribe to a lot of blogs these days, and found many, many articles this week about the rise in obesity trends, the E-coli crisis and a new magical weight loss solution to beat all other solutions before it – and after I read all 10,000 of them, I thought that I would deliver you all something a wee bit different this week. Basically, something that has nothing to do with E-coli, obesity or weight loss….for a change.
So fasten you seatbelts lads and laddetts, and prepare yourselves for the top 10 best readings of the week (well probably not the best, but you know what I mean!) If by any chance you have any great articles that you think are deserved of a spot in the top 10 list each week, be sure to send them through. ENJOY! Read more
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What Does a Sports Drink Do?
by Shereen Jegtvig
When I was a kid (way back in the 1970s), my friends and I drank Gatorade. It was supposed to be good for hydrating the body, which sounded like it must be very important after a long bike ride. And, it tasted kind of good. As I recall, Gatorade was really the only sports drink available back then (and in only one flavor). It was a simpler time, I guess.
Today, there’s a few more sports drinks available (and lots of energy drinks – I’ll save that discussion for my next post). You can still buy Gatorade (in several flavors), but you’re probably going to see Powerade displayed quite prominently in the cooler section of grocery and convenience stores. So what’s so special about sports drinks? For most of us, most of the time, nothing. Read more
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The Elusive Good-For-You Pizza
by Shereen Jegtvig
There’s no denying the popularity of frozen pizzas. Look in any grocery store and you’ll find dozens of varieties, with different types of crusts, cheeses and any number of toppings. But they pretty much all have one thing in common – they’re just not good for you. Just none serving of a typical frozen pizza is high in saturated fat and sodium, and how many times have you wolfed down a whole frozen pizza as a meal? That’s three, four or more servings.
So is it possible to find a frozen pizza that’s good for you? Or at least one that can be served as part of a healthy meal? I decided to use the FoodEssentials tool to search for one. I started by searching for ‘frozen pizza’ and the tool returned seven different categories of frozen pizzas. That’s great! This tool gives you plenty of foods to chose from. Read more
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FoodEssentials: What is in Your Food? Interview With CEO
Anton Xavier, the CEO of FoodEssentials was recently interviewed by Donna Davis on behalf of Associated Content. We thought it would be a great idea to post the interview so all could see, and invite all of our readers and subscribers to post any comments or questions they may have. If you feel as though you have a question that you would like our CEO to answer, then feel free to ask away. Look forward to reading your comments!
A New Website Bares All
The following is an interview with Anton Xavier, the director of a new website for product information and public awareness. It may just become the wave of the future in consumer information: Read more
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