Artificial Colorings in Pudding and Gelatin Cups
by Shereen Jegtivig
I’m getting into back-school-mode (or maybe my bored kids are getting on my nerves – not sure which) so today I was thinking about things to pack in school lunches, both good things and bad things. Small, one-serving pudding and gelatin cups are popular for school lunches. They’re convenient, properly portioned and they taste good, so kids love them. Of course, most of them are crammed full of artificial colors and other additives your kids don’t need. So what do you do?
One thing you can do is to pack something else for dessert, like dried fruit, but if you want to send pudding or gelatin cups to school with your kids, be sure to do your homework first and find one that contains the least additives. I’ll warn you, it isn’t easy. I looked up coloring free gelatin and pudding cups because more than a few experts believe artificial colorings trigger behavioral problems in kids and it doesn’t seem like a good idea to add artificial colorings to a school lunch, when your kids need to be at their brightest. Of all the varieties of puddings and gelatins, only one has no added colors, the Kraft Mega Cup Chocolate 126 Oz pudding. 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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Food Tip: Vitamin C & Fruit Juice
by Shereen Jegtvig
Vitamin C is so important for the human body. It’s necessary for keeping your immune system strong and for building connective tissue that you need for healthy skin (that means fewer wrinkles) and sturdy bones. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant that helps protect the cells in your body from damage due to free radicals from the environment, sun damage and even as a result of normal metabolism.
The best dietary sources of vitamin C are fruits and vegetables, including citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit, guava, strawberries, broccoli, peppers and potatoes. If you eat five to nine servings of these fruits and vegetables every day you should be getting all the vitamin C you need. However, vitamin C doesn’t hang around long so once fruits and vegetables are peeled, cut, sliced, cooked or processed, the vitamin C content starts to deteriorate. In general, fruits lose about 30% of their vitamin C content when canned or bottled as juice. Read more
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Under The Microscope: Artificial Colorants
Before we even take a bite, we anticipate flavor by the appearance of our food. Color plays an important role in our eating experience—stimulating recognition, expectation, and the ultimate enjoyment of our food. Additives have been used to enhance/impart colors in foods, drugs and cosmetics for centuries, and today are added to a wide range of foods, including candies, snack foods, margarine, processed cheese, carbonated beverages, processed vegetables, jams/jellies, gelatins, and desserts (e.g. pie filling, puddings). However, recent safety concerns have sparked fierce debate over the addition of artificial colors to the things we eat. Is the improved appearance of color-enhanced food worth the possible negative effects? Read more
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Sunset Yellow (Artificial Color Yellow 6)
Ingredient Name: Sunset Yellow FCF
Alternative Names: FD & C Yellow 6 (dye and lake), Orange Yellow S, artificial color (yellow 6), yellow 6, monoazo
E Number:E110
Uses in Food: Derived from coal tar, azo dye Sunset Yellow is used, as its name suggests, to color foods orange, yellow and red. It may also be added together with E123 (Amaranth) to impart a brown color in chocolate and caramel. In the US, Sunset Yellow is added to many foods, including… Read more
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Tartrazine (Artificial Color Yellow 5)
Ingredient Name: Tartrazine
Alternative Names: Tartrazine, FD&C Yellow No. 5, E102, Food yellow 4, artificial color (102), acid yellow 23, hydrazine yellow, tartrazol yellow, TARTRAZINUM, yellow 5, food colouring substance, EINECS number 217-699-5.
E-number: E102
Use in Food: The color yellow is often associated with happy, sunny freshness, and occurs naturally in many different foods. But how do processed foods such as Mountain Dew, Doritos, custards and cordials get their yellow sheen? The answer lies in synthetic food colorants, such as tartrazine. Read more
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Food Tip: Avoid Artificial Colors in Children’s Cereal
by Shereen Jegtvig
Food experts have been pushing for a ban of artificial food colorings (or at least a warning label on products that contain artificial colors) for at least a year, according to foodnavigator.com. Several studies, including a study published in The Lancet in 2007, show consumption of artificial colorings triggers hyperactivity in children. Read more
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One Brand, But Several Differences in Varieties of Pita Pocket Bread
by Shereen Jegtvig
Pita pockets are great for making healthy sandwiches or for dipping into hummus or olive oil, both of which contain healthy fats. Of course, you’ll want to keep it healthy by choosing the best pita pocket breads. Let’s check them out on our FoodEssentials database. We find seven pita pocket breads, all of which come from one manufacturer, Kangaroo. It will be interesting to how the much the varieties differ with their ingredients and nutritional benefit. Read more
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The Best Decaffeinated Iced Teas
by Shereen Jegtvig for foodessentials
Iced tea makes a terrific warm-weather beverage, but if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you may not want the extra jitters that come with it. There are many decaffeinated iced tea products that will quench your thirst without the caffeine. But what other things do they contain? Read more
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What to Look For When Choosing Iced Tea
by Shereen Jegtvig for foodessentials
When the weather warms up, so does our desire for a glass of iced tea to beat the heat. And Iced tea can be very good for you health because tea is rich in polyphenols that work as antioxidants to prevent damage to the cells in your body. Drinking tea may help prevent cancer or cardiovascular disease and it can help you lose weight. That is if you don’t load your iced tea down with excessive amounts of sugar. Read more
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