PRINTBehind the label
Courtesy of www.organickingdom.com
May 8, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
At a time when city governments such as New York City are banning trans fats and even McDonald’s serves leafy greens, it shouldn’t be difficult for even the most clueless consumers to eat their way into a healthier lifestyle.
However, too many people make the mistake of believing everything on the shelf at the health market is good for them. Nutrition labels can be confusing if they lack easily recognizable culprits such as sugar and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Here are some other, lesser-known ingredients lurking beneath that organic stamp or “all natural” proclamation that can mask junk food as a healthy choice.
EVAPORATED CANE JUICE
Added to everything from healthy cereals to organic juice beverages, this ingredient is the close cousin of refined white sugar. Although evaporated cane juice is less refined than normal sugar (think raw sugar packets at a coffee shop) and therefore retains some of sugar cane’s natural nutrients, it doesn’t grant free access to snacking.
The poseur: Evaporated cane juice is the ingredient added to Silk soymilk in order to mask what can be a chalky soy flavor. Although soymilk is marketed as a healthier-than-milk alternative, be careful. A 1 cup serving of Silk Very Vanilla soymilk contains 130 calories, 4 grams of fat and 16 grams of sugar, partially due to the added evaporated cane juice. The same serving of Prairie Farms 2 percent milk contains 120 calories, 5 grams of fat and only 11 grams of sugar, which occur naturally in the milk. Milk from the cow is about as natural as you can get, so unless it’s a lactose issue, spring for the Prairie Farms.
VITAMIN WATER
Perhaps the most misunderstood products of today’s health wave are juices, smoothies and vitamin-enriched “water.” Consumers tend to forget that despite a marketing campaign targeted at those striving for healthy living, these beverages are often little better than sugary sodas and juices from concentrate.
The poseur: One of these tricky nutritional beverages is Glaceau’s Vitamin Water, which infuses various nutrients with vapor-distilled water to create flavored blends with such names as Energy, Focus and Defense. A quick glance at the nutrition label seems to confirm the beverage’s healthy claims — just 50 calories, no fat and 13 grams of sugar (from an ingredient called crystalline fructose, which is to high fructose corn syrup what evaporated cane juice is to sugar). However, a closer inspection shows that just one 20-ounce bottle contains 2.5 servings. Given that most would drink the entire beverage, that means 125 calories and 32.5 grams of sugar — not much better than a can of the guiltiest pleasure out there: Coca-Cola Classic.
BROWN RICE SYRUP
Because brown rice is indeed a healthier alternative to the more refined white rice on the dinner table, it might seem like a hearty, whole-grain addition to your kitchen pantry. However, the word “syrup” never bodes well as a healthy ingredient. Although brown rice syrup is a more natural, slowly metabolized sweetener, it is still just that — a sweetener not unlike honey or fructose corn syrup.
The poseur: Protein and nutrition bars including Clif, Odwalla, Balance and Powerbar have made a splash on health-market shelves with tempting flavors that sound like our favorite desserts. Because many of them use brown rice syrup for a sweet taste but still boast a load of nutrients the typical candy bar has never even seen, some people might reach for them as a healthy alternative snack. However, if it’s just the taste of chocolate you’re craving when you reach for the Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar, you might as well grab a Hershey’s instead. Loaded with enough carbohydrates and protein to replace a meal (or provide energy for an activity like mountain biking — not sitting on the couch), these protein and nutrition bars aren’t meant for casual snacking. The Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar contains 240 calories, 5 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar and a hearty dose of fiber and protein. Although a Special Dark Hershey’s bar is by no means kind to the waistline, with 180 calories, 12 grams of fat and 21 grams of sugar, half the bar will satisfy a chocolate craving without adding another meal’s worth of calories to your day.
